NFL Power Rankings Week 6: Saints Plummet, Giants Sizzle, But Who's No. 1?
After five weeks of the 2010 NFL season, no team is perfect.
The league truly seems to have more parity than it has in quite some time, and there hasn't been a team that's distanced itself from the rest of the pack.
But that's what football is all about. The unpredictability brings a certain level of excitement to each and every game.
If teams want to continue to climb up the rankings, they have to continue to win week in and week out.
Or else.
That's why you'll see some shakeups in my Week 6 Power Rankings. Let's get at it.
No. 32-21
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32. Carolina Panthers: What do you call a team with no quarterback and no wide receivers? The Carolina Panthers.
31. Buffalo Bills: Chan Gailey said the changes in Buffalo won't happen overnight. That's the understatement of the year.
30. San Francisco 49ers: You know things are bad in San Francisco when your fans chant for David Carr.
29. Cleveland Browns: Colt McCoy won't be the answer to turning this team around, especially when he faces the Steelers in Week 6.
28. Seattle Seahawks: Tough team at home, but a totally different team on the road.
27. Detroit Lions: The Lions are a couple plays away from being 3-2, and Shaun Hill shredded the Rams.
26. Oakland Raiders: Big win against the Chargers, but a quarterback controversy is almost never a good thing.
25. St. Louis Rams: The Rams were brought back to Earth after a shellacking by the Lions.
24. Dallas Cowboys: Tony Romo throws the ball way too much.
23. Cincinnati Bengals: I feel for Bengals fans. Michael Spurlock did not catch that ball.
22. Arizona Cardinals: Got a win against the Saints, but did they really impress anyone?
21. Jacksonville Jaguars: Tied for first in the AFC South, but aren't scaring anyone.
No. 20: Minnesota Vikings
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Brett Favre and Randy Moss hooked up for Favre's 500th career touchdown pass, but the Vikings lost and fell to 1-3 on the season.
Favre did have three touchdowns, but he also completed just 14 of 34 passes. That isn't going to beat anybody, especially the Jets.
Will Favre be able to win despite all the distractions, or will the Jenn Sterger controversy cause Favre to throw more late fourth-quarter interceptions?
No. 19: Denver Broncos
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Kyle Orton continues to boggle the human mind, and Brandon Lloyd continues to save the seasons of thousands of fantasy football players.
But the Broncos are still an up-and-down team that has yet to put together back-to-back wins in 2010.
Even if Orton continues to lead the league in passing, it might not matter.
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No. 18: San Diego Chargers
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On paper, the San Diego Chargers are a very good football team.
On offense, they rank first in passing yards and 12th in rushing yards. On defense, they rank third in rushing yards allowed and seventh in passing yards allowed.
The problem is that those numbers have only translated to two wins in five games, including the team's first loss to the Raiders in the teams' last 14 games.
No. 17: Miami Dolphins
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The Dolphins had a much-needed bye in Week 5 after two straight divisional losses to the Jets and Patriots.
There is already internal talk in Miami about pulling Chad Henne, but the Dolphins run game is what has the team at just 2-2 on the season.
The once-potent duo of Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown is averaging just 107 yards per game. That has to change.
No. 16: Philadelphia Eagles
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It's hard for a team to find any type of continuity when it changes quarterbacks basically every week. That's what has happened to the Eagles.
It's been Kevin Kolb, then Michael Vick, then Kolb, then it could be Vick again this week if he's healthy enough.
Until Philadelphia's quarterback carousel stops spinning, the Eagles will continue to be just another team.
No. 15: Tennessee Titans
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Everything that the Titans do relies on Chris Johnson.
In the team's three wins, Johnson rushed for more than 100 yards and two touchdowns in each game. In Tennessee's two losses, CJ failed to top 70 yards or score a touchdown.
Vince Young has to find a way for the Titans to be more multidimensional.
No. 14: Washington Redskins
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There is absolutely nothing about the Redskins that is going to strike fear into the heart of their opponent.
Washington lacks an elite offensive playmaker, ranks 25th in the league in rushing and gives up nearly 300 passing yards per game.
But the Redskins still sit at 3-2, so that counts for something.
No. 13: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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Tampa Bay's 3-1 start has been a bit of a mirage. The Buccaneers do have three wins, but those came against Cleveland, Carolina and Cincinnati, who have a 3-12 record combined.
The lone loss for the season came against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who look like the best team in the league right now. And the win against the Bengals was a gift, courtesy of the referees.
Can Tampa Bay hang with the big boys?
No. 12: Houston Texans
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After a Week 1 victory over the Colts, the Texans bandwagon was as crowded as ever.
Four games later, Houston has been on the wrong end of two blowout losses.
