1. Pittsburgh Steelers (last week: 1; change: 0): With Santonio Holmes emerging as a star in this league, Pittsburgh will be able to get away with throwing the ball more. It's not going to do anything for Big Ben's health, though.
2. New England Patriots (2; 0): Their defense, as we thought, isn't too much. That being said, the offense is only beginning to click. By the end of the year, they'll be consistently putting up 30+ again.
3. New York Giants (3; 0): If Ahmad Bradshaw can continue being effective (he put up pretty good numbers against what will be a very good Redskins rush D), the Giants shouldn't even notice Derrick Ward is gone.
4. Indianapolis Colts (4; 0): Sure, the win against Jacksonville wasn't the prettiest of things, but the Colts were slow out of the gates last year, too. They have Peyton Manning.
5. Philadelphia Eagles (5; 0): It's a shame McNabb got hurt. I don't care what the experts are saying, it's competitive instinct to go diving into the end zone there.
6. San Diego Chargers (6; 0): Analyzing LaDainian Tomlinson's ability/role in San Diego's offense is befuddling. It doesn't do him any favors that Darren Sproles is a heck of a football player.
7. Baltimore Ravens (7; 0): Which team are they? The team that's top 3 in the league in both offense and defense? Or the team that was tied with a 2-14 team at home with 3:00 left in the game? You'll find out in San Diego this week.
8. Dallas Cowboys (9; +1): Tony Romo appears happy and comfortable. It will be interesting to see if Patrick Crayton can continue to shine behind Roy Williams.
9. Tennesee Titans (8; -1): They played tough and almost won a game they weren't supposed to win. The Kerry Collins jokes need to stop. He's effective enough to be a top-half QB in this league.
10. Atlanta Falcons (10; 0): If they can get that kind of performance from their defense consistently, Atlanta will be in the NFC title race. I just don't think they can.
11. Green Bay Packers (11; 0): The Bears put up some points, but I still liked what I saw in the Packers defense. Aaron Rodgers to Greg Jennings is a beautiful thing.
12. Minnesota Vikings (16; +4): Okay, my bad. I got too focused on you-know-who. I apologize to Adrian Peterson for not respecting his preposterous abilities.
13. New Orleans Saints (17; +4): He scores 6 TD's and Drew Brees gets up to the podium and starts talking about all of their missed opportunities. This Philly game could get real interesting.
14. New York Jets (21; +7): Tied with the team below them for my biggest jump of the week. Rex Ryan is going to take this rookie coach with rookie qb thing and run like the wind with it.
15. Seattle Seahawks (22; +7): 28-0 is 28-0 no matter who you play against. Matt Hasselbeck is confirming what a few people forgot; when he has some weapons around him, he's a darn good quarterback.
16. Chicago Bears (12; -4): To still be in that Packer game considering everything in that game is remarkable. They have a real opportunity against Pittsburgh with Polamalu out.
17. San Francisco 49ers (23; +6): There aren't many teams in the NFL who are doing more with less than the 49ers. Mike Singletary gets his guys to play as hard as anyone.
18. Arizona Cardinals (13; -5): Oh, dear. Warner started to look old and their play was generally uninspired. With Seattle and San Francisco stepping up, Arizona will have to do the same if they want back in the playoffs.
19. Jacksonville Jaguars (18; -1): Nothing wrong with losing a close game to the Colts. It's games like those, though, that the Jags just never seem to be able to pull out.
20. Washington Redskins (19; -1): If the Redskins were down 4 to the Eagles with 3:00 left and the ball, would you feel confident Jason Campbell could lead them down the field? Me neither.
21. Carolina Panthers (14; -7): Ouch. If Delhomme struggles mightily again this week, we can officially start to say that one game has ruined the career of an otherwise good NFL quarterback. Not much reason for optimism around Carolina.
22. Miami Dolphins (15; -7): They probably don't deserve this drop, but I was discouraged by their game against Atlanta. Turner was ineffective, Elam missed two fgs, but the Dolphins still couldn't make things real interesting. Not good.
23. Denver Broncos (26; +3): Who wouldn't rather be lucky than good? Cincinnati's offense should be okay this year, so that was a real good sign for Denver's defense.
24. Buffalo Bills (25; +1): Oh, Buffalo. You really do find ways to lose games like none other. Well, not quite as bad as Cincinnati but still. Fred Jackson, by the way, looks terrific.
25. Oakland Raiders (27; +2): I don't believe I'm exaggerating for a moment when I say the Raiders 1) have one of the three worst starting quarterbacks in the NFL, and 2) would compete with the Chargers to make the playoffs if they had even an average quarterback.
26. Houston Texans (20; -6): There is absolutely no excuse for this team not to score 20+ every single week. Disappointing doesn't even begin to describe week 1.
27. Cincinnati Bengals (24; -3): Words can't begin to cover what Bengals fans must have felt Sunday night. A bigger issue: How did their finally healthy offense only put up 7 on the Broncos?
28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (28; 0): A surprisingly game Bucs team did what they could against Dallas. They just ... can't do much.
29. Kansas City Chiefs (29; 0): The Chiefs took advantage of every opportunity they were given on Sunday. They will have to continue to do so to scratch out a few wins this year.
30. Cleveland Browns (30; 0): Half of me wants to scold the Browns for not being able to tackle. The other half of me wants to thank the Browns for all the good times I've had at their expense.
31. St. Louis Rams (31; 0): Simply put, they're the worst team in the league. I want to put them at 32 but ...
32. Detroit Lions (32; 0): Then I look at the stat of the week.
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