NFL Week 6 Power Rankings

Five Quick Hits

* Congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers. Especially the Cardinals, who went 15-5 down the stretch, erasing a deficit of more than 10 games to win the NL wild card, then beating the two best teams in the NL to reach the World Series.

* Midway through the first quarter on Monday night, ESPN missed the entire play and never showed a replay. They had a close-up of a receiver who never even laid a block. The same thing happened about five minutes into the second quarter. This is totally unacceptable.

* Will some football team please hire Brian Billick as an offensive consultant or something? Just so I don't face legal charges for choking him? Anything that gets him off TV. The man can barely speak, and his repeated use of the non-word "trickeration" is slowly driving me mad.

* Does anyone else feel like it's false advertising that all of Miller Lite's commercials are based on the premise that their beer has more taste? Come on, tap water has more taste than Miller Lite.

* The only thing uglier than Howie Long's purple tie this weekend? Green Bay's hideous throwback uniforms. There's a reason they switched away from those by the time we had color TV.

***

This weekend, NBC's Bob Costas compared Adrian Peterson, in a fawning interview, to O.J. Simpson and Eric Dickerson. He also reluctantly admitted that Jim Brown might have been as good as All Day, but he wouldn't hear of comparisons to Walter Payton, who supposedly lacked Peterson's speed. Peterson has had four very good seasons, none of them anything like as good as Simpson in the mid-70s or Dickerson in the mid-80s or Payton in the late 1970s or Brown ever.

Peterson is a very talented player, and it's true that he combines speed and power. But like no one since O.J. and Dickerson? What, did Costas just pick two Hall of Fame RBs out of a hat? The Dickerson comparison I can understand, though Dickerson was better than AP*. But O.J.? Simpson didn't have Peterson's power, and All Day doesn't nearly have Simpson's speed, agility, balance, or ability to read the field.

* Eric Dickerson's first four seasons, and Adrian Peterson's first four seasons:

ED: 6,968 yds, 4.8 avg, 55 TD
AP: 5,782 yds, 4.8 avg, 52 TD

Peterson has about 300 more receiving yards, but — call me crazy — I still don't think that earns him comparisons to Dickerson. Peterson's career-high in rushing yardage, by far, was 1,760 in 2008. Dickerson rushed for more yards than that three out of his first four years. He was also one of the two best RBs in the NFL (him or Herschel Walker) in 1987 and '88. At this point, has Peterson even earned comparisons to Terrell Davis, much less guys like Dickerson and Payton who were elite RBs for nearly a decade? Those are top-10 all-time RBs. Peterson, if he retired today, might or might not be top-50.

This reminds me of last season, when Jon Gruden described Maurice Jones-Drew as a combination of the best attributes of Earl Campbell and Barry Sanders. Peterson and MJD are both great running backs, but these comparisons, frankly, are nonsense. On to the power rankings, brackets indicate last week's rank.

1. Green Bay Packers [1] — Won by double-digits for the third week in a row. Their average margin of victory this season is two touchdowns (13.8), and while that includes a few cupcakes, it also includes good teams like the Saints and Bears. I know it's only Week 6, but barring injury, it's very hard to see anyone other than Aaron Rodgers as NFL MVP. Clay Matthews was only credited with 1 tackle this week, but he had 3 hits on the quarterback (including a sack) and batted down 3 passes.

2. Baltimore Ravens [2] — Got another big game from Ray Rice (101 rushing, 60 receiving) and rode five Billy Cundiff field goals to a 29-14 win. Why was Rice still in the game, running out the clock, with Baltimore leading by 15 and only 3:30 remaining? Ricky Williams can run into a wall of defenders just as easily as Rice can, and if Williams gets hurt, it won't ruin your season.

3. New England Patriots [5] — Last season, Tom Brady threw 4 interceptions. On Sunday, he tossed his 8th, already doubling last year's sensational total. The Patriots rank last in the NFL in defensive yardage allowed: 423.7 per game, which would challenge the record held by the 1981 Baltimore Colts (424.6). However, New England is actually above average in points allowed (22.5/gm), ranking 14th. Vince Wilfork, his 2 INTs notwithstanding, does not look like his usual self this year. I don't know if he's quietly nursing an injury, or if being enormous has taken some awful toll on him, or if this is just a down year, but he's not consistently getting the same kind of penetration he has in the past. This was the first time all season that New England didn't score at least 30 points.

