NFL Power Rankings: Denver Broncos and More Cellar Dwellers on the Rise

With six weeks in the books, it is starting to become very apparent which teams are elite and which are downright terrible. Even so, the season isn't even halfway done, so there is still plenty of time for these teams to prove otherwise.

It will be extremely tough for teams with one or no wins to get into playoff position, but at the very least, they can still get their seasons back to respectability. Here are three cellar-dwellers that will be on the rise following Week 7.

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns may be one of the more vanilla teams in the league, but they often prove to be a nuisance to their opposition. The Browns aren't much to write home about at 2-3, but they have enough tools to do some damage moving forward.

Cleveland hung tough on the road against the Oakland Raiders this past week and lost by only seven, and it has a very winnable game at home against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7. One reason for Cleveland's improvement has been the rapid maturation of quarterback Colt McCoy.

McCoy runs head coach Pat Shurmur's West Coast offense very effectively and has been a driving force for a solid offense, even without running back Peyton Hillis contributing much. The Seahawks are a sneaky team in their own right, but I think the Browns will be able to clip them at home.

Carolina Panthers

A 1-5 record simply doesn't tell the story for the Carolina Panthers this season. The Panthers are significantly better than they were last season, and much of that is because of sensational rookie quarterback Cam Newton.

Newton has added a completely different dimension to Carolina's offense and he has kept them in every game this season, win or lose. The Panthers have lost more often than not, but they hadn't lost by more than a touchdown before this past Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.

The Panthers will host the Washington Redskins this weekend, who are second in the NFC East. The 'Skins seem to be on the decline, though, and have a quarterback controversy after Rex Grossman's poor performance. The Panthers are actually early favorites in this game, and I think they'll take advantage of Washington's issues.

Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos may have benched their veteran starting quarterback in Kyle Orton and traded Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Lloyd to the St. Louis Rams, but I believe these moves will only serve to make them better, both in the short term and the long term.

Tim Tebow provided an immediate spark under center for the Broncos in Week 5, and Lloyd's departure will allow younger receivers like Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas to see even more playing time. Playing hungry youngsters can only be a positive for the 1-4 Broncos at this point.

Denver will host a team in even worst shape this weekend when they take on the 0-5 Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins seem to be on the road to selecting Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck first overall in April's draft, so they won't be too motivated against the Broncos. This should allow the Broncos to right the ship and get things headed in the right direction.

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