‘05 Power Rankings: Week 5

By Dave Shepherd | Wednesday, October 12, 2005 | ( 0 )

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Let's take a look at this week's NFL Power Rankings...

1 (1) Indianapolis Colts (5-0)
There is no doubt as to who the top team in the NFL is. They didn't play close to 100% of what they're capable of, and they still dominated the 49ers 28-3. When you don't even have to try to dominate a team, you know you're good.

2 (6) Pittsburgh Steelers (3-1)
They won the game, but they lost QB Roethlisberger. If he's out for any length of time, the Steelers will fall. However, the injury looks less serious than originally feared.

3 (11) Dallas Cowboys (3-2)
Who knew? The Cowboys look like they're for real this year, obliterating the Eagles 33-10. The Cowboys now have to slow down Eli Manning to secure their fourth straight win.

4 (2) Cincinnati Bengals (4-1)
QB Carson Palmer played great in the loss (22-33, 239 yards and 2 touchdowns). Following their first loss of the season, the Bengals travel to Tennessee to take on the surprisingly competitive Titans.

5 (8) New England Patriots (3-2)
Tom Brady continues to lead the banged up Patriots to wins, and that's why they're a championship team. Beating the Broncos in Denver will be a challenge.

6 (4) Atlanta Falcons (3-2)
QB Matt Schaub looked great (18-34, 298 yards and 3 touchdowns) but it wasn't enough to overcome the defending champions. Regardless of who plays QB for the Falcons this week, they should be able to beat New Orleans.

7 (5) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-1)
Tampa Bay desperately needs to find their offensive rhythm again. They have the talent to win without Carnell Williams, but do they have the determination?

8 (7) San Diego Chargers (2-3)
It was a tough week for the Chargers, playing Pittsburgh after the Steelers had a bye-week, and coming off a game against New England. They played very well, just not well enough to win.

9 (3) Philadelphia Eagles (3-2)
The way the Eagles have played in the first half of their last two games has been very disturbing. You can't make 17 point comebacks every week in the NFL, and if this keeps up against San Diego after the upcoming bye, the Eagles will make their first visit outside of the top ten.

10 (12) Seattle Seahawks (3-2)
They were going to beat the Rams eventually, but giving up 31 points isn't awe-inspiring either. They should be able to put up the same number of points against the Texans, and actually slow down the Texan's "offense".

11 (9) Denver Broncos (4-1)
A combination of barely beating Washington and the Cowboys dismantling the Eagles dropped the Broncos down a few spots, but if they can beat the Patriots, they'll be in the top ten again.

12 (10) Miami Dolphins (2-2)
It didn't look like the Dolphins in those uniforms last Sunday. They turned the ball over at every opportunity, and still stayed within 6 of Buffalo. You can either credit that to Miami's resiliency, or to the fact they were playing the Buffalo Bills.

13 (14) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-2)
RB Fred Taylor had a 100 yard rushing game this past week, but will be hard pressed to do the same against a Steelers defense that virtually shut down LaDainian Tomlinson. Stopping Pittsburgh is going to be very difficult, unless Roethlisberger doesn't recover.

14 (13) Washington Redskins (3-1)
A two-point conversion away from taking Denver to overtime, but the Redskins couldn't add another amazing finish to the season. Now we'll see how they do against Kansas City.

15 (16) New York Giants (3-1)
A nice week off, maybe their defense will be playing a bit better when they come back. They'll need it against the Dallas Cowboys.

16 (17) Kansas City Chiefs (2-2)
After two devastating losses, KC returns, hopefully with a defense, to play the Washington Redskins.

17 (25) Tennessee Titans (2-3)
Handled the Texans, but who isn't these days? It's going to be a lot tougher to sack Carson Palmer seven times.

18 (21) Carolina Panthers (3-2)
Beating the Cardinals by four isn't something to brag about, but a win is a win. They'll need another win against Detroit to keep pace with Tampa Bay and Atlanta in the NFC South.

19 (22) Detroit Lions (2-2)
Putting up 35 points on the Ravens would be a lot more impressive if they still knew how to play hard-nosed football. However, if they can do it again against the Carolina Panthers, maybe the offense finally has clicked.

20 (24) Oakland Raiders (1-3)
They get to comeback after a bye-week to face the San Diego Chargers. Sounds like a good time.

21 (26) Green Bay Packers (1-4)
There was no way Brett Favre falls to 0-5. Three touchdowns and 52 points later, the Packers have their first win. The bye week is going to feel a lot better than it would have if they dropped to 0-5.

22 (18) St. Louis Rams (2-3)
There goes their mental edge over Seattle. The Rams won't win much without a defense that can't consistently hold their opponent to under 30 points.

23 (23) Arizona Cardinals (1-4)
Maybe they should play all their games in Mexico; they can't seem to win anywhere else.

24 (20) Baltimore Ravens (1-3)
When you say the words "dominating defense", you don't think of a team that gives up 35 points to the Detroit Lions. What happened?

25 (27) Cleveland Browns (2-2)
In a battle of the bottom feeders, Trent Dilfer's leadership prevailed, taking the Browns to a win over the Bears.

26 (15) Chicago Bears (1-3)
Kyle Orton didn't play that badly (16-26, 117 yards and 1 touchdown), but it was all for nothing as the Bears could not mount a sustained attack against the Browns.

27 (28) Buffalo Bills (2-3)
They capitalized on turnovers in their win over Miami, but the odds of them recreating that many turnovers and that many penalties are slim to none. The good news however, is that they're facing the Jets.

28 (29) New York Jets (2-3)
They barely beat a Tampa Bay team that was missing their top player, they're going to have to continue to play good defense if they want to have a shot at winning any more games this season.

29 (19) New Orleans Saints (2-3)
If they were in the NFC North, they'd be in first. But they're in the NFC South, so they're in last. Things can't get much worse than a 52-3 loss.

30 (30) Houston Texans (0-4)
They couldn't even keep up with the Titans. Their offensive line has got to play better, or QB David Carr won't last many more games.

31 (31) Minnesota Vikings (1-3)
Well, at least they're not last.

32 (32) San Francisco 49ers (1-4)
Alex Smith had a pretty bad first NFL start, completing 9 of 23 for 74 yards to go along with four interceptions. Things will get better, but not before they get worse.

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