BoilerMacR's NFL Power Rankings - Week Five

Some fantastic games in week 5, topped by the miraculous come-from-outta-nowhere-comeback by the Indianapolis Colts. But right there with them is Miami's romp over San Diego. The Dolphins have now knocked off both of last season's Conference Championship participants. The Atlanta Falcons serving notice that they aren't to be taken lightly any longer. And the Redskins over Philly? You kidding me? And an impressive comeback win for Tennesse over Baltimore keeps the Titans unbeaten.

Right now, there are two exceptionally good teams in the NFL, then a few more that are pretty good, then some decent teams, then all the rest. Therefore, a tie is in order at #1 in the Power Rankings.

TIE 1.(4) Tennessee (5-0) - Signs of a team that is destined maybe? Trailing the entire game, they finally managed to find a way to pull it out late against a very intimidating and tough defense. Great win that will continue to increase the belief on the team that anything is possible.

TIE 1.(2) NY Giants (4-0) - I really, really want to jump the Giants over Tennessee, but I'll give the Titans the benefit of the doubt for now. Both teams beat tough defensive opponents that featured rather handicapped offenses. (No wideouts for Seattle, rookie QB for Baltimore.)3.(4)

Washington (4-1) - Hip-hip-Hooray! How 'bout them Redskins!? Other than Drew Brees and the magic in Miami, Jason Campbell is the story of the season thus far in my opinion. This guy has only had to handle the learning of multiple offenses in six successive years under new coaches going all the way back to his days at Auburn.

Now, with the steadying influnce and confidence-building restraints lifted off him by from coach Jim Zorn, Campbell is stepping into his own. The Skins spotted Philly a 14-0 lead, played the game without key members of their defense, then stormed back to win - at Philly. That's a pretty awesome feat.

4.(3) Dallas (4-1) - This should have been merely a scrimmage game for the Cowboys. They played like it and it very nearly cost them. I'm not sure who is going to do it, but someone needs to inform Romo that carrying the football around like he does will cost his team dearly in one of these games.

At least in this game, coaches (or Romo) didn't placate Terrell Owens by doubling the number of passes thrown to him from last week's 18. Today it was 2, but he made the most of those two by gaining 67 yards and scoring a TD. Great games from Felix Jones and Marion Barber kept the Bengals at bay.

5.(8) Carolina (4-1) - Panther defensive players are really playing well so far this year, and now the running game has helped DelHomme get the passing game untracked. It is a very formidable team now and unlike the Saints, have a solid and dependable defense, if not as potent an offense as the Saints. Speaking of division opponents, they get to travel down to Tampa Bay next week in a huge showdown.

6.(5) Buffalo (4-1) - Wow...that was a HUGE egg laid out in Arizona. True, having Trent Edwards knocked out early may have been disruptive enough to cause the offense a few hiccups, but what happened to that Bills defense? The good news is they get a bye week to prepare for the visit by San Diego October 19th.

7. (12) Pittsburgh (4-1) - Very fortunate to have pulled out a squeaker in Jacksonville. Although they controlled most of the game, it was closer than it should have been because of multiple penalties that kept giving the Jags additional chances on 3rd down. Huge props to Big Ben while taking another beating but keeping on ticking, leading his team to a very important win.

8.(6) Baltimore (2-2) Horribly disheartening loss for the Ravens. I know the hands to the helmet call late in the game was ridiculous, but Baltimore had chances to put the game away before then. For the first time this year, the rookie QB made rookie mistakes.
Still, the Ravens had Tennessee down four with barely over a minute to go, with the Titans starting on their own 20, but they couldn't keep them from moving down the field for the winning score.

9.(10) Denver (3-1) - The defense of Denver came out and played their best game of the year, while the offensive line held Tampa Bay to ZERO sacks the entire ballgame. Now add the fact that the Broncos only scored 16 points, and that defensive effort pops out at you even more. If their defense can do that the rest of the year, this team will be a major challenger for the AFC Championship. But as of now, the inconsistency of the defense leaves them vulnerable.

10.(9) Tampa Bay (3-2) - Stunning that the Bucs could hold the potent Denver offense to just 16 total points and still not win the game. Brian Griese getting knocked out of the game in the 1st half threw the offense for a momentary loop while Jeff Garcia needed some time to get acclimated.
Once he did, it was late in the game and was 9 points down. The Tampa defense bent just enough to allow Jay Cutler to keep moving the chains with time consuming drives that didn't score many points, but ate up the clock.

11.(20) Jacksonville (2-3) - WIth a chance to keep pace with Tennessee and to go up another game on Indianapolis, the Jaguars blew the chance at home against the Steelers. Pittsburgh dominated much of the game, but let Jacksonville hang close enough to take the lead in the 4th quarter, 21-20. But the Jags defense could not hold the Steelers out of the endzone, nor could it score a TD on a last minute drive.
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2.(17) New Orleans (2-2) - Monday Night Football vs Minnesota
Will move up one spot with a win over Minnesota.

13.(13) Chicago (3-2) - Kyle Orton and the Bears looked like the dominant Chicago Bears of the past. Of course, they were playing the Detroit Lions of the present, so that helped. But give Orton credit for putting points on the board and not relying (again) on being bailed out by the defense. And oh by the way, look who's all alone at the top of the NFC North standings.

14.(7) Philadelphia (2-3) - My have the mighty have fallen in such a short time. Looking like division title winners just a mere two weeks ago, losses to the Bears and Redskins now have Philadelphia readjusting and trying to dig themselves out of a hole. With the injuries to the Redskin defense and having Westbrook in the lineup, this loss was very surprising to me. Not to mention Philly fans.

