NFL Week 6 Power Rankings

Five Quick Hits

* No one seems to agree with me, but I didn't see indisputable visual evidence to overturn Steven Jackson's fumble. The ref was Gerry Austin, the same guy who overturned Marcus Pollard's TD against Tampa Bay.

* I am really sick of hearing about the Mannings. Especially Archie.

* To balance my relentless negativity, commercials I really like: College Gameday, and Dockers San Francisco.

* This weekend, Chris Berman compared Eli Manning to Barry Sanders. Seriously. He described Little Manning as "Barry Sanders-like." That's heinous.

* Remember when 60 Minutes was a hard-hitting news show? Now it's got someone like Ricky Williams or Bill Romanowski in a feature spot every week.

***

The Seattle/Houston contest on Sunday night may not have been a marquee matchup, or even a particularly good game, but it really showcased two completely different teams. Seattle was confident, competent, efficient, sound in its fundamentals. Houston never had a chance. The Seahawks are a very good squad, but there's not a team in the league the Texans would have beaten that night. The team is utterly without confidence, the personnel is subpar, and no one seemed to have any motivation.

It is becoming reasonable to start discussing Houston's place in history in the way we used to with the Bengals. This is one of the worst teams I have ever seen, and if it doesn't turn things around, the 2005 Texans will be regarded as one of the worst teams in the history of the NFL.

Houston had a season-low sacks allowed (three), was +1 in turnovers, converted a fake punt, and still lost by 32. It's questionable, after Seattle ran all over them, whether the offense or the defense is worse. Shaun Alexander is an exceptionally good running back, but the Texans made him look like the second coming of Jim Brown. Seattle's offensive line simply dominated the game. I predict a 2-14 finish for Houston, with the first win coming November 27 against the Rams. That might be generous.

1. Indianapolis Colts [1] — The defense showed some real cracks, particularly against the run (5.0 yards per carry Monday night), but it stiffened after the first quarter and came up with big plays. Cato June continues to impress, and he probably locked up a Pro Bowl selection with his second consecutive two-interception game. Dwight Freeney had a fairly quiet night, but John Madden really missed the boat when he claimed, with 0:57 left in the first half, that Orlando Pace was handling Freeney. Pace jumped before the snap to beat Freeney's speed rush. If you watch the replay, you can see not only Pace's jump, but Freeney pointing at him to alert the officials. Alex Barron had jumped the snap before, the home crowd was roaring, and the Rams were rattled. Even at 17-0 with a healthy Marc Bulger, this was never a game.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers [2] — Teams are packed very tightly between second and 10th or so, and this is a questionable ranking after they lost at home to Jacksonville. But next week, Hines Ward will play and Tommy Maddox probably won't throw three interceptions. The Steelers came awfully close to winning on Sunday — that overtime just looked like fate — and with better QB play, they probably would have.

3. Denver Broncos [7] — Five victories in a row against top teams, although four of those have been at home. The Broncos have some tough games left, but the only really scary one I see is at San Diego the last week of the season. By then, Denver may be resting its starters anyway.

4. San Diego Chargers [6] — Fascinating matchup in Philadelphia next week, which could set the tone for the rest of both team's seasons. San Diego's offense has been on fire recently, and I think LaDainian Tomlinson will have another big game. The Chargers' defense is uncharacteristically poor for a Marty Schottenheimer-coached team, though, and I think you'll see a shootout. San Diego by a touchdown.

5. Jacksonville Jaguars [8] — Consecutive wins against top teams, and I toyed with ranking them as high as second, but the offense just hasn't shown enough consistency for me to put them so high.

6. Cincinnati Bengals [3] — Probably shouldn't be this high, but neither should anyone below them, and this way I won't look too dumb if they beat Pittsburgh.

7. Seattle Seahawks [12] — What happens to Alexander on Sunday nights? It's one of the marvels of the NFL. And I know I said this last week, but if not for Tomlinson, Alexander and Edgerrin James would be getting Emmitt-and-Barry treatment for the way they're playing this season.

8. Atlanta Falcons [4] — The pass defense had another mediocre showing, and the run defense got embarrassed by the Saints' backups, who posted 174 yards and two TDs with a 6.2 average. The passing game remains inconsistent at best, and Michael Vick seems to be having trouble staying healthy. The good news is that Atlanta's schedule eases up for the next month, until a critical division matchup against Tampa Bay.

9. Philadelphia Eagles [9] — If I had to guess, I think Philadelphia will probably win the NFC East, but this division is wide open, and the Eagles are vulnerable. Injuries have been a factor, but the problems are the same as last year: running the ball and stopping the run.

10. New England Patriots [5] — Enormous problems on defense, and I'm starting to wonder if it has anything to do with Eric Mangini replacing Romeo Crennel. They've had a ton of injuries, but the same thing happened last year. I couldn't figure out then why it wasn't hurting them, and I can't figure out now what's different than 2004.

11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers [10] — Cadillac Williams will probably be back for their next game, but reports indicate that QB Brian Griese will miss the rest of the season. That's bad news for a team that's in contention for a division title in the competitive NFC South.

