NFL Power Rankings Week 5: Three Top 10 Teams Sure to Fall

A quarter of the NFL season is over, and a few of the teams that we thought would be excellent have taken a hit (Philadelphia and Atlanta), while other teams are plugging along in bland mediocrity (Dallas and Chicago).

Another handful of teams had been forecast to be wretched and the past four games have proven that to be the case (Indianapolis and Miami).

But what Top 10 teams from the Power Rankings are headed for a fall this week?

The Houston Texans Will Fall to the Motivated Raiders This Week

History tells us that the Texans are not to be trusted. The past couple of years Houston has gotten off to a quick start after being trumped up as an up-and-coming team, only to falter half-way through the season.

This year the path to their first-ever playoff appearance seems clear and easy. Peyton Manning is sidelined and the Indianapolis Colts are a shadow of the team that they were with him at the helm. The Jacksonville Jaguars are clearly not a threat. Only the newly invigorated Tennessee Titans seem to stand in the way of the Texans playoff aspirations.   

But I, for one, don't think that the Texans have turned the corner to become an upper echelon team yet.

The Texans beat up on two of the dregs of the NFL in Indianapolis and Miami in Week 1 and 2 , then lost a shootout to New Orleans before grinding to a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week.  

Houston is currently ranked tenth in the NFL for both offense and defense and they've won both blow-outs (against Indianapolis) and tight games (against Pittsburgh).

Their match-up this week is a hungry team that is better than its 2-2 record would say, however. The Oakland Raiders have a brutal rushing attack led by Darren McFadden.

The Texans have improved greatly on defense, but they haven't played a top-tier running team yet.

I expect this to be a fairly low-scoring affair. The Texans weren't able to put up bundles of points last week and the Raiders have a good enough defense to keep Matt Schaub bottled up. Arian Foster will get his yards, but I anticipate a stumble against an Oakland team that needs to keep pace with the San Diego Chargers in the AFC West.

The Tennessee Titans and Matt Hasselbeck Are Headed for a Let Down

The Titans and the Steelers have a whole pint of bad blood between them. They are taking all those memories to a show-down at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh this Sunday.

Matt Hasselbeck has played out of his mind to lead the Titans to a 3-1 record. Of those three victories, only their drubbing of the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2 ranks as an impressive (and complete) victory.

They squeaked by the unimpressive Denver Broncos in Week 3 and beat up on the punchless Cleveland Browns last week.

Most damning for the Titans is their Week 1 loss to the aimless Jacksonville Jaguars who were led by Luke McCown (of all people) at quarterback.

I expect the Steelers to come alive at home this week. Their passing defense is tops in the NFL and they are a better offensive team than they've shown to this point.

The Titans running game has yet to come fully uncorked, and the Steelers will be primed to stop them for yet another week.

The Buffalo Bills Will Come Fully Back to Earth Against the Desperate Eagles

The Buffalo Bills are a great story so far this season. A surprising 3-0 start keyed by an explosive offense, gritty comebacks and tough defense gave way to a humbling loss to the Cincinnati Bengals last week.

This week the Bills are up against the Philadelphia Eagles, a team laden with talent that at 1-3 is desperate to claw their way back into respectability.

The Eagles quarterback Michael Vick said earlier this week that the "Dream Team" concept is dead. This new seriousness of purpose will serve the Eagles well as they attempt to keep up with the Giants and the Redskins in the NFC East.

The Bills showed last week that they couldn't handle success in losing to a team with a rookie quarterback and a young, inexperienced defense. A few chinks in the Bills' armor has been exposed, particularly in their passing offense (which never gained any traction against the Bengals) and their running defense (which was ripped up by Cedric Benson).

This week against the Eagles, they'll find that their early success won't translate into a victory against a team determined to turn their season around.