Curran's Week 6 NFL Power Rankings: Shakeup at the top?
What are we? What are we about? Why are we here? This is the existential crisis the Power Rankings face this week.The top-ranked Chiefs lost to the Raiders, a team that is the epitome of mediocrity. Do they remain at No. 1 anyway because I believe they are the best team in the NFL? Or do they get leapfrogged by someone who hasn’t lost? The Titans, for example? Is it an overall measure or a week-to-week measure or a mix of the two?Let’s find out … together.
I have a feeling this team is just on the cusp of the verge of the threshold of getting real hot. Look out, Dolphins, Bills, Chiefs and Patriots. Tough four teams to get right against but I think they’re headed in the right direction.
No. Not really.
(Last three rankings: 32, 32, 29)
Coming off their bye week with games at Jacksonville and Atlanta. Neither team has won in their last nine games combined. Resistible object, meet movable force.
(Last three rankings: 30, 25, 30)
What a disaster. The Dan Quinn-Thomas Dimitroff Era ends in Atlanta and now it looks like a full reboot is in the offing. They are at the Vikings this week who – smarting from the Seattle loss – are going to be in a foul mood.
(Last three rankings: 28, 26, 22)
Well, Alex Smith could have had an easier re-introduction to the NFL than he was given by the Rams, who sacked him seven times. It should be an easier go for Team this week against the Giants.
(Last three rankings: 27, 24, 21)
Predictable dead-cat bounce week for the Texans? Or was it the start of RAC Magic when they knocked off the Jaguars?! Good chance to find out this week against the short-weeking Titans.
(Last three rankings: 29, 28, 23)
They’ve lost their last four and have been the first win of the season for the Dolphins, Bengals and Texans. This week, they get Detroit. How they kept this matchup out of prime time, I have no idea.
(Last three rankings: 25, 23, 17)
Is this too high? This is too high isn’t it? Well, I’m sorry. But I like the grit.
They’ve only gotten blown out once, they’ve played five decent/good teams (that’s a stretch with Dallas) and Daniel Jones is quietly, sneakily, not horrendous. They lose to Football Team, they go right back to 31, OK?
(Last three rankings: 31, 31, 32)
The fellas are kinda pissed about the way things went down with their stealth bye week that came and went and they didn’t even notice. Now they play the Patriots and Chiefs back-to-back and their starting running back got pinched for a DUI.
Not how you draw it up.
(Last three rankings: 26, 30, 27)
They lost their first two games by a total of eight points. Then they tied and won. Getting croaked at Baltimore is not a crisis. Not blocking for Joe Burrow is a crisis though. Block for Joe!
(Last three rankings: 22, 21, 28)
They showed a heartbeat. But now they’re screwed because they have the Ravens and about the last thing that the oversized squirrel the Eagles have playing quarterback needs is to see a pressure-bringing defense.
(Last three rankings: 24, 29, 25)
As opposed to my bad lead on the Cowboys, I gave you the Vikings beating the Seahawks in Minnesota. And they might have done that in overtime if THEY HAD JUST TAKEN THE FIELD GOAL AND GONE AHEAD 29-21!
Hosting the Falcons this week. Beware the team with an interim coach.
(Last three rankings: 23, 27, 24)
Just rolling up respectable loss after respectable loss. First the Chiefs and now at the Saints. This week, they definitely won’t lose. Bye week. HAHAHAHAHAHA!
(Last three rankings: 21, 20, 19)
Success is a millstone, my friends. Look at the Rams last year. Or the Eagles since 2017. Or the Falcons since 2016.
The Niners got their heads caved in and Jimmy G. is taking on water. They’ll be back, but that’s some bad business they got involved in against Miami last week.
(Last three rankings: 14, 11, 14)
A treeeeeeemendous opportunity for Brian Flores’ crew to get to 3-3 heading into their bye week if they can beat the Jets in South Florida. If I’m a Dolphins fan – and I am decidedly not – I’m very excited about the direction of things.
(Last three rankings: 20, 19, 26)
God bless Teddy Bridgewater. Goes 27 for 36 for 313 and 2 TDs the other day, he’s completing 73 percent of his passes and has thrown 15 TDs and five picks going back to his 5-0 run with the Saints last year.
Somebody said the Patriots shoulda made a play for him when he was being shopped by the Jets in August of 2018. Woulda been an easy add to a QB room that lost Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett in the preceding 12 months.
