1. New York Giants (last week: 3; change: +2): To beat two divisional rivals in the first two weeks is huge. Eli Manning has finally proven to the doubters he's an upper echelon quarterback.
2. Indianapolis Colts (4; +2): The run defense looks horrid, but they're 2-0. They're one of the few teams in the league you're never going to want to bet against.
3. Baltimore Ravens (7; +4): ESPN and Peter King's number one team, the Ravens scored a huge win cross country in San Diego. They need to improve their pass defense, though.
4. New Orleans Saints (13; +9): The way they manhandled a stout Philadelphia defense was certainly eye-opening. What happens on defense when they're not facing Jake Delhomme or Kevin Kolb?
5. New York Jets (14; +9): They talked the talk, and then walked the walk. Mark Sanchez is going to be a great player in this league.
6. Atlanta Falcons (10; +4): In the same boat as the Saints. We know what they have offensively. Their defense has yet to be tested (until this week at New England).
7. Pittsburgh Steelers (1; -6): They need to be better offensively in just about every way. Don't sleep on the Steelers-Bengals game this weekend.
8. Minnesota Vikings (12; +4): Perhaps they're better than this, but their first two opponents (the Browns and the Lions) will have a combined total of 4 wins this year, so I can't take them seriously yet.
9. New England Patriots (2; -7): We knew they didn't have any leadership on defense. It's truly stunning how different of a quarterback Tom Brady is this year.
10. Philadelphia Eagles (5; -5): They reside here for a little bit. Once McNabb comes back, they will climb back up the rankings.
11. San Francisco 49ers (17; +6): Well, they certainly got Frank Gore going, and he showed why, when healthy, he's a top 5 running back in this league. I still can't believe Shaun Hill is quarterbacking a 2-0 team.
12. San Diego Chargers (6; -6): Philip Rivers can definitely throw the ball. It's too bad their linebackers can't tackle anybody and their coach can't coach anybody.
13. Dallas Cowboys (8; -5): I hate to pile on, but has Tony Romo ever won a game of any significance? Their running game looked great, though.
14. Chicago Bears (16; +2): Hmm. As you see, I don't know what to do with the Bears. They could just as easily be 2-0 as 0-2. Matt Forte's been awfully quiet this year.
15. Denver Broncos (23; +8): I know, I know. They played the Bengals and the Browns. That being said, the defense is playing hard and fast, and Kyle Orton has a sort of moxie about him, no?
16. Buffalo Bills (24; +8): They're a Leodis McKelvin fumble away from 2-0. Trent Edwards can sling the ball around, but most impressive is the way Fred Jackson's been running.
17. Houston Texans (26; +9): So there's the offense we remember from last year. They're going to hang around this spot all year because we also saw the defense from last year again.
18. Arizona Cardinals (18; 0): What can be said about Kurt Warner that hasn't already been said? How is 24 for 26 even possible?
19. Cincinnati Bengals (27; +8): They're one of the flukiest plays ever away from being 2-0 themselves. That was an impressive win at Green Bay. If they can beat Pittsburgh this week, look for them to soar up these rankings.
20. Washington Redskins (20; 0): They may have one of the worst offenses I have ever seen in my entire life. It's a good thing their defense will keep them in a lot of games.
21. Green Bay Packers (11; -10): The rare double digit move. You can't consider yourself to be a top half team in this league with losses like that. The offensive line is horrid.
22. Tennesee Titans (9; -13): I will probably never have a team move 13 spots one way or the other ever again. I just thought they could pull it together to win at Houston, and I recognize that Houston has a good offense. I was still stunned to see all the missed assignments.
23. Seattle Seahawks (15; -8): I really shouldn't have had them as high as 15 after week 1 anyway. Losing Matt Hasselbeck really hurts (wow, shocker of the week).
24. Miami Dolphins (22; -2): It looked like they didn't show up for week 1 because they were too busy getting prepared for week 2. And they still lost. What does that say?
25. Carolina Panthers (21; -4): Good to see Jake Delhomme have a "normal" game again. Now we're just faced with the conclusion that he's not that good.
26. Jacksonville Jaguars (19; -7): Not that I was 100% sure the Jags were going to win, but they really got tossed around by the Cardinals. It's only week 3, but they need to turn things around in a hurry.
27. Oakland Raiders (25; -2): Heading into the last drive of the game, JaMarcus Russell had 3 completions. That's an astonishing statistic.
28. Kansas City Chiefs (29; +1): They've been in two games in a row, but haven't figured out how to win yet. I like some of the players on this team, especially Dwayne Bowe.
29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (28; -1): Similarly to how Shaun Hill keeps winning and you don't know why, Byron Leftwich just keeps losing and you're not sure why. Of course, he really doesn't have much around him.
30. Cleveland Browns (30; 0): They're certainly bad enough to be the worst team in the league.
31. St. Louis Rams (31; 0): At least they were competitive this week.
32. Detroit Lions (32; 0): I'm not sure I would bet against the Lions this week. I'm being serious, too.
Division Rankings! (Sorry, I forgot these last week.)
1. NFC East (average rank: 11.0): As usual, they sit perched atop the division rankings. Having 3 upper echelon teams helps.
2. AFC East (13.5): The Pats and Dolphins fall a bit, but the ascent of the Bills and Jets more than makes up for it.
3. AFC North (14.75): They probably won't get too much above this no matter what because the only place the Browns are destined to go is down.
4. NFC South (16.0): Two real good teams, two real bad teams. We'll see if the Panthers can turn things around, because the Bucs probably won't.
5. AFC South (16.75): Definitely the division with the most potential for upward movement.
6. NFC North (18.75): My brutal ranking of the Pack contributed to this. They definitely have a lot more room to go up than down, too.
7. AFC West (20.5): And here come the western divisions. The AFC (buoyed by Denver's rise) gets the slight nod this week.
8. NFC West (20.75): I do think they're a better division than the AFC West, but the numbers don't lie.
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