4. New Orleans Saints [4] — I'm not going to draw too many conclusions from their loss in Tampa. The Saints just played their third straight road game, going 2-1 during that stretch. They're still tied for first in the NFC South, and they've got to like the upcoming schedule: they face the winless Colts and Rams, then a chance for revenge against the Bucs at home in Week 9. Head coach Sean Payton broke his tibia and tore his MCL in Sunday's loss. He is probable for Week 7, but fantasy owners may want to pick up Jim Schwartz or Mike Shanahan just in case.

5. San Francisco 49ers [10] — I don't really believe the 49ers are the 5th-best team in the NFL. This is almost exactly the same roster that went 6-10 against a pathetic schedule last year. The Niners rank 28th in offensive yardage, and if Frank Gore can't stay healthy, I don't know how they'll move the ball. Let's be clear: just because the team won does not mean the quarterback played well. You can win even when your QB has a terrible game. Alex Smith did not have a terrible game against Detroit, exactly, but his performance (125 yards, 60.0 rating) won't make fans forget Joe Montana or Steve Young — or even Jeff Garcia — any time soon.

I ranked San Francisco here based on their extremely impressive results. They're 5-1, with the only loss in overtime. They beat the previously undefeated Lions and annihilated the Bucs in Week 5. They're playing good football. But at this level, you don't go from one of the worst teams in the league to one of the best without some major change in personnel. I know people are pointing to new head coach Jim Harbaugh, and obviously he deserves credit for the team's progress, but I just don't see it holding up for 16 games. Professional athletes, adults, don't alternate between a win or a tank job based just on the coach. In recent years, we've seen a lot of first-year coaches experience early success without sustaining it: Josh McDaniels (started 6-0), Jim Zorn (started 6-2), Tony Sparano (11-5), and Eric Mangini (remember when he was Mangenius?) all come to mind.

6. Detroit Lions [3] — Jim Harbaugh's rough handshake at the end of the game struck me as disrespectful, but the more I saw the replays — and I've seen quite a few now — the more I blame Schwartz more for over-reacting and escalating the situation than I do Harbaugh for being a dick about the handshake. In the wake of the postgame scuffle, it seems to have escaped everyone's notice that the 49ers committed 15 penalties (!) in Week 6, for 120 yards and four Detroit first downs, and Jahvid Best suffered another concussion this week. Pity the Falcons; I think the Lions bounce back big at home in Week 7.

7. San Diego Chargers [7] — All season, this has been a tough team to rank, because it's largely untested. The Chargers are 4-0 against teams with losing records, and if you win all the games you're supposed to, you're obviously doing something right. They lost at New England in Week 2. So, apparently they're worse than the Patriots and better than the Broncos. Hmm. We're about to learn a lot more, though, as San Diego now has two in a row on the road, followed by tough home games against the Packers and Raiders.

8. Pittsburgh Steelers [8] — Defense has settled in to a familiar position: best in the league in yards allowed. This despite ongoing injuries to starters Casey Hampton, Aaron Smith, and James Harrison that kept them off the field in Week 6. Starting safeties Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu also left the game, Clark with a shoulder injury and Troy with concussion-like symptoms (whatever that means), but Polamalu's status reportedly was not serious, and he's expected on the field in Week 7. If this team ever gets fully healthy again, watch out. Against Jacksonville, the Steelers punted on every possession in the second half.

9. Oakland Raiders [9] — Lost starting quarterback Jason Campbell, for at least a month and probably more, with a broken collarbone. Kyle Boller and Terrell Pryor are the backups, but with legitimate playoff aspirations, the Raiders are also looking into outside help, reportedly including an attempt to trade for Carson Palmer before Tuesday's deadline. I hate that the NFL does so much to discourage trades. The structure of the salary cap makes player-for-player trades almost unheard of, and those are fascinating from a fan's perspective, plus the trade deadline is way too early, basically a third of the way through the season.

