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What’s most important is being the top team in football at the end of the season each year, but this season in particular offers a nice prize to the team at the bottom of the pack as well. Sam Bradford and Cam Newton have been two excellent No. 1 overall picks thus far, but they pale in comparison to the savior Andrew Luck, who will be the No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft in all likelihood. Kansas City was looking in good position to get him before winning in Week 4, and now we have a new team leading the “Suck for Luck” race. Check them out, and the rest of the rankings, below.
| Rank | Previous | Team | Record | Week 4 | Week 5 |
| 1 | 1 | Green Bay Packers | 4-0 | W, DEN 49-23 | at ATL |
| Taking care of business every step of the way, the Packers now have a nice little test on the road against a solid team. | |||||
| 2 | 2 | Detroit Lions | 4-0 | W, DAL 34-30 | vs. CHI |
| A big comeback keeps the Lions at 4-0 as well as second in our rankings. They get a marquee Monday nighter this week. | |||||
| 3 | 3 | New Orleans Saints | 3-1 | W, JAC 23-10 | at CAR |
| These Saints are looking awfully strong, and they figure to get even better with Marques Colston back. | |||||
| 4 | 5 | Baltimore Ravens | 3-1 | W, NYJ 34-17 | Bye |
| The Ravens won a weird Sunday night game that featured five non-offensive TDs and poor play from Joe Flacco. | |||||
| 5 | 6 | New England Patriots | 3-1 | W, OAK 31-19 | vs. NYJ |
| Stevan Ridley continues to emerge, Aaron Hernandez is coming back … how can the rest of the league expect to keep up? | |||||
| 6 | 7 | Houston Texans | 3-1 | W, PIT 17-10 | vs. OAK |
| The Texans won a tough game against an ailing opponent, but their 3-1 record is legit. Losing Andre Johnson hurts, obviously. | |||||
| 7 | 11 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 3-1 | W, IND 24-17 | at SF |
| The Bucs have quietly sneaked to the top ten, and they’re hard to beat when LeGarrette Blount is running well. | |||||
| 8 | 12 | San Diego Chargers | 3-1 | W, MIA 26-16 | at DEN |
| Won an easy one against the Dolphins (and did them a favor), and now San Diego needs a road win in the division. | |||||
| 9 | 4 | Buffalo Bills | 3-1 | L, CIN 20-23 | vs. PHI |
| The Bills fell victim to their own script on Sunday, and they could drive a nail in the Philly coffin this week. | |||||
| 10 | 16 | Tennessee Titans | 3-1 | W, CLE 31-13 | at PIT |
| No Britt, no problem for the Titans, who have Chris Johnson back on track. They’re a sleeper playoff bye-week team. | |||||
| 11 | 14 | Washington Redskins | 3-1 | W, STL 17-10 | Bye |
| The Redskins won an ugly one against the Rams but found (or rather, re-found) a star running back in Ryan Torain. | |||||
| 12 | 15 | New York Giants | 3-1 | W, ARI 31-27 | vs. SEA |
| The Giants needed a big comeback to beat the Cardinals, which is damning with faint praise. Let’s see a good 60 minutes. | |||||
| 13 | 18 | Atlanta Falcons | 2-2 | W, SEA 30-28 | vs. GB |
| Always tough to win in Seattle, but the Falcons held on. Huge game for them against the Packers at home this week. | |||||
| 14 | 20 | San Francisco 49ers | 3-1 | W, PHI 24-23 | vs. TB |
| Don’t look now, but the 49ers have locked up a playoff spot already with their two-game advantage in the NFC West. | |||||
| 15 | 17 | Chicago Bears | 2-2 | W, CAR 34-29 | at DET |
| Turns out Matt Forte is pretty good running the ball. Will Mike Martz be able to keep up this run-run-run facade? | |||||
| 16 | 10 | Dallas Cowboys | 2-2 | L, DET 30-34 | Bye |
| Another gut punch for the Cowboys, who just can’t seem to get out of their own way. And no, I won’t say “Romo-coaster.” | |||||
| 17 | 8 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 2-2 | L, HOU 10-17 | vs. TEN |
| Don’t count the Steelers out — the back half of the schedule is ridiculously easy, so this team could still get to 12 wins. | |||||
| 18 | 9 | New York Jets | 2-2 | L, BAL 17-34 | at NE |