15. (17) Arizona (2-2) - The Cardinals seemingly didn't miss a beat with Anquan Boldin out, as Kurt Warner found his replacement and others often enough for Arizona to just demolish a shell-shocked BIlls defense. And the Cardinal running game was especially effective when it had to be, getting solid work from James and Hightower. This makes last weeks whipping by the Jets all the more confusing.

16.(11) San Diego (2-3) - Wins over the Jets and Oakland, sandwiched between losses to Carolina, Denver and Miami. Either the Dolphins are primed for an AFC Championship run, or San Diego is standing on the brink of a slow, excruciating descent into mediocrity. Perhaps we'll get a preview of that answer next week as they host their annual tormentors from New England.
17.(18) New England (3-1) - Those sure don't look like the Patriots out there early on, even though they eventually made enough of those plays that force turnovers or take advantage of the other teams miscues.

Matt Cassel looked better, found Randy Moss long and the most underrated receiver in football, Wes Welker, on the chain moving short routes. The two Patriot wins have come against the Chiefs, Jets and now San Francisco, with a loss to Miami. Should be a thoroughly wild game vs San Diego next Sunday night.

18.(15) Atlanta (3-2) - Locked down their first road win of the year with a thrashing of a pretty good Green Bay team. Anyone who had any doubt that the Falcons are a much different team than a year ago needed to watch this game against Green Bay.

Matt Ryan is a solid QB with unbelievable potential for his career, while the running tandem of Turner and Norwood broke out of their doldrums of a week ago. The young receiving corps is gaining confidence and so is an improving defense. But most importantly, this team are beginning to believe in each other and their new coach. This will be a dangerous team to face throughout the year.

19.(19) Indianapolis (2-2) - For only the second time in NFL history, a team down 17 with just minutes remaining in the game come back to win. The other team? The Indianapolis Colts, in that wild Monday Night Football comeback a few years ago.

This team is by no means a threat for a Super Bowl at this point. In fact, with Tennessee and Jacksonville ahead of them in the division, they'll be fortunate to snag a wildcard spot at this point. However, this incredible win could spark them enough to regroup, and when they get everyone healthy again, they could unleash their fury down the stretch. Or, it could just delay the inevitable, considering the murderous schedule they embark upon for the next 5 or 6 weeks.

20.(20) NY Jets (2-2) - Bye week.

21.(16) Green Bay (2-2) - At home in Lambeau doesn't seem to have the same impact as it once did. Incredible to sit there and watch the rookie QB and the upstart Falcons just run all over the Packer defense. And in close games at Lambeau, one would usually give the edge to the home team. Today that just didn't happen. I am not so certain it was the right decision to allow Rodgers to play, but the coaching staff let him play and now we'll have to see if it affects him down the road.

22.(21) San Francisco (2-3) - Many opportunities to win this game early one were wasted by the 49ers. They should have had a lead at the halftime break but turned the ball over and allowed New England to drive in for a go-ahead score. That was ultimately the turning point in the game. J.T. O'Sullivan didn't make many mistakes, but the few he did were costly.

23.(25) Miami (2-2) - What the heck is this team doing? Trying to prove EVERYONE wrong in the amount of time it will take to go from absolute worst team to playoff contender? So far, so good in making that statement. The Dolphins have now soundly thumped both teams in the 2008 AFC Championship game. Hats off to Sparano & Parcells, along with the rest of the Miami team on a job well done thus far.

24.(23) Seattle (1-3) - Crushing loss to the Giants, and that's putting it mildly. We all knew that Hasselbeck was working with limited receivers, but that had no factor in this game as it was the Giant offense jumping - repeatedly - all over the Seahawk defense. Make no mistake though, the G-men had a good day defensively as well and the Hawks could get nothing going.

25.(24) Minnesota (1-2) - Monday Night Football @ New Orleans. Will move up to # 22 with win vs New Orleans.

26.(26) Oakland (1-3) - Bye week.

27. (27) Houston (0-4) - Still the best winless team in the NFL, only this loss could be a season killer. I am a loyal Colts fan, but I sincerely feel bad for Sage Rosenfels and his three turnovers in the final few minutes of the game. All he had to do, really, is slide down instead of doing his "John Elway Super Bowl helicopter" imitation. Basically, had he slid down, it probably would have clinched it. However, the fumble and subsequent TD after the recovery set off the 3 turnovers in 10 plays nightmare ending for the Texans.

28.(28) Cleveland (1-3) - Bye week

29.(32) Kansas City (1-4) - I can't make anything up bad enough that would equal what we saw out of Kansas City in their loss to Carolina. Now, let's give credit to an excellent Panther defense, but still....34-0?
I will say it again - not because I advocate it - but Herm's time is close at hand.

30.(30) Detroit (0-5) It's a shame they couldn't have had another bye this week to help prepare for the post-Millen era. Then again, that reconstruction is going to take much longer than back to back byes.

31.(31) Cincy(0-5) - It sure looked like it was the Bengals day when they recovered the on-side kickoff after cutting the lead to 17-16. And once again when they trimmed it to 24-22. But alas, they missed the 2 point after conversion and it was ultimately not to be in the land of Bungle. Hey! There we go! The new theme song for this club could be "Bungle in the Jungle". Appropriate credits to Jethro Tull & Co.

32.(32) St. Louis (0-4) - Bye week