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Week 5 had plenty of nail biters for those who love close games. It also saw less officiating gaffs as we had seen in Week 4. Almost every game was won by the players, and the zebras had a lesser role. After an exciting week 5, we bring you the ROTB Weekly NFL Power Rankings.
Easy to put atop this list is the New England Patriots, and a very vengeful Tom Brady. At this stage it's purely a coin toss, or a 1a and 1b selection. What makes me put the Packers ahead of the Patriots, is that they are not firing on all cylinders yet. Randall Cobb has 67 yards the last two games on eight targets. He's cooled off after 116 yards in week two, and a 91 yard, three touchdown outing in week three. Not only is Cobb struggling, the Packers have had next to no scoring output from both Eddie Lacy and James Starks. If those three players can find their footing, it's scary to think what the Packers can do.
2) New England Patriots:
Tom Brady has been a one man wrecking crew in 2015. After having his image smeared by the league all offseason, he's been on a mission to right that. He's on pace to break 5500 yards and throw for more than 40 touchdowns. Not only has he been excellent, but he is receiving help from his backs, who are fifth in the league in terms of rushing touchdowns. The defense has not always been solid, but they have performed well despite the loss of Revis in the offseason.
It's hard to keep sleeping on the Bengals. You just keep expecting a meltdown from Andy Dalton. It looked like that was what was happening on Sunday as the Bengals trailed 24 points in the fourth quarter. Instead Dalton rallied his team and they scored the last 27 points to beat the Seattle Seahawks and remain perfect. The Bengals are about as red hot as the color of Andy Dalton's hair.
4) Atlanta Falcons:
The Falcons have been impressive under first year head coach Dan Quinn. Many expected a rebuilding phase for the team, but a new offensive and defensive systems haven't seemed to have phased the 5-0 Falcons. Matt Ryan is playing good football, and the defense is making big plays when they need to.
5) Denver Broncos:
It's hard to put the Broncos ahead of the Cardinals. One team is playing well on both sides of the ball, while the other is only efficient on one side. However the Broncos 5-0 record plays into account. While Manning has more interceptions than touchdowns, and his worst completion percentage since his rookie year, the defense has made up for a lack of offensive production by being the leagues best statistical defense. The defense is bound to get gassed eventually, but for now the Broncos can rely on their defense to win games for them.
6) Arizona Cardinals:
The team bounced back from a poor outing in Week 4, for a dominant outing in Week 5. The Cardinals were -3 in the turnover battle against the Rams, but went +6 against the Lions. James Bettcher has changed little from the Todd Bowles era, and the Defensive production is showing that. Offensively, the talk all offseason was a healthy Palmer and the receiving weapons he has to play with behind a rebuilt offensive line. Through five weeks, the talk has been about the Cardinals rushing weapons. The running game is second in yards, only to Seattle, third in touchdowns, and third in yards per game.
The rest of the league plays out like this:
7) Carolina Panthers
8) New York Jets
9) Pittsburgh Steelers
10) Buffalo Bills
11) New York Giants
12) Indianapolis Colts
13) Minnesota Vikings
14) St. Louis Rams
15) Chicago Bears
16) Philadelphia Eagles
17) Dallas Cowboys
18) San Diego Chargers
19) Seattle Seahawks
20) Oakland Raiders
21) Cleveland Browns
22) Washington Redskins
23) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
24) Baltimore Ravens
25) Tennessee Titans
26) Houston Texans
27) Detroit Lions
28 Kansas City Chiefs
29) San Francisco 49ers
30) New Orleans Saints
31) Jacksonville Jaguars
32) Miami Dolphins