2013 Week Six NFL Power Rankings

By: Matt Harmon

32. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-5)
  • The Jaguars lost again on Sunday and as a reward they get to go play Denver this week. That game should prove hard to watch. I wonder if Denver’s backups start the second half. 

31. New York Giants (0-5)
  • I can’t believe it, but the Giants have earned the distinction of the worst NFL team not named the Jaguars. They are not doing any thing well right now and you have to wonder what that building feels like right now. Players can begin to tune out coaches at this point and front office job seats can get hot despite the two recent Super Bowl rings.

30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-4)
  • The bye week came at a good time for the Buccaneers, as they should have spent the week off coming up with better offensive looks to make Mike Glennon comfortable. They only got to jump up a spot so that I could place the Giants at the thirty-first spot. 

29. St. Louis Rams (2-3)
  • I hope no one was expecting anything more than a one spot bump for a team that beat the Jaguars. My opinion on them will not change until I see them square up with better competition, something they have been unable to do yet this season.

28. Pittsburgh Steelers (0-4)
  • Pittsburgh was off this week and it sounds like they spent their time making changes. Longtime defensive stalwart, Ryan Clark is being bench for a rookie, and underachiever, Ziggy Hood, is also taking a long overdue ride on the pine. Mike Tomlin said anyone not playing well would be benched, and while he can’t bench the whole team, its good to see he meant it. 

27. Minnesota Vikings (1-3)
  • The Vikings are saying all the right things about Christian Ponder remaining the starter in the wake of the Josh Freeman signing, but you have to imagine that as soon as Freeman is up to speed, or as soon as Ponder throws a few more picks, Freeman will be under center. 

26. Washington Redskins (1-3)
  • The Redskins had a bye to get their young quarterback healthy. More importantly, I hope they used that week to get recommitted to their script; running the ball and play action passes. 

25. Buffalo Bills (2-3)
  • The Bills had a nice start to the season, but with E.J. Manuel sidelined for several weeks, you have to thing they’re headed for a rough patch. I will say this though, I kind of like their new starter, Thad Lewis. Lewis started, and played decently, for the Browns last year against the Steelers. He is not going to come out and light the world on fire, but he won’t be terrible or anything.

24. Carolina Panthers (1-3)
  • The Panthers released Armanti Edwards this week and because of that it is a good time to look back on this article from last year I wrote covering Carolina’s terrible drafting in the second and third rounds. The numerous misses on players by the previous front office that I cover in that article are a huge reason why this is an incomplete football team at best. 

23. Oakland Raiders (2-3)
  • Oakland continues to go out and play well whenever Terrelle Pryor is under center. Some people are even saying that they would take Pryor over Cam Newton to build a team around. If you are not with us on the Pryor bandwagon yet, get on board before it gets too crowded. 

22. Atlanta Falcons (1-4)
  • The Falcons were destined for a drop anyways, and then the news from this morning broke and that just tied another weight around their ankles. This team feels like a sinking ship right now, and twenty-two even feels a little too generous for how poorly they are playing.  

21. Arizona Cardinals (2-2)
  • I did not move the Cardinals at all this week after a win, because their offense played so poorly. One player you should all know about is their inside linebacker, Daryl Washington. In his return from suspension, Washington had nine tackles, two sacks, and an interception. More importantly, his return made the entire Arizona defense better; he is an elite player. 

20. Philadelphia Eagles (2-3)
  • Well it looks like Michael Vick’s annual injury break has arrived. Nick Foles will get to start at least the next game for the Eagles, and maybe a few more. Here is the deal: yes, Vick has had his moments in this offense, but if Foles goes out and plays as well as he did Sunday for a few game, I bet he keeps this job for the rest of 2013. I doubt Chip Kelly thinks any of these players are his future quarterback, but he certainly won’t mind an excuse to get an extended look at Foles. 

19. Houston Texans (2-3)
  • I am seriously concerned that we are witnessing the end of Matt Schaub’s career. I recall the way Jake Delhomme fell off a cliff after a disastrous 2009 playoff game for the Carolina Panthers. After that game it appeared Delhomme was shell shocked as he just kept throwing interceptions in bunches, and slowly he and his teammates lost the belief that he could play well. Matt Schaub and Joke Delhomme are pretty similar players in terms of ability, and when guys who are not very gifted lose even an inch of their physical ability they are already too far behind to compensate. 

18. New York Jets (3-2)
  • I do not care what happens the rest of this season, Rex Ryan needs to keep his job as the Jets head coach. For most head coaches it takes being fired, and reemerging with a second team, to change their ways, but Ryan seems to have learned that lesson already. Gone is the walking joke of a man who made outlandish promises and pit his team against itself. Ryan has his depleted team playing really well and they are actually really set up well for the future. They have a strong defense, and contrary to popular belief there is a good amount of young talent to work with here. If they can spend this next offseason adding as much offensive skill as possible to compliment Geno smith, their franchise quarterback, the Jets might not be so far away.

17. San Diego Chargers (2-3)
  • San Diego looks like a .500 team. The offense is playing well enough that they are going to win some games they shouldn’t, but a bad secondary (outside of Eric Weddle) and consistency problems are going to make them lose some games they shouldn’t; as they did on Sunday. 

