Rnk | LW* | Team | Record | Comments |
1. | 1. | Tennessee Titans | 8-0 | Remained undefeated by the slimmest of margins. Bironis made the most of his second chance in overtime after hitting the upright at the end of regulation. |
2. | 2. | New York Giants | 7-1 | Still lead the league in sacks despite losing Strahan to retirement and Umenyiora to injury. |
3. | 3. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 6-2 | Signing Leftwich paid off big. Kudos to Steelers Nation for traveling to Washington in droves and making Monday night seem almost like a home game. |
4. | 4. | Carolina Panthers | 6-2 | Come off a bye to face the Raiders and Lions. The bye may be the toughest opponent of the 3. |
5. | 10. | Philadelphia Eagles | 5-3 | Will be severely tested on Sunday night by a visit from the Giants. |
6. | 5. | Washington Redskins | 6-3 | Portis' streak of 5 100 yard rushing games came to an end and Campbell threw 2 picks after not throwing an interception on the season in 230 attempts. A loss was pretty predictable given the circumstances. |
7. | 9. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 6-3 | Garcia came up big in the second half after the defense surprisingly struggled in the first half at Arrowhead Stadium. |
8. | 14. | Arizona Cardinals | 5-3 | Hightower adds a dimension as the starting RB that the aging James just could no longer provide. |
9. | 6. | New England Patriots | 5-3 | Uncharacteristically gave the game away in Indy because of Gaffney's dropped TD pass, Thomas' stupid penalty and Belichick's poor second half clock management. |
10. | 12. | Baltimore Ravens | 5-3 | May have finally found a franchise QB in Flacco. |
11. | 16. | New York Jets | 5-3 | Winning in spite of Favre, not because of Favre. |
12. | 7. | Buffalo Bills | 5-3 | Ran 27 straight offensive plays in the first half over 15:08 and didn't score while giving up 7 points on a 92 yard interception return. Ouch. |
13. | 13. | Chicago Bears | 5-3 | Praying Orton can return this week after being carted off the field last Sunday. Anything is better than being subjected to a start by Sexy Rexy. |
14. | 8. | Dallas Cowboys | 5-4 | Bollinger proved to be just as bad as Johnson. |
15. | 15. | New Orleans Saints | 4-4 | Desperately hoping that McAllister, Grant and Smith can win their appeals after being found in violation of the league's substance abuse policy. |
16. | 17. | Indianapolis Colts | 4-4 | Took advantage of some rare mistakes by Belichick and the Patriots to squeek out a win and keep their playoff hopes alive. |
17. | 19. | Atlanta Falcons | 5-3 | Outgained the Raiders 309 to -2 in the first half. Won the time of possesion battle 45:15 to 14:45. |
18. | 11. | Green Bay Packers | 4-4 | Inter-divisional games against the Vikings and Bears the next 2 weeks will go a long way toward determining their fate. |
19. | 24. | Miami Dolphins | 4-4 | Pennington has been a godsend. |
20. | 25. | Minnesota Vikings | 4-4 | Defense and Purple Jesus can win games if Frerotte can minimize his mistakes. |
21. | 18. | Denver Broncos | 4-4 | Remember the days when Shanahan could insert any RB into his system and get production on the ground? Those days ended for sure against the Dolphins with 14 net yards rushing. |
22. | 20. | Houston Texans | 3-5 | Need Rosenfels to play like he did before the final 5 minutes against the Colts. |
23. | 23. | San Diego Chargers | 3-5 | Broncos foibles continue to keep them in the playoff hunt despite their sub-.500 record. |
24. | 21. | Cleveland Browns | 3-5 | Blew a 14 point second half lead at home against a hated divisional foe that abandonded their city. Could this eventually spell the end for Romeo? It has already spelled the end for Anderson as the Quinn era begins in earnest. |
25. | 30. | Cincinnati Bengals | 1-8 | Get 2 weeks to enjoy their first win. |
26. | 22. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 3-5 | Lost 2 straight to teams from the state of Ohio. Oh the humanity. Could they make it a trifecta with a trip to Ford Field? Could they possibly be that bad? |
27. | 26. | St. Louis Rams | 2-6 | Thoughts of legitimately competing in the NFC West after a 2-0 start under Haslett have faded quickly with a pair of losses. |
28. | 27. | Seattle Seahawks | 2-6 | Mora Jr remains the heir apparent after denying any interest in taking over at the University of Washington. |
29. | 29. | San Fransisco 49ers | 2-6 | Hope none of the Niners dropped their soap in the shower during the bye with a pants-less Singletary trolling the locker room. |
30. | 28. | Oakland Raiders | 2-6 | Futility personified. Offense totaled 77 net yards. 10 net passing yards. 3 first downs. Kiffin must be laughing his ass off. Or at least will be if he wins his grievance and gets paid. |
31. | 31. | Kansas City Chiefs | 1-7 | Fighting hard to keep the Raiders out of the cellar in the pathetic AFC West. Outscored 21-3 in the final 18 minutes and then lost in overtime. |
32. | 32. | Detriot Lions | 0-8 | Managed to blow a 10 point halftime lead after a 23 point second quarter explosion with the Sex Cannon on the field replacing the injured Orton. You can't make this stuff up. |
*Last week's ranking