| Rank |
Up/Down |
Record |
Team |
| 1 |
1 |
6-2 |
Baltimore – The Ravens’ road schedule has been brutal this season, and they get another tough road test at Atlanta Thursday night |
| 2 |
1 |
6-2 |
Pittsburgh – Defense doesn’t want to get in the habit of giving teams new life, but they stepped up in the clutch Monday night and held off Cincinnati’s late surge. |
| 3 |
4 |
6-2 |
NY Giants – Dominating on both sides of the ball, the Giants look like the class of the NFC, and get to tee off on Dallas again this week. |
| 4 |
2 |
6-2 |
Atlanta – Defense is looking great, making Atlanta a complete and dangerous team. Win over Baltimore would be a real statement. |
| 5 |
1 |
6-2 |
NY Jets – It’s nice to know that the Jets can fight back and overcome deficits; but against teams like Denver and Detroit, should an elite team really have to? |
| 6 |
5 |
6-2 |
New England – Defensive woes finally caught up to the Patriots in the most unlikely of places in Cleveland. No time to pout with Pittsburgh up next. |
| 7 |
2 |
6-3 |
Green Bay – Not that blowing out Dallas means much this year, but the Packers enter their bye in great shape in the NFC North. |
| 8 |
2 |
6-3 |
New Orleans – Cleveland loss looks a bit more forgivable now, especially with the win over Pittsburgh and the blowout win last week following it. |
| 9 |
3 |
5-3 |
Philadelphia – With Michael Vick back at the helm, Philadelphia seems to be able to overcome their shortcomings on the offensive line. |
| 10 |
5 |
5-3 |
Indianapolis – Not too much shame in losing to a tough Philadelphia team on the road, but Indianapolis doesn’t usually need to have excuses made for them. |
| 11 |
– |
5-3 |
Tennessee – How big of a difference will Randy Moss make in this offense? We’ll find out this week at Miami. |
| 12 |
5 |
5-4 |
Oakland – To overcome so many key injuries and penalties to beat a very good Kansas City team, you have to tip your cap to Oakland; especially WR Jacoby Ford. |
| 13 |
5 |
5-3 |
Kansas City – Frustrating loss for Kansas City, but they are still in great shape with a light schedule ahead. |
| 14 |
1 |
5-3 |
Tampa Bay – Respectable effort against Atlanta, but they weren’t able to pull it off this time. Still, have to respect this team’s surprising level of compete. |
| 15 |
1 |
5-3 |
Chicago – The Bears seem to win games in spite of themselves, but style points are irrelevant in the NFL. |
| 16 |
2 |
4-4 |
Houston – Offense looked good against San Diego, but doesn’t make much of a difference when the defense can’t make a stop. |
| 17 |
5 |
4-5 |
San Diego – Great road win over Houston, especially without Antonio Gates. With a bye to get him healthy and Vincent Jackson returning soon, the all-too-familiar script of San Diego’s late surge looks right on schedule. |
| 18 |
3 |
4-4 |
Miami – This team is about as “middle of the pack” as it gets; they beat the bad teams, and lose to the good teams. Tennessee is a good team; can they find a way to buck the trend? |
| 19 |
1 |
4-4 |
St. Louis – 0-3 on the road this season, they’ll need to find a way to win away from home, starting this week at San Francisco. |
| 20 |
1 |
4-4 |
Washington – McNabb/Shanahan drama appears to be in the past… but a loss to Philadelphia at home this week wouldn’t help keep it there. |
| 21 |
1 |
4-4 |
Jacksonville – Lots of ugly losses for this team this season, but a few impressive wins in the mix, too; which will it be this week at home against Houston? |
| 22 |
4 |
3-5 |
Cleveland – Surprising, yes, but nothing fluky about Cleveland’s dominance over New England last week led by rising star Peyton Hillis. Can they knock off their third straight giant with the Jets coming to town this week? |
| 23 |
– |
3-5 |
Minnesota – The best remedy for drama is winning, and the Vikings can keep the bowl rolling this week with a good effort in Chicago. |
| 24 |
3 |
4-4 |
Seattle – Outscored 74 – 10 over the last two weeks… looks like the magic has fizzled out on the Seahawks. And yet, they are tied for first in the NFC West. |
| 25 |
– |
3-5 |
Arizona – Fell victim to “one of those magical Favre moments” last week, but played well the first three quarters. Max Hall experiment is over, this is Anderson’s team again, for better or worse. |
| 26 |
2 |
2-6 |
Cincinnati – Terrell Owens usually winds up being the scapegoat; here in Cincinnati, he seems to be the only bright spot. |
| 27 |
– |
2-6 |
Detroit – Matt Stafford goes down to injury again, and Detroit blows a big lead late to lose in overtime; not a good day for the Lions. |
| 28 |
– |
2-6 |
San Francisco – Even after the horrendous start, the NFC West is San Francisco’s for the taking, and Troy Smith could lead them there. |
| 29 |
– |
2-6 |
Denver – Season is all but lost at this point, but they have some prime spoiler opportunities ahead, starting this week against Kansas City. |
| 30 |
– |
1-7 |
Dallas – Another blowout loss, no signs of life on either side of the ball, a fired coach… hard to believe any of us had this team doing damage this season. |
| 31 |
– |
1-7 |
Carolina – Could have jumped Dallas in my rankings with a halfway-decent effort against New Orleans; but a 34-3 loss at home isn’t quite halfway decent. |
| 32 |
– |
0-8 |
Buffalo – Playing better than both Dallas and Carolina right now; but still looking for that elusive first win. Great chance this week against Detroit. |
