NFL Power Rankings Week 5: Which Surprising Teams Are Falling Fast?

The 2011 NFL season has been all about surprises, both good and bad. We're still barely a month in, yet perception and reality have already begun to align more properly for teams across the league. The picture will certainly clear up as the season goes on, once teams in the stratosphere come back down to Earth and those in the dumps climb back to the surface.

So which fast-starting squads are for real and which ones are destined to drop? Read on to find out!

Philadelphia Eagles

Nobody would've been surprised by the Eagles had they finished Week 4 at 4-0. Philadelphia had as overloaded a bandwagon as that of any team coming into the 2011 thanks to an historic haul in free agency and a talented, dynamic offense led by the likes of Michael Vick, LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson.

Then, after blowing out the still-winless Rams in Week 1, the Eagles stumbled to three consecutive defeats, first in Atlanta and then at home against the Giants and the 49ers.

This Sunday's loss to San Francisco has a particular sting to it, seeing as how Philly had a 23-3 lead midway through the third quarter and promptly gave up three touchdowns to a team whose offense had found the end zone just six times in the previous three games.

Meanwhile, the Eagles' own offense continues to struggle, particularly on the ground and in pass protection (read: offensive line stinks). Vick was hit four times, sacked twice and hurried a ton but still managed to throw for 416 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another 75 yards, largely because he's Michael Vick.

Meanwhile, McCoy and Ronnie Brown combined for just 33 rushing yards on 12 carries, with Brown adding a fumble in the second quarter to go along with Jeremy Maclin's crucial giveaway near the end of the fourth quarter.

Next up, the Eagles will fly to Buffalo to play a Bills team that's shown that it, too, can handle double-digit deficits quite well, thank you very much.

Buffalo Bills

Speaking of the Bills, they finally fell prey to their own defensive ineptitude in a 23-20 loss to the Bengals in Cincinnati.

Realistically speaking, Buffalo probably should lost this game by a much wider margin and would have had it not been for the giving spirit of Andy Dalton, who threw two picks and completed only half of his passes.

Still, the Bengals racked up 458 yards, including 171 yards rushing.

On the flip side, Buffalo's vaunted offense got its first test of the season in Cincy and neither failed miserably nor passed with flying colors. If anything, the Bills looked much more like last year's unit, which ranked 25th in the NFL in total yards and 28th in points.

The Bills still sit atop the AFC East at 3-1, but will need to pick it up on defense if they are to avoid a precipitous drop back to the bottom of the barrel.

Cincinnati Bengals

This will sound strange, but you could make a case that the Bengals should be 4-0.

Sandwiched between wins over the Browns and Bills on Cincy's resume are losses to Denver (by two points) and the 49ers (by five points).

In essence, then, all that stands between Marvin Lewis' team and a perfect record is a touchdown.

Realistically, that's not really the case and, if anything, the Bengals are lucky to have as many wins as they do at present. Their win against Buffalo was well deserved, as they outplayed the Bills on both sides of the ball quite handily, though they still only triumphed by three points. Their Week 1 victory in Cleveland was as fluky as any this season, with backup Bruce Gradkowski and running back Cedric Benson leading their team to two fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull out a big win on the road.

Then again, Cincy could've easily beaten San Fran had rookie quarterback Andy Dalton not tossed away two key interceptions late in the fourth quarter.

All told, the jury's still out on the Bengals. A win in Jacksonville this weekend won't confirm much either way, though a loss would clearly show that Cincy still has a ways to go to right itself in the wake of Carson Palmer's forced retirement.

Oakland Raiders

I like what the Raiders have done this season, I really do. I love their ground game, which sports the league's leading rusher (Darren McFadden) in support of the league's leading rushing attack. I really like their receiving corps, which is chock-full of young, speedy athletes like Denarius Moore and Jacoby Ford.

On the flip side, I'm not such a big fan of their defense, which has given up the second-most points and fourth-most yards of any unit in the NFL. Nor do I care for Jason Campbell, who threw two picks and fumbled once in a 31-19 loss to the Patriots on Sunday.

What really worries me, though, is Oakland's schedule, at least for Week 5, with a trip to Houston on tap. The Texans look like the real deal after a close loss to the Saints in Week 3 and a big win over the Steelers in Week 4. Houston sports an offense comparable to Oakland's but comes packaged with a much better defense.

The Raiders still have what it takes to win the AFC West. They just won't look like it at Reliant Stadium on Sunday.

New York Giants

The Giants' 3-1 record wouldn't be such a surprise if it weren't for the injury bug that crawled into the team's locker room over the summer and hasn't left since. From rookies (Prince Amukamara and Marvin Austin) to seasoned veterans (Osi Umenyiora, Terrell Thomas, Justin Tuck, Domenik Hixon, Hakeem Nicks, etc.), nobody in New York has been safe.

Yet, the G-Men have persisted, marching to three straight wins since a disappointing loss to the Redskins in Week 1. Big Blue has shown some disconcerting vulnerability, though, especially against the lowly Cardinals. New York surrendered 156 rushing yards and needed a fourth-quarter comeback to pull out a 31-27 victory against one of the worst teams in the league.

Realistically, the Giants shouldn't have too many problems with the Seahawks at home in Week 5, though their most recent performance in Arizona was reason enough to give pause when considering whether or not they're ready to run away with the NFC East just yet. As bad as Seattle is, Eli Manning and Company will need more than just 57 rushing yards combined out of Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs if they're going to move to 4-1.

Current NFL Power Rankings

Josh Martin's Week 4 NFL Power Rankings

1. Green Bay Packers

2. New Orleans Saints

3. Detroit Lions

4. New England Patriots

5. Houston Texans

6. Baltimore Ravens

7. New York Giants

8. Buffalo Bills

9. San Diego Chargers

10. Washington Redskins

11. Tennessee Titans

12. Pittsburgh Steelers

13. Dallas Cowboys

14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

15. San Francisco 49ers

16. Oakland Raiders

17. New York Jets

18. Atlanta Falcons

19. Cleveland Browns

20. Chicago Bears

21. Philadelphia Eagles

22. Cincinnati Bengals

23. Carolina Panthers

24. Denver Broncos

25. Seattle Seahawks

26. Kansas City Chiefs

27. Jacksonville Jaguars

28. Arizona Cardinals

29. Minnesota Vikings

30. Miami Dolphins

31. St. Louis Rams

32. Indianapolis Colts

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