NFL Power Rankings Week 5: Big Brother Style – Bears and Vikings Rising, Bills to the Block

You did it, you finally did it. Axing both the Chiefs and the Jets in the same week. Have you no courtesy? Anyway, we’ll manage to live without the amazing football played in Kansas City and New York gracing our Power Rankings. This week, the Jaguars would be a pretty obvious choice after the horror show of the last two weeks, but alas, they have the week off. That leaves the hapless Titans, the defenseless Bills, along with the Raiders, Bucs, and Lions on the block for this week.

Before we get to the rest of the Power Rankings, I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at one year ago at this time to see what we knew and didn’t know. How good are power rankings anyway?

I compared mine at this point last year to two big brands (ESPN and Sports Illustrated), a similar site (SB Nation) and two statistical rankings I check out, Football Outsiders and Advanced NFL Stats. Most were similar (though the statistical rankings differed most).

A year ago, Buffalo was on top of the world, in everyone’s top eight. San Diego was too. I’m happy to say that besides those two, the rest of my top ten made the postseason, tops in the group, because I had Houston ranked higher than others. Pretty much across the board, though, it was seven playoff teams out of the top ten. Yes, there were surprises (the Tebow phenomenon had yet to begin for Denver), and yes, the eventual Super Bowl winner was consistently ranked outside the top ten (and their end of season record was as well).

I try to make my power rankings based on how I think it will shake out, taking into account records and future play. Anybody can look at standings. The goal is to hopefully project how things will end up, knowing how they have gone so far.

Houston Texans (5-0)
San Francisco 49ers (4-1)
Atlanta Falcons (5-0)
New England Patriots (3-2)
Chicago Bears (4-1)
Baltimore Ravens (4-1)
Denver Broncos (2-3)
New York Giants (3-2)
Minnesota Vikings (4-1)
Green Bay Packers (2-3)
Pittsburgh Steelers (2-2)
Arizona Cardinals (4-1)
Philadelphia Eagles (3-2)
Seattle Seahawks (3-2)
Miami Dolphins (2-3)
San Diego Chargers (3-2)
Cincinnati Bengals (3-2)
Dallas Cowboys (2-2)
Indianapolis Colts (2-2)
St. Louis Rams (3-2)
Washington Redskins (2-3)
Detroit Lions (1-3)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-3)
Buffalo Bills (2-3)
Oakland Raiders (1-3)
Tennessee Titans (1-4)
Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4)*

ELIMINATED

New York Jets (2-3)

New Orleans (1-4)

Carolina (1-4)

Kansas City (1-4)

Cleveland (0-5)

Okay, All You Jets Killers, Who Should Be Evicted For Week 5?

Tennessee Titans (45%, 283 Votes)
Buffalo Bills (28%, 175 Votes)
Oakland Raiders (18%, 112 Votes)
Detroit Lions (5%, 33 Votes)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4%, 22 Votes)

Total Voters: 625

Loading ...

[photo via US Presswire]

