Well that was kind of a weird week wasn’t it? Denver losing to San Diego should have been the first sign that is was just going to be one of those weeks. Then, Coby Fleener scores a rushing touchdown for New Orleans and it hit me like a lead brick to the head, Week 6 was going to be off-kilter.

A little later on in the day, I see that Kenny Britt just scored his third receiving touchdown of the game and I just threw my hands up in disbelief. A buddy of mine is breaking my wagons from across the living room because of course he saw that coming. I mean, come on, really?

Add to the mix, Pittsburgh is getting roughed up in Miami, with Jay Ajayi working towards his 200-yard rushing day. Truthfully, I think the multiple shots of Pittsburgh defenders throwing up on the field is a pretty good summary of how that game went.

Finally, as the early session of games are ending I’m checking the scores against my picks for the week and I’m starting to feel a little better. I was looking at an okay start to the day feeling supremely confident about my picks the rest of the week. Then out of freaking nowhere I get hit with about three backdoor covers. All of a sudden, my decent start turned into a nightmarish 2-7 to start the day, having already lost the Thursday Night Game. Awesome.

The moral of the story here is that nothing is ever certain in the NFL. The “any given Sunday” mantra of the league definitely held true this week. I know I had a similar rant earlier in the season, but my goodness does the NFL know how to throw out curveballs.

Coming into Week 7, it looks like I’m going back to the drawing board with the power rankings and the watch list. Weirdly enough, four of the eight teams I eliminated won last week as well. No resurrections yet there, but one team has definitely earn its place in the Eliminator this week.

But first, lets take a look at the new-look power rankings going into Week 7:

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

No movement here for the resident top dogs of the NFL who just enjoyed a bye week while everyone else took some lumps. I’ve routinely waxed poetic about my love for this defense and the improvement of this offense. Sam Bradford will certainly have a ton of motivation to have a huge game this week as the Vikings travel to Philadelphia.

(2) New England Patriots (5-1) – Last Week: 2

If the Vikings are #1 then the Patriots are #1B until Minnesota loses. Tom Brady is playing at his usual MVP level and this two tight-end package is looking unstoppable. New England is getting the added bonus of running back James White in the passing game, just to give more versatility to this offense. This week was a more methodical approach against the Bengals than the offensive explosion against the lowly Browns, but you can’t argue results. This week the Pats get a huge break playing Pittsburgh without Big Ben, so unfortunately that big game we all hoped for will not quite happen.

(3) Dallas Cowboys (5-1) – Last Week: Watch List 

I’m going to get this one out of the way now. Dak Prescott has earned the right to keep the starting quarterback job in Dallas. You don’t mess with something that is working well. It’s that simple. The Cowboys are the best team in the NFL on third down and get the most first downs in two downs (the best CFL team is what the experts call that). Ezekiel Elliot is a dominant force running behind the best offensive line in the NFL. Dallas is able to get a lead and protect it with its offense by controlling time of possession, which is another key stat that Dallas is one of the best. However, because this is Dallas there will continue to be talk of going back to Tony Romo as the Cowboys enter the bye week.

(4) Seattle Seahawks (4-1) – Last Week: Watch List

Seattle won a slugfest against Atlanta last week, which earns them a place at the table this week. Yes, I do think the Seahawks got away with PI at the end of the game, but honestly what ref is going to make that call in Seattle in crunch time? Regardless, this is the best the Seahawks have looked defensively in a season or two. The Legion of Boom is going to be difficult to beat especially once Kam Chancellor is back in the lineup. Offensively, Russell Wilson isn’t running as much likely due to his nagging injuries but as a whole it looks like they are figuring things out. Just in time for a huge NFC West showdown in the desert against a resurgent Arizona team.

(5) Atlanta Falcons (4-2) – Last Week: 4

We learned a lot about this Falcons team last week in Seattle. It was a hard fought loss so they only get dropped one spot this week. The Matt Ryan-Julio Jones connection is looking fantastic in recent weeks, powering a red-hot offensive attack. The running back tandem of Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman had a down week but this is one of the better groups in the league. Defensively, this unit looks much improved from last season, due in large part to the young pieces playing well. Vic Beasley Jr. has come alive in the last two weeks, looking like the player we thought he would be coming out of Clemson a couple of years ago. The presence of safety Keanu Neal has been a much-needed addition giving this defense a run-stopper in the secondary. Atlanta draws an interesting matchup against San Diego this week, we’ll continue to find out whether this team is for real or not.

Watch List: Denver (4-2), Pittsburgh (4-2), Washington (4-2), Buffalo (4-2), Oakland (4-2), Kansas City (3-2)

 

Now it’s time to lay another team to rest for this season. If you’ve been tuned into any sports talk the last two days, it should come as no surprise that the 1-5 Carolina Panthers will join the ranks of the eliminated. I was holding off after last week since I thought there was a chance that they would turn things around and get a win in New Orleans.

However, this is just not the same team that we saw last season. This secondary can’t seem to cover anyone, which is forcing this offense to be something that it just isn’t designed to be. Cam Newton is putting up stats and looks great on a fantasy team, but this offense is supposed to be a ground and pound attack using play-action passing as a compliment. Instead, they are forced to be a pass first team which doesn’t suit them well at all.

Prior to the season I believed that the Panthers could buck the trend of Super Bowl losing teams missing the playoffs, but man was I wrong there. Better luck next season Carolina.

That’s it for me today; I’ve got a long night of playoff baseball ahead of me tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow with “Reality of Fantasy.” Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.