NFL Power Rankings: Contenders That Are Falling Fast

Apparently the New Orleans Saints are not as good as we thought they were. They were easily handled by the hapless Rams this week, and they will be tumbling down the power rankings as a result.

They aren't the only team that proved they weren't deserving of their lofty rankings.

New Orleans Saints

The Saints are shockingly inconsistent. Three weeks ago, they had a disappointing 26-20 loss to the Bucs. They followed that up with an amazing 62-7 victory over the Colts.

They then followed that up with an ugly performance in a 31-21 loss to the Rams.

The Saints are now 5-3, and through all of this inconsistency we have a clear picture of what their downfall is. That would be their defense.

Coming into this week, they were No. 3 in the ESPN power poll. They will be well below that now.

Baltimore Ravens

Exactly one week ago, I was writing about how the Ravens would throttle the Jaguars on Monday Night Football and prove they were the NFL's best team.

Since then, the Ravens have done everything they can to prove me wrong.

The Ravens lost to the Jaguars in ugly fashion. They then pulled out a victory on Sunday, but it took a miraculous comeback to do so. And that was against the Cardinals!

That is two straight weeks the Ravens have spent the majority of the game getting dominated by teams that they should be busy showing they don't belong on the field with them.

New England Patriots

The Patriots were so busy putting up stats and points early in the season that it was easy to forget how poorly they were playing on pass defense.

Their offense has slowed down a bit, and it has resulted in them playing a close game against the Cowboys before their bye, and then losing to the Steelers following it.

You can't fault the Patriots for losing to the Steelers, but you can see their continued failures in pass defense and realize that they are not the No. 2 team in football—as their ESPN power ranking suggested heading into this week.