The Texans have one of the best offensive trios in the league—Matt Schaub, Andre Johnson and Arian Foster—but the defense is too inexperienced.
Houston plays three rookies and two third-year players in the secondary, which is quickly becoming the Achilles heel for the Texans.
No. 11: New Orleans Saints
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The defending Super Bowl champs have struggled all season, especially in two areas: run defense and the running game.
New Orleans is 22nd in the league in rushing defense, and the offense has averaged just 75 rushing yards per game.
The Saints do have some injuries that have held them back—Darren Sharper, Tracy Porter, Reggie Bush, Pierre Thomas—but no one expected them to lose to a below-average Cardinals team with a rookie quarterback.
No. 10: Green Bay Packers
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The Packers are another team that has been bit by the injury bug, losing quarterback Aaron Rodgers to a concussion and tight end Jermichael Finley to a knee surgery.
It's unclear whether Rodgers will play in Week 6, but Finley will be out for a few weeks. If Rodgers misses any significant time, though, Green Bay will plummet down these rankings.
No. 9: New York Giants
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After the Giants' first three games, the team was in panic mode. Tom Coughlin was rumored to be on his way out, and New York looked like it was already out of the playoff hunt.
Fast-forward three weeks, and the Giants have completely turned things around. They absolutely destroyed the Bears and Titans in the last two weeks, and now sit at 3-2.
Despite the turnaround, though, Eli Manning has still struggled mightily. Yeah, he continues to pad the fantasy football stats for Hakeem Nicks, but he has also thrown just as many interceptions (8) as touchdowns.
No. 8: Kansas City Chiefs
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Much like Tampa Bay, the Chiefs got off to a hot start thanks to a weak schedule. But the Colts showed the world what Kansas City really is: a run-first team that can't win from behind.
The Chiefs may have one of the best one-two punches in the backfield with Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles, but Matt Cassel has shown that his successful season in New England was the exception rather than the rule.
We'll see how the Chiefs respond with a big game against the Texans in Week 6.
No. 7: Indianapolis Colts
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If I told you that Peyton Manning had 11 touchdowns and just two interceptions through the team's first five games, you probably would've assumed the Colts were undefeated.
But Indianapolis sits at 3-2, and 0-2 in the division, despite Manning doing his thing.
In a very crowded AFC South, every game counts. The Colts need to bounce back after losses against Houston and Jacksonville.
No. 6: Chicago Bears
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If the Bears have to rely on Caleb Hanie or Todd Collins playing quarterback, Chicago is going to plummet down this list.
But Chicago hopes to have Jay Cutler back in Week 6. If not, the team will have to rely on Matt Forte, who had a huge game this week against the Panthers and seems to be taking a liking to the Mike Martz offense.
It'll be interesting to see how Forte's role will change when Cutler returns, and whether Chicago's offensive line can keep Cutler upright for the rest of the season.
No. 5: Atlanta Falcons
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Since the Falcons' big win over the Saints, Atlanta hasn't looked all that great in any facet of the game.
The Falcons had a hard time beating the 49ers and the Browns, but the bottom line is that they got the job done.
Matt Ryan hasn't been able to get the ball into the end zone often, but the Atlanta defense continues to play just well enough for the team to win.
No. 4: New England Patriots
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Randy Moss is out, Deion Branch is back in, and the Patriots will have to win games the way they did during their Super Bowl years: by spreading the ball around.
Tom Brady still has a plethora of weapons with guys like Brandon Tate, Wes Welker, Julian Edelman and Aaron Hernandez, but how much will Moss be missed?
We'll find out this week when New England plays the Baltimore Ravens.
No. 3: Pittsburgh Steelers
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I don't think the Steelers could have asked to be in a better position after not having Ben Roethlisberger in the team's first four games.
Pittsburgh sits at 3-1 despite relying on Charlie Batch and the unproven Dennis Dixon, which doesn't bode well for the rest of the NFL now that Big Ben is back in the fold.
Roethlisberger will have a chance to get back in the groove of the offense this week against the Cleveland Browns.
No. 2: Baltimore Ravens
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The main thing that has been lacking from the Ravens the last few years is a playmaking wide receiver.
With Anquan Boldin now on board, Joe Flacco has the go-to guy he's been looking for, and Baltimore shouldn't have to strictly rely on its defense.
The fight between the Ravens and the Steelers for the AFC North title should be one of the most intriguing story lines of the season.
No. 1: New York Jets
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J-E-T-S. Jets, Jets, Jets!
I'm really not a Jets fan at all, but they have looked very good in four straight wins following a Week 1 loss to the Ravens.
But Rex Ryan's bunch will have their hands full fending off the Ravens and Steelers for home-field advantage in the AFC.
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