NFL Power Rankings: Which Teams Have Fallen Most Since Week 1?

There are few things harder for an NFL writer than to put together power rankings for the first week of the season before a single game has been played.

All we can go on is what we've seen of the teams in the preseason, and what we assume we can expect based on personnel and coaching changes and training camp reports.

That's why there are teams that have both jumped and dropped significantly between the first week and the sixth week of the season. While there are a number of surprises at the top of my Week 6 power rankings, there are two that have fallen precipitously since Week 1.

The Philadelphia Eagles are clearly the one team that entered the season as postseason favorites but has become one of the league's worst. Opening the season at No. 5 on my rankings, they're now the 23rd-ranked team, with a 1-4 record on the season.

While the Eagles boast one of the most playmaker-filled rosters in the NFL, they've yet to come together as a cohesive unit. Even with the offense performing at a high level, they are still stung by major mistakes at clutch moments, and their defense is porous, especially against the run.

A major turnaround is needed for Philadelphia to salvage their season; whether this is done by roster moves or coaching changes, something significant needs to happen soon, or they'll just be another team that doesn't live up to the hype surrounding it.

The St. Louis Rams weren't faced with such high expectations as the Eagles, but they were fingered as the de facto best of the otherwise lowly NFC West, primed for a significant upturn from their 7-9 2010 season.

I fully believed the Rams were headed for a 10-6 or 11-5 season, and I put them at 14th on my initial power rankings. Now, the team is 0-4 and sits at the very bottom of my Week 6 rankings.

They've been outscored 46-113, with nearly 400 fewer total yards than their opponents through four games. And it's not looking like the team will right itself anytime soon—this week, they face the best team in the league, the 5-0 Green Bay Packers.

While a number of injuries on both sides of the ball are partly to blame for the Rams' slowest-of-the-slow starts, the rest of the team's failures are the fault of every single player on the team under-performing and committing too many errors, play after play, game after game.

The only silver lining on the dark cloud swallowing the Rams at present is that they don't take on any divisional opponents until the second half of the season.

With the NFC West still as weak as ever (save for the 4-1 San Francisco 49ers), the Rams have ample chances to improve their record.

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