| Rnk | LW | Team | Record | Comments |
| 1. | 1. | New England Patriots | 3-0 | The last coach to beat the Patrots was.... Drum roll please.... Steve Spurrier. No kidding. |
| 2. | 2. | Philadelphia Eagles | 4-0 | Why does Terrell Owens need to draw attention to himself by doing sit ups after scoring a TD? Yes, it is harmless. But it is something else that distracts from his play. Owens is a great player and by all accounts a model citizen off the field. Alas, his shameless self promotion has made him a villain in the eyes of more than a few fans. It is really unnecessary. |
| 3. | 3. | Seattle Seahawks | 3-0 | Coming off a bye they can take complete control of the NFC West with a win at home against the Rams. |
| 4. | 4. | Indianapolis Colts | 3-1 | Clearly the second best team in the AFC. For whatever that is worth.... |
| 5. | 14. | Atlanta Falcons | 4-0 | I admit to not being a big believer in the Falcons before they travelled to Carolina and beat the Panthers. Now though with a two game lead in the NFC South they deserve some respect. |
| 6. | 6. | Minnesota Vikings | 2-1 | Injuries to the defense mean they need to outscore opponents. That is always possible with Daunte Culpepper and Randy Moss. They will need to be at their best because the running game could be an issue in the short term with Onterrio Smith starting a 4 game suspension and Michael Bennett not yet ready to return from injury. |
| 7. | 7. | Denver Broncos | 3-1 | Continue to win ugly. Really need Quentin Griffin, Tatum Bell or Garrison Hearst to take control on the ground. |
| 8. | 5. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 3-1 | Fourth quarter magic ran out against the Colts. Need to guard against a letdown this week on the road against the improving Chargers. |
| 9. | 10. | New York Jets | 3-0 | The schedule is very kind. The Patriots are the only team among their next 8 opponents that currently has a winning record. |
| 10. | 13. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 3-1 | Have won the games they should win which is major step forward after last season's problems. Ben Roethlisberger is proving to be the present as well as the future. He has not turned the ball over in 7 consecutive quarters and his calm demeanor belies the fact that he is a rookie that left school after his junior year. |
| 11. | 12. | Dallas Cowboys | 2-1 | For all the kudos Bill Parcells has received in his career it should be remembered that he has never won a championship without Bill Belicheck as his defensive coordinator or the late, great George Young as his GM. |
| 12. | 19. | New York Giants | 3-1 | A pleasant surprise. Kurt Warner is proving that he has something left. Tiki Barber has learned to hang on the ball. |
| 13. | 8. | Baltimore Ravens | 2-2 | Trouble is brewing in Baltimore. Jamal Lewis faces a suspension after pleading guilty to drug charges. Kyle Boller and the receiving corps continues to struggle. Probably the biggest issue though was the way the defense was manhandled on Monday night. |
| 14. | 18. | St. Louis Rams | 2-2 | Mike Martz finally decided to feature Marshall Faulk and Steven Jackson after taking grief for throwing 67% of the time in the first 3 weeks. It worked. Of course manhandling the 49ers is not a difficult proposition these days. |
| 15. | 9. | Carolina Panthers | 1-2 | Jake Delhomme's gambling style that paid off last year has not worked as well so far in 2004. Maybe not having Steve Smith to run down his less advised passes is taking a toll. |
| 16. | 11. | Tennessee Titans | 1-3 | Having a tough time overcoming the loss of Robaire Smith, Jevon Kearse and Justin McCariens. Steve McNair missing time due to injury also hasn't helped. |
| 17. | 15. | New Orleans Saints | 2-2 | Losing in Arizona after beating divisional rival St. Louis on the road is inexcusable. Inconsistency has been the hallmark of the Jim Haslett era. |
| 18. | 16. | Oakland Raiders | 2-2 | Rich Gannon was apparently starting for a reason. I thought the Raiders would actually be better off with Kerry Collins at QB. For a week at least I couldn't have been more wrong. Collins was abysmal in Houston, turning the ball over 4 times. |
| 19. | 17. | Green Bay Packers | 1-3 | Making Ed Donatell a scapegoat and firing him as defensive coordinator hasn�t exactly worked out. Just another example of a team thinking scheme was the issue when the problem was really talent level. By the way, Donatell landed on his feet. He is the defensive coordinator of the 4-0 Falcons. |
| 20. | 20. | Detriot Lions | 2-1 | A team on the rise. Matt Millen took a lot of grief for his team's performance in his first 3 years as GM. And rightfully so.... But he has really turned things around. Hiring Steve Mariucci was a no brainer and the last 2 drafts have set a solid foundation. |
| 21. | 23. | Houston Texans | 2-2 | Won 2 straight games for the first tme in franchise history. |
| 22. | 24. | Kansas City Chiefs | 1-3 | Saved their season by winning in Baltimore on Monday night. Still have a long way to go, but at least they are heading into the bye on a high note. |
| 23. | 21. | Cincinnati Bengals | 1-3 | Have not won a road game against a team with a winning record in the 21st century. |
| 24. | 28. | San Diego Chargers | 2-2 | Not legitimate playoff contenders, but they do seem to be progressing. Marty Shottenheimer deserves some credit. Despite his well documented problems winning playoff games few have been better at taking bad teams and building them into a perennial playoff contenders. He did it in Cleveland. He did it in Kansas City. He even went 8-3 after an 0-5 start before getting fired in Washington by Daniel Snyder after only 1 season. Turns out those were the glory days of Snyder's ownership of the Skins. |
| 25. | 29. | Cleveland Browns | 2-2 | I will admit to not being a big fan of Butch Davis. Still, he does deserve credit for the decision to use a late round pick on Lee Suggs despite a shoulder injury that scared other teams away. Suggs looks like the real deal if he can stay healthy. |
| 26. | 22. | Washington Redskins | 1-3 | The second Joe Gibbs era has started out almost as poorly as the first. Gibbs was 0-5 in 1981 before finishing the season 8-8. The rest is history. Can Gibbs repeat the success of his first go around in Washington? Only time will tell. |
| 27. | 31. | Arizona Cardinals | 1-3 | Best unknown assistant coach.... First year Arizona defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast. He is a Dave Campo disciple that coached defensive backs in Dallas and linebackers last year in Cleveland. |
| 28. | 25. | Buffalo Bills | 0-3 | A lot has been made of Drew Bledsoe's declining play. What some are ignoring is the poor play of the offensive line. Bledsoe is constantly under pressure and the running game has been little help. Tom Donahoe has spent the last 2 years using high draft picks on offensive skill position talent that has yet to contribute. He even traded away next year's 1st rounder which is looking more and more like a top 10 pick to draft JP Losman. This team would have been much better off if Donahoe had used a few of those picks on offensive linemen. |
| 29. | 26. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 0-4 | From the penthouse to the outhouse in less than 2 years. The attempt to patch the roster with aging veterans has not worked at all. |
| 30. | 27. | Chicago Bears | 1-3 | Playing hard for Lovie Smith despite a string of debilitating injuries that has made winning problematic. |
| 31. | 30. | Miami Dolphins | 0-4 | Have not been winless after four games since their expansion season in 1966. That year they won in week 6 at home against the Broncos. With a road trip to Foxboro up next on the schedule it looks like the Dolphins will be tying the worst start in franchise history. |
| 32. | 32. | San Fransisco 49ers | 0-4 | Were held scoreless for 7 consecutive quarters tying a franchise record of futility dating back to 1974. |