NFL Power Rankings Week 5: Ravens Roaring, Bears Falling Back to the Pack
The NFL Power Rankings for Week 5 feature a handful of AFC teams continuing to surge towards the top.
New England destroyed Miami on Monday night to ensure a spot in the top five, while the New York Jets steamrolled Buffalo to stay atop the AFC East.
On the NFC side, Green Bay and New Orleans rebounded from disappointing losses with unimpressive wins over two of the conference’s worst teams.
Here’s a quick look at where all 32 teams stand in the Week 5 Power Rankings.
The Bottom 12
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No. 32 Buffalo: Three talented running backs have little impact.
No. 31 Carolina: Jimmy Clausen has been ineffective and could be without his top target.
No. 30 Oakland: Bruce Gradkowski has been decent, but the 1-3 start comes back to the defense.
No. 29 Detroit: Sure, the Lions have been competitive, but wins are still elusive.
No. 28 Cleveland: Three close losses and one close win.
No. 27 Arizona: Derek Anderson might have started his last game for the Cardinals.
No. 26 Jacksonville: The Jaguars love beating the Colts at home and losing almost every other game.
No. 25 San Francisco: Time for Mike Singletary to show if he has substance behind his style.
No. 24 Seattle: The Seahawks are competitive but plagued by the worst secondary in the NFL.
No. 23 Tampa Bay: Things are starting to unravel in Tampa.
No. 22 Denver: Kyle Orton has been fantastic; running game has been pathetic.
No. 21 Tennessee: Super Bowl contenders don’t lose to the Broncos.
No. 20: St. Louis
2 of 21
Don’t look now, but the Rams are one of the hottest teams in the NFC. Sam Bradford is playing at a high level, and St. Louis could be good enough to contend in the worst division in football this year.
No. 19: Cincinnati
3 of 21
The Bengals have enough talent on both sides of the ball to figure things out sooner or later. That doesn’t mean it will happen.
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No. 18: New York Giants
4 of 21
The Giants are 2-2 despite having no running game and an inconsistent defense. Too bad they can’t go against the Bears’ offensive line every week.
No. 17: Miami
5 of 21
Monday’s loss to the Patriots illustrated the importance of special teams. A consistent running game would do wonders for Miami’s fortunes going forward this season.
No. 16: San Diego
6 of 21
Philip Rivers has gotten used to life after Vincent Jackson, and the Chargers are starting to look like an offensive juggernaut once again.
No. 15: Philadelphia
7 of 21
Michael Vick is the latest Eagle to go down with an injury, and Kevin Kolb will likely get at least one game to show what he can do. If the offensive line doesn’t improve, Kolb might not last long, either.
No. 14: Minnesota
8 of 21
Adrian Peterson is playing like an MVP, but Brett Favre has been underwhelming so far this season. The bye in Week 4 could work wonders for the Vikings’ offense.
No. 13: Chicago
9 of 21
The Bears are 3-1 with wins over Dallas and Green Bay, so they deserve a fairly high ranking. Just don’t bring up how horrible they looked in Sunday night’s loss to the Giants.
No. 12: Dallas
10 of 21
Despite an awful start to the season, the Cowboys still have one of the most talented teams in the NFC. Dallas still needs to get Felix Jones and Marion Barber more involved, but don’t expect the losses to pile up.
No. 11: Washington
11 of 21
The Redskins got a much-needed win over a depleted Eagles squad Sunday and have fewer problems than any of their NFC East counterparts at this point. Ryan Torain could be the running back the ‘Skins desperately need to emerge.
No. 10: Kansas City
12 of 21
The Chiefs are the NFL’s only undefeated team and face a huge test this week at Indianapolis. The youth movement has paid dividends for Todd Haley so far this season, but time will tell if Kansas City has enough pieces to continue winning down the stretch.
No. 9: Atlanta
13 of 21
The Falcons have been one of the most opportunistic teams in the NFL this season and are playing very well defensively. At the same time, they are two field goals away from being 1-3 and still a bit of an unknown offensively, needing another receiver to emerge alongside Roddy White.
No. 8: Indianapolis
14 of 21
The Colts are a sleeping giant able to move the ball with ease. Don’t be fooled by the 2-2 start: Peyton Manning will start piling up wins in the coming weeks. Will Anthony Gonzalez and Donald Brown ever be healthy?
No. 7: Houston
15 of 21
Arian Foster should miss team meetings more often. The free-spirited, modern-day version of Ricky Williams has clearly been the biggest factor in Houston’s 3-1 start.
No. 6: Green Bay
16 of 21
The Packers have looked very vulnerable in the secondary and really miss Al Harris. John Kuhn appears to be the best option Green Bay has in the running game, and that’s not a good thing.
No. 5: New England
17 of 21
The Patriots’ looked like one of the NFL’s best teams last night, but still have a young defense and a bad secondary. New England hasn’t come close to peaking yet.
No. 4: Pittsburgh
18 of 21
Things are only going to get better in the Steel City now that the offense will finally have a Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback capable of getting the ball to Hines Ward and Mike Wallace.
No. 3: New York Jets
19 of 21
Mark Sanchez has been brilliant in the last three weeks, and Shonn Greene finally got going against the Bills. Rex Ryan’s team is starting to walk the talk.
No. 2: Baltimore
20 of 21
The Ravens are 3-1 and still not firing on all cylinders. If Joe Flacco can eliminate mistakes and Ray Rice can get healthy, Baltimore will be tough to beat.
No. 1: New Orleans
21 of 21
The Super Bowl champs haven’t played like champs quite yet this season, but the offense won’t stay dormant for long.
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