NFL Power Rankings Week 6: Teams on the Rise

If you think your team is spiraling out of control, hold onto your horses.

They may be hitting their stride at the right time. Your favorite team may just be turning things around this week.

Some teams will improve dramatically in the power rankings this week, while others tanked and will fall drastically.

Which category will your favorite team fall into?

With the season nearing the halfway point, we are beginning to separate the pretenders from the contenders.

These teams are beginning to step it up at the right time and find themselves on the rise.

San Francisco 49ers

Other than the Green Bay Packers, no team in the NFL is playing as well as the San Francisco 49ers right now.

The 49ers destroyed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers two weeks ago, and went into Detroit to knock off the undefeated Lions in Week 6.

No one could have expected this coming into the season.

There are plenty of fans who thought the 49ers would have a better chance of winning the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. Instead, they are 5-1 through their first six games.

Three of the team's last four victories have come on the road, with two against teams with a winning record.

One of those teams was obviously the Lions, while the other was the Cincinnati Bengals, who are also overachieving this year.

Their other two victories came against the Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles, while their only loss on the season came in overtime against the Dallas Cowboys back in Week 2.

Their run defense has been electric, as they are giving up less than 75 yards per game on the ground. On the offensive side of the ball, they are running for over 130 yards per game.

Their secondary has performed well in the last few weeks, and the passing game has been effective enough to win.

Alex Smith is doing a solid job of managing the game, and that's all the 49ers need right now.

New York Giants

Knocking off the Buffalo Bills is going to do wonders for this football team.

The New York Giants were coming off a disappointing performance against the Seattle Seahawks and needed to bounce back in Week 6.

They did just that with a victory over the Bills on the legs of Ahmad Bradshaw.

The Giants have been waiting all season for Bradshaw to top the 100-yard mark, and he finally did in the biggest game of the season for the Giants.

They took over control of first place in the NFL East and are now a half game ahead of the Washington Redskins.

The Giants still need to tighten up their run defense, but they are starting to get healthy at the right time.

This is a very talented team that can win a lot of football games if Eli Manning can protect the football.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Wait, the Pittsburgh Steelers were supposed to be down and out.

So much for that theory, as the Steelers have run off two straight victories and look like the the defending AFC Champions.

QB Ben Roethlisberger has been a lot more consistent over the past few games, and Rashard Mendenhall just had his coming out party.

The Steelers' defense also looks like it is back to form, as they have been lights out over the past few weeks.

The team is now 4-2, and the defense is proving to be one of the best in the NFL once again. They have the No. 1 pass defense in the league, and the No. 15-ranked run defense.

They still need Big Ben to play better, and the offensive line still needs to improve, but as a whole this team is back on the rise.

Philadelphia Eagles

They are just 2-4, but that doesn't mean they can't turn things around.

They finally stopped the run against the Washington Redskins, even though the Redskins opted to run the ball just 12 times in the game.

Michael Vick finally learned to hold onto the football, and everything was clicking for the Eagles.

Well, everything was clicking in the first half.

If not for Rex Grossman morphing back into "Bad Rex," this could have been a different game, but fortunately for Eagles they came away with a victory.

The Eagles' offense is incredibly dynamic, as they boast the 10th-best passing attack and the best rushing attack in the NFL.

They still need to continue improving their defense, but the pass defense looked much improved against the Redskins.

They were exposed a bit by John Beck in the fourth quarter, but they appeared comfortable forcing the Redskins to run the clock.

This team is one of the most talented in the NFL, and if they click, they have a legitimate shot of winning the NFC East still.

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears finally righted the ship last night when they demolished the Minnesota Vikings.

The Bears are just 3-3 to this point in the season but are hoping to turn things around soon. They have two road games coming up against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Philadelphia Eagles.

Both of those games are winnable, and if the Bears can come away with consecutive victories, they will find themselves surging in the power rankings and in the standings.

The Bears simply haven't done much right to this point in the season, but they are still 3-3.

They don't have a top 20 offense or a top 20 defense, so it should be a huge surprise that they are even at .500.

That is exactly why this team should be taken seriously.

They have too much talent on both sides of the ball to keep this poor play up all year, and they finally showed what they are capable of in their demolition of the Vikings.