NFL Power Rankings: New York Giants and 3 Teams That Can Only Hurt Themselves
When it comes to public perceptions in the NFL, even winners can lose. Just ask these three teams, each of whom is unlikely to gain much traction in the power rankings with victories over terrible teams.
New York Giants
The Giants are one of the fortunate few to have a bye in Week 5...
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Wait, I'm sorry; I didn't realize that "bye week" wasn't spelled S-E-A-H-A-W-K-S.
OK, so maybe Seattle deserves more credit than it's gotten after playing the 49ers fairly tough in Week 1, sneaking by the Cardinals in Week 3 and nearly upending the Falcons in Week 4.
But that's not really much of a resume, either. Not that New York's is much better, with their three wins coming against teams with a combined record of 2-10.
As such, Big Blue can't hope to budge its way up the rankings even if it wins. The Seahawks are supposed to suck, and well, we don't know quite yet what to make of the G-Men. Eli Manning has played well, as has the defensive line, but the team's only real test, to this point, came in a 28-14 season-opening loss to the Washington Redskins.
San Diego Chargers
The typically-slow-starting Chargers got a break from the schedule-makers this year, with three of their first four games against the Vikings, the Chiefs and the Dolphins, known otherwise as the dregs of the NFL.
Those three teams have managed all of one win between them, a total to which the Broncos will add but one this week. Granted, Denver hung pretty close in each of its first three games this season before getting walloped in Green Bay by the Packers, 49-23.
And while I'm not delusional enough to think that the Bolts are anywhere near as good as the Packers are right now, they should take care of business this week at Mile High nonetheless.
If Philip Rivers and company do, in fact, find themselves short of victory (and breath) against the Broncos, you can bet they'll sink precipitously in the standings of perception.
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals are another one of these teams in the "Muddled Middle" of the NFL that nobody can seem to make sense of just yet. Cincinnati has scored surprising wins over Cleveland and Buffalo, though those victories serve as the Rust Belt bread in a, errr, "not-so-appetizing" sandwich that sports losses at Denver and at home against San Francisco as the meat.
What we do (think we) know, though, is that Cincy's defense is pretty darn good, ranking first in yards and sixth in points allowed. On the other side of the ball, rookie quarterback and jovial ginger Andy Dalton has been solid under center, supported quite nicely by the resurgent rushing of Cedric Benson.
Realistically, though, it's tough to tell what this team is truly capable of, and we won't know any better, at least in a positive sense, after the Bengals' trip to Jacksonville on Sunday. The Jaguars aren't quite as terrible as their 1-3 record might indicate, but it's not as though beating a team with a rookie QB of its own would prove that Marvin Lewis' squad is for real in 2011.
Josh Martin's Week 5 NFL Power Rankings |
3. Detroit Lions |
5. Houston Texans |
7. New York Giants |
8. Buffalo Bills |
11. Tennessee Titans |
13. Dallas Cowboys |
16. Oakland Raiders |
17. New York Jets |
18. Atlanta Falcons |
19. Cleveland Browns |
20. Chicago Bears |
22. Cincinnati Bengals |
24. Denver Broncos |
25. Seattle Seahawks |
30. Miami Dolphins |
31. St. Louis Rams |
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