Week 5 NFL Power Rankings 2009

After an intriguing Week 4, the 2009 NFL season is in full swing. The Giants continue to roll and the New Orleans Saints are the talk of the NFL after their win over the Jets.  Not to mention, Tom Brady and his teammates are starting to look like the Pats of old.

Here are some NFL Power Rankings for Week 5 (Last week's ranking is in brackets):

1 (1) New York Giants (4-0) Yeah, Eli Manning is injured, but he shouldn't be slowed down too much. And his chemistry with his young receivers gets better by the week. How long until Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers is referred to as the other Steve Smith?

2 (2) New Orleans Saints (4-0) Everyone talks about the Saints offense, but the Saints D has allowed just 17 points in the last two games.

3 (6) Indianapolis Colts (4-0) Is is too soon to say that Peyton Manning is the front runner for NFL MVP?

4 (6) Minnesota Vikings (4-0) Brett Favre is good, not nearly as good as Jon Gruden and the genuflecting MNF broadcast team made him sound, but still good.

4 (11) New England Patriots (3-1) A huge win for the Pats. Tom Brady seems to be rounding into shape, and the Pats defense managed to put some pressure on Joe Flacco. They may just be rounding into shape.

6 (3) Baltimore Ravens (3-1) A tough loss to a quality Patriots team. They are a bit banged up, but still one of the scariest teams in the league.

7 (4) New York Jets (3-1) So Mark Sanchez is human, after all. Sanchez and the Jets made plenty of mistakes against the Saints. Still, they have enough to talent to stay in games despite all the slip-ups.

8 (9) Denver Broncos (4-0) Are the Broncos for real yet?

9 (7) Chicago Bears (3-1) Dominated the red hot Detroit Lions, who are on a one-game winning streak. Jay Cutler has had a 100-plus passer rating in each of his last three games and their special teams are playing well.

10 (12) San Francisco 49ers (3-1) Their defense absolutely destroyed the Rams. Now that's how you play a last place team.

11 (14) Pittsburgh Steelers (2-2)  Is this the dawn of the Rashard Mendenhall era?

12 (17)  Cincinnati Bengals (3-1) The Bengals needed overtime to beat their interstate rivals. They certainly like to keep things interesting with all sorts of late-game pyrotechnics.

13 (8) Atlanta Falcons (2-1) A bye week gives the Falcons time to get over last week's loss to the Pats.

14 (10) San Diego Chargers (2-2) I'm guessing the Chargers didn't expect to be two games behind the Broncos by the end of Week 4. Of course, when you give up 497 yards against the Steelers, that sort of thing tends to happen.

15 (13) Philadelphia Eagles (2-1) Will Michael Vick get some snaps next week?

16 (15) Green Bay Packers (2-2) Aaron Rodgers looks like he could be great. Will his offensive line let him reach his potential?

17 (16) Dallas Cowboys (2-2) The Cowboys are trying hard to prove that they're not a middle of the road team. But consider this: After Wade Phillips started his head coaching tenure in Dallas with a 11-1 season, the Cowboys are 12-12.

18 (19)  Houston Texans (2-2) Good news: you destroyed a hapless Raiders team. Bad news: one of your players has the swine flu.

19 (18) Arizona Cardinals (1-2) Did we all just dream that the Cardinals were in the Super Bowl last year?

20 (23) Jacksonville Jaguars (2-2) David Garrard looked like a world beater. Doesn't he know he's just supposed to hand it to MoJo and be done with it?

21 (25) Miami Dolphins (1-3) Chad Henne won't set the world on fire, but Ronnie Brown, Ricky Williams et al give the Fish one of the deepest, most versatile backfields in the league.

22 (21) Seattle Seahawks (1-3) Another year of devastating injuries.

23 (22) Buffalo Bills (1-3) Trent Edwards looked absolutely awful against the Dolphins and the return of Marshawn Lynch made little difference.

24 (26) Carolina Panthers (0-3) Jake Delhomme didn't throw an interception this week because the Panthers had a bye.

25 (28) Washington Redskins (2-2) If the Redskins played like that against just about any other team than the Bucs, they would have paid dearly.

26 (20) Tennessee Titans (0-4) There goes the Titans season. The team needed to win on Sunday to even think of being a real playoff contender. What do they do? Make David Garrard look like John Elway.

27 (24) Oakland Raiders (1-3) Piling onto JaMarcus Russell is getting a little old, but when he plays that badly, what else are you going to do?

28 (27) Detroit Lions (1-3) Sure, they went back to their losing ways, but you get the sense that the Lions may not be a laughingstock forever.

29 (31) Cleveland Browns (0-4) Braylon Edwards just punched one of LeBron James' friends outside a nightclub. It's the most punishing hit the Browns have had all season.

30 (29) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-4) The Bucs have lost eight in a row over the last two seasons. When your opponent turns it over four times and you can't beat them, then you're in trouble.

31 (30)  Kansas City Chiefs (0-4) The Chiefs have had just 986 total yards in four games.

32 (32) St. Louis Rams (0-4) The Rams got humiliated by the 49ers.