NFL Power Rankings Week 6: New York Jets Rise, Minnesota Vikings Tumble
After another week of NFL action we're going back to the power ranking to find out where each team stacks up in the league.
There were plenty of big games this weekend and it's flipped how we've been looking at the league and some of the teams we saw as favorites aren't who we thought they were. I've broken down each team and if you agree or disagree, leave it in the comments and we can figure it out.
Nos. 21-32: Bottom of The Barrel
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32: Buffalo—I'm just not sure if they'll ever get a win.
31: Carolina—If you can't beat Chicago with Todd Collins under center, you're in trouble
30: San Francisco—Mike Singletary's job is evidently safe, for now.
29: Detroit—A win is a win, but the Lions beat the Rams. Keep that in mind.
28: Oakland—The Raiders finally beat the Chargers. Finally.
27: Cleveland—Colt McCoy may have to start against Pittsburgh. That will be ugly.
26: Seattle—They didn't lose, but the Seahawks' resume isn't stellar either.
25: St. Louis—Losing Mark Clayton will be a big blow to Sam Bradford's development.
24: Tampa Bay—The Bucs did a great job of further exposing Carson Palmer's shortcomings.
23: Arizona—Max Hall just beat the defending champs. Let that sink in.
22: Denver—A balanced offense would have beaten Baltimore. Take notes Josh McDaniels.
21: Minnesota—How long until there's finger pointing in the locker room?
No. 20: Dallas
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The Cowboys just cannot get out of their own way. Stupid penalties and untimely plays just doomed Dallas against Tennessee on Sunday.
Dallas gave the Titans plenty of chances to win the game and Chris Johnson and company took advantage en route to a big road win. Now the Cowboys have to rebound quickly yet again to save their season.
I'm not sure that's going to happen in Big D this year.
No. 19: Cincinnati
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Remember those Bengals Super Bowl hopes? Well, that's over. Carson Palmer is death to the Bengals offense and now Cincy has lost to Cleveland and Tampa Bay in back-to-back weeks.
That's inexcusable, even if parity is at an all-time high in the NFL. Palmer has been brutal all year long and throws interception after interception. At what point does he get more of the blame for the situation in Cincinnati?
It has to be soon, right? The Bengals may want to look for a new quarterback after the season.
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No. 18: San Diego
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I know the Chargers usually start the season slow, but at some point, it's time to worry about San Diego this year.
Losses to Oakland and Kansas City has hurt the Chargers' standing in the AFC West, and while by no means does it mean the Chargers are dead in the water, it does mean that San Diego has to start stringing together wins.
This type of inconsistency is death to a team's season.
No. 17: Washington
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The Redskins just beat the Eagles and the Packers in back-to-back weeks and now lead the NFC East, which is probably the last thing that anyone would have expected.
Donovan McNabb had a big game on Sunday and had to throw nearly 50 times to get the job done. That's not a recipe for long-term success, but beating Green Bay is a big win, even if the Packers are pretty dinged up as of late.
We'll see how Washington holds up as the season progresses.
No. 16: Jacksonville
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It's two wins in a row for the Jaguars, even if the last game was against the hapless Buffalo Bills.
Jacksonville is tied for the lead in the AFC South and has a game in hand against the Colts. I don't necessarily believe in David Garrard, but he's done a good enough job under center to keep the Jaguars' offense effective.
I'm still not sold on the Jags with how bad they've looked at times this season. I'm in wait and see mode.
No. 15: NY Giants
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The Giants ripped the Texans apart from start to finish on Sunday. They pressured Matt Schaub, they stuffed Arian Foster and they took advantage of an awful Houston secondary to a big win.
Hakeem Nicks had a monster day and showed why the Giants spent a first round pick on him two years ago. The Giants are 3-2 and are tied with the Redskins for the top spot in the NFC East. New York is still very much in the hunt, even after a ton of controversy around the team to start the season.
Maybe Tom Coughlin didn't lose control of the team after all.
No. 14: Miami
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The Dolphins are 2-0 on the road and 0-2 at home. The good news is that Miami is traveling to Green Bay this week to take on the banged-up Packers.
The bad news is that you have to protect your home field if you want to be a playoff team in the NFL. Chad Henne has been inconsistent and needs to progress as a passer if the Dolphins have any hope of playing late into December.
Sadly, we haven't seen that yet. There's still way too many bad mistakes. I'm not sure if Henne is the future in Miami.
No. 13: Philadelphia
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The Eagles got a good road win against a San Francisco team desperate for a win. Sure, they did everything in their power to blow the game, but they got the win and that's all that matters.
Kevin Kolb was very effective in his first start since Michael Vick went down and if he continues to play that way, we could be talking about another quarterback controversy in Philadelphia. I sure hope we won't have to hear about it, but I have a feeling we will.
The Eagles are still very alive in the NFC East race, but do have to make up ground on the Redskins.
No. 12: Tennessee
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The Titans got a huge win against the Cowboys on the road and helped put Dallas in a deeper hole to start the season.
