Week 5 Power Rankings
By Brian Miller
Well, I missed last weeks power rankings, as well as a few other weekly items, as my head gave way to the superstitious thoughts to get the Miami Dolphins their first win. It didn’t work. So here is the week 5 power rankings.
1:
Until they lose…they stay.
2:
The Patriots are a team possessed. Let’s see how they fair against Dallas next week.
3:
Undefeated Dallas vs. undefeated NE…Someone is going to take a loss.
4:
The Steelers continue to perform well under rookie HC Mike Tomlin.
5:
The Packers lost on Sunday night to the Chicago Bears. It was their first loss of the year. The Pack had the game won and in hand until Brett Favre through an extremely ill advised interception deep in their own territory. Still, this is a very good football team that should be 5-0 instead of 4-1.
6:
A solid yet unspectacular offense that plays with consistency keeps the defense fresh. They are only the best defense in the league.
7:
The Seahawks find themselves sitting behind the Cardinals in the division ranks. Still the ‘Hawks are a better team that was has been showing up on the field…or are they just overrated?
8:
The Bolts finally looked like the Bolts of last year in a whooping of Denver. A sign of things to come? LT still needs to be more involved instead of the decoy…especially since he is my fantasy running back!
9:
The offense still looks bad and for three quarters on Sunday night, the Bears looked like they would lose another one. The defense steps up, the offense doesn’t break, and what do you know. The Bears win.
10:
If the Cowboys were not in this division, the Redskins might actually be the team to beat. But…the Cowboys are in this division.
11:
The Cowboys are the favorites to win the NFC East, but the Giants and the Redskins will surely battle it out for a wild card. This could get interesting.
12:
The Titans are 3-1, and still 2 games behind division leader Indy.
13:
The Bengals have turned out some pretty poor performances this year, they are coming off a bye week and will have had 2 weeks to prepare for KC. If they can’t win that one, the don’t deserve to be in the top 20.
14:
Like the Titans, the Jags are at 3-1 and two games back behind Indy. With the other divisions squandering opportunities, 3 teams may come out of this division if the play at this level continues.
15:
The Panthers are without Jake Delhomme and it showed yesterday as they struggled to beat winless New Orleans. With Tampa breathing down their neck, they may not sit at the top of the division for long, and right now they are only because their numbers are better.
16:
Despite yesterdays loss the Bucs’ are showing that they are going to go out and play at a level consistent with a 2nd tier winning team. They are tied at the top with Carolina at 3-2 but sit below them statistically. The Bucs’, if they continue this level of play, will not be behind anyone in that division for long.
17: The Broncos lost big to rival San Diego, Travis Henry faces a one year suspension, and rookie RB Selvin Young is very unproven. Not a great combination for a team that figured to be playing for the division…well, at a higher level than they are now.
18: The Texans beat Miami yet again in the closing minutes of the game to extend their history match-up to 3-0. They sit at the bottom of the division with 3 wins, looking up at Jacksonville, Tennessee, and Indy. This is going to be a battle all year long.
19:
The Cardinals are playing good football and sit atop the NFC West with 3 wins. Matt Leinhart went down for the season on Sunday and the team will now be turned over to Kurt Warner. Leinhart has not been playing well, so Warner should be somewhat of an upgrade.
20:
The Raiders had their bye week and as a result sit atop the AFC West. At 2-2 it is nothing to brag about. For a team that had the first pick in last Aprils’ draft, it is something to build on.
21:
Had the Lions not been beaten to a pulp by Washington, they might have cracked the top 20. The offense was non-existent yesterday and their defense was absent as well…maybe they thought it was a bye week.
22:
With 2 wins you would think that the 9ers would be worse, but they are actually playing decent football. Alex Smith was replaced in Sundays game by Trent Dilfer so we will see if that change sparks anything permanent in terms of play.
23:
The Vikings need to step it up. They have a good defense and what appears to be a very good RB in Peterson. It is the rest of the offense that makes them look like they do. 1-3 does not cut it anymore and if this continues, the leash that Brad Childress is attached to will become a lot tighter.
24:
The Eagles are in last place, they have won only 1 game and they are in one of the toughest divisions in the NFL. Likely to be a long season for the Eagles.
25:
Cleveland tried to make a game out of it on Sunday with the Patriots and it appeared that the Patriots were at times willing to let the Browns get close. Miami comes to town this weekend so the Browns should get another opportunity to prove to the world why they don’t suck completely.
26:
The Jets put up a battle with the Giants and almost had it won. Had it not been for the play of Chad Pennington, they might have won their 2nd game. Chad’s inconsistent play keeps them mired at the bottom with the rest of the “going nowheres'”
27:
The Chiefs are at 26 because they have won 2 games. The teams below are at the bottom because they haven’t. Should the Chiefs run for a total of 10 yards again on a Sunday, they will drop. Welcome to Herm Edwards football Chiefs fans.
28:
The Falcons won a game two weeks ago but lost yesterday. They immediately benched Harrington in favor of Leftwich immediately after the game. Will it help?
29:
The Bills have been one of the most injured teams this season, you almost feel bad for them. Then you realize that they are the Bills and you don’t. Despite the injuries to this team, they have not shown any signs of quitting. That can not be said for the teams ranked below them.
30:
The Rams are a bad team with good offensive talent. It is still amazing that they are not putting up more points. Even with Bulger on the sidelines, the Rams have been unimpressive this year offensively. Their defense was expected to be bad, they actually are playing better than anticipated.
31:
Does it really matter why they are ranked this low? The only real bright spot on this team is the play of Ronnie Brown.
32:
New Orleans almost got their first win, had they done that, they would have climbed out of the cellar. Instead, they stay here and QB Drew Brees throws 2 more interceptions to lead the league with 9.