Thursday, October 10, 2013

2013 NFL Power Rankings: Week 6

I'm getting this out a bit late this week as week six starts tonight and I'm just now getting this out. But hey. This week saw two teams fall from the ranks of the undefeated and almost saw a third as the Cowboys gave the Broncos a scare. Now the Broncos, Saints, and Chiefs are our lone 5-0 teams. Which of these three are going to last longest? Are we going to get a battle of the 9-0 undefeated teams when the Chiefs travel to the Broncos? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, let's take a look at how things stack up after last week.

1- Denver Broncos - 5-0 (+0) - The defense for the Broncos forgot to show up on Sunday, but the offense didn't miss a beat, scoring 50+ points for the second straight week. They are looking like a college team out there on offense. The Jaguars come to town Sunday. Think the Broncos can get to 100? Do you think Peyton Manning is even going to play in the second half?

2- New Orleans Saints - 5-0 (+1) - Impressive win in Chicago last week for the Saints. With the Saints still undefeated and the other three teams in the NFC South combining for a total of two wins, how long do you think it will take for the Saints to officially clinch the division?

3- Kansas City Chiefs - 5-0 (+1) - The Chiefs were close to being the third undefeated to go down in the same week as the Titans gave them a run for their money, but they showed dominance and clutch. It's now look almost imminent that they travel into Denver week 11 with a sharp-looking 9-0.

4- Indianapolis Colts - 4-1 (+2) - To anyone that didn't believe in them yet, the Colts showed they were a legit team as they handed the Seahawks their first loss. Now how many teams at the end of the season will be able to claim that they beat both the Seahawks and the 49ers this season. Perhaps just the Colts. With the Texans in a free-for-all, the AFC South looks like it belongs to the Colts this year.

5- Seattle Seahawks - 4-1 (-3) - I'm not going to give the Seahawks a ton of flack this week. They went on the road to Indianapolis and barely lost to a solid Colts team. No one can win them all. They get to go back to Seattle on Sunday where they will try to get back on track with the Titans coming to town.

6- New England Patriots - 4-1 (-1) - Now where in the heck was that Patriots offense on Sunday? The defense did their job shutting down an underachieving Bengals offense, but Tom Brady and company just looked like they took the week off mentally when it came to offense. They really need to pray that Gronk is able to return against the Saints on Sunday or it might be a tough game.

7- San Francisco 49ers - 3-2 (+3) - The Niners are slowly earning their way back up the charts and with a Seahawks loss to the Colts, the Niners are back in the NFC West race. However, Kaepernick needs to find his game. Despite the win over a struggling Texans offense, Kapernick was pretty bad. He'll need to actually start playing good football if they are going to catch the Seahawks.

8- Green Bay Packers - 2-2 (+6) - That was a much needed win on Sunday as the Packers really couldn't afford going 1-3. They have the Ravens, Browns, and Vikings next up on the schedule, so they should be able to catch fire and establish dominance again after a rough start.

9- Detroit Lions - 3-2 (-1) - Even though the Lions got blasted by the Packers, I'm not going to be too hard on them since they were without Megatron. Like I continue to say, if the Lions can stay healthy, they'll be a great team. But that is looking like a rather difficult thing at the moment.

10- Chicago Bears - 3-2 (-1) - Albeit they've played two good teams in a row, the Bears have still lost two in a row and that is a bit concerning. If they want to continue to contend in the tough NFC North, those games that they've lost are the type of games that they need to be clutch in and win. If they don't, they'll be just on the outside looking in once again.

11- Miami Dolphins - 3-2 (-4) - I was forgiving towards the Dolphins two weeks ago because it was a good Saints team they lost to; however, two losses in a row is a bad sign, especially since the Ravens are a team the should beat. Also, they need to protect Ryan Tannehill better. Their offensive line right now is among the worst in the NFL.

12- Tennessee Titans - 3-2 (+0) - Sure, the Titans picked up a loss this week, but their play during that loss was actually pretty good and they were pretty close to giving the Chiefs their first loss of the season. Now if Chris Johnson could just get going in the running game, that would help them more.

13- Cincinnati Bengals - 3-2 (+5) - Still no offensive firepower for the Bengals on Sunday, but they didn't need a whole lot of that as their defense completely shut down Tom Brady and the Patriots. Or maybe the Patriots just didn't know offense. Either way, it was a good win for the Bengals.

14- Baltimore Ravens - 3-2 (+5) - Despite everything that has gone on for the Super Bowl champs this year, they have managed to somehow make it to be above .500, which is a good sign for Raven fans. Perhaps them learning how to actually use Ray Rice has contributed to that.

15- Dallas Cowboys - 2-3 (+0) - The Cowboy defense took the week off, but yet every defense has against the Broncos. I'm not giving the Cowboys a ton of slack this week because of how Tony Romo and the Cowboy offense kept up with the Broncos for the whole game, scoring 48 points of their own. But that game told the story of Romo's career. Play good for most of the game, then make the game changing mistake at the end of the game.

