NFL Power Rankings - Week 5

By Jen Parsons
Associated Contect
The Favorites
#1 - Patriots - Winning the 1st four games by 20+ will give any team the #1 spot.
#2 - Colts - Playing back against Peyton Manning just makes you lose slowly. At least blitzing, you might get a sack.
#3 - Cowboys - They better get Romo under contract quick or Jerry Jones won't be able to afford him.
#4 - Steelers - Big Ben is playing well and the Arizona game was just an aberration.

The Contenders
#5 - Packers - Favre is playing like a 25-year-old QB. They will need to develop a running game to stay on this list by the end of the season.
#6 - Seahawks - Hasselback and Alexander haven't found their stride, yet they're 3-1 and lead the NFC West - again.
#7 - Broncos - Cutler is maturing right in front of us, the running game is, well, the Denver running game and the defense has Champ and Dre.
#8 - Tennessee - Vince Young is a rare QB - he has that X factor to win games. Tennessee will make the playoffs in 2007.
#9 - Jacksonville - Leftwich is gone so they can move on with Garrard. Jones-Drew needs to start his 2007 season at some point.

The Muddling Middle
Cardinals - The QB shuffling needs to stop - Warner gives them the best chance to win now.
Panthers - Carr resembles a #1 bust instead of a #1 franchise QB.
Bears - Griese wasn't going to be the answer - lack of depth on the defensive side of the ball finally caught up with them.
Lions - Kitna knew what he had when he predicted 10 wins - tons of weapons on his side of the ball.
Vikings - Why are they looking forward to Jackson returning from injury? He had 1 TD and 5 INTs.
Giants - Which defense is the real Giants - the one versus Dallas or Philly?
Eagles - Winston Justice needs to go against college DEs for a few weeks before they let him on the field.
49ers - The sleeper team to win the West is done because of the Alex Smith injury. 6-7 wins is their max - if Gore and the defense steps up.
Buccaneers - Garcia is playing smart, just the way Gruden likes it.
Redskins - Campbell is lucky to have a good defense and Portis/Betts in the running game.
Ravens - The defense has went from top-5 to bottom half in a hurry.
Bills - Trent Edwards would get his chance sometime this year with Losman in Buffalo.
Browns - Derek Anderson is the fantasy football word of September.
Texans - Schaub is the real deal and will succeed for many years in Houston - Reggie who?
Chiefs - Finally got a win, but there won't be that many more.
Jets - Can Pennington throw more than 20 yards even in practice?
Raiders - Culpepper returns to score 5 TDs - Al Davis might give him partial ownership.
Chargers - There is so much internal anger with this team they can't turn it around. Who is complaining about Marty now?

The Race For The #1 Pick
Bengals - 2 active linebackers by the time the game ended? Their defense was horrible to start with. Things could tumble downhill - FAST.
Saints - Last year's feel-good story is this year's, well, Saints.
Falcons - They played out of their minds against Houston and had a chance to lose in the 4th quarter. Wins will be hard to come by in 2007.
Dolphins - Ricky Williams coming back couldn't HURT their record.
Rams - Steven Jackson, Orlando Pace and Marc Bulger went down, now do you want the bad news? They're 0-4 and averaging less than 10 ppg.