| Rank | Team | Quinn Saturday | Tori Ziege | Andrew Vailliencourt | Josh Handszer | William DeWitt | Zak Berliner | Average |
| 1 | Denver Broncos (4-1) | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1.8 |
| T2 | San Diego Chargers (5-1) | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2.5 |
| T2 | Dallas Cowboys (5-1) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2.5 |
| 4 | Philadelphia Eagles (4-1) | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 5.0 |
| 5 | Seattle Seahawks (3-2) | 6 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 5.5 |
| 6 | Arizona Cardinals (4-1) | 3 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5.7 |
| 7 | Indianapolis Colts (4-2) | 7 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 7.0 |
| 8 | Green Bay Packers (4-2) | 12 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 9.5 |
| 9 | Cincinnati Bengals (3-1-1) | 8 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 10.0 |
| 10 | New England Patriots (4-2) | 10 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 10.3 |
| T11 | Detroit Lions (4-2) | 11 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 12 | 8 | 10.5 |
| T11 | Baltimore Ravens (4-2) | 9 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 10.5 |
| T11 | San Francisco 49ers (4-2) | 13 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 10.5 |
| 14 | Carolina Panthers (3-2-1) | 14 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 18 | 15.0 |
| 15 | Cleveland Browns (3-2) | 16 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 19 | 16 | 16.2 |
| 16 | Houston Texans (3-3) | 17 | 15 | 16 | 20 | 18 | 12 | 16.3 |
| 17 | Chicago Bears (3-3) | 15 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 19 | 16.5 |
| 18 | Kansas City Chiefs (2-3) | 20 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 17 | 18.8 |
| 19 | New York Giants (3-3) | 19 | 18 | 23 | 17 | 17 | 20 | 19.0 |
| 20 | Buffalo Bills (3-3) | 18 | 21 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 15 | 19.2 |
| 21 | Pittsburgh Steelers (3-3) | 21 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 14 | 22 | 20.0 |
| 22 | New Orleans Saints (2-3) | 22 | 23 | 20 | 18 | 22 | 27 | 22.0 |
| 23 | Miami Dolphins (2-3) | 23 | 24 | 22 | 24 | 23 | 21 | 22.8 |
| 24 | Atlanta Falcons (2-4) | 24 | 22 | 24 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 23.7 |
| 25 | Minnesota Vikings (2-4) | 25 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 25.8 |
| 26 | St. Louis Rams (1-4) | 26 | 27 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 24 | 26.3 |
| T27 | Tennessee Titans (2-4) | 28 | 26 | 27 | 25 | 29 | 26 | 26.8 |
| T27 | Washington Redskins (1-5) | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 23 | 26.8 |
| 29 | New York Jets (1-5) | 29 | 30 | 29 | 30 | 25 | 30 | 28.8 |
| T30 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-5) | 31 | 29 | 30 | 29 | 32 | 31 | 30.3 |
| T30 | Oakland Raiders (0-5) | 30 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 30 | 29 | 30.3 |
| 32 | Jacksonville Jaguars (0-6) | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 31 | 32 | 31.8 |
Short Takes
Zak Berliner:
Dallas (ranked them 5th): I am most impressed this week by the play of the Dallas Cowboys. They have turned their two weaknesses from last season (defense and rushing offense) into major strengths.
Oakland (ranked them 29th): I saw incredible resurgence from the Raiders last week against the highly talented San Diego Chargers. The team, under interim coach Tony Sporano, clicked in a way it has not all season, and Derek Carr looked fantastic.
Josh Handszer:
Denver (ranked them 1st): Well, it was only a matter of time until Peyton’s boys took over the top spot in the power rankings. Consider the fact that Demaryius Thomas has broken out of his early season slump, Julius Thomas is catching touchdowns at a historic rate, and the offense is rolling along as usual, especially with the emergence of Ronnie Hillman in the run game. All things considered, here’s your new No. 1 team.
Chicago (ranked them 15th): Both Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffrey had 100 yards receiving in the same game this past Sunday, and Matt Forte continues to roll like he has all year. With Jay Cutler at the helm of the offense (season-high 381 yards) and what appears to be a fully healthy Marshall, the Bears should continue to not only rise in the power rankings but also improve on the field.
Quinn Saturday:
Arizona (ranked them 3rd): The return of Carson Palmer could not have come at a better time as the offense hopes to get in a rhythm before having to face Philadelphia and Dallas back-to-back. The offense looked at its best since Week 1 as Palmer, even without the deep ball, proved why with him the Cards can be a contender. It was also good to see Larry Fitzgerald breakout for the first time this season as hopefully it continues now that Palmer seems to have recovered. The only problem surprisingly comes from the defensive side of the ball as the Cards’ lack of a pass rush has put too much responsibility on the secondary and has allowed opposing quarterbacks to target big plays downfield. The eventual return of Calias Campbell will help but they’ll need someone else to step up or the Cardinals may be forced to play shootouts, something they aren’t particularly built for this season.
Tampa Bay (ranked them 31st): Ever since Jon Gruden left the Bucs have been a disaster of a franchise, having practically given up on their past two coaches. It’s not uncommon for the front office to give up on coaches, but to have players revolt is unprofessional and terrible. Now with the player-friendly Lovie Smith in charge things aren’t getting any better as the on-field performance has been shaky at best and catastrophic at worst. It doesn’t matter that the other four games were one possession games; the fact is that the Bucs have already lost by 30 points twice. The first was a 56-14 shellacking against the Falcons, which is looking even more embarrassing as the Falcons bumble around. That could have been written off as an anomaly since it was a Thursday night game, but when you lose 48-17 to the Ravens at home that is the sign of a bigger problem. Hopefully the players don’t turn on Smith like they did Schiano and Morris.
Andrew Vailliencourt:
Detroit (ranked them 6th): The Lions have the best defense in the NFL. The front seven is playing at an amazing level, and this is the first time in my life I have ever seen the Detroit defense at No. 1 in the league. There’s no reason this team can’t go 6-2 into its bye week. Oh, and they played Sunday without Calvin Johnson who has been hurt for three weeks and without Reggie Bush. This offense will pick up once they both return.
Denver (ranked them 4th): This team just isn’t as good as they were last year. They had trouble pulling away from the lowly Jets this weekend, and could easily have a couple more losses. They aren’t even the best team in the AFC West, let alone the entire NFL.
Will DeWitt:
San Diego (ranked them 1st): Five straight victories for the Chargers as they move up to my number one spot. Phillip Rivers is having an MVP caliber season. He has posted a QBR of 120+ in each of San Diego’s five victories.
Seattle (ranked them 7th): Russell Wilson losing to Tony Romo? I didn’t expect that to happen. The Legion of Boom was nowhere to be seen. This loss knocks Seattle down to the second half of the top ten.
Tori Ziege:
Dallas (ranked them 1st): This team has won five straight and just beat the defending Super Bowl champion in the home of the deafening 12th man, no less. DeMarco Murray is making an MVP campaign and Tony Romo has played mistake-free (only two interceptions during the Cowboys win streak) thanks in part to a stellar offensive line than out-manned the Seattle defense. Color me convinced.
Houston (ranked them 15th): Yes they lost to the Indianapolis Colts, but the Texans don’t fall far because of JJ Watt and his incredible Watt-Swat, i.e. his ability to be practically everywhere on the field making plays, including two sacks, three pass deflections and one TD resulting from a fumble recovery on Thursday. This team hung tough against a QB in Andrew Luck who is stirring up some MVP talk himself. If the Houston defense had managed to intercept a couple of his un-”Lucky” throws, this game may have had a different outcome.
