NFL Power Ranks: Week 5

Week 5 was kind of a boring week for the top of the ranks. The 5 undefeated teams stayed undefeated, and in the Saints' case, they didn't even have to play. The Giants' gigantic win over the Raiders propelled them back into the #1 spot over those idle Saints, which sets up our 2nd #1 vs. #2 match-up of the season this weekend. The Vikings, Colts, and Broncos also won to hold their spots (a really nice win for the Broncos over the formerly #6 Patriots).

Since this is kind of a slow week, 1 thing that I would like to point out is that the 3 Purdue QBs that play in the NFL are a combined 14-0 to start the 2009 season, and as starters they are 9-0. Drew Brees (1997-2000) has been tearing it up for the Saints, leading them to a 4-0 record. Kyle Orton (2001-2004) has been doing what it takes to win big games, whether it be a miracle TD pass over the Bengals (who would be 5-0 if that didn't happen!!) or a 98 yard TD drive to beat the Patriots to lead the Broncos to a 5-0 record. Finally, Curtis Painter (2005-2008), who is the 3rd string QB for the Colts, has done absolutely nothing, maybe moral support?, to lead the Colts to a 5-0 record. Boiler Up!

There was a bit of a shakeup in the bottom 5, as the Browns won the ugliest game of the past quarter century to beat the Bills and the Panthers got their first win over the underrated awful Redskins (I'm disappointed the ranks haven't figured this out yet). These wins caused the Buccaneers and Raiders to fall back into the bottom 5. One thing you may notice in our logo box this week, is that I replaced the Bucs logo with their old flamboyant one from the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. Their play on the field this year has really lived up to the tradition of that logo so I am going to leave it as that one until (if) they win a game. I can't wrap up this post without talking about the horrid Rams, who have only 9.17 out of a possible 100 points this week. This is about as low as any team could possibly get mathematically, we'll see if they can outdo themselves next week.

This week's big gainers were the Falcons, who blew out the 49ers in San Fran, the Bengals, who are a shocking 4-1 to climb all the way to #6, the Cardinals, who won on a nice goaline stand vs. Houston, and the Browns and Panthers, who climbed out of the dungeon. The big losers were the Jaguars, who got demolished by a bad team a week after demolishing a bad team and jumping too high in the ranks, the Patriots, who got beat by Kyle Orton, and the 49ers, who played a game outside the NFC West (eh...not feeling so good about this season now...).

Here are the full ranks:
1. Giants - 87.48 - +1
2. Saints - 86.78 - -1
3. Vikings - 86.77 - Even
4. Colts - 82.56 - Even
5. Broncos - 80.90 - Even
6. Bengals - 71.44 - +5
7. Falcons - 71.31 - +7
8. Eagles - 70.54 - +4
9. Bears - 68.10 - -1
10. Ravens - 60.29 - -1
11. Packers - 59.34 - +2
12. Patriots - 57.18 - -6
13. 49ers - 55.38 - -6
14. Cowboys - 54.67 - +1
15. Jets - 53.74 - -5
16. Steelers - 52.20 - +4
17. Chargers - 48.51 - Even
18. Cardinals - 47.28 - +5
19. Redskins - 47.07 - Even
20. Dolphins - 45.49 - +1
21. Seahawks - 44.90 - +4
22. Texans - 44.88 - -4
23. Jaguars - 43.18 - -7
24. Lions - 32.60 - -2
25. Browns - 28.87 - +5
26. Panthers - 26.64 - +5
27. Bills - 26.02 - -1
28. Raiders - 25.16 - -4
29. Chiefs - 21.11 - -1
30. Buccaneers - 16.70 - -3
31. Titans - 14.84 - -2
32. Rams - 9.17 - Even