Here’s how I view things 1-32 after five weeks of NFL action:

1. New York Giants (5-0)
The G-Men didn’t suffer a letdown against the Raiders last weekend and Eli Manning didn’t appear to be slowed by his foot injury. The Giants will now get their biggest test of the year this week: A road trip to New Orleans.

2. Indianapolis Colts (5-0)
The Colts carved up opponents in the first five weeks of the season and now have the bye week to rest up before making a run at the top seed in the AFC.

3. New Orleans Saints (4-0)
A win over the Giants this Sunday will prove that the Saints are the best team in the NFC. Drew Brees and company is well rested, but the Giants have one of the best defenses in the league and will challenge New Orleans from start to finish.

4. Minnesota Vikings (5-0)
Everything is working out swimmingly right now for the Vikings. Opponents are still stacking the box in efforts to stop Adrian Peterson and Brett Favre is beating teams with his accuracy through the air. The Vikes’ defense has played great thus far, but the Ravens will test them this Sunday.

5. Denver Broncos (5-0)
After earning a fluke win against the Bengals in Week 1 and notching two gimmies against the Browns and Raiders in Weeks 2 and 3, respectively, the Broncos showed their meddle in wins over the Cowboys and Patriots. This team is legit.

6. Philadelphia Eagles (3-1)
The Eagles may possibly have the easiest first half schedule of anyone in the NFL. With wins over the Panthers, Chiefs and Bucs already in the books, the Eagles will take on the Raiders and Redskins in the next two weeks. They better notch two more victories because after they play Washington in Week 7, Philly faces a daunting second half schedule that features the Giants (twice), Bears, Falcons, Chargers, 49ers, Cowboys (twice) and Broncos.

7. Cincinnati Bengals (4-1)
The Bengals have beaten playoff-caliber teams virtually every week and the amazing thing is that they should be undefeated right now had they not allowed a fluke TD to the Broncos in Week 1. And much like Denver, this Cincy team is for realsies.

8. Atlanta Falcons (3-1)
The Falcons absolutely destroyed a good 49ers team last week and it all started up front with the offensive line. Atlanta’s front five gave Matt Ryan excellent protection so he could carve up San Fran’s defense and also gave Michael Turner ample running room. The Falcons have a tough stretch of games coming up, but if Mike Smith’s team continues to play as well as it did last week, then Atlanta will hold strong.

9. Chicago Bears (3-1)
The Bears return to the scene of their most heart-breaking loss of the 2008 season this week when they travel to Atlanta to take on the Falcons. Think Lovie Smith’s defense will cover the out route this time if Matt Ryan needs a big completion along the sidelines with the game on the line? Jay Cutler won in Atlanta last year as a member of the Broncos and his current team is well rested after having their bye last week. Chicago will be well prepared.

10. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2)
Troy Polamalu and Willie Parker are set to return for the Steelers this week, although defensive end Aaron Smith could miss the next three months after he has surgery to fix a torn rotator cuff. While Smith’s loss will be felt, getting Polamalu back is huge.

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Here are ESPN.com’s NFL Power Rankings for Week 2:

1 Steelers
They need to get their running game going, but Big Ben seems better than ever. (Chadiha)

2 Patriots
Tom Brady is magic in the final minutes, but the Pats’ defense appears shaky. (Clayton)

3 Giants
The Giants might not have a No. 1 receiver, but they seem like a No. 1 team. (Clayton)

4 Eagles
By going for a meaningless fifth TD against the Panthers, Donovan McNabb fractured his ribs and the Eagles’ season. (Clayton)

5 Colts
Jim Caldwell showed some killer instinct at the end, but his running game didn’t prove to be worth the faith. (Kuharsky)

6 Chargers
They escaped with a win in Oakland, but the injury to center Nick Hardwick could be a big issue. (Kuharsky)

7 Falcons
They beat the Dolphins comfortably without getting much production from Michael Turner or the ground game in general. Matt Ryan already seems to have a rapport with Tony Gonzalez. (Sando)

8 Vikings
Adrian Peterson already seems like this season’s MVP. (Chadiha)

9 Titans
Mistakes in Pittsburgh kept the Titans from a potential upset, but Jeff Fisher won’t let them dwell on the opener. (Kuharsky)

10 Ravens
Even though it was against the Chiefs’ defense, the Ravens’ offense appears far more diversified and explosive this season. (Chadiha)

My problem with power rankings that are compiled early in the season is that they put too much emphasis on preseason predictions and not enough on performance.

For example, did the Patriots play like the second best team in the league against the Bills on Monday night? Absolutely not, but because they’re the Patriots they find themselves ranked high in everyone’s rankings. The fact is that the Bills were a Leodis McKelvin touchback away from beating the Pats in Foxboro. That doesn’t sound like a team that should be ranked No. 2.

How about the Chargers? They played uninspired in Oakland and still find themselves in the top 10. For the record, I think San Diego is a Super Bowl contender this year. But there was something very unsatisfying about the Bolts’ (and the Patriots’ for that matter) win last night.

I understand this isn’t how power rankings work, but if we were to rank each team based off of last week’s games, then the Eagles would be No. 1 in my book. No team (outside of the Saints, who played the lowly Lions) dominated their opponent like the Eagles did to the Panthers.