NFL Power Rankings: Cleveland Browns and 3 Teams Struggling Most

While the Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings and St. Louis Rams did not enter the season as anything close to Super Bowl favorites, the three teams were primed to have good years.

Now that we're into the fifth week of the season, however, the true colors of the three squads are making themselves known. Of the three teams, the Browns have the best record, at 2-2, while the Vikings and Rams are 0-4, with a long season ahead.

Cleveland's problems stem from a stalled offense and a poor pass defense. Quarterback Colt McCoy hasn't improved from 2010 as had been hoped; instead, he's got 100 completions on the year for 984 yards, six touchdowns, three interceptions and two fumbles. In the team's Week 4 31-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans, he threw a whopping 61 pass attempts, with his longest completion going for 27 yards.

This emphasis on the pass belies issues with Cleveland's running game, which has backslid this season. Running backs Peyton Hillis and Montario Hardesty are averaging 3.6 and 3.7 yards per carry respectively, making the team 27th overall in rushing yardage.

At the same time, the Browns cannot stop the run, as evidenced by Titans running back Chris Johnson's 101-yard performance in a season where he's been held back by every other opposing defense.

This Sunday, Cleveland won't lose a game—it's their bye week—and they'll certainly need the time to regroup. In Week 6, the team travels to Oakland to face the Raiders, which means another major test for the team's poor run defense.

It could be worse, though: The Browns could be winless, like the Minnesota Vikings. They've lost three of their four games after giving up halftime leads, and in Week 4, held just a tenuous first-quarter lead against the dismal Kansas City Chiefs, who notched their first win as a result.

Their statistics show a team desperately imbalanced; the Vikings are in the bottom of the league at both passing and defending the pass, while they allow the fifth-fewest and put up the third-most rushing yards.

Those rushing numbers are attributed to one player, running back Adrian Peterson, and without him the Vikings would be the worst winless team in the NFL.

This Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals come to town, and while they're one of the most middling middle-of-the-road teams in the middle of the power rankings thus far, that makes them a better squad than Minnesota. Look for the Vikings to get—and squander—a small early lead.

But, there is a silver lining. Just as the Browns are lucky to not be the Vikings, the Vikings are lucky to not be the worst winless squad in the NFL. That dubious honor goes to the St. Louis Rams, a team once favored to dominate their weak NFC West division.

Their Week 4 loss is like a microcosm of their whole season thus far: They managed just one rushing first down against the Washington Redskins, and 172 total yards on 67 plays. Contrast that with the Redskins' 69 plays for 339 yards and you can see just how poorly the Rams played—and how little the Redskins had to do to beat them.

Quarterback Sam Bradford is averaging just 183.3 yards per game, with a 5.6 yards-per-pass average (against Washington, that average was just three yards). Even with running backs Steven Jackson and Cadillac Williams, the team is in the bottom nine in rushing yards while they are dead last in rushing yards allowed.

As you can imagine, the Rams are near the bottom in the league in terms of passing yards, but they are able to defend the pass better than they're able to do just about anything else. Sure, the team has suffered from a good deal of injures to starters, but that's not the team's biggest problem.

They need to get something going their way, and fast. Even in the NFC West, too many losses will put the postseason out of reach before the season is even halfway over.

This week, St. Louis has a bye, and they need to use that time to find ways to get all facets of their game in better working order. Considering they come off the bye to face the Green Bay Packers, and regardless of what measures they undertake in the intervening week, the Rams' troubles aren't likely fading any time soon.

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