| That was not a good showing by the Jets offense on Sunday night, and it gets no easier when they travel to New England. | |||||
| 19 | 13 | Oakland Raiders | 2-2 | L, NE 19-31 | at HOU |
| The Raiders played strong but fell to the Patriots. People expect more of the same against the Texans, but watch out. | |||||
| 20 | 25 | Cincinnati Bengals | 2-2 | W, BUF 23-20 | at JAC |
| Big win for the Red Rocket in knocking off an undefeated team, and now it’s time to take care of business against a bad one. | |||||
| 21 | 19 | Philadelphia Eagles | 1-3 | L, SF 23-24 | at BUF |
| As a Bills and Eagles fan, I’m not sure what to make of the 2011 season — things seem completely backwards right now. | |||||
| 22 | 22 | Carolina Panthers | 1-3 | L, CHI 29-34 | vs. NO |
| The Panthers played tough in another close game, and it feels like they have a shot to take down the elite Saints. | |||||
| 23 | 21 | Cleveland Browns | 2-2 | L, TEN 13-31 | Bye |
| Despite completing 40 passes on Sunday, the Browns were still hammered. Now Peyton Hillis wants a trade. | |||||
| 24 | 23 | Seattle Seahawks | 1-3 | L, ATL 28-30 | at NYG |
| Close, but no cigar. After a couple of home games, the Seahawks go back on the road for what should be a sure loss. | |||||
| 25 | 24 | Arizona Cardinals | 1-3 | L, NYG 27-31 | at MIN |
| The Cardinals just can’t catch any breaks, though there’s no excuse for allowing the Giants to come back. Need a win here. | |||||
| 26 | 32 | Kansas City Chiefs | 1-3 | W, MIN 22-17 | at IND |
| The Chiefs won an ugly game against a terrible team, and unfortunately for them, that’s the best thing they’ve done in 2011. | |||||
| 27 | 27 | Denver Broncos | 1-3 | L, GB 23-49 | vs. SD |
| The Broncos never had a chance against the Packers, and they still remain reluctant to play Tim Tebow. Why? | |||||
| 28 | 28 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 1-3 | L, NO 10-23 | vs. CIN |
| It turns out that Blaine Gabbert might not be ready to be a starting NFL quarterback. The Jags have a shot at the No. 1 pick. | |||||
| 29 | 26 | Minnesota Vikings | 0-4 | L, KC 17-22 | vs. ARI |
| They couldn’t even muster up the strength to post a double-digit halftime lead this week. Time to clear out and start over? | |||||
| 30 | 30 | St. Louis Rams | 0-4 | L, WAS 10-17 | Bye |
| The ugliness that is the 2011 Rams continues, and now top receiver Danny Amendola is missing the entire year. | |||||
| 31 | 31 | Indianapolis Colts | 0-4 | L, TB 17-24 | vs. KC |
| Curtis Painter played awful, but the Colts looked a little more dangerous with him at QB. Can they get a win this week? | |||||
| 32 | 29 | Miami Dolphins | 0-4 | L, SD 16-26 | Bye |
| The Dolphins are the new favorites to land Andrew Luck. Brandon Marshall should drop every pass for the rest of the year. | |||||
R.J. White is the head editor at the Cafe, writes for FanDuel and Razzball and has previously written for FanHouse. Catch up with him in the forums under the name daullaz. Follow him on Twitter; don't follow him in real life.
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Great stuff, as always, if not a bit simplistic regarding the rationale behind the seedings… just one bone to pick — Oakland looks juuust a bit stronger than their 19th power-ranking position, after all, isn’t the NFL really all about running the ball and stopping the run? I believe that the “Raideeahs” would beat Dallas, the Forty-niners, the G-Men AND my beloved Redskins frankly…
Oh well, podody’s nerfect…
I agree myself that Oakland is better than the 19th best team in the league — in fact, I think they’re going to win the division and potentially a home playoff game this year. I’m sure they’ll win some more games and separate themselves sooner or later. There’s a lot of solid 2-2 teams are probably better than a lot of 3-1 teams, and I wouldn’t be shocked at all if anyone from 1 to 22 makes the playoffs.
Speaking of OAK —
AL DAVIS:
R.I.P.
“Just win, baby…”