NFC South Power Rankings

Oct 9, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (11) and quarterback Matt Ryan (2) celebrate the win over the Denver Broncos in the second half at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Falcons defeated the Broncos 23-16. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 9, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (11) and quarterback Matt Ryan (2) celebrate the win over the Denver Broncos in the second half at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Falcons defeated the Broncos 23-16. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 9, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett (97) celebrates his sack of Denver Broncos quarterback Paxton Lynch (12) (not pictured) in the second half at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Falcons defeated the Broncos 23-16. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 9, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett (97) celebrates his sack of Denver Broncos quarterback Paxton Lynch (12) (not pictured) in the second half at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Falcons defeated the Broncos 23-16. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

After a crazy Week 5 which was filled to the brim with exciting action, we look into the structure of the NFC South through power rankings.

Week 5 was an excellent week of NFL football. At the time of writing this post, we saw five games where the underdog was the victor.

Most importantly, we saw two undefeated teams take losses. The reigning Super Bowl champions, the Denver Broncos, lost to the upstart Atlanta Falcons in a game that was not close until the final minutes. Additionally, the Philadelphia Eagles lost a close game to the surprisingly good Detroit Lions.

Moving forward, it is time to preview how the NFC South was impacted by the NFL season thus far. The Atlanta Falcons are looking like a scorching hot team after defeating both teams to play in last year’s Super Bowl (the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos) in back to back weeks. Meanwhile, the New Orleans Saints are looking like a dumpster fire that got into a shotgun wedding with the last Cleveland Browns regime.

Let’s get started with the power rankings!

4. The New Orleans Saints

Here is the crazy thing about the New Orleans Saints, minus the loss to the Falcons, this is a team that has been in every game that it has played. In Week 1, the Saints lost 34-35 in an extremely emotional game against the playoff looking Oakland Raiders.

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Next, in Week 2, the Saints lost 13-16 against the New York Giants. In this game, neither team really dominated the other, and ultimately the Giants won because of the strength of their defense.

However, in Week 3, the Saints did take a gut-clenching loss to the Atlanta Falcons where the team looked all out of sorts for the entire game.

But, in Week 4, the Saints rebounded and stole a game from the San Diego Chargers that took a bit of luck in the final quarter. New Orleans won 35-34.

Ultimately, this team needs to learn how to win the close games. Many people say luck factors into winning a close game. My take is that to win a close game, a team must trust each other and be mature in executing in hard situations.