With five weeks of NFL action officially in the books, we are definitely beginning to get a clearer picture as far as who the pretenders and who the contenders are.

A few notes from the week that was:

The Houston Texans remain undefeated, however, they still haven’t actually faced a formidable foe yet. That changes this week when they square off against a Green Bay Packers squad who, while clearly not as great as it was last year, will still pose some significant challenges on both sides of the ball.   

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Falcons continue to shock the world by pulling out the closest of close games despite having a really shaky running attack and a secondary that has been ravaged by injuries. At a certain point one of these close calls will catch up with them, but, for now, the Falcons seem to be doing alright.  

The San Francisco 49ers might be the league’s best team right now. They have absolutely everything a squad needs to be elite in this league. Everything. Were it not for a loss to the Minnesota Vikings, Jim Harbaugh and Co. would undoubtedly be perched atop this week’s power rankings.

Every year there is a group of really good but sort of flawed teams in the NFL, and this year that group is comprised of the Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots, Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles. Any one of these teams could win the Super Bowl; any one of them could also fly out in the Wild Card round and nobody would bat an eye.

It’s too early to assess the New York Giants.

It’s too early to determine whether the Minnesota Vikings are legit or not. Green Bay’s playoff hopes rely heavily on them not being legit, though.  

The San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, and Arizona Cardinals are not ready for primetime.

With all that in mind, here are this week’s power rankings:

1. Houston Texans

2. Atlanta Falcons

3. San Francisco 49ers

4. Baltimore Ravens

5. New England Patriots

6. Minnesota Vikings

7. Chicago Bears

8. New York Giants

9. Pittsburgh Steelers

10. Philadelphia Eagles

11. Green Bay Packers

12. Dallas Cowboys

13. Denver Broncos

14. Cincinnati Bengals

15. Seattle Seahawks

16. St. Louis Rams

17. Arizona Cardinals

18. Detroit Lions

19. San Diego Chargers

20. Washington Redskins

21. Indianapolis Colts

22. Miami Dolphins

23. New Orleans Saints

24. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

25. Carolina Panthers

26. Buffalo Bills

27. New York Jets

28. Oakland Raiders

29. Tennessee Titans

30. Jacksonville Jaguars

31. Kansas City Chiefs

32. Cleveland Browns

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