NFL Power Rankings Week 6: AFC North Reigns
Another week of exciting football has come and gone ladies and gentlemen, and here we have another Tuesday morning Power Rankings for you.
We have seen teams scrape by for wins, finally break through for their first win, and doom themselves with penalties this week. And, thanks to the Colts, we are already without an undefeated football team.
So, after a week of heads butting and teams fighting, here are your Week 6 Power Rankings.
32. Carolina Panthers
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The only thing that is surprising about the Panthers this season is that there is a team that is worse than them in the passing game.
The quarterback tandem of Jimmy Clausen and Matt Moore is putting up numbers that make me think I could do at least as good as they are.
Clausen has a passer rating of 52.2, while Moore is sitting at a measly 33.3.
If Clausen isn't careful he is going to end up having a season comparable to Jamarcus Russel or, even worse, Ryan Leaf. However, he would probably have to actually try to be terrible to make his rating drop below 40.
31. Buffalo Bills
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The Bills finally had another game where they didn't look like a bunch of guys in a pickup football game at Thanksgiving.
Ryan Fitzpatrick put up numbers that a real quarterback should put up, and for that they have earned the number 31 spot, rather than 32.
The bad news is they still lost, and in reality, it doesn't seem like a win is likely until Week 10 against the Lions and Week 14 against Cleveland. And even then it still is going to be tough to get a win.
Their best bet at winning a game is to hope that Fitzpatrick is actually turning into an NFL quarterback.
30. San Fransisco 49ers
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The perpetual Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde act that San Fransisco is trotting out onto the field each week is starting to turn good, and they should eventually break through with their first win.
They pushed Philadelphia to the brink Sunday night, but just couldn't finish them off in one of the strangest performances by a quarterback in recent memory.
Alex "I-haven't-met-a-receiver-I-can't-overthrow" Smith opened the game with a strong starting drive and then followed with a horrible second, third and early fourth quarters, which included two interceptions and a fumble.
After three straight incompletions and the 49ers looking at a 14-point hole, the crowd pleaded for David Carr to come in.
Smith came back out to lead the offense on two straight touchdown drives to get within three, only to uncork an ugly interception due to a miscommunication on a route with Michael Crabtree to end the game.
Their next two weeks include games against Oakland and Carolina, so a win should be in their immediate future, barring another unlucky series of events.
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29. Cleveland Browns
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Thankfully for the Browns, they were able to hold off Cincinnati last week to get a precious win, with wins most likely being few and far between for this Cleveland team.
Josh Cribbs has not been himself and Seneca Wallace is playing pretty okay, but the Browns are a team that is just mired in mediocrity for the time being.
They lost Sunday to an Atlanta team that is one of the best in football, and had a pretty good showing, with Wallace posting a 124 passer rating and looking deadly accurate.
Things are looking not horrible for the Browns, but they aren't looking great either.
28. Detroit Lions
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Detroit absolutely drubbed St. Louis on Sunday, putting up a 44-6 beatdown on a shaky Rams team.
Shaun Hill looked like a good quarterback for the first time all season, and it was the first game that he started in which he wasn't forced to pass the ball 40 times.
Jahvid Best is turning into a big time pass threat out of the flat and in play action, but he hasn't quite gotten his run game established yet.
The defense also had a good game, allowing only six points, well below their 26.5 point average coming into the game.
If anything, the future looks bright for the Lions, and maybe a winning season awaits in a few years. For now, though, it's going to be more of the same old, same old.
27. St. Louis Rams
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What a difference a week makes.
Last Sunday, the St. Louis defense was absolutely shutting down Seattle, allowing only three points. This week, they gave up an unfathomable 44 points to a weak Detroit offense.
Quarterback Sam Bradford has put together a few decent weeks, but otherwise he has been pretty bad, sitting at a 66.5 passer rating and a 3:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
This is not a good formula for success in St. Louis.
26. Minnesota Vikings
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Minnesota is fading faster than Brett Favre's reputation.
With a chance to turn around their recent misfortune in New York this week, the Vikings failed in a miserably cold and rainy night that could signal the beginning of the end of their playoff hopes—and Favre's career.
Favre ended the game with a pick-six to add to his career total and achieved the career record for fumbles with 162, passing Warren Moon.
Things are definitely starting to look bleak in Minnesota.