16. Cleveland Browns (3-2)
  • Cleveland just continues to churn out wins since trading away their overrated running back. Sadly the Hoyer era ended too soon, but I still think Brandon Weeden can lead this team to a 7-9 sort of record. Weeden still has a chance to help me not come away with an egg on my face.  

15. Tennessee Titans (3-2)
  • The Titans are probably going to keep falling back in these rankings in the coming weeks with Fitzpatrick behind center. Here is some fantasy football advice for you: if you own Chris Johnson try to trade him right now. He had a nice day because he scored on a desperation dump off pass from Ftizpatrick. His value will never be higher, and he is not a great player anymore.

14. Detroit Lions (3-2)
  • The Lions clearly are a different team without Megatron on the field, and te results weren’t pretty. Anyone who thought that Reggie Bush was somehow a more important ingredient to this teams’ success need only watch Sunday’s game to see what a silly assertion that was. 

13. Dallas Cowboys (2-3)
  • The Cowboys got a nice jump after a very impressive loss on Sunday. That felt weird to say. Ultimately I still feel the same about the Cowboys; they are going to win their terrible division, but they are not a strong enough team to be a true contender. That is, unless Tony Romo decides to play like that every week.

12. Miami Dolphins (3-2)
  • The Dolphins are falling back to Earth just a bit. However, I still have faith in them because their losses did come at the hands of two good teams. Their pass protection, or lack thereof, for Ryan Tannehill is a massive issue. With two of the worst starting tackles in the NFL right now, they probably cannot be considered a true contender.

11. Baltimore Ravens (3-2)
  • If the Ravens can play to the same script that they played on Sunday to, then they have a chance to win a lot more games. Their defense is excellent, especially Terrell Suggs who has just been on a tear this year. Torrey Smith has been just as impressive on a bad offense. He is a complete player, a true number one receiver, and he is only getting better. 

10. Chicago Bears (3-2)
  • I was really high on the Bears, but they are falling down my power rankings. Their defense is letting them down in a big way and as I wrote in review of their game, most of that can be blamed on their underperforming defensive line. To make matters worse, they just lost yet another defensive tackle for the season. 

9. New England Patriots (4-1)
  • I thought the Patriots would be getting better, but they took a step back Sunday against the Bengals. Brady is not playing well, and there are still a ton of injuries. I will be really interested to see how they match up to the Saints on Sunday, a game which should feature the long awaited return of Rob Gronkowski. 

8. Cincinnati Bengals (3-2)
  • The Bengals defense is so good, and that unit will give them a chance to win every game. If they control the clock like they did on Sunday with a strong running game, their offense has a chance to keep pace, but we are well past the point of believing this pass game is consistent enough to carry this team. 

7. Kansas City Chiefs (5-0)
  • The Chiefs are 5-0, and that record does not lie, but I do not have any second thoughts about ranking them “this low” despite their record. The Chiefs are unbeaten, but I firmly believe if they faced any of the teams ahead of them on this list, they would not leave that game with a perfect record. 

6. Green Bay Packers (2-2)
  • Green Bay did not have a strong start to their game on, but they really got it together in the second half. The bad news is that, they are going to be without Clay Matthews for an extended period of time. That will be a tough injury to come back from, as he is their most important player, outside of Aaron Rodgers. 

5. San Francisco 49ers (3-2)
  • The 49ers have stomped on what looks like two really bad teams two weeks in a row now. It certainly looks like the old, tough, physical 49ers are back to stay. There are rumblings Michael Crabtree could be back by late November, and that would be a huge lift. A healthy Crabtree would get this offense to where it needs to be. 

4. Indianapolis Colts (4-1)
  • Don’t look now, but the Colts are the second best team in the AFC. They have now dispelled the two bullies in the NFC West, and look like a strong bet to run away with their division. T.Y. Hilton showed on Sunday that he should be a more involved piece on offense, and that this team would be foolish to take too much of the vertical element out of the playbook.

3. Seattle Seahawks (4-1)
  • I am not so much punishing the Seahawks by moving them down, as much as I just wanted to move up another team to the second spot. The Seahawks, like their division rival, could be getting their top receiver, Percy Harvin, in a month or so. This passing game has not really hit its stride behind a banged up line, but the return of the dynamic Harvin could be just the shot in the arm they need. 

2. New Orleans Saints (5-0)
  • The Saints are great right now, and its hard to see that changing anytime soon. I threw this out on Twitter (@BackyardBanters) Sunday afternoon, but it is painfully obvious that Jimmy Graham is the best player on offense, that is not a quarterback, right now. Even when he is not targeted heavily during the game, he still puts up dominant number, and he is just completely uncoverable.

1.    Denver Broncos (5-0)
  • Let me be clear: I don't agree with the narrative that the Broncos defense was exposed on Sunday. You have to remember they were without about six key players for significant, if not all, portions of this game. The Broncos defense is more than good enough, when everyone's playing, for this team to remain the best in the league, and potentially go 16-0 Lastly, Von Miller is, conservatively, one of the five best defensive players in the NFL and a transcendent talent. His return next week can't be overstated.