10. Buffalo Bills [6] — Live by the turnover, die by the turnover. They opened 4-1 because they consistently won the turnover battle, but when that turned against them this week (2 INT, no takeaways), Fred Jackson's mighty performance (121 rush yards, 7.6 average, TD, 47 receiving yards) wasn't enough. Jackson is 30. How did it take the league this long to discover him? I realize Coe College, and D-III in general, are not hotbeds of NFL talent, but don't we have scouts for this sort of thing? And coaches? This is Jackson's sixth season in Buffalo, and he's just now getting a chance as the full-time RB.

11. Chicago Bears [12] — Two quarterbacks, all stats are combined passing, sacks, and rushing:

Who are these guys? They're both Jay Cutler. QB A is Cutler with the Broncos, and QB B is Cutler with the Bears. Baby Jay has now played 37 games with each franchise, and the difference in his numbers is striking. In Denver, Cutler attempted 1,220 passes and took 51 sacks — 1,271 total plays. In Chicago, 1,187 pass attempts and 106 sacks — 1,293 plays, almost exactly the same total. With the Broncos, though, those plays yielded almost 1,000 yards more.

If I was re-writing my piece on the greatest kick returners in NFL history, I would rank Devin Hester higher than I did last summer, maybe 2nd all-time. I still wouldn't kick away from him on kickoffs — I wouldn't kick away from anyone on kickoffs — but I'd make sure my punts went out of bounds or had plenty of hang time. A good punter should be able to hang 'em up there for the coverage team without sacrificing distance the way you usually do punting out of bounds. Nothing wrong with 40 yards and a fair catch.

12. Houston Texans [11] — Not the same team without Andre Johnson and Mario Williams. Against Baltimore, running back Arian Foster led the Texans in receptions and targets for the second week in a row. Johnson has only played 3½ games (out of 6), but he still leads Houston in receptions and receiving yards. Foster (also 3½ games) is third on the team in both categories, with tight end Owen Daniels second. Matt Schaub simply has no confidence in Kevin Walter and Jacoby Jones.

13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers [16] — Well, I was wrong. Based on the relatively poor record of teams slated to play in London the following week, as well as the Saints' general toughness, I stated last week that Tampa Bay was going to lose in Week 6. My bad. I still think it's a rip-off that one of the Bucs' "home" games in 2011 will be played at a neutral site. DB Coach Jimmy Lake pulled a Gramatica on Sunday, tearing his own patella tendon when he jumped in the air to celebrate an interception. Lake will have surgery after the team returns from London.

14. Tennessee Titans [13] — Most important game of Week 7? Texans at Titans, winner is the favorite to capture the crown in the AFC South. Andre Johnson will probably be back soon, and if Tennessee can't win at home, with Johnson on the sidelines, they almost certainly can't outlast Houston for the division title.

15. New York Jets [14] — Won big on the scoreboard, 24-6, but the offense looked awful again. They stayed in the game because of Darrelle Revis, and the Dolphins' incompetence. If Mark Sanchez didn't play for a team with a good offensive line and a great defense, he'd be Tim Couch or J.P. Losman, or the obvious comparison, Matt Leinart. If you can stick around until the second half, sometimes Sanchez settles in and plays well, but he's still incredibly inconsistent.

16. Dallas Cowboys [15] — Haven't played anyone with a losing record: 3-3 Jets, 5-1 Niners, 3-2 Washington, 5-1 Lions, 5-1 Patriots. That's a combined 21-8 (.724), basically like facing someone who's 12-4 every week. This is why we have power rankings, so you can separate the 2-3 Cowboys from the 2-3 Browns. Dallas is out-gaining its opponents by an average of 100 yards a game (actually 102), but has been outscored by six points (1.2/gm). That's mostly about turnovers, of course. If you haven't yet read Andy Behrens' take on the latest Dallas defeat, follow the link and give it a look. Money quote: "When a coach manages the final minutes as [Jason] Garrett did, it's almost as if they're playing for a blameless loss rather than a win." Most common (and most frustrating) coaching mistake in the NFL.

