Power Rankings: The Big Three and the Flawed 29

Updated Oct. 9

Aside from the Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys, is anybody really any good in the NFL this season?

And after Monday night's razor-thin victory over the Buffalo Bills, some might wonder if the Cowboys are an elite team either.

I'll chalk up Monday night's Tony Romo pick-fest to a team caught looking ahead to their game this week with the Patriots. The Cowboys are still an elite team.

Dallas Clark, Reggie Wayne and the Colts? Hard to argue with the champs. (Getty Images)

As for outside the top three, I've been wondering about the rest of the league for a while. But it really hit me the past two days while compiling the latest batch of CBS Sports.com Power Rankings.

Look at the rest of the teams in the top 10. They all have issues.

In my top 10 is a team (Tennessee Titans) that turned it over five times Sunday and still won, a team (Jacksonville Jaguars) that is averaging 15.7 points per game -- 28th in the league -- and a team (Green Bay Packers) that blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead at home Sunday night.

We also have the crippled Pittsburgh Steelers, the Baltimore Ravens that struggle way too much to score, the Arizona Cardinals playing rotating quarterbacks until one of them went down with a broken collarbone and the New York Giants, who opened 0-2 and had many pegging their coach for the firing line.

Of that group, do we really know if any of them are really any good? What we do know is the Colts, Patriots and Cowboys are all really good.

The Colts showed that they can win without four key starters. The Patriots continue to blow people out and the Cowboys can score on anybody -- even when Romo isn't playing well. Hey, he did lead them to that late score and winning field goal.

Those three are the three remaining unbeaten teams and by 8 p.m. Sunday we will be down to two since the Cowboys and Patriots meet in Game of the Season/Decade/Century Part I this Sunday at Texas Stadium.

Peeking ahead, the Cowboys learned Monday night, can be a real danger, but somehow they escaped.

The Colts don't play this week, but their unbeaten status will be tested in two weeks on a Monday night at Jacksonville against the Jaguars.

At any rate, it's evident those three are above the rest, making this season's early motto: Three and Out.

We still have a lot of time left to go before the playoffs start, which is why it's too early to jump to conclusions. It's way too simple to pick either the Colts or the Patriots to play the Cowboys in Super Bowl XLII.

We know better.

One of the other top 10 teams -- or maybe even the San Diego Chargers -- might emerge as a real player before we hit November. It will likely be the one that cures its ills first.

That means the Jaguars scoring more points or the Titans taking care of the ball better or the Steelers getting healthy or the Ravens getting Steve McNair to find his old magic and Kurt Warner doing the same in Arizona or the Giants showing the 0-2 start was just a fluke.

Fix it, and you can win it. Don't, and you won't.

For now, we're still left wondering which team can do it, and the obvious question:

Is anybody outside the Big Three any good?

The complete Power Rankings after Week 5:

