Week 5 revisited

Now that I think I've officially caught my breath from last night and Sunday's Phillies games, it's time to take a look at how my preseason predictions for week 5 fared, before getting down to the business of this week's edition of my top 10 power rankings. For the first time this season, week 5 saw a week-to-week improvement, amounting to my best week since week 1. I went 11-3, bringing my season record to 54-22, and if not for a healthy dose of preseason wishful Favre-hating, I would probably have gone 12-2.

Lessons Learned from the Games I Missed

Vikings at Rams: I hate Brett Favre. And I didn't think the Rams were gonna be quite as bad as they are, though I thought they'd be bad enough to be 5-11. But in my mind, I wanted to believe that at home, against a Vikings team I thought would still be as one dimensional as ever, the Rams could squeak this one out. If I had been picking games on Saturday, I assure you, I would've picked the Vikings to cover whatever huge spread they would've had to cover. But the whole point of this exercise is to see how much I actually knew entering the season, and in this case, I was wrong.

Bengals at Ravens: The Bengals still seem to be a team playing over their heads, but it doesn't seem to bother them much. They still don't look like much on either side of the ball, but Cedric Benson's slow, steady rise to the NFL lead in rushing yards is shortening games, their defense is doing just enough to stay in striking distance, and, well, we've all seen their exploits at the ends of games. If not for a Broncos miracle (more on that in a moment) the Bengal tigers would be 5-0, but of course, if not for a few miracles of their own, they could be 0-5. Strange as it is to say, the Bengals have been the most interesting watch in the NFL thus far in 2009.

Patriots at Broncos: I still expect the Broncos to take a rather precipitous tumble back to earth, but they're a much better team than I ever dreamed they'd be none the less. Mike Nolan, who oversaw some of the worst defensive teams in the NFL the last few years in San Francisco, has the Broncos attacking the line of scrimmage, and dominating it. Couple that with a certain #20 whose attitude seems to have infected everyone around him, as it did in Philly for the last decade plus, and you have a unit which can more than make up for the inconsistency of the Broncos' offense. Which isn't to say the Broncos' offense is bad, but the magic touch does seem to be wearing off their running game as the weeks go by, and Kyle Orton isn't a very consistent thrower of the football. When he's on, he can make any throw you could ask, but he goes through prolonged stretches which would make Jamarcus Russell blush. That all being said, if not for Brady overthrowing Moss and underthrowing Welker on easy touchdowns, the Broncos wouldn't have won this game. If the Pats find that timing any time soon, they should still run away with the East, as a defense which seemed incredibly vulnerable after giving up 25 points to Buffalo in week 1, has allowed just 16.75 points per game since then, and just got its best player and signal caller back in Jerod Mayo.

Power Rankings

1. Giants (5-0): They played the Raiders, they destroyed the Raiders, they benched Eli before halftime to protect his injured foot. Not quite coming, seeing, and conquering, but for the purposes of maintaining their grip on the top rung on the ladder, it was more than sufficient.

2. Saints (4-0): The only easier way not to slip in the power rankings than playing the Raiders? Bye week. The Saints should come into their showdown this Sunday with the only team I have above them rested, healthy, and the beneficiaries of an extra week of preparation. In other words, don't be surprised if the G-men leave the Superdome Sunday in the second slot, or worse.

3. Colts (5-0): The AFC's best team by a long shot, Indianapolis is only truly vulnerable to an injury to Peyton Manning. Otherwise, any games they lose are gonna be games where the other team just makes a few more plays than them. Far and away the best team in the AFC.

4. Vikings (5-0): Also giving the Saints a run for their money this week in the competition to see who had the easiest road to maintaining their ranking were Brett Favre and the purple teletubbies. They make me sick, and I still hate acknowledging them as one of the NFL's best teams, but, well, they handled St. Louis more than well enough not to allow me to drop them even a spot this week. Trust me, though, I will always be on the lookout for any sort of a weakness.

5. Eagles (3-1): As I've said all season, a healthy McNabb and Westbrook make this one of the best teams in the NFL. Getting a huge game from Jeremy Maclin, to go along with Desean Jackson, Shady McCoy, and all the complementary pieces, is just icing on the cake. When fully stocked, this offense is as good as any in the league. And it doesn't hurt to have had Tampa Bay on the other side of the ball last week, either.

6. Broncos (5-0): As impressive a win as Sunday against New England was, it came primarily as a result of two badly missed throws by Tom Brady on easy touchdowns. So, they easily could have lost the only game they won against a good team other than their week 1 immaculate deflection victory over Cincy. In other words, they may be 5-0, but it's still a soft 5-0. That said, their defense is playing well enough right now to continue giving their mediocre offense a chance. If they keep finding a way to get Brandon Marshall the ball late in close games, I like their chances. But for the games to stay close, that defense probably has to make it happen.

7. Pats (3-2): The defense is rounding into form very nicely, and should only improve the further removed from his injury Jerod Mayo gets. All that's stopping them from skyrocketing back to the top of the heap is a continued lack of timing/chemistry/whatever makes a quarterback and his receivers see the same things in a defense. Watching him in the pocket, Brady is as calm, poised, and fearless as ever, he's just not on the same page as his teammates. That can get worked out pretty quickly when you're talking about guys as good as New England runs out there.

8. Bengals (4-1): If I had to put money on it today, I still wouldn't bet on the Bengals to win 10 or more games this year, but I'll concede they're better than I thought and they seem to have developed a knack for making the play at the end of the game, which can't be discounted. But I just can't help but expect their defense to start getting gashed and Cedric Benson to start running, as I literally just seconds ago heard Michael Wilbon describe it, "like a ballerina," as he did in Chicago. Until that happens, however, their record is their record and, while it might not automatically warrant putting them ahead of teams with similar records who I think are better, it certainly merits putting them ahead of teams with similar records who I've seen them beat.

9. Steelers (3-2): The Steelers slide, despite a win, because right now I think the Broncos would beat them if they played at a neutral site and I just can't justify putting them ahead of a Bengals team they lost to, even if I still think they're a better team. Simple as that. I'm still not terribly impressed by Rashard Mendenhall, because, well, he didn't even really dominate the Lions' defense. He looked a shit ton better than he ever had aside from his breakout game last week against San Diego, but the common threads here are slow defenses that can't tackle. He won't outrun decently fast linebackers and until he starts breaking tackle attempts by people who can actually tackle, his success is essentially meaningless. But they still have one of the best passing offenses in the NFL, and if they get Polamalu back healthy and keep Casey Hampton, the most underrated defensive player in the NFL, healthy, they''ll be a dominant defensive team again in no time.

10. Falcons (3-1): Matt Ryan, Michael Turner and co. absolutely dismantled a 49ers defense which had a lot of people talking through the season's first four weeks, confirming what we already knew: the Falcons have a potent, portable, balanced offense that can give even the best defense fits. When their own defense gets to line up across from a Frank Gore-less 49ers offense, games will look like Sunday. But it's still hard to envision them shutting down any of the offenses listed ahead of them with the exceptions of the Broncos and Bengals.