The AFC South’s hold on the top spot of the Division Power Rankings is slipping. Meanwhile, the AFC West made a huge stride forward with San Diego and Denver winning big games over the weekend and Kansas City is the only unbeaten team left in football.
Interdivision Game of the Week: (10) Kansas City Chiefs at (9) Indianapolis Colts. The Chiefs are the only unbeaten team left in the league, while the Colts are looking to prove that they are still an elite team. The Chiefs are 3-0 after beating San Diego, Cleveland, and San Francisco. A win versus Peyton Manning and the Colts would be their biggest win so far this season and would prove that the Chiefs are for real and not just playing over their heads.
For my full list of Week 5 Power Rankings, click here.
Here are the Division Power Rankings, with the rankings of each team listed with the division. The rankings given are the arithmetic average of the Power Rankings of the teams within the division, with the change from last week also given. In this case, a “positive” change actually coincides with a division receiving worse Power Rankings, thus the numbers are higher:
AFC South (12.75; +1.00)
Houston Texans (8)
Indianapolis Colts (9)
Tennessee Titans (14)
Jacksonville Jaguars (20)
The Houston Texans look like last year’s New Orleans Saints: High octane offense, vulnerable defense. The Indianapolis Colts will always be in the game with Peyton Manning at quarterback, but they no longer look like the dominating force of the past. The Tennessee Titans need to stay focused and play with more discipline if they want to be taken seriously. The Jacksonville Jaguars are only as good as David Garrard is playing, and last week he was fantastic.
AFC North (13.25; +.25)
Baltimore Ravens (1)
Pittsburgh Steelers (3)
Cincinnati Bengals (21)
Cleveland Browns (28)
The Baltimore Ravens are still my pick to make the Super Bowl from the AFC, although their offense is still a major concern. The Pittsburgh Steelers have a Bye Week coming up and then Ben Roethlisberger will come back from his suspension. The Cincinnati Bengals had good offensive numbers against the Browns, but couldn’t convert ball movement into points. The Cleveland Browns picked up their first win of the season, but don’t expect it to become a common occurrence.
AFC East (15.25; +.25)
New York Jets (6)
New England Patriots (7)
Miami Dolphins (16)
Buffalo Bills (32)
The New York Jets look a lot better with LaDanian Tomlinson looking like he did three years ago and Mark Sanchez finally putting the pieces together. The New England Patriots dominated in their Monday night matchup with the Dolphins, getting four interceptions and blocking two kicks, among other things. The Miami Dolphins are going to need to use their upcoming Bye Week to figure out how to fix all of the problems they had against the Pats. The Buffalo Bills are completely lost, and Ryan Fitzpatrick is not the heir apparent for Trent Edwards.
NFC North (15.5; +.75)
Green Bay Packers (2)
Chicago Bears (12)
Minnesota Vikings (19)
Detroit Lions (29)
The Green Bay Packers will be hard to stop if they are able to find a running back to replace Ryan Grant. The Chicago Bears let Jay Cutler get knocked around, and now he might not be able to return from his concussion for their Week 5 game. The Minnesota Vikings need to lean a little more heavily on Adrian Peterson and a little less heavily on Brett Favre. The Detroit Lions haven’t won a game, but they haven’t looked completely awful, almost pulling off a couple of comebacks.
AFC West (15.5; -3.75)
Kansas City Chiefs (10)
San Diego Chargers (11)
Denver Broncos (15)
Oakland Raiders (26)
The Kansas City Chiefs are the only unbeaten team left in the NFL, although they gained that title by having the week off. The San Diego Chargers’ biggest opposition is themselves; they have outplayed their opponents every game this season, but crucial mistakes have led to their 2-2 record. The Denver Broncos need to find a way to convert Kyle Orton’s amazing start into more points. The Oakland Raiders are struggling, although Bruce Gradkowski is the best quarterback the Raiders have had in years.
NFC South (16; +.25)
Atlanta Falcons (4)
New Orleans Saints (5)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (24)
Carolina Panthers (31)
The Atlanta Falcons almost lost to the winless San Francisco 49ers, relying on a last minute field goal to win. The New Orleans Saints almost lost to the winless Carolina Panthers, but were able to take advantage of Carolina quarterback Jimmy Clausen’s lack of NFL experience. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got the week off, allowing them extra time to correct the mistakes they made in Week 3’s horrible loss to the Steelers. The Carolina Panthers almost had their first win, but the growing pains with Jimmy Clausen continue as he made a couple of crucial mistakes late in the game against the Saints.
NFC East (17.5; -.50)
Dallas Cowboys (13)
Washington Redskins (17)
New York Giants (18)
Philadelphia Eagles (22)
The Dallas Cowboys had a Bye Week and are still very much in the thick of things, as every team in the NFC East has two losses. The Washington Redskins won, but Donovan McNabb wasn’t brilliant and the Redskins almost lost the game a couple of times. The New York Giants looked good on defense, but Eli Manning continues to struggle this season. The Philadelphia Eagles can’t afford to lose Michael Vick for an extended period of time to an injury.
NFC West (26.25; +1.75)
St. Louis Rams (23)
Seattle Seahawks (25)
Arizona Cardinals (27)
San Francisco 49ers (30)
The St. Louis Rams are looking like geniuses as Sam Bradford has been amazing so far in his rookie campaign. The Seattle Seahawks have two wins, but they’re mainly the result of luck, not good play. The Arizona Cardinals are missing Matt Leinart more and more with each interception thrown by Derek Anderson and backup Max Hall. The San Francisco 49ers replaced their offensive coordinator, but their play didn’t improve by much; Alex Smith’s days as starting quarterback are numbered.
Source(s):
All stats and standings from espn.com
