Six weeks into the season we are left with only two unbeaten teams left in the NFL and neither team can even claim first place to themselves; both Denver and Kansas City reside in the AFC West. In week 6 the Chiefs fans proved that they were the loudest in the world while the Broncos proved that a 28 point spread was too much for even their prolific offense to cover. Elsewhere the Steelers finally won a game, the Saints and Patriots played a classic game and the Texans continued their downward spiral.
1. Denver (Last Week: 1) - Last week the Broncos looked somewhat mortal against the worst team in the league but they quickly got over that as they put the game away in the second half. Expect the team to be fired up for Manning's return to Indy.
2. Kansas City (3) - The Chiefs defense is still only giving up a little over 10 points per game despite their star safety being afraid of horses.
3. New England (7) - After looking like shell of his former self for the first five weeks of the season Tom Brady looked like the Brady of old leading the Pats back against the Saints. Brady's perfect throw was the first half of the best sports day in Boston history.
4. New Orleans (2) - Sean Payton has been hailed as being the architect for the resurgence of the Saints so it is only fair to point out that his boneheaded play calling is the only reason the Patriots were able to come back and win on Sunday.
5. Seattle (5) - Tennessee gave the Seahawks all they could handle at home but the other-worldly Richard Sherman helped put the game away with his third pick of the year.
6. San Francisco (6) - The NFC West is looking insanely competitive as it took 180 yards from Vernon Davis to get past the tough Cardinals. The 49ers look like they have recovered from their early season flubs.
7. Green Bay (11) - The Packers may have finally found a running back in Eddie Lacy. If their defense can continue to be better than "horrendous" the Pack should be able to get over an early season slump.
8. Indianapolis (4) - What a lackluster effort against San Diego, the Colts were caught by the trap game. With owner Jimmy Irsay running his mouth, as always, prior to the Denver game it will be interesting to see how the fans welcome back Manning. Even more interesting will be seeing how Manning treats his old team on the field.
9. Chicago (10) - Under new coach Marc Trestman the Bears have retained the most frustrating aspect from the Lovie Smith teams: They play at the same level as their opponent. They got up and hung with a very good Saints team and somehow made it just as close against a horrible Giants team.
10. Cincinnati (12)- Despite hair the same color as his helmet Andy Dalton keeps playing like an All-Pro. Their excellent rush defense was able to hold the two-headed monster from Buffalo (Spiller/Jackson) to 90 yards.
11. Baltimore (8) - Joe Flacco had a chance to show the world why he makes Aaron Rodgers-type money in front of the Packers star.... And he failed to do so. The Ravens continue to puzzle me.
12. Tennessee (9) - The Titans put up a heck of a fight against Seattle but came just short. Jake Locker needs to come back to this team soon, or Chris Johnson needs to show the superhuman abilities he once had, or they will keep dropping close games instead of winning them.
13. Detroit (14) - The NFC North may be the most competitive division in football. Even with Megatron doing very little the Lions were able to get the victory - this is a huge sign of progress for the team after looking lifeless without him last week.
14. Dallas (16) - Tony Romo throws for over 500 yards = loss. Romo throws for less than 200 yards = win.
15. Miami (13) - After resting for a week Miami gets to play host to Buffalo, giving them a chance to get things right after consecutive losses going into the bye.
16. San Diego (22) - The Chargers defense was able to frustrate Luck and shut down the running game. This could be attributed to good coaching or great play... but let's be honest, it was the powder blue jerseys that gave the Chargers this victory.
17. Arizona (18) - How did this team not make a play for Josh Freeman? He has to be better than Carson Palmer, right? If they had a better QB they could be a serious contender despite playing in such a tough division.
18. Philadelphia - All hopes that the winner in the NFC East would have 7 or fewer wins seem to be dashed as the Eagles got a win sans Michael Vick. Of course, giving up 20 points to Mike Glennon and the Buc is the equivalent of giving up 40 against a non-Schiano-coached team.
19. Cleveland (15) - Things were looking so good for a while there; now the quick plummet back to Earth continues with a trip to Green Bay on the horizon.
20. Carolina (24) - Cam Newton looked great while they routed the Vikings. They could get to .500 against the Rams this week.
21. St. Louis (27) - Beating Houston on the road looked like an awesome win back in August. Now? Meh.
22. Atlanta (21) - Hopefully the bye week allowed this team to focus so they can at least make things respectable during the great Tony Gonzalez's last season.
23. Buffalo (20) - What an amazing effort and furious comeback, even though it fell just short in overtime, despite a QB who was on the practice squad. This team has great heart which would make them a favorite of coach Jimmy McGinty from "The Replacements." Maybe Shane Falco is the solution at QB.
24.New York Jets (19) - Apparently Rex Ryan was heartbroken after his brother's loss to the Patriots. Maybe he should be a little more concerned with his own team after getting dominated by the winless Steelers at home.
25. Oakland (25) - For about half of their offensive plays Terrelle Pryor looks like the second coming of Randall Cunningham. The rest of the time he looks like Henry Burris. This is a problem.
26. Pittsburgh (29) - While notching their first victory the Steelers proved that they weren't as bad as we thought they were. Although, to be fair, we thought they were really, really bad.
27. Houston (17) - Texans fans booed Matt Schaub as he left the field shortly after his foot was facing the wrong direction; this may be rock bottom for this team.
28. Washington (26) - RGIII is starting to look like he's finally healthy. Too bad this doesn't matter since this team hates tackling people.
29. Minnesota (28) - The Vikings are not good at football.
30. Tampa Bay (30) - For a short time in the first half it looked like the Bucs might be on the path to victory. Of course, they ran far from that path.
31. New York Giants (31) - The Giants will host the Vikings for the worst Monday Night Football game of the season and tickets are selling on StubHub for a whopping $19, according to ESPN. That is too much for what is sure to be an atrocious game.
32. Jacksonville (32) - THE JAGUARS COVERED!
