| Rnk | LW* | Team | Record | Comments |
| 1. | 1. | New England Patriots | 6-0 | Fell behind in the second half for the first time this season and resoundingly answered the call. Brady has thrown 3 or more touchdown passes in every game so far. |
| 2. | 2. | Indianapolis Colts | 5-0 | Circle the date on your calendar for the next game of the millenium. The Patriots come to town on November 4th. |
| 3. | 4. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 4-1 | A fall weekend without a Steelers game. Tough to take no matter what else is going on. At least the half gallon of Maker's Mark was on sale at the liquor store by my house. |
| 4. | 3. | Dallas Cowboys | 5-1 | Showed the Patriots defense is vulnerable. Just didn't have enough defense to stop Brady. Clearly the class of the NFC for what that's worth. |
| 5. | 6. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 4-1 | Jones-Drew is starting to get untracked which makes them a much scarier team. Still can't afford to get behind early because they don't have the passing game to play catchup. |
| 6. | 7. | Green Bay Packers | 5-1 | Will try to jump start the running game during the bye week by reportedly giving rookie Wynn the featured role and using Morency as the 3rd down back. |
| 7. | 8. | Baltimore Ravens | 4-2 | Boller appears to have supplanted McNair on the depth chart. |
| 8. | 9. | New York Giants | 4-2 | Burress has 8 touchdown receptions in 6 games and is tied with Moss for the league lead despite rarely practicing due to an ankle injury. |
| 9. | 14. | San Diego Chargers | 3-3 | Even Norv may not be able to screw them up badly enough to miss the playoffs. Newly acquired wideout Chambers should be easier to integrate into the passing offense since Turner was his coordinator for a couple of seasons in Miami. |
| 10. | 5. | Tennessee Titans | 3-2 | Could not afford an injury to Young. |
| 11. | 11. | Carolina Panthers | 4-2 | Testeverde was smart enough to target Smith. |
| 12. | 16. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 4-2 | Tried and failed to develop a young quarterback. Gruden seems much more comfortable with a veteran game manager. |
| 13. | 21. | Kansas City Chiefs | 3-3 | LJ is starting to find his groove which makes them dangerous. Dealt Bennett to the Bucs at the deadline which probably means Holmes will be activated off the PUP and have a limited role. |
| 14. | 10. | Seattle Seahawks | 3-3 | Luckily for them the rest of the NFC West is a complete disaster. |
| 15. | 12. | Arizona Cardinals | 3-3 | Went from 2 quarterbacks to no quarterbacks in the blink of an eye. |
| 16. | 13. | Washington Redskins | 3-2 | Gibbs, Saunders and Moss had a day to forget in a very winnable game at Lambeau Field. |
| 17. | 22. | Philadelphia Eagles | 2-3 | Reid improved to 9-0 after the bye. |
| 18. | 18. | Denver Broncos | 2-3 | Had a week off to try to right the ship after the debacle aganst the Chargers with the Steelers coming to town for a prime time tussle. |
| 19. | 19. | Detriot Lions | 3-2 | Jekyl and Hyde so far. Based on past history you would have to expect things to get ugly after the bye. |
| 20. | 20. | San Fransisco 49ers | 2-3 | Smith will try to return after the break despite continued shoulder soreness. They need him badly. |
| 21. | 17. | Houston Texans | 3-3 | Lack explosiveness without Johnson and there are rumors he may not be able to return until week 11. |
| 22. | 26. | Cleveland Browns | 3-3 | Anderson and Edwards continue to light up the scoreboard. At least against bad defenses. |
| 23. | 15. | Chicago Bears | 2-4 | Defense is a shell of it's former self. |
| 24. | 27. | New Orleans Saints | 1-4 | Not dead yet. |
| 25. | 30. | Minnesota Vikings | 2-3 | Childress finally gave Purple Jesus the ball in the second half. Purple Jesus gave Childress a win. |
| 26. | 23. | New York Jets | 1-5 | Had 2nd and inches from the 3 with a chance to tie late and couldn't even get a first down. Fell to 2-23 in franchise history against teams from Pennsylvania with the Steelers still on the schedule later in the year. |
| 27. | 25. | Oakland Raiders | 2-3 | So much for their short stay in first place in the NFC West. Could already be time to give Russell a look. |
| 28. | 28. | Buffalo Bills | 1-4 | Edwards will start again this week. Evans wants a permanent QB decision. Probably won't help. |
| 29. | 24. | Cincinnati Bengals | 1-4 | In disarray. Weren't able to fix any of their problems over the bye. |
| 30. | 29. | Atlanta Falcons | 1-5 | An inaccurate quarterback prone to turnovers and receivers that can't catch. Not exactly a recipe for success. |
| 31. | 31. | St. Louis Rams | 0-6 | Linehan's handling of Bulger is likely to get him fired after only 2 seasons. Doesn't help that Frerotte threw 8 interceptions in 2 weeks. |
| 32. | 32. | Miami Dolphins | 0-6 | Owe Porter $20 million. Gar-on-teed. |
*Last week's ranking