NFL Power Rankings: Ranking League's Biggest Pretenders

The gullible nature of the NFL is an easy trap to fall into. Any given Sunday, any given team can go out and win. However, one win—or five—does not automatically place you into the upper echelon of teams within the league. More likely than not, that team simply pretends to be an elite ball club for an afternoon.

The NFL has its crazy weeks. This year has been no exception. The Detroit Lions and the Buffalo Bills started off as the hottest teams in the league aside from the Green Bay Packers. Let that sink into your cranium for a moment and see how well that sits with your gut.

There are a few teams that started hot or have put together some wins in recent weeks that are still learning how to win, but have yet to figure it out completely. They act like winners when all their ducks are in a row, but they have a hard time winning close games or games late in the year.

Who are the wannabees of the NFL in 2011?

4. Detroit Lions

Don't be upset, we all make mistakes. The Detroit Lions came out guns blazing and started off the season 5-0. Crazy, right?

Everyone—including myself—picked the Detroit Lions to make a push for a wild card spot in the NFC playoffs for 2011. That prediction still has more than a chance to become fulfilled, but for those of you who thought the Lions could make the Green Bay Packers sweat, think again.

This team is very hot and cold nowadays. After their first five wins, they faced arguably the second best team in the NFL—in Detroit—and lost. Then the very next week they lost again to a more seasoned ball club in disarray at the time in the Atlanta Falcons.

Detroit was handed a cupcake game with Tim Tebow's first home start. However, since their 5-0 start the lions are 1-3. All three losses came to teams that match up fairly evenly with them and are in playoff contention. The Lions need to learn how to win and close out close games against playoff caliber teams before we anoint them.

If they're not careful, they could miss their shot at the playoffs but hey, at least Thanksgiving this year America will actually watch the Lions game.

3. New England Patriots

The New England Patriots sit atop the AFC East with a 6-3 record yet they're a pretender? Yup. You nailed it.

Any team with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick is going to win their fair share of games. However, come playoff time, every team's weaknesses are magnified and exploited by their opponents.

The Patriots sure have a lot of glaring weaknesses that are continually nullified by Tom Brady.

Their secondary is atrocious, and that was before the injuries. They let Ben Roethlisberger show them up and a week later Eli Manning broke their home winning streak that dated back to 2007 with a flawless two-minute drill.

Given Tom Brady has most of the offense resting solely on his shoulders, the usually exceptional Brady has looked shaky on more than one occasion in 2011. Multiple turnover games have been frequent for the All-Pro, which is highly uncharacteristic.

This team has a lot of loose ends to tighten before January if they want to be considered a contender.

2. Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills have circled the wagons, and then they got dizzy after four weeks of doing so. They are 2-3 in their last five games.

Sunday's blowout down in Dallas exposed the Bills for what they are: an unproven team over the course of an entire season. The Bills have a weak-armed Harvard grad at quarterback and a bunch of late round and undrafted players littered throughout their roster.

Certainly, Fred Jackson should be considered a top back in the league this season, but where has Steve Johnson disappeared to? The man is in a contract year and has gone missing in games as of late.

The Bills defense has kept this team in every game this year. All they do is produce turnover after turnover in every game it seems like. However, turnovers come in bunches and that well could dry up once winter hits Buffalo and teams become more cautious with the ball.

In the crazy AFC where no team has put a claim on the conference's top spot, the Bills seem to be slipping back to obscurity.

Philadelphia Eagles

Where do you start with this team? The offseason's big spenders have looked anything but dominant in 2011.

Michael Vick has proven to be injury prone. His latest injury suffered Sunday in an embarrassing loss at home to the lowly Arizona Cardinals.

DeSean Jackson was suspended for missing a meeting and soon after Sunday's game reports surfaced that he is pouting about his financial troubles. How long do you think the blue-collar Philadelphia faithful will be willing to listen to that sap story?

Their offensive line coach converted to defensive coordinator experiment has blown up in their face as well. The most telling stat of the league's ultimate pretenders lies in the fact that the Eagles have just one win from six fourth quarter leads in 2011.

If they lose Sunday versus the New York Giants, their season is officially over and you better believe it will get ugly in the City of Brotherly Love pretty quickly. The big guy will be their first target.