NFL Power Rankings Week 6: Predicting Post-Monday Night Football Standings

Let's start with a Monday Night Football prediction: The Carolina Panthers will beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-21.

Yes, even without Cam Newton at quarterback.

So keeping that prediction in mind, I'll break down my updated power rankings heading into Week 6, trying to balance both what teams have shown on the field thus far and what I believe their potential to be for the rest of the season. 

So without further ado, let's get to the rankings that will assuredly have your favorite team ranked way too low.

Rank	Team	Record
1	New England Patriots	4-1
2	Minnesota Vikings	5-0
3	Atlanta Falcons	4-1
4	Denver Broncos	4-1
5	Green Bay Packers	3-1
6	Pittsburgh Steelers	4-1
7	Seattle Seahawks	3-1
8	Dallas Cowboys	4-1
9	Philadelphia Eagles	3-1
10	Oakland Raiders	4-1
11	Buffalo Bills	3-2
12	Houston Texans	3-2
13	Los Angeles Rams	3-2
14	Kansas City Chiefs	2-2
15	Carolina Panthers	*2-3
16	Arizona Cardinals	2-3
17	Cincinnati Bengals	2-3
18	Washington	3-2
19	Baltimore Ravens	3-2
20	Indianapolis Colts	2-3
21	New York Giants	2-3
22	Detroit Lions	2-3
23	Tennessee Titans	2-3
24	New Orleans Saints	1-3
25	New York Jets	1-4
26	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	*1-4
27	San Diego Chargers	1-4
28	Miami Dolphins	1-4
29	Jacksonville Jaguars	1-3
30	San Francisco 49ers	1-4
31	Chicago Bears	1-4
32	Cleveland Browns	0-5

I'm sure there will be debate about the top team on my rankings. Honestly, I don't think you can go wrong with either the New England Patriots or Minnesota Vikings here. I chose the Patriots because they went 3-1 without Tom Brady.

Obviously, the counter-argument to that could be the Vikings have gone undefeated while transitioning to a completely new starting quarterback, Sam Bradford, beat the Tennessee Titans in Week 1 with Shaun Hill under center and have lost Adrian Peterson to injury.

So take your pick as to whom you feel is the NFL's top team. I find it hard to bet against Bill Belichick, but the Vikings have an excellent defense, and Bradford has played the best football of his NFL career this season. Certainly, the Patriots and Vikings look like the NFL's top two teams at the moment.

The Atlanta Falcons are rising up the board, however. Traveling to Denver and leaving with a win against the vaunted Broncos defense is no small task. It was just Denver's fifth home loss since the start of the 2013 season, including the postseason.

Yes, the Broncos had to start rookie Paxton Lynch with Trevor Siemian injured. But Atlanta still managed 372 total yards of offense, including 122 on the ground, against Denver's excellent defense.

The Falcons, to this point in the season, appear to have football's most balanced offense. They lead the NFL in passing yards per game (333.4), are sixth in rushing yards per game (124.0) and lead the NFL in points per contest (35.0).

Matt Ryan (1,740 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, two interceptions) has been nearly flawless, Julio Jones has been the NFL's best receiver—with all apologies to Antonio Brown—and Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman have been the NFL's best one-two combo at running back.

Certainly, that balance has head coach Dan Quinn quite pleased.

“We have different guys that can get involved in the pass game and different guys that can get involved in the run game," he said after the win over Denver, per D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "We know the different matchups each week, and sometimes you get an open way. But I think it’s the balance—the tights ends, the receivers that get involved as well.”

Of course, Atlanta started 5-0 last year before slumping to an 8-8 record. So why should fans be confident the 2016 version of the Falcons won't relapse as well?

"It’s a different group," Quinn noted. "We are mentally tougher than what we were."

We'll certainly find out.

After that, a number of contenders come in with just one loss. The Denver Broncos still appear to be among the NFL's elite, while Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers have continued to look sharp. Ben Roethlisberger and Pittsburgh's offense will keep them in the running for a Super Bowl, while the Seattle Seahawks should come off their bye week healthier than they've been all season—a major plus for the 3-1 team.

The Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles have impressed with rookie quarterbacks under center, while the Oakland Raiders have quietly gone 4-1 behind an explosive offense (third in yards per game, fifth in points per game) and an opportunistic defense (10 takeaways).

After that, things get a bit muddled.

I think the Panthers, Arizona Cardinals and Cincinnati Bengals are better than their records suggest and will rebound. The Buffalo Bills have impressed me with wins over the Patriots and Los Angeles Rams. I think when you look at this season, there have been two great teams, eight good teams, eight poor teams, one horrendous team (sorry, Cleveland) and 13 teams that are pretty average right now and difficult to project going forward.

After five games, we have a decent idea of what most teams are working with this year. Of course, the Falcons started last year 5-0 and went 3-8 down the stretch. Likewise, the Seahawks started 2-4 last year before going 8-2 to close out the year. 

We've learned a lot about this season after five weeks. But we hardly know anything yet.

 

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.