NFL Week 05 Power Rankings: Lions, Bills Rise, Eagles, Jets Fall

The Lions, Bills and Niners are enjoying the bright lights at the top of table, while the Jets, Eagles and Texans all have serious causes for concern. Frank Doyle ranks ‘em after Week 5.

1 (-). Green Bay Packers, (5-0, 4-1-0 ATS).
The Packers stomped the Falcons in the playoffs, and then went back to Georgia last Sunday night to stomp them again. Green Bay remains the standard-setter in the NFL.

2 (-). New Orleans Saints, (4-1, 3-2-0 ATS).
The Panthers gave them a good fight, but the Saints found a way to win. Like they do.

3 (-). New England Patriots, (4-1, 3-1-1 ATS).
35 running plays, 33 passing plays while beating the Jets. You can’t get a much more balanced offense than that.

4 (+2). Detroit Lions, (5-0, 4-1-0 ATS).
The Lions are *the* story of the NFL this year. And they’re far from finished yet.

5 (+3). Buffalo Bills, (4-1, 4-1-0 ATS).
The Bills are *the other* story of the NFL. The Eagles shot themselves in the foot, but Buffalo still had to go out to beat them. Buffalo safely/linebacker/straw-that-stirs-the-drink George Wilson had a great game.

6 (-1). Baltimore Ravens, (3-1, 3-1-0 ATS).
The Ravens hammered the Steelers before getting hammered themselves by the Titans, those same Titans who got hammered by the Steelers last weekend. I have no idea what this means, and I do this for a living.

7 (+3). San Francisco 49ers, (4-1, 5-0-0 ATS).
The 49ers had the players last year but they just couldn’t execute. The Bucs might have been on a short week but that big win made up for a lot of bad days in the past decade for the Niner Nation. And San Francisco is the only team that’s perfect this year against the NFL betting spread. That counts too.

8 (-4). Houston Texans, (3-2, 3-2-0 ATS).
Same old Texans? Two straight losses, the injuries to Andre Johnson and Mario Williams, and Matt Schaub looked a wuss when he didn’t tuck the ball under his arm and charge for the house in that final play against the Raiders. Houston has a problem.

9 (-). Washington Redskins, (3-1, 3-1-0 ATS).
Sitting pretty at the top of the NFC East.

10 (+3). San Diego Chargers, (4-1, 2-3-0 ATS).
San Diego is winning but failing to convince. The Chargers escaped from Denver with their lives, and are under big pressure in the AFC West from the team with all the momentum, which is…

11 (+5). Oakland Raiders, (3-2, 3-2-0 ATS).
The Raiders, of course. Big win for them on Sunday after Al Davis’ passing. They are men on a mission this year.

12 (+5). Pittsburgh Steelers, (3-2, 2-3-0 ATS).
Damned if I know what to make of them. Starters missing, Roethlisberger playing on one foot and they still whip the Titans? Beats me.

13 (-1). New York Giants, (3-2, 3-2-0 ATS).
They must be trying to make the Jets look good. It’s the only possible explanation.

14 (-3). Tampa Bay Buccaneers, (3-2, 2-3-0 ATS).
Anybody can suffer a blowout. But the Bucs have looked like a team that’s been over-achieving, and an injury to defensive tackle Gerald McCoy is bad news they don’t need ahead of a visit from New Orleans to Tampa.

15 (-8). New York Jets, (2-3, 1-3-1 ATS).
The Jets are getting beaten at their own game. Teams are controlling the clock, running through them and then daring the Jets to take them in the air. The Jets are in trouble.

16 (+4). Cincinnati Bengals, (3-2, 4-1-0 ATS).
How about them Bengals? Cincinnati is a limited team in many ways but the Bengals are showing huge heart, not least rookie quarterback Andy Dalton. Nobody wants to play them.

17 (-3). Chicago Bears, (2-3, 1-4-0 ATS).
Nine false starts against Detroit on Monday night. Brian Urlacher said the Bears’ defense stinks after that loss in Detroit and if anybody ought to know, it’s Urlacher.

18 (+1). Dallas Cowboys, (2-2, 1-3-0 ATS).
Dallas bubbles up as other teams bubble under.

19 (-4). Tennessee Titans, (3-2, 3-2-0 ATS).
How can you hammer Baltimore and then get hammered by the Steelers, who themselves took the pipe against Baltimore at the start of the season? What’s going on?

20 (-2). Philadelphia Eagles, (1-4, 1-4-0 ATS).
Andy Reid said it was all his fault after the loss to the Bills. He’s right. The decision to appoint former offensive line coach Juan Castillo as defensive co-ordinator looks particularly misguided.

21 (-). Atlanta Falcons, (2-3, 1-4-0 ATS).
The Falcons have never had back-to-back winning seasons since they joined the League in 1966. Must be a curse or something, because there’s no rational reason for them to be as bad as they are.

22 (-). Arizona Cardinals, (1-4, 1-3-1 ATS).
Head coach Ken Wisenhunt’s seat is getting very hot in the desert.

23 (-). Cleveland Browns, (2-2, 1-3-0 ATS).
If I were coaching the Browns, I’d be handing off to Hillis on every down. But maybe that’s just me.

24 (-). Carolina Panthers, (1-4, 4-0-1 ATS).
Carolina keeps falling short, but Cam Newton wins new admirers every Sunday. And the Panthers haven’t let any bettors down this year either.

25 (+1). Seattle Seahawks, (2-3, 3-2-0 ATS).
Pete Carroll must have found a rabbit’s foot wrapped in a four-leaved clover in the parking lot of the Meadowlands on Sunday morning.

26 (+1). Kansas City Chiefs, (2-3, 3-2-0 ATS).
The Chiefs are fighting back after two awfully bad hidings at the start of the year.

27 (-2). Denver Broncos, (1-4, 1-4-0 ATS).
It’s Tebow’s team now. There’s no question about that any more. Interesting to see if he can fulfil on a dream.

28 (+3). Minnesota Vikings, (1-4, 3-2-0 ATS).
Why don’t they start Christian Ponder? Peterson is carrying everyone else – one more won’t make any difference.

29 (-). Indianapolis Colts, (0-5, 2-3-0 ATS).
Painter is playing ok. The Colts will win a few before the year is out. Not that many, of course, but a few.

30 (-). Miami Dolphins, (0-4, 1-3-0 ATS).
The question of whether or not to bench Chad Henne has been taken out of the Dolphins’ hands – Henne is gone for a year with a shoulder injury. So the man to lead the fish back to glory is now Matt Moore, who has as good a shot as anyone I guess.

31 (-3). Jacksonville Jaguars, (1-4, 0-5-0 ATS).
His name’s Del Rio, his offense is quite bland / We’re pretty sure he’ll be first coach to be canned.

32 (-). St. Louis Rams, (0-4, 0-4-0 ATS).
The Rams are going to Green Bay this week with the same chance of winning as Megan Fox has of playing Mrs Lincoln in Spielberg’s new movie. But hey – how about those Cards? Life’s not all bad in the Gateway to the West.

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