| Rnk | LW | Team | Record | Comments |
| 1. | 1. | Kansas City Chiefs | 6-0 | Proving that they can beat teams in many different ways. No return for a TD from Hall. No 100 yards rushing for Holmes. No problem. Both Morton and Gonzalez topped the century mark in receiving yards. Green had 3 TDs and no interceptions. Woods had a 79 yard interception return for a TD. The Chiefs overcame a 17 point second half deficit at Lambeau Field to win in overtime and remain undefeated. Scary. |
| 2. | 3. | Carolina Panthers | 5-0 | Didn't just beat the previously undefeated Colts in Indianapolis, they also found themselves another offensive weapon. When Davis left the game with a bruised forearm in the third quarter all seemed lost. Enter Foster. Last years second rounder missed the entire 2002 season after microfracture surgery to his knee. Foster ran for 85 yards on 16 carries to prove the Panthers are not just a one man team. |
| 3. | 4. | Minnesota Vikings | 5-0 | Culpepper spent the bye getting healthy. Frerotte was fine as a fill in, but Culpepper's return should help the offense take things to another level. With Bennett already running and expected to return in early November things could not be brighter in Minnesota. |
| 4. | 2. | Indianapolis Colts | 5-1 | Head into bye week after seemingly running out of gas following big win the previous Monday night. Deserve some credit for scoring late to force overtime after blowing a 13-3 halftime lead. |
| 5. | 5. | Miam Dolphins | 4-1 | Defense dominated the young Jaguar offense as Fiedler continued to struggle. Wannstedt insists that there is no QB controversy in Miami. Should Fiedler continue to play as poorly as he did last week it will be difficult to keep Griese off the field. |
| 6. | 6. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 3-2 | Johnson showed Snyder first hand how foolish it was to run him out of town. |
| 7. | 7. | Denver Broncos | 5-1 | Can't be happy about the news that Plummer will miss 4 more weeks with a broken foot. The win over Pittsburgh came in spite of Beuerlein, not because of him. |
| 8. | 8. | Seattle Seahawks | 4-1 | Tried hard to blow a 14 point half time lead, but managed to hang on for a 1 point victory. Offense did look unstoppable in an impressive first half. Defense needs to play under control and avoid personal foul penalties. Especially Hamlin. |
| 9. | 10. | St. Louis Rams | 3-2 | Hard to decide how good the Rams are based on Monday night considering how little fight seems to be left in the Falcons. One thing is certain. If you don't come out and get physical with the Rams skill position talent they are going to burn you. |
| 10. | 11. | New England Patriots | 4-2 | Forced 5 turnovers and won despite only 220 yards of total offense. There has to be some concern about the health of Brady. He looked completely out of sorts completing only 8 passes in 21 attempts for 112 yards. |
| 11. | 12. | Tennessee Titans | 4-2 | Trying to prove you don't need to run the ball to win games. George is shot and the running game is nonexistent. Air McNair is looking to put an MVP award in his trophy room. |
| 12. | 16. | Dallas Cowboys | 4-1 | I am still not ready to put the Cowboys in the top 10. The biggest shock here isn't that Parcells has the team ready to play every week. That had to be expected based on his track record. The biggest surprise is that Carter seems to be developing into an actual NFL QB. Kudos to offensive coordinator Carthon, QB coach Payton, and offensive assistant Lee. |
| 13. | 20. | Baltimore Ravens | 3-2 | Boller has played every offensive snap and has thrown for a paltry 543 yards. His QB rating is a miniscule 48.9. While poor QB play can be overcome when facing teams like the Chargers and Cardinals, without some improvement in the passing game it will be tough to compete against the meat of the schedule. |
| 14. | 21. | Cleveland Browns | 3-3 | Couch has breathed life into a moribund offense and gets to keep the starting job. At least for now. |
| 15. | 13. | Green Bay Packers | 3-3 | Unprecidented second half collapse at Lambeau does not bode well for the immediate future. Even against a team as good as Kansas City. |
| 16. | 14. | Buffalo Bills | 3-3 | What the hell happened? Media darlings expected by some to compete for a Super Bowl berth looked every bit the part of serious contender after 2 weeks. Now look like they will be lucky to fend off the Jets and finish out of the cellar in the AFC East. |
| 17. | 9. | Philadelphia Eagles | 2-3 | I still can't get over Reid's decision to try an onside kick to open last weeks game. Reid had succeeded in 2000 with the same call against the Cowboys. Remember though, Parcells was not the opposing coach back then. This time the Cowboys were prepared. Williams fielded the kick cleanly and scored the quickest opening TD in NFL history. The Eagles almost recovered from the early gaffe, but ended up falling just short. |