17. Cincinnati Bengals [18] — They beat the Bills in Week 4, but their other wins came against the 2-3 Browns, 1-5 Jaguars, and 0-6 Colts. They also are the only team to lose to the Broncos this season. I don't think the Bengals are a bad team, but I do believe they're 4-2 more because of an easy schedule than because they're unusually good. Rookie QB Andy Dalton had his best game as a pro against Indianapolis: 25-of-32 for 264 yards and a touchdown, with no sacks and no interceptions. Dalton and fellow rookie A.J. Green look like wins from this year's draft.

18. New York Giants [23] — First victory over a really quality opponent, but I remain concerned about the offensive line. Ahmad Bradshaw's 3 touchdowns notwithstanding, this win was largely about the defense, which recorded three sacks and two Corey Webster interceptions. It is interesting that the Giants, who have struggled in the red zone all year, scored three 1-yard rushing TDs with Bradshaw carrying the ball instead of 6-4, 264-lb behemoth Brandon Jacobs.

19. Atlanta Falcons [17] — Controlled the clock with Michael Turner (27 att, 139 yds, 2 TD) and kept Matt Ryan comfortable (14-of-22, 1 sack). Roddy White had a disappointing game for his fantasy owners (2 rec, 21 yds) but a pretty good one in real life, drawing 53 yards' worth of penalty yardage on a pair of interference calls in the end zone. Atlanta got a nice bend-don't-break performance from its defense, which yielded five drives of 9 plays or more, but came away with 3 interceptions to keep points off the scoreboard. The Falcons travel to Detroit in Week 7, with the Lions favored by 3.5. That seems way too low to me. Three lines that look appealing this week: Lions -3.5 vs. Atlanta, Steelers -3.5 at Arizona, Colts +14 at New Orleans.

20. Philadelphia Eagles [20] — They shut down Washington's run game, intercepted Rex Grossman four times, got 126 rushing yards from LeSean McCoy, won time of possession by more than a quarter (16 minutes) ... and only won by a touchdown. If John Beck had come in a little earlier, or a couple of bounces gone differently, Philadelphia easily might have lost its fifth straight. A win is a win, but the problems are still there. Bill Leavy's officiating crew mishandled this game early, calling several ticky-tack penalties with major consequences, missing others, and handing down a debatable replay ruling.

21. Washington Redskins [19] — Facing a divisional rival, with an extra week to prepare coming off the bye, and playing at home, they still laid an unholy egg. In a vintage "Bad Rex" performance, Grossman threw four interceptions before Shanahan mercifully pulled him in favor of Beck. I don't know who the better choice is going forward, but Grossman was just going to get more desperate and rattled if he stayed in there. No one was going to benefit except the Eagles and maybe Jim Hardy. Grossman also got Chris Cooley hurt, leading him directly into a devastating hit by Nnamdi Asomugha. Who ever thought you'd hear a stadium chanting, "We want Beck!" after his disappointing tenure in Miami? Washington's much-improved offensive line suffered two injuries this weekend.

22. Seattle Seahawks [22] — Aaron Curry seemed like a steal as the fourth overall pick in the 2009 draft. Just two years later, the Seahawks have traded him to Oakland for a throwaway draft pick and a conditional fifth-rounder, with Seattle agreeing to pay most of Curry's 2011 salary. I know Curry has struggled, but it's hard not to think they've given up on him too easily. At this point, though, Curry represents one of the biggest draft busts of the last decade.

23. Cleveland Browns [21] — Not to pick on the Browns, but compare them to Dallas. Everyone the Browns have beaten is winless (Colts, Dolphins), and their losses are to good teams, but not great ones (Bengals, Titans, Raiders). The Cowboys topped San Francisco, almost beat the Patriots and Lions. Those are vastly different ways to get to 2-3. Peyton Hillis' apparent inability to stay healthy is becoming troublesome. I know he's looking for a new contract, but his difficulties staying on the field have got to scare a lot of people away.