25. Dallas Cowboys
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Right now, the only thing keeping the Dallas Cowboys from winning is the Dallas Cowboys.
Dallas committed an atrocious 12 penalties for 133 yards on Sunday, including an excessive celebration penalty that led to Dallas kicking off from their own 15, leading to a huge return by Marc Mariani and an eventual touchdown by Chris Johnson.
Three of Tennessee's touchdown scoring drives were affected by Dallas penalties. The game winner, the opening drive that included two pass interference penalties by Mike Jenkins, and a hands to the face penalty that erased a Titan punt and allowed them to regroup and score.
Dallas also allowed six sacks on Tony Romo, who threw three interceptions.
24. Seattle Seahawks
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With wins over San Francisco and San Diego, who keep looking weaker, and losses to Denver and St. Louis, who keep looking worse, Seattle seems like a worse team without even playing a game this week.
The Seahawks are reliant on a too-old Matt Hasselbeck and a too-inexperienced Justin Forsett to run their offense, with a defense that is seemingly incapable of slowing down any quarterback. That is not a good formula for a successful football team.
Fortunately for them, they play in the NFC West, a division in which the teams are a combined 7-12, which means that is is truly anybody's division to win.
23. Oakland Raiders
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Everything is looking good for Oakland this week. They beat division rivals San Diego on Sunday and are tied for second in the AFC West. (So what if it's a three-way tie?)
The rushing tandem of Darren McFadden and Michael Bush is running the ball with great gusto, and the defense is holding teams under 200 passing yards per game.
They are still horribly inept at stopping the run game, giving up nearly 150 yards per contest, and are moving on from the JaMarcus Russel Era with a slightly less sucky Jason Campbell/Bruce Gradkowski Era.
They played well Sunday, and have a chance to be a .500 team this late in the season for the first time since their Super Bowl-losing season of 2002 with the 49ers coming to town this weekend.
22. Cincinnati Bengals
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Cincinnati has had a tough two weeks, losing to Cleveland by three two weeks ago, and now losing by three to Tampa Bay, a team that has fed on bottom feeders.
Carson Palmer has looked just a bit better than awful, and has shown no signs of returning to the form that he was in before he tore a ligament in his elbow in 2008.
The Bengals have the weapons on offense necessary to make another run at the postseason this year, but they have been unable to put them all together when necessary.
They'll use a much-needed bye week next week to recoup and reevaluate their game plan before heading into a matchup with Atlanta in Week 7.
21. San Diego Chargers
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Despite quarterback Phillip Rivers passing for well over 400 yards against the Raiders on Sunday, the Chargers still find themselves on the sad side of .500.
They are a strange team, in that they rank first in passing offense, 12th in rushing, third in pass defense and seventh in rush defense, yet they are still 2-3.
They have alternated weeks of slip-ups and gaffes, leading to losses to Kansas City, Seattle and Oakland, with weeks of pure domination, with wins over Jacksonville an Atlanta.
At some point they should put it all together, and they should rise up the rankings and to the top of the AFC West, but for now they are a puzzling team.
20. Denver Broncos
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Although Kyle Orton is emerging as a good passer this season, Denver is not looking too good as a team.
They have lost to good teams in Indiana and Baltimore, and have beaten some okay teams in Tennessee and Seattle, but they are flecked with problems all over.
They are dead last in the league in rushing. Their top three backs, Knowshon Moreno, Correll Buckhalter and Laurence Maroney are averaging a pitiful 2.2 yards per carry. They may be better off inserting Tim Tebow in the backfield to see if he can do any better.
Until they find a run game, there is no way Denver can hope to win their division unless Kyle Orton turns into Peyton Manning.
19. Miami Dolphins
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After consecutive divisional losses to the Jets and Patriots, the bye week could not have come any sooner for the Dolphins.
They started the season with two mediocre wins, over Buffalo by five points and Minnesota by four.
Despite his recent implosion against New England, quarterback Chad Henne has gone from being seemingly inept to ... well ... I guess it would be rather ept.
He has posted pretty good numbers, along with a good rushing game from Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, but the Dolphins have not been able to overcome turnovers and mental lapses to convert their numbers into wins.
18. Arizona Cardinals
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The Arizona Cardinals should rename themselves the Bizarro-Chargers.
