Can you help us make sense of this week’s NFL power rankings?

I can’t help but to wonder what is going on in the world of power rankings. To keep things simple, I check out the official NFL dot com weekly power rankings. Who is up and who is down usually depends on things like winning and losing. OR ONE WOULD THINK.

It’s a bit more of looking for excuses to bump up teams you like, and downgrade teams you don’t. One week ago the Falcons dropped one spot between they didn’t dominate in glorified practice. Atlanta’s fourth stringers didn’t look sharp against Arizona’s fourth stringers, all of who were cut days later. This makes sense.

What nonsense happened this week? The Falcons went on the road with a new offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, then they won. So naturally, they dropped two spots.

WHAT?

Gnarly start in Chicago, as predicted for Atlanta. The offense was functional if not dynamic, as Matt Ryan found Austin Hooper for a couple of chunk plays and converted a few necessary third downs. The run game was absent against an improved Bears front seven. The defense was unable to force any turnovers or stop the run consistently, leaving an inferior Chicago team within a fourth-and-goal of securing an improbable win. Eight penalties didn't help, either. Can't be this sloppy when Aaron Rodgers comes calling next week.

Atlanta certainly didn’t play a perfect game. It was also week one, on the road, on bad turf. We spent all offseason with talking heads doubtful Atlanta could overcome a Super Bowl hangover, and the team looked impressive while shaking off some rust.

What happened with other teams? The New England Patriots may have had one too many parades and spent all offseason making jokes about 28-3 to pay attention to football, and they got their doors blown off by Alex Smith at home. It was truly a disgusting performance where Tom Brady looked to be every day of 40 years old. The defense looked awful.

The result: they dropped two spots.

How much nonsense am I supposed to put up with in power rankings? The Packers moved UP 3 spots after the most uneven win I’ve ever seen. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers literally didn’t play and they moved up one spot.

Like every season, the Falcons have to overperform to get any respect from the national media.