12. Washington Redskins [11] — They might have the best third-and-out defense in 20 years, but this team is not going to be successful without some big plays. Washington has forced only five sacks so far (last in the NFL) and is -8 in takeaways/giveaways (31st, ahead of the Saints). Sean Taylor made a couple of borderline-late hits early in the second half this Sunday and was lucky not to catch a flag.

13. Dallas Cowboys [16] — Dominated the Giants in a way their three-point overtime victory doesn't reflect, and in virtually every category. The exception was rushing average, where Dallas was unable to get anything going without Julius Jones. Actually, the Cowboys haven't had great success with Jones, either — they're averaging just 3.2 yards per carry, 30th in the NFL.

14. Kansas City Chiefs [15] — Marc Boerigter got decked by Derrick Frost on Sunday. I mean, knocked clear off his feet. Frost is Washington's punter. FOX managed to miss the referee's calls twice during this game because they were running other stories.

15. Carolina Panthers [14] — Zero rushing first downs on Sunday, giving both teams in the game a combined total of one. The Panthers were lucky to escape with a win in Detroit, and I don't think the team is very good, but their season will come down to four division matchups against the Falcons and Bucs.

16. New York Giants [13] — I don't want to be too hard on Brandon Jacobs, a rookie whose fumble on the goal line may have cost New York the game this weekend. So how about blaming the coaching staff instead? Tiki Barber is a great runner between the tackles as well as outside them, and he's got a real nose for the end zone. Barber scored 15 TDs last season, and he shouldn't be coming out of the game in key situations like that.

17. Buffalo Bills [21] — Run defense is really horrid, but Kelly Holcomb has re-energized the offense, which looks legit for the first time all season. The Bills can put themselves in the playoff picture with a win over Oakland in Week 7.

18. Detroit Lions [17] — I've been pulling for Joey Harrington, but he's really struggling. I can't imagine that Jeff Garcia won't be this team's quarterback at the end of the year. The Lions are decent enough, in their horrible division, that Garcia could lead them to the playoffs.

19. Baltimore Ravens [22] — Dominated time of possession and had almost twice as many yards from scrimmage as the Browns. Todd Heap makes you wonder what the Ravens might have done the last few years if he had stayed healthy.

20. Chicago Bears [30] — The Bears are 2-0 in the NFC North. Sadly, this could affect the playoffs.

21. Oakland Raiders [18] — If Randy Moss can't go next week, the offense will be terrible, too.

22. Miami Dolphins [19] — Well, that certainly justified the Ricky Williams hype.

23. Tennessee Titans [26] — They've been missing Derrick Mason, who left for Baltimore, and now Drew Bennett is injured. The Titans have three winnable games coming up before the bye, and they've got to win at least two if they're going to make anything out of this season.

24. Cleveland Browns [23] — Trent Dilfer had his first really rocky day as a Brown, getting sacked four times, with two fumbles, an interception, and under five yards per attempt.

25. New Orleans Saints [27] — Antowain Smith and Aaron Stecker had a field day filling in for Deuce McAllister, and statistically, the Saints beat Atlanta in almost every category. Smith's fumble, returned 66 yards for a touchdown by the Falcons, probably was the difference in a game the Saints could have — and probably should have — won.

26. St. Louis Rams [24] — On Monday Quarterback, which each week I wonder a little more why I watch, Trey Wingo and Eric Allen couldn't wait to put Pace in the Hall of Fame. As someone who pays a lot of attention to that process, I feel fairly confident that Pace will never have a bust in Canton. He's still above-average, but hasn't been a really elite player for years. Linemen need more than three or four years at the top to make it to the Hall.

27. Arizona Cardinals [28] — Stadium music has become much less conservative over the last decade. Today Guns 'n Roses, Black Sabbath, and AC/DC are popular selections, as are a lot of newer hip-hop and modern rock songs. Twenty years ago, any team that played "Welcome to the Jungle" in front of 60,000 people would have had a public relations disaster on its hands. The Cardinals had a bye this week.

28. Green Bay Packers [29] — If they win in Minnesota next week, the Packers will probably end up winning the NFC North. If they don't, I might rank them 30th again.

29. New York Jets [25] — Lost Kevin Mawae for the season, and the upcoming schedule won't make things any easier.

30. Minnesota Vikings [20] — This boat incident is being blown way out of proportion, but it is representative of this team's utter lack of control over itself. In a game in which it statistically outplayed its opponent, Minnesota still lost 28-3, basically on special teams and red zone defense. Mike Tice has no business being a head coach in this league. His team is a ridiculous mess.

31. San Francisco 49ers [32] — I would like to use this space to issue a public apology to the 49ers for ranking them below Houston last week. San Francisco is wretched, but I have a funny feeling they could keep things close against Washington in Week 7.

32. Houston Texans [31] — As if this team needed to get worse, five starters are expected to miss next week's game against the Colts, including Kailee Wong, who is out for the season.