ESPN NFL

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

Rank Team 1 IND 1 1 2 3 2 NYG 3 3 1 1 3 MIN 2 2 4 4 4 NO 4 5 3 2 5 DEN 5 4 5 5 6 CIN 6 6 6 6 7 PHI 7 7 10 7 8 ATL 10 8 9 8 9 NYJ 8 12 7 9 10 NE 9 13 8 10 11 BAL 11 10 11 11 12 CHI 13 9 14 12 13 PIT 14 11 15 13 14 GB 12 14 13 14 15 SF 17 17 12 15 16 SD 15 15 16 16 17 DAL 20 16 17 17 18 MIA 16 19 19 18 19 ARI 18 18 18 19 20 SEA 19 20 20 20 21 JAC 22 21 21 23 22 HOU 23 22 22 22 23 CAR 21 23 24 25 24 WAS 28 24 23 21 25 BUF 27 26 26 24 26 DET 25 27 25 27 27 TEN 24 29 27 26 28 CLE 26 25 30 29 29 OAK 29 28 31 28 30 KC 30 30 28 30 31 TB 31 31 29 32 32 STL 32 32 32 31

The Saints' victory over the Giants in Week 6 could help the Colts tighten their grip on the top spot when ESPN.com's power rankings come out Tuesday.

Six of the top 12 teams lost Sunday, with the fifth-rated Broncos still to play.

The chart shows rankings entering Week 6, with losing teams in red. My rankings precede those from John Clayton, Paul Kuharsky and Jeff Chadiha. Clayton and I already had the Colts in the top spot. Kuharsky had them behind only the Giants. Chadiha had them behind the Giants and Saints.

At the bottom, the Titans made a convincing case for the No. 32 spot beneath the Rams. How far should they fall?

And now, the power rankings revisited ...

The reckoning: Five games featured lower-ranked teams defeating higher-ranked teams:

• (29) Oakland 13, (7) Philadelphia 9. Tom Flores and John Madden were in the house. Neither reminded Andy Reid to run the ball.
• (22) Houston 28, (6) Cincinnati 17. Matt Schaub goes for 392 yards and four scores.
• (25) Buffalo 16, (9) New York Jets 13. Hold those stories about Mark Sanchez matching what Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco accomplished as rookies.
• (30) Kansas City 14, (24) Washington 6. Six field goals and a safety. Not what Todd Haley and Jim Zorn had in mind.
• (4) New Orleans 48, (2) New York Giants 27. Even Heath Evans found the end zone for New Orleans.

Still to play: (5) Denver at (16) San Diego on "Monday Night Football."

Welcome to Loserville: The Titans, Lions and Seahawks lost by a combined score of 112-3. The Seahawks scored the only points of the three and they needed a 42-yard gain on a fake punt to set up the field goal.

Doing 120 in the southbound lane: Tennessee, Seattle, Washington. My confidence in the Redskins' offense was such that I started the Chiefs' defense in the NFC West Gridiron Challenge. You could look it up.

Northbound in a hurry: New England, New Orleans. The Patriots and Saints combined for 10 touchdown passes and 107 points in Week 6. I'll consider moving the Saints past the Vikings into the No.2 spot on my ballot. The Patriots could be headed for the sixth spot after the Bengals, Eagles and Jets lost.

My early favorite for the No. 1 spot: Indianapolis, again, and it's non-negotiable. As much as you might like to see the Colts play the Saints in Week 7, Colts-Rams will have to suffice.