NFL Power Rankings: Stout Top 5 Has Slightly Different Look in Week 14

There it is, plain to see. The New England Patriots are not an elite team. 

Go ahead and throw your Tom Brady epithets my way. We have a good enough amount of games in the book to sort the solid from the soft, and those Pats are soft. 

I know. How dare I condemn the Patriots after a four-game winning streak? Well, it's for their own good. Their deficiencies are still very much real and potentially life-threatening. 

We will see this team in January, but I fear it will be a brief stint causing mass hysteria in the Northeast. Simply, if nothing is done about that secondary, the Patriots are doomed.

Top 5

Here is how the top five pan out this week. We have the Green Bay Packers continuing to be led by Aaron Rodgers and his unbelievable season. I agree that they have just as much trouble in their defense as the Patriots, it just hasn't bit them like New England.

The Ravens claim the No. 2 spot after showing the 49ers they play the ground and pound, and they do it better.  

The Saints have been the quiet storm, as they kill teams with a deadly aerial attack to little fanfare. It's a world of Aaron Rodgers and Tim Tebow, and Brees will be content to just sit back and allow the Saints to be underestimated. 

Patriots

It was tough to kick the Patriots from the top five after a win, but I just couldn't deal with the fact that the Colts took it to them on offense. 

Not only did the hapless Colts come within a touchdown, they were led by Dan Orlovsky who threw for 353 yards and two touchdowns. That does not happen against an elite team.   

Good thing there is still plenty of time for the Patriots to show us that we are all wrong about their unbalanced team. 

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