NFL Power Rankings: Buffalo Bills and Teams Who Will Prove To Be Pretenders

Each and every week experts look to separate contenders from pretenders.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are one of the teams who were believed to be contenders, but they proved the world wrong last week against the San Francisco 49ers and we shouldn't expect things to change this week.

The Bucs will only reinforce that notion this week, while the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys will quickly enter the pretender category.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

If the Bucs didn't convince you last week that they are pretenders, they will this week when they get demolished by the New Orleans Saints at home.

LeGarrette Blount is injured and will likely miss the game according to Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times.

The Bucs defense couldn't slow down Alex Smith last week, so matters are only going to get worse against the New Orleans Saints.

The Bucs will likely be 3-3 after this week, and will have officially proven to be pretenders after getting demolished by the Saints.

Buffalo Bills

Stop, don't close the page. Hear this one out.

The Bills are 4-1, they are tied for the division lead in the AFC East, but they are not contenders.

Defense wins championships, and the Bills don't have that. They have the 26th-ranked pass defense and the 29th-ranked rush defense.

Critics of this may argue that they are cutting it and can only get better from here, but that's not true. They are making a living on interceptions and turnovers, but they won't be able to keep that up all year. They aren't creating these turnovers; they have simply been the beneficiary of teams self-imploding.

They have just five sacks all season, and are not getting any pressure on the quarterback.

To make matters worse, Ryan Fitzpatrick is being overhyped. He has thrown for over 300 yards just once, and that was against the worst pass defense in the NFL, the New England Patriots. In his last three outings, he has just three touchdowns and three interceptions. Adding to that, he has yet to complete a pass attempt of greater than 30 yards this season.

Their record indicates a contender, but in actuality, they are pretenders. 

Dallas Cowboys

If you didn't want to close the page when you saw the Bills on here, you might want to now. However, there is a reason they are on this list.

They are a couple plays away from being 4-0, but at the same time they are a couple plays away from being 0-4.

The inconsistency with the Cowboys makes them difficult to predict, and if they lose this week, they will fall to 2-3. This is the Cowboys' chance to prove they are contenders against the New England Patriots, but they will disappoint.

You win football games by being able to run the ball at the end of games, however, the Cowboys can't do that.

They have seventh-worst rushing attack in the NFL, and Tony Romo is a ticking time bomb in the pocket.

Luckily for the Cowboys they may be able to sneak into the playoffs due to their extremely soft schedule down the stretch, but they will prove to be pretenders with a loss to the Patriots this week, and with another loss in two weeks in Philadelphia.

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