Nine Straight Threes' NFL Power Rankings: Week 6
Strong northerly winds are reshaping the rankings
Well, well, well. Would you look at that. The balance of power in the NFL appears to be heading north. The SEC might have long ago staked its claim as the dominant entity in college football, but you’ve got to go north of the Mason-Dixon line to find the majority of the NFL’s best teams.
Week 6 gave us soul-searching in Dallas after a humiliating loss, and a pyrrhic victory for Detroit in that very same game. We’ve got a coach talking trash at his own fans, at home, after a win. We also have a second rookie quarterback looking like a star, while still another rook got his journey started.
And, what’s that I’m hearing? Do we have a new cellar dweller? A new team at the very bottom of the heap? Yes, I think we do.
As always, NST’s power rankings take two factors into account: Performance and watchability. Away we go.
32. Cleveland Browns (1-5)
LW: 31
Even Myles Garrett, one of the twitchiest, freakiest athletes of this era, can only do so much to make this absolute monument to atrocity and dysfunction watchable. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year blocked a field goal in spectacular fashion, which led directly to Cleveland’s only touchdown in a 20-16 loss to Philadelphia. The reason the Browns lost, and the reason they suck, and the reason they are unwatchable, is Deshaun Watson. Who isn’t losing his starting job, by the way. Enjoy your mess, Jimmy Haslam! Update your resume, Andrew Berry!
Week 7: vs. Cincinnati
31. New England Patriots (1-5)
LW: 32
How does a team drag itself out of the cellar of the NST power rankings despite losing 41-21, you ask? By doing so with their rookie quarterback in the game. I didn’t want to see Drake Maye fed to the wolves, but his debut was hardly a catastrophe. Maye threw three touchdowns, turned the ball over three times (2 interceptions, 1 fumble) but did plenty of cool things, like drop one in the bucket to Kayshon Boutte for his first career touchdown pass. Build a team around this man, Patriots, and you might have yet another insufferable run of great seasons ahead of you.
Week 7: at Jacksonville (London)