24. Denver Broncos [24] — Traded Brandon Lloyd to the Rams for a couple of footballs and a tackling dummy. Lloyd led the NFL in receiving yards last season (1,448). Okay, the trade was really for a fifth- or sixth-round draft pick, depending on Lloyd's performance. But still, most fifth-rounders don't even make the team. They basically gave him away. The Broncos also are reportedly shopping Eddie Royal — maybe he's gone by the time you're reading this. I know Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas have shown promise, but you're hardly going to get Pat White Tim Tebow comfortable as quarterback by trading away both of his starting receivers.

25. Kansas City Chiefs [25] — They lost last year, but for whatever reason, they usually play well in Oakland. Kansas City has three straight home games after that one, including two more division games, so it's not totally inconceivable that they could get back into the AFC West race. It will be interesting to see what Jackie Battle does going forward.

26. Carolina Panthers [27] — INT Leaders in 2011: Cam Newton and Rex Grossman, 9 each; Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Michael Vick, 8 each. Newton led the Panthers in rushing this week, but he also tossed three picks. Rookies make mistakes, and Carolina is understandably excited about Newton, but I think he and the team would benefit from reeling things in a bit. Put a little more of the burden on Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams, and don't ask Newton to do quite so much. He's a remarkable talent; don't let him burn out or lose confidence in himself.

27. Miami Dolphins [26] — Defense kept them in the game. The Dolphins forced three-and-outs on the Jets' first four possessions, but fell behind anyway when they gave up a touchdown on offense (Revis INT return). It would have been interesting to see how differently this game might have turned out if (A) the Dolphins didn't repeatedly drop on-target passes, or (B) there were more on-target passes. Matt Moore repeatedly under-threw his receivers on Monday night, and did not look in synch with his offense.

28. Jacksonville Jaguars [31] — Rise three spots based less on their close loss to Pittsburgh than the increasingly dismal performances of the Vikings and Colts. The Cardinals, who were off this week, got caught in the same tide because they lost to Minnesota by 24.

29. Minnesota Vikings [28] — Cris Collinsworth on the Vikings: "It's amazing that these two quarterbacks have played pretty well and they're getting hammered like this." I agree. Donovan McNabb and Christian Ponder didn't look like Fran Tarkenton back there, but they also didn't look like the problem on Sunday night. The Bears bottled up Adrian Peterson, and neither QB was able to fully take advantage, but I blame that more on the receivers than the passers. Minnesota's offense was the least of its problems this weekend, with special teams being the biggest. Punter Chris Kluwe played an awful game, Ryan Longwell shanked a short field goal, and Hester's return TD basically ended the game.

I wouldn't want to defend McNabb's play this season, but at what point do you blame the coach? This is a team with one of the best running backs in football, a defense that is loaded with talent, and a quarterback who can manage the game, with only 2 INTs in six weeks. But they're having special teams meltdowns, they couldn't take advantage of Chicago's offensive line, and the whole unit just kind of seems psyched out. It's awfully hard to pin all that on McNabb.

30. Indianapolis Colts [29] — They rank 31st in offense (285 yds/gm) and 27th in defense (393 yds/gm), a deficit of 108 yards per game. They're also 28th in scoring (17.3 ppg) and 29th in points allowed (27.2 ppg). They only have one real blowout loss (to Houston in Week 1), but they're playing poorly in all phases of the game. Curtis Painter has done some good things, and I don't blame him, but I think this team gave up when it lost Peyton Manning. I recently read where in 2009, GM Bill Polian suggested that Dallas Clark was the Colts' MVP. Hahahahahahahahahaha.

31. Arizona Cardinals [30] — Haven't played anyone real tough yet, but things are about to get real, with consecutive games against the Steelers and Ravens. Arizona has lost four in a row, including the Vikings' only win of the season. They miss Karlos Dansby much more than the Dolphins benefit from having him.

32. St. Louis Rams [32] — Six teams had their byes in Week 5. All but one (Ravens) lost in Week 6. Not that a trainwreck like the Rams needed any excuse to lose to the Packers. Sam Bradford has been sacked 21 times, most in the NFL, even though St. Louis has already had its bye, and he will miss the next couple weeks with a high ankle sprain. A.J. Feeley replaces him. I didn't realize Feeley, 34, was still in the league. The Rams don't even have good backups. They're averaging under 10 points per game.