Where the Chargers are ranked in or near the top 10 both offensively and defensively and are unable to string together wins, the Cardinals are ranked 26th or worse in passing and rushing, both offense and defense, yet are unable to string together losses.
They do have a few measly wins over Oakland and St. Louis, but their win over New Orleans this weekend was pretty much stunning.
They shouldn't be able to keep up this pace much longer, but who knows, stranger things have happened.
17. Tennessee Titans
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Tennessee is tied for first in the AFC South. Unfortunately, they are tied with everybody for that lead.
After having a win in Dallas handed to them on a silver platter, they should be thankful for that, considering that they are in what looks to be the toughest division in the NFL.
Vince Young has been ugly at times, but overall he has been a productive quarterback who should be able to lead the team for the rest of the season. Plus, they still have Chris Johnson, who was finally able to find his stride against Dallas with 131 yards rushing.
16. Jacksonville Jaguars
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Jacksonville has a struggling passing game that is being bolstered up by a booming running game.
Thanks to their near 150-yard-per-game rushing attack, Jacksonville is sitting pretty at 3-2 in a pretty tough AFC South division, where every win will be tough to come by.
And in a tough division where every win is so difficult, their win last week over the Colts was an infinitely valuable one.
If they want to be able to contend for the division, however, the passing game must get on track.
15. New Orleans Saints
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The Saints are looking nothing like the team that won the Super Bowl a year ago.
The teams they have beat have a combined one win, and each of those wins have been by five points or fewer.
Drew Brees is doing what Drew Brees does, being deadly accurate and effective, but the Saints running game has just looked horrible this year, averaging only 75 yards a game, while their defense is letting up nearly 120 yards on the ground per game.
Eventually this team will either take a definitive downturn, which could have started with the loss Sunday to Arizona, or they could completely recuperate, considering their schedule is not too difficult throughout the rest of the season.
14. Philadelphia Eagles
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Thankfully for Philadelphia, the quarterback turmoil that they should be having isn't happening.
Twice they have had to replace an injured starter with another quarterback, and both times the fill-in has done a great job.
Kevin Kolb took over Sunday against San Francisco, and in his first start since Week 1 he pulled off an impressive win, with a passer rating of 103.3.
They also have the ever-impressive LeSean McCoy, who, even with broken ribs, had 92 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's win.
The question of whether the offensive line can be good enough still stands, however, as Kolb was hit five times and sacked four times on Sunday.
13. Green Bay Packers
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Green Bay lost more than just the game to Washington on Sunday.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers went down with a concussion and could possibly miss his first game since taking over as starting QB in 2008. Jermichael Finley, the tight end with the fifth-most receiving yards in the NFL, also went down with what is being reported as a torn meniscus, and he will definitely miss time.
Linebacker Nick Barnett, safety Derrick Martin and tight end Donald Lee are also hobbled, and all will miss multiple weeks.
The Packers have a long way to go to reassemble their team after a week that devastated them in more ways than just another number in the loss column.
12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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I can't find it in myself to give Tampa any love.
They have lost their only real test so far to Pittsburgh, while feeding off the bottom third of the NFL.
Their wins came against Cleveland, Carolina and now this week Cincinnati.
They have a good pass defense, but otherwise they are mediocre at best everywhere else.
If they pull off a win next week against New Orleans, then I may start to turn, but they have done nothing that impressive so far this season.
11. Washington Redskins
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Washington has found ways to win games, and have done it with an inconsistent Donovan McNabb and a weak running combo.
McNabb has only one game so far this season in which he has posted a passer rating above 80, and that was in the Week 2 overtime loss to Houston, where his rating was 119.
While statistically he has been no better than Jason Campbell was last year, McNabb's best quality this year has been the calm atmosphere that he has created on the team, something that was never really there with Campbell.
Washington has a game next week under the bright Sunday night lights against the Colts that will show the true mettle of this team.
10. Indianapolis Colts
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The Colts proved that, in a rare week in which Peyton Manning doesn't look superhuman, they can win without their "laser rocket-armed" quarterback playing like a monster.
Manning had a rare touchdownless game this week, and the Colts still upended the NFL's last unbeaten team.
Indy is still pretty crappy at stopping the opposing run game, and don't have much of one to speak of themselves, but as long as they have Peyton Manning, they should win the division.