But they rode with Brian Hoyer then and they ride with Brian Hoyer now. I digress.
(Last three rankings: 19, 22, 31)
I apologize. I told you that the easiest play on the board last week was the Cowboys over the Giants. It was not easy. It was crawling over glass for Dallas to get the win and they lost Dak in doing so. Now it’s Andy Dalton vs. Kyler Murray on MNF.
(Last three rankings: 18, 13, 15)
They beat the Jets. Soundly. Everyone beats the Jets. Soundly.
(Last three rankings: 17, 15, 7)
Imagine surveying the free agent quarterback landscape, seeing Tom Brady on one coast and Philip Rivers on the other and deciding Rivers was the one you wanted on board for your team.
(Last three rankings: 12, 17, 18)
Credit where it’s due, it’s especially hard to beat the Chiefs anywhere, never mind Kansas City. So they move to 3-2. But the Raiders pulled the same stuff last season – lose two, win three, lose four, win one.
I’M NOT BUYING!
(Last three rankings: 16, 16, 11)
They were completely handed that win last Thursday night by Tampa Bay. Yes, defensively, they are a problem. But they are about to go 0-2 in their next two games against the Panthers and Rams on the road.
(Last three rankings: 15, 12, 16)
Coach of the quarter-season is definitely Browns coach Kevin Stefanski. They scored 32 on Sunday against a decent Colts defense and that was their lowest output since the opener. At the Steelers this week is a huge checkpoint game.
(Last three rankings: 13, 18, 20)
Their post-Super Bowl swoon appears to have been left behind in 2019. They haven’t exactly faced a murderer’s row of opponents – Football Team was Sunday’s victim – but they are in command defensively so far .
(Last three rankings: 11, 14, 12)
Just not hearing as much about Drew Brees and his failing right arm after he went 33 for 47 for 325 against the Chargers. A week off this week for Sean Payton to dream up new schemes that make Taysom Hill’s contract seem logical.
(Last three rankings: 10, 10, 10)
Enough talent on both sides of the ball to be a top-five team. But they are undisciplined in the extreme and the effort to get them from incompetent to competent in that regard may last longer than Tom Brady’s tenure.
(Last three rankings: 6, 9, 13)
They are the off-road vehicle of the NFL. All terrain, they roll through it pretty much undaunted. For some teams, you’d worry about an extended period off and how it would affect them.
For the Patriots? It probably helped.
(Last three rankings: 7, 7, 9)
Just a flat game by the Bills against Tennessee. All the people launching themselves from the bandwagon this morning will be clamoring to return. But not yet.
Chiefs on Monday. Think the Chiefs handle the Bills in that one.
(Last three rankings: 4, 4, 5)
A very, very impressive win over the Bills after three narrow wins over lower-tier teams. The jury remains out on what their ceiling is, but their floor is high.
(Last three rankings: 9, 8. 8)
Someone (ME!) said this team would be the AFC Champs in 2020. Little early for a victory lap considering they haven’t played anything close to the iron yet, but this week they have the surging Browns followed by three on the road – Titans, Ravens, Cowboys .
(Last three rankings: 8, 6, 6)
What a beating they put on poor Joey Burrow. Seven sacks, 12 first downs, 3-for-16 on third down. The Ravens are the best in the league at flat overwhelming mediocre to bad competition on both sides. Eagles this week.
(Last three rankings: 5, 5, 2)
Stuff got shuffled and instead of their bye week, the Chiefs are now coming off their Vegas loss with back-to-back road games at the Bills and Broncos. They get the Bills next Monday night. God, that atmosphere would have been amazing to see if it wasn’t 2020.
(Last three rankings: 1, 1, 1)
We got ourselves a real tweet this week with Packers at Tampa Bay. Hopefully, Tom Brady’s offensive group can avoid pulling out tire irons after the whistle and jumping before the snap and we can see the shootout we’re hoping for.
(Last three rankings: 3, 3, 4)
I don’t care what the numbers say. In order to win, you have to learn how not to lose. And kicking a field goal that puts you up eight ensures you won’t lose (in regulation) while going for it against a Seahawks team led by Russell Wilson in 2020 means – if you don’t get it – you will surely lose.
Follow me?
(Last three rankings: 2, 2, 3)
