In SB Nation's Week 6 NFL Power Rankings, Joel Thorman has the Cleveland Browns as the No. 31 ranked team. Despite losing to the New York Giants this past Sunday and being the only winless team in the NFL, it turns out that "being competitive" is starting to make a difference in the rankings, at least compared to a team like the Tennessee Titans. I still think the Jaguars should also be ranked lower than Cleveland, but I'm still not happy that we're trying to bargain for the Browns to be ranked anywhere in the 30's. Here's what Joel said about the Browns:
31. Cleveland Browns (LW: 32, 0-5): The Browns gave the Giants a run for their money early on, but that didn't last. The good news is that Brandon Weeden gets a little better each time he plays. Promising for the future.
Here is how the rest of the AFC North fared in the rankings:
Baltimore: No. 4 (down from No. 3)
Pittsburgh: No. 8 (up from No. 13)
Cincinnati: No. 13 (down from No. 10)
Cleveland: No. 31 (up from No. 32)
Last week, I said that I would stake money that says the Bengals were not the tenth-best team in the league. They are on their way to proving my point after a loss to the Miami Dolphins, and it could continue this week with a loss to the Browns. The Steelers and the Ravens never took command of their opponents, but in the end, that's the difference between being a contender and not being quite there yet: you can still win the games where your team doesn't perform up to par.