NFL Power Rankings Week 5: New England Patriots and Top 3 Offenses

Offense, specifically passing, has been the theme of the NFL during the first quarter of the 2011 regular season.

Many of the teams have such superb athletes across the board on offense that it makes it near impossible to cover everyone. Either that, or no one practiced defense during the offseason.

The result is every team blowing up the scoreboard and lots of different quarterbacks throwing for over 400 passing yards in a game. Surprisingly, some teams are still finding time to run the ball.

It seems likely that defenses will continue to fine tune until they can finally get a handle on the all the offense going around the league like a plague. The Baltimore Ravens smothered the New York Jets last week, so there’s sure to be more performances like that in the future.

However, here are the three offenses that have been doing the finest job so far. You’ll notice a striking similarity between them.

3. New Orleans Saints (31.8 PPG, 454 YPG)

The New Orleans Saints rode their potent offense to Super Bowl XLIV, winning the championship in a dream year. Now, it seems as other teams have built up their offenses to match the Saints.

However, Drew Brees is still a top-three quarterback in the league. Even without Marques Colston, Brees powered his team to a win in a high-scoring game with the up-and-coming Houston Texans.

The Saints have also adopted a running committee of Pierre Thomas, Mark Ingram and Darren Sproles to give themselves all kinds of versatility with the ball. The Green Bay Packers outscored them in Week 1, or the Saints would be undefeated.

2. Green Bay Packers (37 PPG, 429.2 YPG)

Speaking of the Packers, edging out the Saints in Week 1 gives them the slight edge on this list.

Aaron Rodgers has quartered the Packers to 10 straight wins, with six coming from last year’s regular season and playoff run. The Packers have a great receiving corps, with rookie Randall Cobb slowly making a name for himself.

The rushing attack is split between James Starks and Ryan Grant, who both provide steady play for the Packers.

Also, Rodgers was personally accountable for six touchdowns last week. A performance only earning you second is a travesty, but one team has been off the charts this season.

1. New England Patriots (33.8 PPG, 507.5 YPG)

Tom Brady kicked off the 2011 regular season by throwing for 517 yards in his opening game. That’s only about 170 yards shy of how many yards Matt Cassel and Donovan McNabb have through four games.

After two games, Brady was less than a football field away from 1,000 yards. Some deflected passes in a stumble against the Buffalo Bills is not enough to sway me from choosing the New England Patriots as the No. 1 offense.

Chad Ochocinco hasn’t been effective for the Patriots, but Brady has managed with basically Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski alone. On the ground, BenJarvus Green-Ellis is showing rapid improvement and always seems to gain positive yardage.

The Patriots are the most unstoppable offense in the NFL.