Chris Johnson looked like Chris Johnson again and Vince Young made plays in the passing game because his coaches actually let him loose and put him in a spot to make plays. Note to Jeff Fisher, that should be the gameplan every week. If it's not, then you must not have eyes to have seen how well it worked on Sunday.
Tennessee has a huge game against Jacksonville on Monday.
No. 11: Kansas City
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The slipper finally fell off of Kansas City on Sunday, as the Chiefs fell to the Colts in a hard-fought game. Kansas City is no fluke, the Chiefs had a chance to walk away with a win but just fell a little bit short.
The passing game has to be a big concern for the Chiefs. Matt Cassel has struggled and when he has put the ball on the money, his wideouts have dropped the ball. Kansas City may want to focus on the run and trying to gash teams with Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones as opposed to slinging it around with Cassel.
No. 10: Houston
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The Texans looked brutal this week against the Giants. They couldn't stop the pass and proved why they have the worst pass defense in the entire league. In fact, I believe that Hakeem Nicks just scored again.
Matt Schaub was a disappointment yet again for the Texans and he's had a bit of an up and down year that is symptomatic of the entire franchise. Houston is tied for the AFC South lead with a leg up on Indianapolis.
Houston needs to find some consistency though if it wants to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
No. 9: Chicago
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With Jay Cutler out with a concussion, Matt Forte stepped up and carried the Chicago offense as it beat Carolina, which is still winless.
See, Mike Martz? See what can happen when you commit to the run? I'm sure Cutler will be back next week and that he'll completely throw any idea of running the ball out the window. Either way, the Bears are 4-1 and leading the NFC North, just proving how crazy of a year this is.
No. 8: New England
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It's like the old Patriots are back. Randy Moss is gone and now Deion Branch is back with the Patriots after a trade yesterday. Is there anyway we can get Troy Brown back? What about Ty Law?
Either way, it'll be interesting to see how the Patriots come out of the bye and how Wes Welker is impacted by all of the double teams he's about to see now that Randy Moss isn't there drawing the attention of the defense.
I'm sure New England has a plan, they wouldn't have traded Moss if they didn't.
No. 7: Green Bay
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To be honest, the Packers are in a lot of trouble. Injuries have ravaged this team and now with Clay Matthews and Aaron Rodgers joining the list of injured players, this could be the start of a long stretch for Green Bay.
If those players miss any amount of time, especially Rodgers, it's going to cripple the Packers. Without Ryan Grant, the team has relied on Rodgers' arm to get them through without their best running back. Sometimes, you just have bad luck, and the Packers are finding that out the hard way.
No. 6: New Orleans
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So you're the defending Super Bowl champions and you lose to Arizona, led by rookie quarterback Max Hall? That's not a good look, New Orleans.
The Saints have not looked like the Saints for some time and while some of that has to do with injuries, especially at the running back position, they should have beaten the Cardinals. There's no excuse for losing to that team.
New Orleans needs to figure something out and quickly.
No. 5: Atlanta
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Atlanta struggled with Cleveland for a bit before finishing off the Browns with a big touchdown pass by Matt Ryan to Roddy White.
The Falcons just keep winning and they are the team that no one is talking about. With all of the big stories going on, Atlanta's hot start has gone unnoticed and I'm sure that's just the way the Falcons like it. Atlanta is leading the NFC South and has a win over the Saints already.
Look out for Atlanta.
No. 4: Indianapolis
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The Colts rebounded from a tough loss against Jacksonville to knock off undefeated Kansas City on Sunday.
It wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but a win is a win and it kept the Colts right in the thick of things in the AFC South where all four teams are at 3-2. However, losses to Houston and the Jaguars have hurt the resume.
Indianapolis has a lot of work to do going forward to make up some ground.
No. 3: NY Jets
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The Jets got another big win against Minnesota this week and have won four in a row since losing to Baltimore on opening night.
The Jets are looking like the team I thought they were coming into the season and are dominating teams on defense and made things tough for Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson all night long. New York is in control of the AFC East and look primed to make another deep playoff run.
Also, New York is doing this mostly without Darrelle Revis. Think about that.
No. 2: Pittsburgh
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The Steelers are 3-1 and Ben Roethlisberger is coming back. Adding his arm to that team and its defense is a scary, scary thought.
Pittsburgh has looked good and the running game behind Rashard Mendenhall has carried the offense. Mendenhall is only going to get more lanes to run through with the threat of Roethlisberger's arm under center. It's going to be interesting to see how Big Ben returns from his suspension and plays after the allegations against him.
For some reason, I think he's going to be effective.
No. 1: Baltimore
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After a big win against Pittsburgh, it would have been easy for Baltimore to show up uninspired and let a game against Denver slip away.
But the Ravens didn't and they dominated the Broncos en route to another win at home. Joe Flacco and Ray Rice really carried the way and the defense hassled Kyle Orton long enough for Baltimore to pull away from Denver.
Baltimore is starting to jell and its going to be dangerous from here on out.
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