| 18. | 15. | Washington Redskins | 3-3 | Need to figure out a way to keep pass rushers off Ramsey before he gets killed. |
| 19. | 17. | New York Giants | 2-3 | OK, here is a QB in more of a funk than Maddox. Collins has thrown 7 interceptions and no TDs in the last 2 weeks. That isn't just tough to overcome, it is impossible to overcome. |
| 20. | 18. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 2-4 | Cowher came out and said the Steeler took a step in the right direction after their 17-14 loss in Denver. A 3 point loss to a 5-1 team played at a notoriously difficult venue does sort of seem like a step in the right direction. Until you look a little deeper. The Broncos were playing without Plummer. Beurlein threw 2 first half interceptions that gave the Steelers possession inside the red zone. Of course Pittsburgh settled for field goals on both occasions. Pittsburgh rushed for only 85 yards on 30 carries, an anemic 2.8 yard per carry average. Maddox did manage to avoid throwing an interception for the first time since week 1. He also failed to throw for 200 yards because of ultra-conservative play calling. Keeeping all this in mind, if anything the loss in Denver looks like a step backwards. The Steelers have alot of work to do over their bye. |
| 21. | 19. | Oakland Raiders | 2-4 | Huge disappointment after playing in the Super Bowl last season. Porter could return this week to help a passing game sorely in need of a deep threat. Defense which has allowed over 185 yards rushing in each of the last 4 games does not get a break with Holmes coming to town. |
| 22. | 25. | New Orleans Saints | 2-4 | Got a desperately needed win over the Bears. That might not seem like much, but ask the Raiders how important it is to beat the teams you are supposed to beat. The upcoming trip to Atlanta givs the Saints the perfect opportunity to keep things headed in the right direction. |
| 23. | 22. | San Fransisco 49ers | 2-4 | Several drops by Owens were costly in an attempted comeback during which Garcia actually sort of looked like his old self. Really behind the eight ball having to travel to Tampa while division leader Seattle hosts the Bears. |
| 24. | 31. | New York Jets | 1-4 | Things would be alot easier if Edwards figured out how to get his team to play well from the start of the season. Woke up and spanked the Bills after 4 abysmal performances. Actually made the playoffs last year after staggering out of the gate at 1-4. Plus Pennington is expected back by November 2nd at the latest. |
| 25. | 23. | Houston Texans | 2-3 | First the good news.... Carr has some solid weapons to work with and the offensive line is not as bad as first feared. Now the bad news.... The defense still needs alot of work. |
| 26. | 26. | Detriot Lions | 1-4 | Bye week was more costly than any loss. Rogers broken collarbone not only weakens the team in the short term, but also slows the Lions long term development. |
| 27. | 27. | Cincinnati Bengals | 1-4 | Coming off a bye it will be interesting to see if Lewis has anything up his sleeve against his old boss Billick. |
| 28. | 24. | Atlanta Falcons | 1-5 | Flat out quit in second half on Monday night. Losing Vick clearly crippled the offense, but that shouldn't be an excuse for the defense to allow Holt and Bruce to run free. |
| 29. | 28. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 1-5 | Ex-Steeler Edwards may have finally found a home. |
| 30. | 29. | Chicago Bears | 1-4 | Urlacher blasted the officials for the loss in New Orleans. Brian, get a clue. Your team stinks. The refs are not out to get you. A glaring lack of talent and subpar coaching are the problems, not the refs. |
| 31. | 30. | Arizona Cardinals | 1-5 | Shipp was a bright spot filling in for the injured Smith. He finished with 95 total yards from scrimmage including a 4.4 yard average on 14 carries against a tough Raven defense. Of course McGinnis has already committed to returning Smith to the starting role when he returns. The 34 year old Smith is averaging 3.0 yard per carry, looking as old and washed up as most expected. Playing him on a 1-5 team that already needs to start thinking about the future instead of this season makes no sense. I guess that makes the decision par for the course in Arizona. |
| 32. | 32. | San Diego Chargers | 0-5 | The last winless team. After a 6-1 start Shottenheimer is 2-12 in his last 14 games at the helm. Think maybe the Chargers aren't buying into his program? |