SLR’s Week 6 NFL Power Rankings
By Dean Holden
Oct 6, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams wide receiver Chris Givens (13) carries the ball \while under pressure from Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Will Blackmon (24) during the second half at The Edward Jones Dome. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kane-USA TODAY Sports
32. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-5) NC
The issues for this team are not limited to on the field. Don’t worry, they’re really bad on the field, but their front office moves are starting to backfire, too. They trade away starting tackle Eugene Monroe, which wasn’t a bad idea because they have Luke Joeckel and they’re already playing for next season. Then Joeckel goes down for the year. That’s more snakebit than bad. Now they’re 28-point underdogs against Denver.
31. New York Giants (0-5) NC
Seriously, how did this team get this bad, this fast? What happened to the pass rush, the running game? When did Bad Eli Manning get worse than Bad Jay Cutler? I thought they might get better, but they actually look like they’re regressing. Somehow.
30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-4) ▼1
Why do they move down in their bye week, past another team on a bye week? I’m giving them an honorary loss for the disaster that is the Josh Freeman saga. It’s good that it’s finally over and they can move on, but could it have gotten any messier beforehand? Greg Schiano suddenly looks like he’s in over his head wearing cement shoes.
29. Pittsburgh Steelers (0-4) ▲1
Can’t lose during the bye week, but there’s no reason to move this team up unless they show that they can fix a few of their many, many problems. There was, however, a reason to move a team down. So there you go. Congrats, Steelers, you’re the best winless team in the NFL.
28. Carolina Panthers (1-3) ▼5
Cam Newton has gone from superstar to potential bust in record time. Newton is certainly talented, but he turned the ball over four times and his offense mustered all of six points against the lackluster Arizona Cardinals. Some of that is on Newton, and some of it is on his receivers, but the mistakes have been all over the field. They lost this game, convincingly, despite forcing three interceptions of Carson Palmer. Aside from stellar linebacker Luke Kuechly, there is no aspect of this team that stands out positively.
27. Buffalo Bills (2-3) ▼7
You hate to see a team lose its rookie quarterback just as they start building some momentum (see: Matthew Stafford, 2009). This team lost to the Browns, but the loss of E.J. Manuel is much more significant. Expect them to sign a QB early next week (but not Josh Freeman), because Jeff Tuel is an absolutely unacceptable option at quarterback. It’s almost like he’s an undrafted rookie or something…
26. St. Louis Rams (2-3) NC
The Rams finally got some points up on the board, but how much can you really count points scored against the Jaguars? Any win in the NFL is a good thing, but it’s hard to take too much out of a win against the NFL’s little brother. They did cover the spread though, so there’s that. Austin Pettis had a big game.
25. Philadelphia Eagles (2-3) ▲3
They made the Giants look really bad this week. That’s the good news. The bad news is that wasn’t really the Eagles’ doing. The Giants are really bad, so much so that they made Nick Foles look like a solid starting quarterback. But the Eagles needed a win fiercely, and they got it. Now they get to play their second straight winless team at Tampa Bay. At 2-3, they’re — get this — tied for the division lead in the NFC East. Yes, it’s that terrible.