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The NFL season can test narratives, confirm them or toss them aside. All in one Sunday, too.

Throughout this season Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning has been plagued by doubts about his ability to be the central figure in an offense. So then against the previously undefeated Green Bay Packers he threw for 340 yards during a win, completing 72.4 percent of his pass attempts.

The Manning retirement narrative has been pushed away, at least for now, while the New Orleans Saints are challenging the notion their season is dead. It felt safe to assume the Saints were entering flameout mode when they started 0-3 and lost four of their first five games. Now they've won three straight and are back to .500.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers are confirming it's hard to stay competitive after an offseason when both their roster and coaching staff were torched. They've now scored single-digit points in four of their six losses.

Let's turn to the weekly power rankings then, and try to make sense of all that and more. These rankings aren't the standings, and instead what follows is an analysis of how each team stacks up based on performance, regardless of what its record says. It's subjective, sure, but agreeing on everything (or anything) isn't fun, right?

And remember, I probably hate your favorite team.