Write ups for teams 21-32 could not be included. My computer didn’t save them and I didn’t feel like rewriting them on short notice. Write ups for those teams will be added later this week.

32. Miami Dolphins 0-4

31. Jacksonville Jaguars 1-4

30. Indianapolis Colts 0-5

29. Kansas City Chiefs 2-3

28. Minnesota Vikings 1-4

27. Denver Broncos 1-4

26. Carolina Panthers 1-4

25. Arizona Cardinals 1-4

24. St. Louis Rams 0-4

23. Seattle Seahawks 2-3

22. Cincinnati Bengals 3-2

21. Cleveland Browns 2-2

20. Chicago Bears 2-3

The Bears picked the wrong division to be 2-3 in. 2-3 has them 3 games back of 3 5-0 teams (Green Bay and Detroit), with loses to both of them.Minnesota, who is better than their 1-4 record would suggest, is coming to town next week looking for revenge after Chicago destroyed them last week. If they lose there, it’s officially panic button time.

19. Tennessee Titans 3-2

So I guess the Titans were overrated after all. After looking good against the likes of Cleveland and Denver, Tennessee got absolutely clubbed by the samePittsburgh team that lost to Tennessee’s division rival Houston the week prior. Tennessee now has a bye to prepare for a home game against a banged up Houston team. That’s easily their biggest game of the season.

18. New York Giants 3-2

What the hell happened to the Giants last week? Giants fans better hope that was the wakeup call the team needed. They have a brutal 2nd half schedule @New England (4-1), @ San Francisco (4-1), vs. Philadelphia (could have everything together by then), @ New Orleans (4-1), vs. Green Bay (5-0), @ Dallas (2-2), vs. Washington (3-1), vs. NY Jets (2-3), vs. Dallas (2-2). They can’t afford to lose games they should win in the first half. If they are anything less than 5-2 heading into New England, I think their playoff chances (9 wins) are very, very slim.

17. Oakland Raiders 3-2

Congratulations to the Raiders on getting an emotional road win in Houston after the passing of their owner Al Davis. The question still remains, how good is this team? It’s unlikely they can keep up the kind of emotional intensity they played with last week for the rest of the season, but they look better than most thought. Al Davis’ most criticized draft pick, Darrius Heyward-Bey, has quietly put together two strong games in a row, and other Davis favorites, Jason Campbell and Darren McFadden, have this offense looking good.

 

16. Dallas Cowboys 2-2

I’m not exactly sure how Tony Romo spent his bye week, but I’m willing to bet it went something like this. Monday through Thursday, he won the lottery, made it rich in the stock market, scored with hundred of hot babes, but then come the 4th quarter of the week (Friday-Saturday), he lost all of his money in a ponzi scheme and developed a disease that left his face hideously deformed and undesirable to every woman in the world.

15. New York Jets 2-3

How bad is this Jets offense? Well, after Mark Sanchez completed 33% of his passes against Baltimore, They managed just 255 yards of total offense against a New England team that had given up a whopping 478 yards per game coming in. Last year they lost to the Dolphins at home as favorites after losing to the Patriots in Foxboro. Will history repeat itself this week with the 0-4 Dolphins coming to New York?

14. Atlanta Falcons 2-3

Anyone who watched the Falcons’ loss to Green Bay knows how frustrated that loss had to be for them. They jumped out to an early 14-0 1st quarter lead, scoring in their first 2 possessions, and held a 14-6 halftime lead, limited Green Bay to 2 mere field goals. On top of all that, Green Bay’s top offensive lineman, Chad Clifton, got hurt and was done for the night. However, Matt Ryan completed less than 50% of his passes after the first 2 drives, while Aaron Rodgers threw for nearly 400 yards in a 25-14 comeback win. Now the Falcons have the feisty Panthers coming to town before they have to head toDetroit. Their season is definitely in danger.

13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3-2

Tampa Bay stays ahead of Atlanta despite a 48-3 loss by virtue of the fact that Atlanta had an equally bad loss this week and Tampa Bay still holds a one game lead and the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Buccaneers have to hope that last week was a fluke and that they can get back to playing strong football. They have New Orleans coming to town this week and if they can win that game, they’d be tied with New Orleans atop the division and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.

12. San Francisco 49ers 4-1

A 48-3 win over the Buccaneers is bittersweet for the 49ers as they lost wide receiver Josh Morgan to injury in garbage time. However, Jim Harbaugh has to be the early favorite for Coach of the Year by a wide margin. He’s got this team playing disciplined, turnover free football, particularly quarterback Alex Smith (1 turnover in 5 games). They might not be the most talented bunch, but any team can be at least respectable in the NFL if they can run the football, play disciplined defense, and win the turnover battle. This team can do all 3.

