Early in this crazy season there are only a few things that can be counted on; the Broncos, Saints and Chiefs are good, the Giants and Jaguars are horrendous and it appears as if every other team could end up 8-8. Every team seems to be having flashes of brilliance one week followed by complete ineptitude the next. Then you have the Cowboys and Tony Romo; no man can turn triumph into defeat faster than Romo.
1. Denver (Last Week: 1) - The Broncos finally showed some serious cracks on Sunday. When facing an offense that can score with them they could end up falling one of these weeks, the only question is if there are any other offenses that can hang with them?
2. New Orleans (3) - For once the Saints relied on their defense to get the win in Chicago last Sunday. While Rob Ryan's D gave up a lot of yards to Jay Cutler and Alshon Jeffery every time they needed to stop the Bears from scoring they called on one of their exotic blitzes and got the job done.
3. Kansas City (3) - The Chiefs needed to come from behind to beat a game Tennessee team on the road but were able to do so when the defense completely shut down the running game and Alex Smith showed the difference a competent quarterback can make for a team.
4. Indianapolis (9) - Every week the Colts look stronger than they did the week before. If newly acquired Trent Richardson can find the skills that made him worth a first round draft pick this team could be scary good.
5. Seattle (2) - It is undeniable that the Seahawks have the best home field advantage in the NFL, unfortunately they continue to look suspect whenever they travel.
6. San Francisco (10) - The 49ers played hard-nose football on Sunday by running the ball down the Texans' throats and taking the ball from Matt Schaub any time they wanted. If they continue to play this style they may be able to catch up to Seattle in the NFC West.
7. New England (5) - The Patriots defense looked fantastic and played well enough to win on Sunday while the offense was anemic. Gronk's return can't come soon enough for the Pats.
8. Baltimore (14) - After starting the season looking like they were destined go from first to worst the Ravens are starting to put things together. As long as they keep giving the ball to Ray Rice they should be fine.
9. Tennessee (6) - Chris Johnson needs to get going if the Titans are going to compete with Ryan Fitzpatrick under center. Fitzpatrick should never outrush a supposedly elite running back.
10. Chicago (7) - Jay Cutler played a great game and Alshon Jeffery made a name for himself but when it came time to score the Bears kept coming up short despite a fierce comeback attempt at the end. Luckily, the Giants are next on the schedule.
11. Green Bay (11) - It always seems petty to punish a team for not winning by enough, but, coming off of a bye week and hosting a Lions team without Calvin Johnson or Nate Burleson should have been the perfect recipe for a blowout.
12. Cincinnati (21) - Congrats to the Bengals! No team has jumped and plummeted in the rankings quite like Cincy. Their defense, with an assist from Mother Nature, made Tom Brady look ordinary. If they can continue to play like that they have a shot in a wide open division.
13. Miami (12) - Two losses in a row after a surprising 3-0 start doesn't inspire much confidence, even though they came close to pulling things out, they'll need to figure out some things on their bye this week.
14. Detroit (8) - If any of the three big players on offense (Megatron, Stafford and Bush) miss a game the Lions completely fall apart.
15. Cleveland (20) - The Browns are unstoppable!!!! With Weeden back under center after Hoyer went down for the year it'll be interesting to see if they can stay on their roll against Detroit this week.
16. Dallas (16) - How fitting is it that Tony Romo had the best game of his life (500 YARDS!) but was still skewered in the press for throwing an interception that ended up costing the Cowboys the game?
17. Houston (13) - Matt Schaub set the kind of record players want to avoid on Sunday night by throwing an interception returned for a TD for the fourth consecutive week, according to ESPN.
18. Arizona (22) - The Cardinals defense is looking great behind leader Patrick Peterson, they were able to sack Cam Newton 7 times while holding the Panthers in check.
19. New York Jets (24) - Rex Ryan might be able to save his job after all. The Jets were able to put away the Falcons within minutes of the Braves losing against the Dodgers putting all of Atlanta on suicide watch.
20. Buffalo (19) - The Bills have had to grab a quarterback off of the practice squad this week, it looks like it's going to be another long year for some of the most loyal fans in sports.
21. Atlanta (18) - This team is far too talented to be 1-4. The division is likely already out of reach and more than likely one or two more losses will eliminate them from the Wild Card in the strong NFC.
22. San Diego (15) - If Phillip Rivers keeps chucking the ball to the other team the lightning bolts don't have a prayer at competing in the surprisingly good AFC West.
23. Philadelphia (23) - The Good: They were able to get back into the win column. The Bad: Wins against the Giants don't mean much. The Ugly: Michael Vick is out for at least a week.
24. Carolina (17) - Cam Newton has amazing potential to be a star quarterback but when he's sacked 7 times all the potential in the world won't carry this team to victory.
25. Oakland (30) - Thanks to the A's being in the playoffs the Raiders played a game that ended about an hour before people on the east coast had to be at work. Maybe if they always play that late they can keep a winning streak going.
26. Washington (26) - Hopefully the rest will help get RGIII back to where he was last year; and hopefully a scheme was drawn up to help the porous secondary with Romo, Cutler and, gulp, Peyton Manning on the horizon.
27. St. Louis (25) - How is it possible to win a game and move backward in the rankings? By allowing the Jags to score 20, that's how.
28. Minnesota (27) - Fans of good football were in for a treat last week when three of the worst 5 teams in the league had bye weeks.
29. Pittsburgh (28) - Hopefully for the Steelers Big Ben was able to get some rest over the bye since he's already taken a beating this season.
30. Tampa Bay (29) - The countdown to Greg Schiano's inevitable firing is heating up! Josh Freeman was finally cut and Warren Sapp became the latest in the media to blast Schiano's coaching style.
31. New York Giants (31) - The Manning family has thrown a whopping 13 interceptions in the first five weeks of the season. Eli has thrown 12 of them.
32. Jacksonville (32) - This week the Jags get the privilege of traveling to Denver. They are 28 point underdogs, the largest point spread in the history of the NFL. Maybe the Broncos can show some mercy and shorten the length of the fourth quarter and keep the clock running like during Miami's 77-7 beat down of Savannah St. earlier this year.
