Crowe - NFL Week #6 Power Rankings

Crowe - NFL Week #6 Power Rankings

Don’t let your eyes deceive you. In this day and age where things don’t always look the way they appear, it’s easy to be fooled. Through five weeks of the NFL season, media and fans alike can be tricked and treated by each week’s performance from week to week. Teams are riding high one week and then not so good the next week. Even the results can turn into brainteasers.

Take our beloved New England Patriots for instance. They look far better in losing to Tom Brady 19-17 two weeks ago at home than they did last Sunday in Houston in a victory where they had to rally down 22-9 to the one-win Texans. At this point, do we really know how good the Pats are standing at 2-3 before hosting the resurging 4-1 Dallas Cowboys this Sunday? I say absolutely not! As bad as they looked at times in Houston, I fully expect Bill Belichick and crew to once again rally the troops for a well-played game against one of the better teams in the league right now.

Even Belichick was a bit more positive than expected after the Houston win.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

“Yeah, just keep grinding here. Just keep trying to keep doing things better and stack good days together in our practice and preparation and continue to grind and improve here through each week of the season," said Belichick, according to the team’s website.

Now, while New England is nowhere near the top 10 of our weekly power rankings at the moment, let’s find out who is.

 

10. Cleveland Browns (3-2, Last week: ranked 10th)

It’s not that the Browns aren’t capable of better. They’re just going to need Baker Mayfield to step up a bit more to get there. He’s 22nd in passing yards and tied for last, with Daniel Jones and Zack Wilson, with the fewest touchdown passes (4) among starting quarterbacks this season. Also, dropping a pair of fourth quarter leads in LA to the Chargers doesn’t help.

 

9. Cincinnati Bengals (3-2, Last week: not ranked)

There’s no shame in losing to the Packers. There is a bit of shame in celebrating an overtime field goal that isn’t good, but just wide left. The Bengals will need Joe Burrow’s throat injury that’s kept him silent this week in practice to not impact him too greatly. It helps that they play the winless Lions this week.

 

8. Los Angeles Chargers (4-1 Last week: ranked 7th)

How about those Bolts! They do keep things exciting. Down twice in the second half to the Browns, they simply score 19 points and hold on to win to take over the lead in the AFC West. Maybe the Chargers won’t be the second-best team in LA after all?

 

7. Baltimore Ravens (4-1 Last week: ranked 6th)

Down 22-3 and 25-9 to the Colts, Lamar Jackson put on the big boy QB pants and rallied the Ravens to victory. Putting the run game and its record-tying 43 straight game streak of rushing over 100 yards aside, all Jackson did was throw for a career-high 442 yards and 4 touchdowns for a 31-25 overtime victory. Jackson sure does love his Monday night comebacks.

 

6. Green Bay Packers (4-1 Last week: ranked 5th)

Ho-hum. Mason Crosby misses 3 field goals and all the Packers do is stick around to beat the previously 3-1 Bengals at home in overtime. Aaron Rodgers (344 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT) and Davante Adams (11 catches, 206 yards, 1 TD) are showing that last year was not a fluke. No one’s stopping them right now.

 

5. Dallas Cowboys 4-1 (Last week: ranked 8th)

Is this the best offense in football? 439 yards/game in total offense (2nd ranked). 864 yards rushing (2nd to Cleveland). Scoring 34 points a game (2nd in league). How good are they? They have four players on pace for 1,000 yards this season: Ezekiel Elliott, Tony Pollard, Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb. No team in NFL history has ever had more than one 1,000-yard rusher and receiver. On the defensive side of the ball, they’re 5th best stopping the run (79.4 yards/game), 2nd best in takeaways and turnover differential. The only downside is that they give up a second-worst 302 yards a game through the air.

 

4. Los Angeles Rams (4-1 Last week: ranked 4th)

Good teams don’t let one loss turn into two and three or more in a row. The Rams rebounded well after a home loss to the Cardinals by beating the Seahawks and putting Russell Wilson out 4-8 weeks (finger). The key for Sean McVay’s team will be getting back the balance. While the passing offense is humming along - 2nd in pass yards (310), the star-studded defense is just average lately, allowing 23 points per game (12th ranked).

 

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-1, Last week: ranked 3rd)

How does one follow up an historic return home to Foxboro? Well, Tom Brady dazzles the Dolphins by tossing five touchdowns. Then, he beats Philly on Thursday night with another pair of scores. That’s 17 for the season in just six weeks, on a pace for 48 TDS for the season. Not too shabby at any age folks! All the Bucs need to worry about is being healthy come late December just like their run to the Super Bowl last season. Richard Sherman became the latest casualty with a hamstring injury in the win over the Eagles.

 

2. Arizona Cardinals (5-0 Last week: ranked 1st)

Now comes the tough spot for Arizona. They’ve started out 5-0, but how long can they stay there. Last Sunday’s 17-10 victory over the Niners was a good start to prove they have some staying power. There was nothing special about the win over the 49ers and backup QB Trey Lance, who sprained his knee in the loss. The fact THAT they won speaks volumes though as previous Cardinals teams have had a tough time handling prosperity.  Now, they’ll play in Cleveland Sunday without their head coach as Kliff Kingsbury has tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday. Keep an eye on Kyler Murray’s shoulder injury though. He was limited in practice this week and it’s the same injury on the right throwing shoulder that derailed Murray and the Cards hopes for the playoffs last season. Up next: at Browns, vs. Texans, vs. Packers.

 

1. Buffalo Bills (4-1 Last week: ranked 2nd)

We continue to ask - how did this team lose to the Steelers in week one? Josh Allen is checking off all the boxes. Beat the Chiefs for the first time. Check. Avenge last season’s AFC Championship Game Loss to the same Chiefs. Check. On the road to a possible first NFL MVP. Check.  In dominating Kansas City in Arrowhead Stadium Sunday night, Allen threw for 315 yards and 3 touchdowns. Plus, his first-half runs, including a touchdown got Buffalo headed in the right direction towards a dominating 38-20 win. But if you think it’s all about the offense, their defense is tops in the league, surrendering only twelve points and 251 yards per game. Right now, they eye test says they’re the best.

----------------------------------------

Games to watch this week:

Chargers at Ravens – 4-1 Division leaders clash in Baltimore.
Cardinals at Browns – Seems like a perfect spot for the Browns to knock off the only undefeated team, doesn’t it?
Raiders at Broncos – Game one of the post-Jon Gruden ERA for Las Vegas.
Bills at Titans – The NFL’s best team takes on the league’s top rusher in Derrick Henry.

----------------------------------------
Last week:
10. Browns
9. Panthers
8. Cowboys
7. Chargers
6. Ravens
5. Packers
4. Rams
3. Buccaneers
2. Bills
1. Cardinals