9. Houston Texans
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The Houston pass defense has given up a ridiculous 730 yards and six touchdowns to quarterbacks named Manning this season.
Those numbers should make Archie want to lead a team into Houston guns-a-blazin'.
Thankfully for Houston, they went 1-1 against those Mannings who actually did play against them, but it does leave a huge question for the fading Texans.
Can they grab a playoff spot while allowing nearly 330 passing yards per game?
It seems impossible, considering nine of their last 11 games are against teams who are either leading or tied for the lead in their division. Okay, so I'm cheating there, as Houston is tied with everyone in their division for the lead, but their schedule is still as tough as any for the rest of the season.
8. Kansas City Chiefs
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Kansas City has finally fallen back down to earth with a game against a playoff-quality team.
Their superior running game, headlined by Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones, had been able to prop up the lackluster passing game led by Matt Cassel against the likes of San Diego, Cleveland and San Francisco, but it didn't work against the Colts.
The road ahead will be tough for the Chiefs, and, given the teams that they have played, it is impossible to tell which direction their season will go in from here.
7. New York Giants
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New York has shaken off their rough start and come roaring back to the top of the NFC East.
An easy opening week win against Carolina, followed by two convincing losses to the Colts and Titans, left the Giants shaking their heads.
But they have beat top-tier teams in Chicago and Houston the past two weeks, showing that they can still party with the big boys.
It seems as if little bro Eli is doing his best Peyton impersonation, and if it weren't for the eight interceptions he has thrown, he would be a top-five quarterback.
They also have a deadly defense, allowing a total of only 244 yards per game, completely baffling Houston and Chicago the past two weekends.
6. New England Patriots
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Right now the only thing that can slow the Patriots down is if they happen to get tangled up in Tom Brady's hair.
The departure of Randy Moss may raise a few questions, but he has not done as much for the team this year as he has in years past.
They have been good enough running and passing the ball so far this season, and they showed last week that their defense is nothing to scoff at, either.
They should have a path to a playoff spot or even another division title with the way they are playing as of late.
5. Chicago Bears
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The Bears could not get Jay Cutler back any faster.
In what should forever be known as the worst non-bad weather game for quarterbacks in the history of the NFL, the Bears QBs piled up 29 net yards (Carolina had more than double that at 62) and four interceptions.
The Bears are poised to make a statement in the division and already have a win over the biggest threat to them against Green Bay.
As long as they don't have to rely on a quarterback other than Jay Cutler to win games, they should be fine.
4. Atlanta Falcons
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Matt Ryan is having an acceptable season in Atlanta, and the running back combo of Michael Turner and Jason Snelling has been remarkable.
Turner and Snelling are averaging 133 yards per contest and are leaving defenses befuddled.
That paired with a defense that does nothing but get the job done and stop teams from scoring should be enough for Atlanta to dethrone New Orleans as NFC South Champs.
3. New York Jets
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New York just finished off another win with a last-minute interception of Brett Favre to move to 4-1 on the year.
They boast the best running game in the NFL, and the Sanchize has been okay so far at managing the game.
New York now has wins over Minnesota and each team in their division already, and the Jets are poised to keep at that pace with the reemergence of LaDainian Tomlinson and the effective running of Shonn Green.
New York will be in a tough fight with New England for the rest of the year for the division title, but they should have no problem making the playoffs with the way they are playing.
2. Pittsburgh Steelers
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Pittsburgh is sitting pretty coming off their bye week for the return of Ben Roethlisberger.
They have won all of their games on the backs of their defense and have had horrible production from the quarterback spot so far this season. It is scary that they are 3-1 at this point.
The return of Big Ben should only make the team better and ready to make a run at another AFC North title.
1. Baltimore Ravens
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Baltimore has two of the most impressive wins coming into Week 6, with victories over the Jets and Steelers, and should be an indisputable number one.
Their only slip-up came in Week 2 to a puzzling Cincinnati team, a game they lost by five points.
They have had adequate production from Joe Flacco and Ray Rice, but their games have been won on the defensive side of the ball.
They are allowing a mere 257 total yards per game, and if they keep that up, they should have no problem earning a playoff spot.
They do, however, have the Steelers looming, and securing the division will be no easy task, but it will be entertaining.
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