16- Cleveland Browns - 3-2 (+1) - With how the Browns lit up the Bills last Thursday, you would think that I would put them higher, or at least keep them ahead of the Bengals and Ravens. My worries, though, come with the season-ending injury of Hoyer. I was starting to believe in him as a quarterback. With Weeden back in charge, I don't know if I can trust this team anymore. We'll see if he can prove me wrong again.

17- New York Jets - 3-2 (+8) - I think might have underestimated this team. As I saw the Jets play the Falcons, it wasn't just about the collapse of the Falcons, but the Jets looked pretty good. The defense kept the Falcons in check and the offense made some really good moves. That final drive especially impressed me. Geno Smith looked like an experienced veteran leading his team on a game winning drive.

18- Buffalo Bills - 2-3 (-2) - I know the Browns have played good recently, but if the Bills were to compete in the AFC, the Browns are the types of teams that the Bills need to beat because their next four games are against the Bengals, Dolphins, Saints, and Chiefs. And they are going into that without EJ Manuel.

19- Houston Texans - 2-3 (-8) - I think Matt Schaub has forgotten which team he plays for. In the last three weeks he has thrown more touchdowns to the opposing team than he has his own team. Ouch. And he is on a streak where he has thrown a pick-six in every game in the past four weeks. If the Texans are going to catch up with the Colts, Matt Schaub needs to wake up.

20- Arizona Cardinals - 3-2 (+3) - The Cardinals are currently above .500, but I'm not buying them quite yet because their last two wins have been against the Bucs and Panthers. They have back to back games against the Seahawks and Niners coming up, so we'll get to learn what the Cardinals are really made of.

21- Philadelphia Eagles - 2-3 (+1) - The Eagles got an important divisional win against the Giants and now they have tied themselves up with the Cowboys for the division lead. Sad division. And Michael Vick his now hurt? What's new. At this point, I'd be more surprised if he stayed healthy for a whole season.

22- Oakland Raiders - 2-3 (+6) - Terrelle Pryor came back to the Raiders and suddenly they looked a lot better than they did with Matt Flynn at command. The Raiders get to travel to Arrowhead Stadium this Sunday to play the Chiefs. After suffering through that, they actually have a slate of winnable games, so we'll see what they can do.

23- San Diego Chargers - 2-3 (-10) - The moment you think the Chargers actually have figured it out, they go out and come up blank against Oakland. Once again, the Chargers have some talent on their team, but they can't play consistently to save their life. You get the feeling that they will struggle to win two games straight this season.

24- St. Louis Rams - 2-3 (+0) - Well, the Rams got a win. But does playing the Jaguars really count as a win, or is that just half a win? The Rams' schedule gets super tough towards the end, so the need to take advantage of their upcoming road trip against the struggling Texans and Panthers.

25- Atlanta Falcons - 1-4 (-5) - I hope everyone is officially off the Falcons bandwagon that I thought was ridiculous from the start. The Falcons have proven time and again this year that they don't know how to win close games. The have a tough schedule coming up and the Jets game was supposed to be one of their easier ones. Making things worse, Julio Jones is now out for the season. Lots of people's Super Bowl picks might not even get close to .500 this season.

26- Minnesota Vikings - 1-3 (+0) - The Vikings had a very productive bye week and now they come into their next game with new quarterback Josh Freeman. With neither Cassell nor Ponder playing well at quarterback and Ponder fighting an injury, you got to wonder how soon it will be before we see Freeman as their starter.

27- Washington Redskins - 1-3 (+0) - The whole NFC East is a joke this season and that means that despite being 1-3 with their only win against an undermanned Raiders team, the Redskins are still very much in this race. If they can pull off a win at Dallas and the Eagles lose in Tampa, Redskins will be leading the division by half a game. Crazy.

28- Carolina Panthers - 1-3 (-7) - You thought that after a 38-0 beatdown against the Giants that the Panthers would take that momentum and build on it. But they must've forgotten how to play football because they came out of that and played awful against a sub-par Cardinals team. They play the Vikings, Rams, Bucs, and Falcons in their next four weeks. You would think they'd be able to do well against that, but perhaps not.

29- Pittsburgh Steelers - 0-4 (+0) - It's time for the Steelers to wake up. They come off a bye week and now they have games against the Jets, Ravens, and Raiders. On the other hand, they are sending their GM to go watch Teddy Bridgewater. Should that make Big Ben nervous?

30- New York Giants - 0-5 (+0) - What to do with these Giants? They are in Chicago tonight and after that they have the Vikings and Eagles. Shouldn't be that tough, but with how they are playing, they could be 0-8 going into their bye week. And just think, they won the Super Bowl two years ago. Tom Coughlin has had a good run with the Giants. But I think this is it for him.

31- Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 0-4 (+0) - I thought Josh Freeman would improve upon last year and lead the Bucs to a good season. Now he is playing for the Vikings after getting cut and the Bucs are being led by rookie Mike Glennon. Their next three opponents have a total of four wins, so you'd think the Bucs would be able to pick up their first win soon.

32- Jacksonville Jaguars - 0-5 (+0) - For a second there, it looked like the Jags were going to pull off their first win against the Rams, but that was short lived. And now they get the opportunity to walk into Denver and play the Broncos. There is a 28-point spread in this game and I think that is quite generous.

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