Oh man, that was a pretty lackluster game last night. Hopefully you weren’t looking for any fantasy magic out of that one like me, because that was a pretty boring game. Tampa Bay was able to edge Carolina last night 17-14 in an extremely sloppy affair. Roberto Aguayo kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired and likely saved his job in the process having already missed two field goals earlier in the game. The Bucs flipped the script on the Panthers and went to a run-first gameplan, and surprisingly found success against the normally tough Panthers front-seven. Tampa Bay snapped a three game losing streak heading into its bye week.

Carolina is now in a very precarious position at 1-4 with numerous issues on defense and the reigning MVP in the concussion protocol. History says that only 6% of teams at 1-4 have ever made the playoffs. Not very good odds by any stretch, but that number may be a little inflated considering two teams made the playoffs last season after a 1-4 start (Houston, Kansas City). If Cam Newtown plays last night, Carolina probably wins that game so the Panthers aren’t quite dead yet with some winnable games ahead. They’ll need to reel of victories in bunches though to either catch Atlanta (which is red-hot again to start the season), or sneak into the wild card.

Now that we’ve put a little bow on last night’s game, it’s time to get down to business ahead of Week 6. Last week was not a good week for the Top 5. My #1 team, Denver, went down at home, while my #5 team, Philadelphia, coughed up a very winnable game on the road. There is some interesting movement in the power rankings this week as we are really starting to figure out who some of these teams are. Here are my power rankings and watch list going into Week 6.

(1) Minnesota Vikings (5-0) – Last Week: 2

Skol Vikings folks. Minnesota is the last remaining unbeaten team of the 2016 season. I’ve been all over the defense of the Vikings, but Sam Bradford is playing some fantastic football right now. He had the challenge of learning a new system and building a rapport with the entire offense. All of the pundits have been raving about Dak Prescott protecting the ball, but he had entire offseason with his team (granted, this is impressive for a rookie). Bradford had 15 days with this team and has yet to turn the ball over. Now THAT is impressive. Minnesota is sitting pretty in the NFC heading into a bye week. The last undefeated team makes the Super Bowl about 45% of the time.

(2) New England Patriots (4-1) – Last Week: 3

Where has this Tom Brady guy been all year? Oh right… Anyway, if you saw the highlights (there were plenty), you saw the beatdown that the Patriots put on the Browns this week. Brady didn’t miss a beat in his first game back from suspension. He had all of his weapons working, including a scary looking tight end combo of Rob Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett. Now that Brady has the first game under his belt, it is “all systems go” in New England. The Patriots get a struggling Bengals team this week for Brady’s home debut.

(3) Pittsburgh Steelers (4-1) – Last Week: 4

The Steelers got a comfortable win on Sunday over the Jets. The story for me in Pittsburgh is the emergence of Sammie Coates. He’s is becoming the clear #2 option in the passing game behind Antonio Brown. Coates fits nicely in the role that the suspended Martavis Bryant usually fills. Otherwise, this was business as usual for the Steelers. This week Pittsburgh travels to Miami to play a Dolphins team that is in complete disarray.

(4) Atlanta Falcons (4-1) – Last Week: Watch List

 

If there was a statement win to be found in Week 5, look no further than the Falcons victory over the Broncos. Tevin Coleman torched the Broncos’ linebackers for 132 yards receiving and a touchdown. Devonta Freeman led the ground attack, rushing for 88 yards and a touchdown. This pair of running backs for Atlanta is a serious problem for opposing defenses. The Falcons now can live with teams taking away Julio Jones with the way Freeman/Coleman are playing. Defensively, Atlanta had to be very pleased with the 3.5 sack performance from Vic Beasley Jr. His coming out party is a welcome sign for this defense, which has ranked last in sacks the past three seasons. Atlanta faces another tough test having to travel to Seattle to play the Seahawks, who are coming off of a bye. Early pick for my game of the week.

(5) Denver Broncos (4-1) – Last Week: 1

Denver got a curveball thrown it’s way by Atlanta last week. Kyle Shanahan completely out-schemed Wade Phillips. Offensively, the line for the Broncos is flat out struggling. That leaves the run game stuck in the mud, and the young quarterbacks under fire. I’m a bit worried by the news about Gary Kubiak, who was diagnosed with a complex migraine disorder yesterday. Kubiak is definitely missing the game against San Diego on Thursday, but should be back on the sidelines next week. It will be a situation to monitor going forward.

Watch List: Oakland (4-1), Philadelphia (3-1), Dallas (4-1), Green Bay (3-1), Seattle (3-1)

 By the way, if you haven’t seen the Oakland Raiders in action yet this season, you’ve been missing out. This team is fun to watch and its quarterback Derek Carr has made some flat out ridiculous throws to win them games this season. This was the first team on the Watch List for a reason. I think we are seeing a team that is capable of making the jump to the next level right before our eyes.

Now it’s time for the Eliminator for this week. Last week I put a few teams on notice. Arizona avoided the shredder by beating San Francisco, Carolina gets a reprieve for not having Cam Newton and a light schedule upcoming. Unfortunately, the Jets do not get the same benefit of the doubt as the Panthers. Everything is seemingly going wrong for the Jets and with the schedule they’ve played, its just not going to be a happy ending for the Jets this season. They headline this week’s crop of teams being “eliminated” from playoff conversations this week. (* – previously eliminated)

New York Jets (1-4)                                                 * Chicago Bears (1-4)

San Francisco 49ers (1-4)                                     * Jacksonville Jaguars (1-3)

San Diego Chargers (1-4)                                      * New Orleans Saints (1-3)

Miami Dolphins (1-4)                                             * Cleveland Browns (0-5)

That’s it for me today, thanks for reading everyone! I’ll be back tomorrow with an MLB postseason update and some fantasy football advice for Week 6. Join the conversation in the comments section or on social media. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.