Gridiron Blitz: First Power Rankings of season and Week Six Picks

By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

Music to listen to: Windshield (live) by Greensky Bluegrass

We’ve reached the quarter mark of the NFL season which means its time for our first Power Rankings of the season. We’re going to do it a little differently here at The Inquirer than many other places.

We’ll rank the top ten teams and the bottom five teams on the list.

1- Seattle (2-1): The Seahawks are still the class of the NFL after the toughest three-game slate any team has faced so far. Seattle has beaten two probable playoffs teams (Green Bay and Denver) while dropping a contest on the road to another team most likely to make the postseason (San Diego). If Russell Wilson stays healthy and the defense continues to be a top-five unit, you’re going to see Seattle back in the Super Bowl.

2- Cincinnati (3-0): I predicted that Andy Dalton would have the best season of his career and that’s what we’re witnessing right now. The defense remains stout.

3- Denver (2-1): Losing on the road to Seattle provides no shame. The offense isn’t on the record-setting pace it was in last year, but that was expected with losing Eric Decker and general attrition. The defense looks much improved in Denver.

4- Arizona (3-0): I scoffed at the thought that the Cardinals were the best team in the NFC West at the start of the season but they’ve started well, even without the services of Carson Palmer at quarterback. Drew Stanton won’t lead Arizona into the playoffs if he’s the starter at QB for the whole season but done a nice job so far.

5- San Diego (3-1): Another team I underestimated. Is Philip Rivers a Hall of Famer? This season will have a significant impact on that future discussion.

6- Baltimore (3-1): Have done well on the field dealing without the services of Ray Rice. Offensively, the Ravens have been about what’s expected. Defensively, the pass defense could use improvement as its given up 260 yards per game in the air.

7- Philadelphia (3-1): The Eagles are ranked 26th in the NFL in rushing yards per contest with 87. The playbook has opened up for Nick Foles to throw the ball more but Philadelphia’s offense is at its best in the rushing the ball with LeSean McCoy.

8- Detroit (3-1): Speaking of potential Hall of Fame quarterbacks, what about Matt Stafford? Good road win for the Lions on the road against the Jets. New York is a below-average team but those were the types of games past Detroit teams would find a way to lose. I also liked that they won the game without a healthy Calvin Johnson who only caught one pass. He’ll get healthy which will make the Lions even better.

9- San Francisco (2-2): I still think that the 49ers make the playoffs and believe that Colin Kaepernick can be a top-five quarterback in the NFL. However, they still haven’t put together a complete game, even in wins over Dallas and Philadelphia. San Francisco will be fine because of a defensive unit that seventh in the NFL in opponents’ passing yards and second in rushing yards.

10 – Dallas (3-1): If you gave me 10 guesses at the start of the year to which NFL team led the league in rushing yards per game at this point of the season, the Cowboys wouldn’t have crossed my mind.

Now for the bottom five:

28- Tampa (1-3): Good job getting the win in Pittsburgh. This team still looks like a potential six-win team to me.

29- Tennessee (1-3): I’m not putting this slow start all on Jake Locker, but he’s not helping the Titans’ cause.

30- St. Louis (1-3): Austin Davis hasn’t been terrible at quarterback for the Rams but the rush defense has been disastrous. The Rams have given up 155 yards rushing a game, 30th in the NFL.

31- Jacksonville (0-4): The Jaguars own the league’s worst pass defense, allowing an absurd 320 yards per game. You can have Blake Bortles play like a morphed version of Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre and John Elway but still lose games giving up those type of yards in the air.

32- Oakland (0-4): Raiders are among the worst teams statistically on offense and defense. They also just fired their head coach, replacing him with Tony Sparano. I didn’t even realize he was still coaching in the NFL. Oy vey!

Here are the picks (home team in CAPS):

GREEN BAY (-9) Minnesota

Chicago (+2.5) CAROLINA

Cleveland (+1.5) TENNESSEE

PHILADELPHIA (-7) St. Louis

NEW YORK GIANTS (-4) Atlanta

NEW ORLEANS (-10.5) Tampa

Houston (+5.5) DALLAS

DETROIT (-7) Buffalo

INDIANAPOLIS (-3.5) Baltimore

JACKSONVILLE (-6.5) Pittsburgh

DENVER (-7) Arizona

SAN FRANCISCO (-6) Kansas City

SAN DIEGO (-6.5) New York Jets

Cincinnati (-1) NEW ENGLAND

Seattle (-7) WASHINGTON

Last week: 6-7-0

Season: 27-34-0