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Craig's Picks & Power Rankings: Week 5

By Mark Craig

October 5, 2014 at 1:41PM

What would you rather do on a Sunday 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. Cardinals (3-0)
Why: Well, our No. 1 didn't fall last week. Of course, it didn't play either. But we're sticking with the Cardinals – for the next 10 hours or so – as our No. 1 team. The best team in the league probably is still Seattle. But, like last week, let's put it this way. The Chargers, who are the best team in the AFC, beat Seattle. And the Cardinals beat the Chargers. Also, the Cardinals have managed to stay undefeated with numerous injuries and Drew Stanton as their starting quarterback the past two weeks. That speaks to their strength as an overall team.

THE REST

2. Chargers (3-1); 3. Seahawks (2-1); 4. Broncos (2-1); 5. Bengals (3-0); 6. Ravens (3-1); 7. Lions (3-1); 8. Packers (3-2); 9. 49ers (2-2); 10. Eagles (3-1); 11. Cowboys (3-1); 12. Colts (2-2); 13. Texans (3-1); 14. Chiefs (2-2); 15. Bears (2-2); 16. Patriots (2-2); 17. Giants (2-2); 18. Bills (2-2); 19. Panthers (2-2).

THE VIKINGS
20. Vikings 2-3 (Last week: 26): Frankly, we don't know where to put the Vikings (or most of these teams, to be honest). Since we did this last, the Vikings have defined the essence of the NFL's popularity. They played two games. The first one, they dominated a good Falcons team for most of a 41-28 victory. The second one, they were dominated from start to finish by the Packers. The latter came on a short week when they had to travel and start Christian Ponder at quarterback. That's a lot to overcome, which is probably why they trailed 42-0 when Aaron Rodgers exited the game. Teddy Bridgewater is expected to return as the starter the next time the Vikings play. So they should be closer to what they were against Atlanta than what they were against the Packers.

THE REST OF THE REST
21. Falcons (2-2); 22. Buccaneers (1-3); 23. Steelers (2-2); 24. Browns (1-2); 25. Dolphins (2-2); 26. Saints (1-3); 27. Titans (1-3); 28. Rams (1-2); 29. Jets (1-3); 30. Redskins (1-3); 31. Jaguars (0-4).

WORST OF THE BUNCH
32: Raiders (0-4): Normally, we like to put the team that loses to the Worst of the Bunch at No. 32 for at least a week. Under those rules, the Steelers would have had to spend a week in the basement. But the Raiders got smoked in London, flew home and fired a coach after four games for the 803^rd time in franchise history. When you're that out of sorts, you've earned your spot. Poorly, done, Raiders. Poorly done.

THREE REASONS FOR VIKINGS FANS TO BE HOPEFUL

1, Teddy Bridgewater's ankle will have had 14 days to recover and is expected to be good to go when the Lions visit next Sunday.

2, The stretch of facing three first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterbacks in four weeks ended with Rodgers. The next four are good to awful: Matthew Stafford, Kyle Orton, Josh McCown and Kirk Cousins.

3, Ponder shouldn't have to play.

THREE REASONS FOR VIKINGS FANS TO BE NERVOUS

1, Bridgewater got hurt in his second NFL game and first NFL start. Yeah, it was a short week. But it's still a red flag. And standing behind that red flag is Ponder.

2, The run defense. There's a reason coach Mike Zimmer identified the defensive line as his No. 1 priority when he arrived. If the Vikings are weak up front against the run, all of Zimmer's multiple looks and blitz packages don't mean a darn thing. The basic and most fundamental element of defensive football – gap integrity and sound tackling – comes first. Then, when the other team is staring at third-and-nine, that's when Zimmer's creativity can shine. Thursday, the run defense collapsed on Green Bay's second drive. And with it went the whole defense.

3, The pass rush. There aren't a whole lot of heads being turned by the front-four pass rushers. (We'll leave the offensive line alone for this week because it was dominant against the Falcons and weak against the Packers. Ponder's indecisive style of play no doubt contributed to the line's problems in Green Bay).

THE PICKS

VIKINGS
Thursday: Vikings plus-9 ½ at Packers. The pick: Packers 28, Vikings 24. The final: Packers 42, Vikings 10. Record: 3-2.

UPSET SPECIAL

Falcons plus-4 at Giants: The pick: Falcons 31, Giants 28.

Why: The Falcons aren't consistently as bad as they were at Minnesota (41-28) and the Giants aren't consistently as good as they were at Washington (45-14). So a week later, they'll meet in the middle with the Falcons getting back on track and the Giants getting readjusted to mediocrity.

Last week: Saints minus-3 at Cowboys: Cowboys 34, Saints 31. The pick: Cowboys 38, Saints 17. Record: 1-3.

THE REST
Bears plus-2 ½ at Panthers: Panthers by 3

Browns plus-2 at Titans: Browns by 3

Rams plus-7 at Eagles: Eagles by 10

Buccaneers plus-10 at Saints: Saints by 14

Texans plus-6 at Cowboys: Texans by 3

Bills plus-7 at Lions: Lions by 3

Ravens plus-3 ½ at Colts: Colts by 7

Steelers minus-6 at Jaguars: Steelers by 3

Cardinals plus-7 ½ at Broncos: Broncos by 3

Chiefs plus-6 at 49ers: 49ers by 7

Jets plus-6 ½ at Chargers: Chargers by 7

Bengals minus-1 at Patriots: Patriots by 3

Seahawks minus-7 at Redskins: Seahawks by 10

Record: Last week/overall: 7-5/31-26. Versus spread: Last week/overall: 6-6/23-34.

about the writer

Mark Craig

Sports reporter

Mark Craig has covered the NFL nearly every year since Brett Favre was a rookie back in 1991. A sports writer since 1987, he is covering his 30th NFL season out of 37 years with the Canton (Ohio) Repository (1987-99) and the Star Tribune (1999-present).