aroundtheweb

35 Responses to “NFL Power Rankings Week 5: Big Brother Style – Bears and Vikings Rising, Bills to the Block”

1
kaiserwilhelmreems is commenting too quickly Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:24 PM
the cardinals… below 2-3 Denver?
hmmm
2
KC Resident Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:24 PM
Why is Jacksonville not an option?
3
VladimirCrouton Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:25 PM
Evict the Lions!
4
VladimirCrouton Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:26 PM
Looks at gravatars… Did TBL go 3D?
5
Nada Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:26 PM
“Probably should have moved the 49ers to #1″
Nah, after cheering for the 49ers, she probably switches teams to the 69ers.
6
gfunk supreme Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:27 PM
Why is Jacksonville not an option?
I think because they have a bye next week and don’t have the opportunity to play themselves to safety by winning.
7
SouvenirCity Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:29 PM
Is it safe to assume that based on the above you believe Arizona will miss the playoffs and Green Bay will make their way back in as a Wildcard? More importantly, 3 teams from the NFC North in playoffs? I know there was a fair amount of people that believed that was possible… just not the 3 teams you’ve got here.
I really enjoy this format.
8
Cowboy Mike's Old Original Red Hot Ricochet Barbeque Sauce Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:29 PM
Dave Lessa doin’ work.
9
ButtersBC Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:29 PM
I try to make my power rankings based on how I think it will shake out
I want to believe you having the Packers still at 10 but something about them just smells bad…curious to see if they can compete in Houston or if the Texans will hang close to 500 yards on them
10
ButtersBC Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:30 PM
I voted for the Titans since they’re just too boring to even think about anymore, at least them and Jacksonville are in the same divison so twice a season they can both be out of the way
11
KC Resident Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:32 PM
I think because they have a bye next week and don’t have the opportunity to play themselves to safety by winning.
Ahh.
12
VladimirCrouton Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:32 PM
I hope the Lions get a top 5 pick. That would be sweet.
13
kaiserwilhelmreems is commenting too quickly Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:34 PM
I want to believe you having the Packers still at 10 but something about them just smells bad…curious to see if they can compete in Houston or if the Texans will hang close to 500 yards on them
either their offense hasn’t gotten up to speed yet or teams have figured something out about their offense. maybe lack of running game?
seems strange that would happen to a team as good as they were offensively last season. but out of the best offensive teams from last season, one if 1-4, one has rediscovered a running game, and the other is even worse than the packers in the NFC north.
14
SouvenirCity Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:35 PM
I voted for the Bills. How Dave Wannstedt is still collecting a paycheck in the NFL is remarkable.
15
Walking Underwear Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:35 PM
Bears too high
Coltsjagsrams
16
VladimirCrouton Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:35 PM
Interesting…..
17
ButtersBC Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:37 PM
maybe lack of running game?
Sad thing is they’d been better this year too but now Benson’s hurt…but hey, James Starks is ready to be activated again!
Someone who knows more about football than me would have to break down if defenses are sagging more in coverage taking away the deep pass and forcing long drives…would be smart since this is how the Bears have annoyed them going on nearly a decade now
18
TarheelJTK Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:39 PM
Any team that struggles to beat the Jets shouldn’t be #1.
19
chocolatedunker Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:40 PM
bills. what a defense
20
Walking Underwear Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:41 PM
And pokes
Sos’d
21
johndewar Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:41 PM
Tennessee is terrible in every way and looks like they might be on the clock for the 2013 draft.
22
sousedbergin Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:43 PM
I voted for the Titans since they’re just too boring to even think about anymore
Exactly, might as well be a MAC team.
23
Der Kaiser Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:44 PM
the cardinals… below 2-3 Denver?
hmmm
Bunch of frauds. 4-1 my ass.
24
Der Kaiser Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:45 PM
Houston Texans (5-0)
San Francisco 49ers (4-1)
Atlanta Falcons (5-0)
I think I’d put San Francisco over the Texans. But Falcons at 3 is accurate. Definitely the worst out of those 3 teams.
25
SouvenirCity Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:47 PM
The Bears beat Indianapolis, Jacksonville and St. Louis by a combined 104-30. You play the schedule you’re tasked with. Make a valid point.
26
ButtersBC Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:48 PM
Heard somewhere that the Cards were the first team in league history to go 4-0 without gaining 300 yards of offense in a game…tough to sustain winning with that production
27
chocolatedunker Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:49 PM
All I know is that Sunday’s games sucked.
28
arkbadger Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:54 PM
the biggest surprise to me in all of this is that the Raiders are still on the board, and from what I can tell, aren’t even close to being taken off. I admittedly haven’t seen a ton of Raiders action this year, but where I have, they have been the suck.
29
A.P. Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 4:59 PM
Fire the bills
30
jim Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 5:05 PM
I voted for the Bills. How Dave Wannstedt is still collecting a paycheck in the NFL is remarkable.
He’s still got a lot of friends in the league like Chan Gailey.
31
Broccoli Beef Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 6:22 PM
the biggest surprise to me in all of this is that the Raiders are still on the board, and from what I can tell, aren’t even close to being taken off. I admittedly haven’t seen a ton of Raiders action this year, but where I have, they have been the suck.
Never fails… whenever the Raiders have a shitty year, one of their very few wins is against the Steelers…
/sighs
32
Walking Underwear Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 6:24 PM
The Bears beat Indianapolis, Jacksonville and St. Louis by a combined 104-30. You play the schedule you’re tasked with. Make a valid point.
sorry, didn;t see this til just now. my valid point is not that they should be penalized for their schedule. my valid point is that they should not be as high bc of who they beat. idc if the score was 1000-0, it doesn’t mean they could beat good teams by any margin
#joebush
33
Walking Underwear Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 6:29 PM
i have no confidence, strong confidence, that the bears could beat seattle, green bay, denver, ravens or giants, all teams below them on this list
you?
34
Walking Underwear Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 6:29 PM
i have no confidence, strong confidence, that the bears could beat seattle, green bay, denver, ravens or giants, all teams below them on this list
you?
35
Walking Underwear Says:
October 9th, 2012 at 6:30 PM
oops