Craig: Week 6 Picks & Power Rankings

What would you rather do on a Saturday morning than wake up early and read weekly picks and power rankings involving 32 teams that basically are of equal strength and ability to beat, lose to or tie anyone on any given Sunday, Monday, Saturday, Thursday (and some day, when the revenue ceiling needs to be extended to a gazillion bazillion dollars, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday as well)?

CRAIG'S NFL POWER RANKINGS
BEST OF THE BUNCH
1. Chargers (4-1)
Why: First, Philip Rivers is playing like he doesn't need to wait long during roll call of the league's best QBs. And this is the best the league has ever looked top to bottom when it comes to quarterback play (Emergency No. 3 QBs forced to start on a short week at Lambeau Field not included). Also, the Seahawks probably are at the top of most of the world's 19.7 gazillion power rankings (we don't look at any of them for fear of influencing our just winging it highly scientific approach to assembling these rankings). In this space, however, we'll go with the team that beat the Seahawks as the best team in the league.

THE REST

2. Seahawks (3-1); 3. Broncos (3-1); 4. Eagles (4-1); 5. Cowboys (4-1); 6. Colts (4-2); 7. Cardinals (3-1); 8. 49ers (3-2); 9. Patriots (3-2); 10. Bengals (3-1); 11. Ravens (3-2); 12. Giants (3-2); 13. Steelers (3-2); 14. Panthers (3-2); 15. Bills (3-2); 16. Lions (3-2); 17. Packers (3-2); 18. Texans (3-3); 19. Chiefs (2-3); 20. Browns (2-2); 21. Saints (2-3); 22. Dolphins (2-2); 23. Bears (2-3).

THE VIKINGS
24. Vikings 1-2 (Last week: 20): The real stinkers are starting to separate themselves from the middle of the pack. The Vikings are still middle of the pack, although they certainly auditioned well for stinker membership the last time they played. They ended up dropping only four spots because, frankly, we couldn't find two more teams to put ahead of them. The remaining teams either had no wins, one win or had two wins and got mauled by the Vikings a couple weeks ago.

THE REST OF THE REST
25. Falcons (2-3); 26. Buccaneers (1-4); 27. Titans (1-4); 28. Rams (1-3); 29. Jets (1-4); 30. Redskins (1-4); 31. Jaguars (0-5).

WORST OF THE BUNCH
32: Raiders (0-4): Losing by a touchdown at home against Pittsburgh was the moral victory the Jaguars needed to stay out of the basement. Plus, the Raiders were idle. We firmly believe that starters shouldn't lose jobs because of injuries and Worst of the Bunch teams shouldn't lose the belt during bye weeks.

THREE REASONS FOR VIKINGS FANS TO BE HOPEFUL

1, Teddy Bridgewater is back. The Lions have as good a front four defensively as any team in the league, but Bridgewater makes the offensive line look better.

2, The Lions aren't likely to play Calvin Johnson. He's doubtful. And when he's doubtful, the Lions' chances are questionable at best. Reggie Bush is questionable as well.

3, In 99.99999 percent of the cases, we here at the Picks & Power Rankings Dept. have no use for the past as it pertains to the here and now. What a team did with 53 different players against 53 other different players in 2007 means nothing. What a team did seven days ago means nothing. In fact, in the NFL, what a team did seven days ago usually means it's more likely to do the opposite the next time it plays. However, when it comes to the Lions, we've seen this movie before and for 15 of the past 16 times it has played in Minnesota, it has ended with the people in purple being really happy on Monday.

THREE REASONS FOR VIKINGS FANS TO BE NERVOUS

1, Too many of us are sensing a Vikings win. When four Strib employees make four "Bold Predictions," and all four favor a Vikings team that just lost by 32 points to the team the Lions beat a couple of weeks ago, well, this could get embarrassing.

2, The offensive line has been inconsistent. It played as well as it has in recent memory in beating the Falcons. Then it played poorly against the Packers. There are several variables at play that make this possibly the No. 1 key to the game. In the win over the Falcons, Atlanta's front four was incredibly weak. In the loss to Green Bay, Christian Ponder made the line look worse than it was. Now, Bridgewater is back, but he'll be facing a front four that's better than Atlanta's and Green Bay's.

3, Harrison Smith's ankle. He wasn't limping. He practiced. But he did sprain an ankle less than two weeks ago. And he'll be playing a fairly violent game, in case one hasn't noticed. So it's worth keeping an eye on how Smith is moving. And, hopefully, he uses good judgment and takes himself out if the ankle isn't up to par. He's too valuable to lose long-term.

THE PICKS

VIKINGS
Lions minus-1 ½ at Vikings: The pick: Vikings 27, Lions 24.

Why: No Megatron, possibly no Reggie Bush and no running game will leave Matthew Stafford vulnerable and prone to trying to do too much. Teddy Bridgewater's return will help the offensive line and, well, everybody on offense. And, oh yeah, never trust the Lions. Ever.

Vikings pick record: 3-2

UPSET SPECIAL

Packers minus-3 ½ at Dolphins. The pick: Dolphins 24, Packers 21.

Why: We'll go with the home team and the feeling that the Packers will level off, as most NFL teams tend to do after playing as well for a couple of weeks. Plus, we couldn't find any other upset possibility that jumped out. So there you go. Wager away.

Last week: Falcons plus-4 at Giants: The pick: Falcons 31, Giants 28. The final: Giants 30, Falcons 20. Record: 1-4.

THE REST
Broncos minus-8 ½ at Jets: Broncos by 10

Steelers plus-1 ½ at Browns: Steelers by 3

Jaguars plus-6 ½ at Titans: Titans by 3

Bears plus-3 ½ at Falcons: Falcons by 7

Panthers plus-7 ½ at Bengals: Bengals by 1

Patriots minus-3 ½ at Bills: Patriots by 6

Ravens minus-3 ½ at Buccaneers: Ravens by 7

Chargers minus-6 1/2 at Raiders: Chargers by 7

Cowboys plus-7 ½ at Seahawks: Seahawks by 3

Redskins plus- 3 ½ at Cardinals: Cardinals by 6

Giants plus-2 ½ at Eagles: Eagles by 3