Power Rankings
Current		Team	Previous
	1	Titans · Trends	1
	If Kerry Collins plays like he did against the Bears, they will be a Super Bowl team. It's that simple. The passing game is the one area of this team that worried some.
	2	Giants · Trends	2
	They run it better than anybody, which controls the football. And when they get a lead they have a pass rush that can get after it. They're the best team, even if they are in the second spot here.
	3	Panthers · Trends	3
	Can I really put a team that had a quarterback throw for 72 yards and get picked four times in the third spot? At 7-2, you have to do it.
	4	Buccaneers · Trends	6
	Jon Gruden has to be thrilled with his 6-3 start and the way Jeff Garcia has played. We know the defense will be good.
	5	Redskins · Trends	7
	They come off the bye with a huge game against the Cowboys at home. They need to win it to try to keep pace with the Giants in the division -- or they will be taking the wild-card route.
	6	Patriots · Trends	10
	As Matt Cassel grows, they will only get better. They have two huge games in the next two weeks against the Jets at home and at Miami. Win them, and they will win the division.
	7	Jets · Trends	8
	They've done what they've been asked to do, which is beat up on a weak schedule. We'll know if they're any good Thursday after they play the Patriots.
	8	Cardinals · Trends	9
	They're going to the playoffs. Barring a late-season collapse of epic proportions, even by Cardinals standards, they will win the division. That means we'll get the treat of watching that offense more in the postseason.
	9	Cowboys · Trends	11
	The most important question in Dallas since Who shot JR is this: How's the pinkie? That's Tony Romo's pinkie.
	10	Falcons · Trends	12
	Matt Ryan isn't playing like a rookie, that's for sure. But the most impressive thing is how well the defense is playing. Brian VanGorder is doing a nice job with that unit.
	11	Colts · Trends	18
	The past two weeks have saved their season. They appear to be getting it right in time to make a second-half push.
	12	Steelers · Trends	4
	I worry about their passing game. Ben Roethlisberger isn't playing well. He needs to get it going or they'll be watching come playoff time.
	13	Ravens · Trends	14
	Joe Flacco is the real deal and the defense is playing good football. Nice job, John Harbaugh.
	14	Eagles · Trends	5
	They get the Bengals this week, which is a must-win if they are to have any chance to win the division. They're 0-3 against the NFC East, with two losses at home. That's not good enough.
	15	Vikings · Trends	19
	Will they ever get good quarterback play? Not with the group they have, which means it's all about Adrian Peterson and the defense.
	16	Bills · Trends	13
	Trent Edwards has cooled and so have the Bills. He just hasn't been smooth the past three weeks. The Bills are fading fast.
	17	Bears · Trends	15
	Get better, Kyle Orton. Soon. The offense isn't the same without you, and the Bears head to Green Bay this week.
	18	Dolphins · Trends	20
	They get Oakland at home, a game they should win, which will set up a huge division game in two weeks with the Patriots. Is that possible?
	19	Packers · Trends	16
	They lost two tough road games and now must try to regroup against division rival Chicago at home. One thing that is missing is the running game from last season.
	20	Broncos · Trends	21
	Here's the deal: Jay Cutler will have to win shootouts for this team to be in the playoffs. He's capable, that's for sure.
	21	Jaguars · Trends	23
	Jack Del Rio's tough talk worked against Detroit. But that's the Lions. We'll know if they're back for sure next week when they play the Titans.
	22	Saints · Trends	17
	At 4-5, they're in last place in the division. They still have games left against all three teams, but they better get it going.
	23	Chargers · Trends	24
	Even when they win, like they did Sunday, it's not pretty. The pass defense made Tyler Thigpen look like Len Dawson.
	24	Browns · Trends	22
	The change to Brady Quinn matters none if the defense can't stop anybody. Where is the pass rush or the coverage?
	25	Texans · Trends	25
	They are a different team without Matt Schaub. Sage Rosenfels just can't get it done. To think there was a controversy of sorts before the season between those two.
	26	Rams · Trends	26
	The past three games have taken the luster off Jim Haslett's first two games. That's what happens when the talent base isn't that good.
	27	Seahawks · Trends	27
	At least this time when they came east they didn't get blown out. Seneca Wallace played better, but their season is over.
	28	Bengals · Trends	28
	Coming out of the bye, coach Marvin Lewis just might be playing for his job. At least his team showed life the last time out.
	29	Raiders · Trends	29
	They did play better on defense against the Panthers. Now we'll see if it holds up on a long road trip to Miami.
	30	49ers · Trends	30
	They battled Monday night, which has to make feisty Mike Singletary happy. The good thing is some young players are starting to step up.
	31	Chiefs · Trends	31
	Tyler Thigpen has played well the past couple of weeks. The next seven games should be to find out if he can be a long-term answer.
	32	Lions · Trends	32
	Drew Stanton should play the rest of the season. They have to see what he can do. If not, they need to hope Matt Stafford comes out.