Our rankings heading into Week 6:
| Rank | Team | Comment |
| 1 | Green Bay Packers | Green Bay was down early 14-0 vs the Falcons but didn’t give up another point the rest of the way. Rogers finds so many receivers each game that targeting one or two guys just doesn’t work. The Packers are rolling and face winless St. Louis next. |
| 2 | New Orleans Saints | The Saints needed all of their 60 minutes to beat the upstart Panthers but walk away maintaining the division lead at 4-1. This team seems to resemble their Super Bowl team more and more each week with a high power offense and a good but not great defense. |
| 3 | New England Patriots | The Patriots defense picked a good week to have their best game of the season, combining with a solid run game to beat the rival Jets 30-21. New England looks to be improving heading into a game against the Cowboys, who visit Foxborough coming off a bye week. |
| 4 | Detroit Lions | Detroit moved to 5-0 after a penalty filled game against the Bears. 4-1 San Francisco is up next and in a game that will feature two of the league’s most physical defenses. |
| 5 | Baltimore Ravens | The Ravens will hope to get healthy and build on their good start after their bye week. They should win at least 2 of the next 3 against Houston, Jacksonville and Arizona. |
| 6 | San Diego Chargers | Things got interesting towards the end of the game, but San Diego emerged from Denver with a 29-24 victory to keep them atop the AFC West. Now the Chargers get to enjoy the bye week and prepare for a road trip to play the Jets. |
| 7 | Buffalo Bills | Despite the closeness of the final 31-24 score, the Bills controlled much of their game against the “Dream Team” Eagles. Buffalo continues to look “for real,” though a stiff test against the Giants on the road awaits. |
| 8 | Houston Texans | In a game that went back-and-forth and featured a lot of field goal play, the Texans fell 25-20 to an emotional Raider squad. Houston travels to Baltimore next week, hoping for a victory to keep them atop the AFC South. |
| 8 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Big Ben’s 5 TD looks to have gotten the Steelers back on track. The offensive line looked better this week, but should still be a concern. |
| 10 | San Francisco 49ers | The 49ers sort of came out of nowhere to look like not only the dominant team of the division, but a legitimate NFC contender. They have a tough game in Detroit this week but, regardless of the outcome, will still be leading the NFC West after the weekend. |
| 11 | Oakland Raiders | Perhaps inspired by the loss of Al Davis, Oakland fought hard and won 25-20 on the road in Houston. Next up is a rest Cleveland squad who will enter the “Black Hole” in Oakland. |
| 12 | Tampa Bay Bucs | In what was supposed to be a dog fight of a came, the Bucs limped away after getting trashed by the 49ers 48-3. This seems like a setback game after three wins in a row and things don’t get easier as the Saints come to town this week. |
| 13 | New York Giants | Little Manning got back to his evil ways on Sunday with 3 interceptions (though not all his fault) against the Seahawks. Turnovers kill. |
| 14 | Tennessee Titans | Chris Johnson’s holdout is looking more and more egregious, particularly as the Titans fell to Pittsburgh 38-17. The star running back is coming up small so far in the 2011 season, and Tennessee will have the bye week to analyze their situation before a Week 7 showdown with Houston. |
| 15 | Washington Redskins | The ‘Skins had their bye week, but still lead the division. A win over the desperate Eagles this weekend, would give them a huge advantage in the division race. |
| 16 | New York Jets | For all of Rex Ryan’s boasting of the Jets returning to the “ground and pound,” it was New England gaining large chunks of yards on the ground in their 30-21 victory. New York is the stage for Monday Night Football next week as they host the hapless Dolphins. |
| 17 | Atlanta Falcons | Atlanta looked like they were going to give the Packers a run for their money but fell flat after jumping out to an early lead. The Falcons are giving up 26 points per game which isn’t what a playoff team does. |
| 18 | Chicago Bears | The Bears fell to three games behind in the NFC North after losing to undefeated Detroit. The Bears looked sloppy and Jay Cutler took several hits, again. Jahvid Best ran all over them last week, and next up is Adrian Peterson. |
| 18 | Cincinnati Bengals | The Bengals beat the lowly Jaguars on Sunday and continue to be a part of a tie for 2nd in the AFC North. |
| 20 | Dallas Cowboys | Tony Romo will have to start playing with more consistency, or the fans will really start calling for his job. They’ve got a tough matchup this week with New England. |
| 21 | Seattle Seahawks | It’s hard to tell if Seattle won the game or if the Giants lost it, but the team that was supposed to be the worst in the division is currently 2nd with two wins. The team is only averaging 283 total yards per game, but what matters at the end of the day is the W. |
| 22 | Philadelphia Eagles | The Dream Team needs to turn it around quick if they want to salvage the season. Their only win so far is against a terrible St. Louis team. |
| 23 | Carolina Panthers | Despite being just 1-4, Carolina is one of the more exciting teams in the league because they always seem to be in the game. Even the good Saints team needed a last minute TD to top them last week. Scam or not, Cam Newton is a difference maker. |
| 23 | Cleveland Browns | After last season, the Browns looked to be a team on the rise, but after two early losses and constant controversy surrounding Peyton Hillis, another Cleveland season is close to being lost. |
| 25 | Kansas City Chiefs | For much of the game Sunday, it looked as though the Colts would pick up their first win of the season at the expense of Kansas City. Then the Chiefs began their comeback, and ended up taking home a 28-24 victory to keep Indy winless. KC can celebrate on their bye week as they prepare to face Oakland in Week 7. |
| 26 | Arizona Cardinals | The Cardinals enter the bye week losers of four straight and many more questions than answers. Kevin Kolb has just 5 TDs for 11 TOs and the defense looked bad again against Minnesota. The bye week will help, but the Cardinals problems will take more than 7 days to solve. |
| 27 | Minnesota Vikings | The Vikings are off the schneid thanks in part to a 3 TD day from Adrian Peterson versus the Cardinals. A win against the Bears this weekend would put them in a tie with the Bears and provide a ray of hope on the season. |
| 28 | Denver Broncos | It’s Tebow Time; for whatever good that does. The former Florida QB sparked the Broncos to nearly come back against San Diego before falling 29-24; after a bye week, Denver travels to Miami in what will be a homecoming start for #15. |
| 29 | Jacksonville Jaguars | In another battle of rookie quarterbacks, the Jaguars’ Blaine Gabbert came up short against Andy Dalton and the Bengals to the tune of a 30-20 final. It gets no easier for Jacksonville next week as they travel to Heinz Field to play the Steelers. |
| 30 | Miami Dolphins | Sitting at 0-4, Miami still managed to lose in their bye week as Chad Henne was declared out for the season. Hopes for win number one on the season still seem bleak as the Dolphins prepare for a Monday Night Football showdown at the Jets. |
| 31 | St. Louis Rams | A season of promise turned to a season of “what draft pick will we get” in a hurry. A 0-5 start isn’t insurmountable in the NFC West, but considering their three opponents after the bye week are a combined 11-3, things aren’t looking good in STL. |
| 32 | Indianapolis Colts | Curtis Painter didn’t look as terrible as he has in previous games, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Colts from losing a big lead and falling to the Chiefs, 28-24. Will next week’s visit to Cincinnati finally grand the Colts their first win of the season? |
Commentary breakdown: Alex (AFC North, NFC East), Brian (AFC East/South/West), Pat (NFC North/South/West).
