Team, record, last week’s ranking 
1. Patriots (6-0) (1): Enjoy watching Tom Brady, folks, because he’s having a career year. Five more TDs against the Cowboys, and the Patriots are making it awfully tempting to think they can go unbeaten this year. Still a long way to go, though.
2. Colts (5-0) (2): Colts get well-earned week off to heal their bumps and bruises. Won’t be easy, though. They’re on the road at resurgent Jacksonville.
3. Steelers (4-1) (4): By virtue of the Cowboys’ loss to the Patriots, combined with a spotty effort the week before against the Bills, we bump up the Steelers one notch even though they didn’t play. They’re take on Denver on Sunday.
4. Cowboys (5-1) (3): Back down to earth for the Cowboys, who talked a better game than they played against New England. Now the Pokes are talking about a rematch, which could only happen in the Super Bowl. As former Cowboys coach Bill Parcells would say at a time like this - relax, ok?
5. Jaguars (4-1) (5): David Garrard hasn’t thrown an INT yet, and he’s working on four straight games with a rating of 100.0 or better. Huge one at home against Indy on Sunday.
6. Packers (5-1) (6): It was downright ugly at times, but the Packers will take the win over the Redskins. A week off for Brett and the boys. .
7. Giants (4-2) (8): No wonder Tom Coughlin's feeling younger these days. That’s four straight for Big Blue, after they dispose of the pitiful Falcons on the road. This one looked like an interesting matchup before Michael Vick got himself in trouble. It turned into a yawner.
8. Chargers (3-3) (14): If they keep playing like they did against the Raiders, the Chargers will enjoy the kind of success we expected of them in the first place. LT runs wild and turns back into a fantasy football scoring machine. 
9. Buccaneers (4-2) (9): We’ll resurrect a quote from Bucs coach Jon Gruden, who says this of Tampa’s 37-year-old quarterback, Jeff Garcia: “I learned a long time ago from [former Vikings coach] Bud Grant that every coach that is alive needs three things. He needs a loyal dog, he needs a faithful wife, and he needs a heck of a quarterback. Finally, we've got a guy that is really giving us good, consistent play.”
10. Ravens (4-2) (10): Kyle Boller comes to the rescue in place of the injured Steve McNair and beats up on the hapless Rams. Brian Billick says McNair is still his starter, but we’re wondering if all these injuries are getting to the point where he’ll once again consider retirement.
11. Panthers (4-2) (15): Vinny Testaverde gets off the couch and into the huddle, and stuns the Cardinals in the desert. Panthers’ season lives on … if just barely.
12. Texans (3-3) (11): Matt Schaub & Co. get waxed in Jax.
13. Redskins (3-2) (13): Very sloppy effort in Green Bay. Redskins look just above average to us.
14. Titans (3-2) (12): Vince Young hurts his quad, and Kerry Collins can’t do the job in relief against Bucs.
15. Seahawks (3-3) (7): What the hell is wrong with these guys? At home … in prime time … against winless New Orleans … and they give us that? Guess it was a bad omen when an NBC overhead camera nearly came crashing down on the Seahawks during a first-half timeout.
16. Lions (3-2) (16): Jon Kitna licks his wounds during the bye week after a thumping in Washington. Now it’s home against Tampa.
17. Chiefs (3-3) (23): Hey, Jets fans, why don’t we hear you roasting Herman Edwards these days?
18. Eagles (2-3) (21): Donovan McNabb & Co. do just enough to beat the Jets on the road. They’ll have to do better than that to be a factor in the division, but there’s still time.
19. Broncos (2-3) (17): From bad to worse? Broncos take on well-rested Steelers. Could get ugy.
20. Vikings (2-3) (30): Adrian Peterson is a cross between Eric Dickerson and Gale Sayers. We can stop the voting for NFL Rookie of the Year. He’s it.
21. Browns (3-3) (25): Derek Anderson has come from nowhere and turned this offense into a respectable unit. Who’da thunk it?
22. Cardinals (3-3) (18): So much for the quarterback rotation system. Matt Leinart is done for the season with a collarbone injury, and Kurt Warner is out at least a week with elbow problems. Tim Rattay gets the call for Sunday’s game at Washington.
23. Saints (1-4) (27): We’ll have to see a couple more performances like the one against the Seahawks before we move these guys up the charts. One win doesn’t wipe out what happened the first month.
24. Bears (2-4) (20): Bears had a defense for the ages last year. Now they’d struggle to beat the Jets.
25. 49ers (2-3) (22): Alex Smith can’t get back soon enough. Big Blue on the road up next.
26. Raiders (2-3) (24): Can’t say we were surprised by what happened in San Diego. We’ll see if they have any better divisional luck against the Chiefs on the road Sunday.
27. Bengals (1-4) (19): Marvin Lewis brought the captain of a Navy ship to speak to the players last week. Then the Bengals went kerplunk in KC.
28. Bills (1-4) (26): Looks like this might be Trent Edwards’ team.
29. Jets (1-5) (28): Eric Mangini stands by his man Chad Pennington. No Kellen Clemens just yet. But if Pennington can’t get it done against Cincy’s swiss cheese defense, then what's the point?