11. Washington Redskins 3-1

The Redskins had a nice week off and now get an excellent opportunity, the chance to put the final nail in the coffin of the now 1-4 Philadelphia Eagles coming to town. My NFL Picks will tell you what I think will happen in that game, as will the fact that…

10. Philadelphia Eagles 1-4

Philadelphia is still ranked higher than Washington. Philadelphia looked terrible last week. They had 5 turnovers and jumped off sides on defense on 4th and 1 with no timeouts left late, sealing the loss. Everyone in the building knew what was happening and they still jumped off sides. Are we sure this isn’t a high school team? Anyway, they’re still a talented bunch and if they can win in a must win game in Washington this week, they’d be right back in the race as New York lost last week as well. New York has a brutal 2nd half and Dallas is young and undisciplined. Washington is Philadelphia’s biggest competition for this division and if they can beat them in Washington, everyone will be back on their bandwagon. Of course if they lose, it’s over and they plummet down this list.

9. Pittsburgh Steelers 3-2

The lesson as always, never bet against Ben Roethlisberger when no one believes in him. The Titans came into Pittsburgh as trendy upset picks, but the Steelers put the overrated Titans in their place, despite missing Rashard Mendenhall and James Harrison with injury. A banged up Big Ben threw for 5 touchdowns and proved once again, despite what the stats may say, this guy is one of the elites in the league because he does things like this. There’s a reason he has 2 rings.

8. Houston Texans 3-2

What a bad week for the Texans. Not only did Matt Schaub gift wrap a game losing pick in the end zone to Michael Huff against the Raiders (behind he considered it charity following the passing of Al Davis), the Texans also lost Mario Williams for the season leaving their pass rush very thin. Andre Johnson is expected to miss another week with arguably their toughest game of the season (@ Baltimore) on schedule. They’re so thin at receiver they just traded for Derrick Mason, who got benched for a rookie in the slot on the Jets’ poor offense. That big win against Pittsburgh seems like it was months ago now.

7. Buffalo Bills 4-1

The Bills proved they were for real last week. There were some questions on whether or not they were regressing after losing to Cincinnati, but they proved that that loss was just a fluke as a result of a letdown game after a huge win against New England. The Bills looked very good against the Eagles, pushing the “Dream Team” to 1-4 while improving to 4-1 for themselves. There’s something I bet you didn’t see coming.

6. Baltimore Ravens 3-1

The Ravens had a bye this week and hopefully were able to get things straightened out. If Joe Flacco completes 33% of his passes again, this team won’t win. They can’t rely on 4 return touchdowns every week. That’s obvious. The good news is they have the banged up Texans coming to town and a very good chance to go to 4-1 and prove themselves once more as one of the top teams in the league.

5. Detroit Lions 5-0

How awesome would it be if Detroit and Green Bay were both undefeated for their Thanksgiving matchup. You look at their schedule, vs. San Francisco, vs. Atlanta, @ Denver, bye, @ Chicago, vs. Carolina, and it’s certainly possible. I’d argue that this week’s matchup with San Francisco is going to be their toughest because they’re in their first of two home games (teams tend to struggle in this situation) and they’re coming off of a big win on MNF and they’re a young team. However, this team is really talented. They beat the Bears by 11 and didn’t even look good doing it. The only reason they aren’t higher here is because I think any of the 4 teams above them beat them on a neutral field.

4. San Diego Chargers 4-1

The Chargers haven’t looked great in the early going this season, yet again, but it hasn’t mattered. A ridiculously easy early schedule, Minnesota (1-4), New England (4-1), Kansas City (2-3), Miami (0-4), Denver (1-4) has them enjoying their first 4-1 start of the Norv Turner era. The schedule doesn’t get much harder as they play the Jets (2-3) and then Kansas City (2-3) in 2 more games they can win at less than 100%. They could be 6-1 week 9 heading into Green Bay and if they play like they can starting then, I see no reason why they can’t win 12 or 13 games. Green Bay, Detroit, Baltimore, and Buffalo are all tough 2nd half games, but they can at least salvage a split in those games because they’re so talented.

3. New Orleans Saints 4-1

Almost losing to Carolina isn’t that embarrassing. It seems like everyone almost loses to Carolina. New Orleans stays here heading into Tampa Bay this week. That game is a game with a lot for them to lose, but not a lot for them to gain. If they win, at best they stay where they are. They aren’t better than Green Bay or New England. If they lose, they fall. That’s simple. The good news is that no one seems to be talking about New Orleans. Somehow they are sleepers. This is the wrong team to sleep on.

2. Green Bay Packers 5-0

The Packers proved they can beat teams without looking very good last week, beating Atlanta in Atlanta, no easy task, despite not even playing anywhere near their best football. They did a similar thing in Carolina. If they lose a single game other than one of their 2 against Detroit or their week 9 game againstSan Diego, I’m going to be very surprised.

1. New England Patriots 4-1

That being said, the Patriots remain on top. I picked them at the beginning of the season and I have no reason to back on that. They didn’t play that will against New York and still put up 30 points for the 13th straight regular season game. Two streaks that did end, Tom Brady threw for fewer than 2 touchdowns for the first time in 14 games. Also, Tom Brady threw the first red zone pick of his career at home, though it was on a dropped touchdown by Aaron Hernandez. The good news, their amazing home winning streak is still intact, as is their long regular season winning streak. Also if Darrelle Revis can’t stop Wes Welker, no one can.