Anyway, let's kick off with the Power Rankings from week five:
1) Dallas Cowboys - The Cowboys remain in top spot, but it's more an indication of how poor some of their main rivals have been in recent weeks. Divisional losses hurt more, but even in the NFL's strongest division, the 'boys reign supreme.
2) San Diego Chargers - The Chargers are the best of a challenging group that has tailed off in recent weeks. Do you look at their propensity to struggle against weak opposition - but grind out a win - as a good thing, or a bad thing? To me, it's enough to question their ability to go deep into the playoffs.
3) Green Bay Packers - A .500 team in 3rd, whilst it's NFC counterparts languish down the rankings? Well think about this: The Packers can likely afford to lose 5 games, and still win their division. It's a luxury that none of their NFC rivals can realistically afford.
4) New England Patriots - No move for the Pats, as again, it's hard to knock a team that didn't play, when it's rivals seem so underwhelming. The next two games will likely determine whether they can retain the AFC East.
5) New York Giants - The Giants eh? Everyone has them in the top three, but hold on for a moment. Do people seriously think that because the Giants beat the Redskins, and the Redskins beat the Cowboys, that somehow the Giants have overtaken the Cowboys? No, we've said it before, but that's not how it works, otherwise the Jets (who beat the Dolphins) would have beaten the Pats. Got it yet? Probably not. Said it before: Let's see how they fare against genuine quality. The Seahwaks are a nice test.
6) Tennessee Titans - Again, a team that is higher on most boards at the moment. Why? Well, they have one of the best Defences in football, and their running game has the feted 'Thunder and Lightning' combination that has become de rigeur throughout the league. The big question for me - and I'll go into some depth on this one later - is what happens when this team starts losing. How will they react? At the moment they're in the enviable position of not knowing what that is like.
7) Pittsburgh Steelers - The big question for Pittsburgh is 'can they stay healthy?'. Right now it's not looking good. Mewelde Moore at Running Back is not as bad as people might think. Moore was a relatively dependable back in Minnesota, forced out more by the Peterson-Taylor combination than any real failings on his own part. An injury to Ben Roethlisberger is still the major worry. Every week he takes a knock of some description, and really the O-line needs to start protecting him from what could at some point become a season-ending mauling.
8) Philadelphia Eagles - Ouch. A fall from grace for Philly, who can't seem to quite nail their colours to any kind of winning streak. Compared to the Redskins, I'd say they have the experience neccesary to stay in the playoff hunt, though, and it wouldn't surprise me to see them challenge the Cowboys for the NFC East come December.
9) Jacksonville Jaguars - The Jags have now ground out two close victories over Divisional rivals, including the reigning AFC South champions, the Colts. A patchwork O-line seems to have at least stabilised the pass protection for David Garrard, but to get back to 'contender' status, they'll need to take the Rushing form they showed against Indianapolis two weeks ago and get it to consistently work.
10) Indianapolis Colts - The Colts pay the price for a bye week when their major rivals in the division both won. The Houston game is now crucial, and it's imperative that the team learns to stop a concerted Running game, as both Chicago and the Jags have ran all over this team.
11) Washington Redskins - Why so low? Well it's simple: Jason Campbell is still - despite the gushing praise from some media types - performing with the consistency of a second year player. The Defence, too, looks to have regressed back to it's pre-2007 habits of giving up big plays at crucial moments. Mainly though, they're probably a year away from winning this division.
12) New Orleans Saints - The Saints are putting up big offensive numbers, and have had a relatively tough schedule with the exception of last week's encounter with the 49ers. Drew Brees has been the best QB in the league through four weeks, and if he stays healthy, the team should roll into the playoffs. Their division is a tough one to predict, however, with the Panthers and Bucs snapping atheir heels and claiming big scalps on the way.
13) Buffalo Bills - This one will cause uproar, we know. Look, the Bills are 4-0, and we're glad, because for one reason or another, we grew up wishing they would break their Superbowl duck. The reality of the situation though, is that this team narrowly beat Seattle and Jacksonville when they were injury plagued, and has genuinely struggled against the Raiders and Rams - the two worst teams in the league on our list - in the last two weeks. Remember that the AFC East plays the AFC and NFC West divisions this season, which in theory means that the Dolphins, Jets, and Patriots all get to face the same weak opposition. The Bills will make the playoffs, but how will they fare come the crunch, after one of the easiest schedules in football? It will be a strong test of character for a young team.
14) Carolina Panthers - A solid win against a divisional rival (Atlanta) was important, but as usual, the South is much of a muchness. None of the teams inspire you enough that you'd happily wager money on them winning or losing the next game. In what is traditionally a close division, the Panthers find themselves in the lead right now. Expect that to change, but not this week - they face the Chiefs.
15) Denver Broncos - What did we say? We said they'd screw up against the Chiefs, and they only went and did! The main reason being that enough people had hopped on the bandwagon, that eventually the whole thing would tilt over and end up in a ditch. Not quite sure what that means? Me neither, but they lost to the Chiefs, and that isn't good.
16) New York Jets - Interesting. The Jets have what could be their biggest opportunity for a decade to genuinely rid themselves of their tag as being 'the team most likely to finish second in the AFC East', yet seem intent to labour for every victory. They've made hard work of the Dolphins and Cards, and lost to the two big teams (the Chargers and Patriots) they've faced. Despite that - and it pains us to go along with the man crush that certain media outlets have on him - Brett Favre will win games when they look dead and buried, and will win any shootout like last weekend's against the Cards.
The rest (In one word or phrase):
17) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Passable
18) Arizona Cardinals - Glass Ceiling
19) Baltimore Ravens - Unbalanced
20) Chicago Bears - Moustachioed
21) Cleveland Browns - at the crossroads
22) Seattle Seahawks - Homesick
23) Houston Texans - Back on the wagon
24) Minnesota Vikings - Jaded
25) Atlanta Falcons - Satisfied
26) Miami Dolphins - Stable
27) Cincinnati Bengals - Bruised Ego
28) Detroit Lions - Porous
29) San Francisco 49ers - Resuscitated
30) Kansas City Chiefs - Meeting Expectations
31) Oakland Raiders - Circus
32) St. Louis Rams - Utterly inept. Probably have shares in Washington Mutual
