Week 5 comes with a realization that there isn’t a clear-cut best team in the league right now.
My top team in Week 4, the Colts, lost to the last-place Jaguars last Sunday thanks to a Josh Scobee 59-yard field goal. Despite their record, the Packers are a mess, the Ravens don’t give me that we’re-the-best-team-vibe and the Saints have injury issues.
So while I’ve moved the Packers back into the top spot, just know I’m not entirely convinced they’re the top team in the league. Right now, no team has established themselves as the best.
Let’s get nasty…
Check out Week 4’s Power Rankings
1. Green Bay Packers
Previous Week: 2
One would have thought that after their embarrassing loss to the Bears on Monday night last week that the Pack would come out and steamroll the Lions. But as fellow TSR contributor and Green Bay fan John Paulsen said to me after the game, this team lacks that killer tenacity. Regardless, they moved back into the top spot after a one-week hiatus.
2. Indianapolis Colts
Previous Week: 1
I wrote it before the season and I’ll write it again now: the Colts are going to have issues stopping the run all season. They’re weak up the middle defensively and they’ll continue to struggle against any team that can establish the run.
3. Baltimore Ravens
Previous Week: 4
It’s never easy to march into Pittsburgh and knock off the Steelers. It’s even harder to look good while doing it, so I’m not going to knock the Ravens for having to pull out a win in the final minute. This isn’t college football, where teams get style points for wins. That was a hard-fought win, Baltimore.
4. Pittsburgh Steelers
Previous Week: 3
Even though the loss to the Ravens last Sunday stings, Mike Tomlin has to feel good that his team went 3-1 without Ben Roethlisberger. Even though everyone in Pittsburgh is excited for his return, it’ll be interesting to see how rusty Big Ben is next week. The Steelers’ bye couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.
5. Atlanta Falcons
Previous Week: 5
You could have seen that letdown coming from a mile away. The Falcons were coming off a huge emotional win over the Saints in New Orleans and were taking on a winless 49ers team at home. Thanks to Roddy White’s outstanding hustle, the Falcons were fortunate to walk out of the Georgia Dome with a victory last week.
6. New Orleans Saints
Previous Week: 6
I thought about dropping the Saints down after they struggled last Sunday with the lowly Panthers, but this is one banged up football team right now and Carolina has always given them trouble for one reason or another. The Saints just have to get by with what they have until they can return to full strength.
7. New York Jets
Previous Week: 7
The Jets are already making me look bad for predicting them to finish third in the AFC East. What a display of domination they put on in Buffalo last Sunday and who says L.T. is finished? It’s great to see him at the top of his game again.
8. New England Patriots
Previous Week: 11
Holy special teams, Batman – what a performance in Miami. Congratulations to Tom Brady for his 100th career win. Even though it’s fun to root against the Patriots because of their success, let’s not overlook the fact that Brady is a self-made player.
9. Houston Texans
Previous Week: 9
Considering the Texans were without Andre Johnson and benched Arian Foster for the first quarter, it was impressive that they still scored 31 points. I realize it was against the Raiders, but Bruce Gradkowski has breathed life into that team and it was good to see that Houston didn’t falter against an inferior opponent on the road.
10. Chicago Bears
Previous Week: 10
I’ve been awfully hard on the Bears so I’m going to give them a mulligan this week. Even though they still probably would have lost given how bad Jay Cutler was playing, they didn’t have a chance once Todd Collins entered the game. And whom else am I going to put here? Dallas? The Giants? This is a worse spot than No. 1.
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