The Steelers topped my preseason power rankings because of their nearly unstoppable offense. But after losing Ben Roethlisberger to a knee injury in Sunday's loss at Miami it's safe to remove Pittsburgh from the list.
It is also safe to wonder if the Steelers will be able to survive with Roethlisberger expected to miss 4-6 weeks after surgery to repair his torn meniscus.
At 4-2, Pittsburgh leads Baltimore by a game in the AFC North, but with games against the Patriots, Cowboys and Ravens in the next month that lead, and backup QB Landry Jones, figure to be put to the test.
Now here are my top five teams from this week's power rankings and where the Titans fall.
1. Vikings
Coming off a bye, Minnesota remains the last unbeaten team in the NFL at 5-0. Sam Bradford has reignited his career running the Vikings offense and the defense has been the best in the league so far, allowing just over 12 points per game. With the Packers struggling, Minnesota looks like the team to beat in the NFC North, and maybe all of football.
2. Cowboys
How can Dallas possibly bench Dak Prescott now? The rookie quarterback has completed 68 percent of his passes and thrown seven touchdowns against just one interception, including a sparkling 247-yard, three TD performance in a 30-16 win at Green Bay Sunday. Throw in fact that fellow rookie Ezekiel Elliott has rushed for 116 yards more than anybody else in the league to this point and the Cowboys have a pretty good 1-2 punch offensively, and they'll be around for awhile. Well, unless the bench Prescott for Romo.
3. Patriots
Tom Brady has thrown for nearly 400 yards per game in two games back from his Deflategate suspension. He threw three touchdowns for the second straight week in Sunday's rout of the Bengals to push the Pats to 5-1. New England will get a couple tests the next two weeks at Pittsburgh and Buffalo.
4. Seahawks
After struggling the first couple weeks of the season, Seattle has seemingly found its form with three consecutive wins, including Sunday's 28-26 squeaker past the Falcons. The biggest positive is the fact that the offense has averaged 30 points per game the past three weeks as they've taken control of the NFC West.
5. Bills
I'm not sure Buffalo will be able to stay in this spot for long, but it will have an opportunity to prove its for real a week from Sunday when it hosts the Patriots. Rex Ryan prides himself on having teams with
great defenses, but the Bills offense has scored 162 points this season ranking only behind the Falcons. Buffalo's +59 point differential is tops in the NFL.
19. Titans
It's amazing what consecutive wins for the first time in two and a half years can do for a team. Tennessee followed up its win at Miami by squeaking past winless Cleveland at home Sunday. Marcus Mariota seems to have found a rhythm throwing for six touchdowns and rushing for another the last two weeks while only turning the ball over once. Couple his play with one of the best running games in the league and a sneaky good defense and the Titans have the potential to challenge for the AFC South title and a playoff berth. They'll have the chance to really start to climb these rankings with home games against the Colts and Jaguars the next two weeks.