30. Rams (0-6) (29): Marc Bulger insists he’s ready to return from a rib injury. To which we ask: Why bother?
31. Falcons (1-5) (31): This is one dreadful team. We won’t be surprised to see Bobby Petrino go back to the colleges in a year or two. Maybe a month or two.
32. Dolphins (0-6) (32): Cleo Lemon revives the offense, but it’s the Dolphins’ aging defense that’s the problem.
Comments (21)
Jets are a little high.
Spoken like a true Jets' fan.
The Dolphins are too high. They should be lowered.
Pittsburegh #3? I knew you'd come around Bob :-)
Now I just have to get you to see that the Colts are actually even better than the Pats.
On a related note: What kind of football genius plays his starters that late into a blowout game and doesn't run the ball to chew up the clock once the game is no longer in doubt?
Running up the score like that is eventually going to bite Belicheat
Brady is awesome, the O-Line is under-rated but Belicheat has got to be one of the most over-rated coaches in recent history. Good? Sure. Winner of three Super Bowls by 3 points each? Sure. Genius? Not a chance.
Pittsburgh moves up even though they didn't play? Wins over suspect teams Cleveland,Buffalo, San Francisco and Seattle and a loss to Arizona??? How are they third? Just because the two best teams (NE and Indy) play in the AFC doesn't rub off on them. Sorry but GB and Dallas BOTH belong ahead of Pittsburgh.
Anonymous, Dallas showed they aren't number three material on Monday. Green Bay? They couldn't beat Chicago at Home and four of their five wins were by a single possession.
Pittsburghs margins of victory have been 27, 23, 21, and 21. Only losing on the road to their former offensive coordinator.
You need to make a better case than that.
Hi Bob remember me? Just look at your pre-season rankings and my post about it and compare it with your current rankings. Couldn't resist I just had to rub it in.
Steelers at 3!? Sounds right...but your blog says they are home vs. Denver this week. Nope. It is away.
Where's the gratuitous cheerleader shot this week? It's the only reason half of the 10 readers who visit your blog even bother, isn't it?
The same comment about Denver visiting Pittsburgh is listed next to the Broncos' ranking. If you need a good editor, let me know. I could make myself available for the measly price of AFC Championship game tickets (Steelers vs. Pats)
Ok, the Broncos are heading down hill, but I think the team beats the Steelers, especially cause Shanny knows how to scheme during the bye as well. Incidentally, I think the game is going to be in Denver, not that the Broncs have taken much advantage of home turf this year.
Lance,
As a Broncos fan, do you worry at all that Cutler may just not be a winner? He went to Vanderbilt where they lost repeatedly and he had a penchant for blaming the losing on his "supporting cast." Now, they are actually a decent program. For your sake I hope this kid becomes a winner, but until then, he appears to be just another strong armed punk kid. What's the word out of Denver Nation?
Sorry on location of Steelers-Broncos. In the process of retracing my steps, our usually trusty NFL Black Book had it at Pittsburgh. My bad.
It's corrected.
Big Ben. Welcome back. Missed you.
Go Penn State.
Hey Big Ben,
I think Cutler's the real deal, although some other Broncos fans have been more skeptical. I've read that his accuracy is suspect, but he's got a cannon arm. Javon Walker has even said he throws almost as hard as Farve.
I just wish Shanny would let him air it out more. For some reason, since Plummer's been here Shanny's gotten conservative with the play calling. He hasn't run that awesome spread offense with five receivers much anymore or passed to the TEs at all.
I am bit upset that Cutler throws about a pick a game, but so did some of the best qbs when they first started out. See: John Elway and Brett Farve.
The real problem with Denver is the defense and the new Jim Bates, the new coordinator. The team got rid of a lot of its bigger run stoppers from last year and adopted a completely new scheme that seems to be failing miserably. The team also has been completely incapable of generating a consistent pass rush, which killed the Broncos against Indy.
The Travis Henry move, which looked awesome at first, is also turning into a real disaster. Shanny should have known he had serious character issues, mainly having like 7 or 8 kids all with different women. Even if he gets off the hook now it will be solely on a technicality. The entire incident has been a real distraction for the team.
Big Ben, what's your prediction for this Sunday? I think the Broncos are going to come out with a vengeance.
I like the fact that the two teams I always pick to win are undefeated... But I think the bottom three should be 30: Bills 31: Rams 32: Dolphins. Much as I'd like to see the Bills at 32 ;) , they did actually win one game. But the way they blew it with the Cowboys was just such classic Buffalo choke. I think that will continue, and if they rally mid-season, they will choke again at the end. There's something about western NY that "chokes" the success out of everything, and the Bills are the poster boys for that.
Hey Lance
Don't sell me short--it's 9 women and 1 big spliff
I'm thinking Cutler throws about 50 passes this week, Lance, as Shanny goes back to that spread you mentioned. The Steelers will be missing a starting CB in McFadden but are getting the rest of the crew (Ward, Troy, Hampton, Holmes) back from injury so it should be interesting. Parker will be the key. If he goes for 125+, Steelers keep the Broncos off the field and win 27-17. If not, Denver will win by about the same score.
Precition: 27-17 ..... Pittsburgh breaking Shanahan's unbelievable "post-bye" streak.
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