NFL Standings And Power Rankings: Arizona Falls Back To Earth
Early Week 5 NFL Power Rankings have been posted by the Bleacher Report. The crazy and whacky world of the NFL standings has proved a lot of people right. But there are some cases that make the diehard fan scratch their head in bewilderment and want to focus their attention on another sport. But the football faithful must be loving it.
Las Vegas odds makers have a share in the Power Rankings and NFL standings also. Their list of Super Bowl odds and rankings going into Week 5 are interesting.
The Top 5 had a major change. The NFL standings include a team that has dropped from grace. The Arizona Cardinals have taken a breather and fallen back to earth. There comes a time when it makes total sense to look at a team’s past before judging their future. Pull out the best cliché possible and the result will still be mind-numbing. The St. Louis Rams went to Phoenix and slobber-knocked the Cardinals. The dazed outcome was a 24-22 victory that dropped Arizona out of the Top 5.
There are six undefeated teams left in the NFL standings. But the Arizona Cardinals aren’t one of them. There were people anointing the Cardinals the next Super Bowl champion. In that time span, the Cardinals’ loss doesn’t make them look like an elite team. Anything can happen during a season. But one of the main duties of a Super Bowl champion is to defend home turf. Building a dynasty comes from winning games against the teams that are inferior. The Red Birds failed that test.
Las Vegas had the Cardinals tumbling to No. 8, while the Bleacher Report had them settle in at 7. That’s a hefty fall from their Week 4 ranking of No. 2 by ESPN.
One huge leap in the NFL Power Rankings was taken by the Atlanta Falcons. The Dirty birds climbed from number 10 to receive some Top 5 love on the Bleacher Report list. Las Vegas goes a step further and has them at No. 4. ESPN was slightly ahead of the pack and had Atlanta sitting at No. 6 last week. CBS Sports gave the Falcons Top 10 love last week. Their Week 5 standings aren’t available, as of this writing.
Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman is proving he’s the man. His offensive stats are truly off the hook. He scored three times during Atlanta’s beat down of Houston Sunday. Since Week 3, he’s piled up 342 yards with six touchdowns. Over 70 percent of his total yardage has come in the last two games.
The Denver Broncos remained at No. 4 with the Bleacher Report. Las Vegas had a little less love and has them at No. 6. Last week, the four letter guys at ESPN had Peyton and the Broncos at No. 4. The Broncos continue to win despite the eroding skills of Manning. Denver’s defense saved the day once more. A fumble recovery sealed their victory over the Vikings Sunday.
There was no change in the Bleacher Report or Las Vegas Top 3 teams. Dalton and the Bengals continue to impress. They make winning look easy. In their win over the Chiefs, the Bengals had four different receivers with 50-plus yards. Andy Dalton is emerging as a lethal and precise quarterback. They’ll have a hard time trying to knock the New England Patriots from the top spot.
The Green Bay Packers held onto the No. 2 spot. They had a convincing win over the hapless and fading 49ers. Aaron Rodgers looked sharp and finished the day with a passer rating of 99.0. The Packers defense looks like a playoff bound unit.
The Patriots had a bye week and remained the darlings of the NFL standings and Power Rankings.
[Photos by Christian Peterson, Ezra Shaw / Getty Images]
