Ranking the NFL

With the Raiders win over the Cardinals, I no longer have an "ugly" category. Of course, the Raiders are still "bad", in the literal sense.

THE ELITE
BEARS: A bye week always helps keep you at the top of the list.

THE "ALMOST" ELITE
PANTHERS: Losing a close game to the Bengals is not necessarily a bad sign.

SAINTS: Bye week.

BRONCOS: No change here. They should beat Cleveland, and they did.

COLTS: Sure they are undefeated. But can they go into Denver and win this week?

THE GOOD
BENGALS: This team may be ready for the next level after their win over the Panthers. We shall see in the next four weeks, with games against the Falcons, Ravens, Chargers, and Saints.

CHARGERS: Their loss to the Chiefs tells me more about K.C. than San Diego. However, there may be rough times ahead as they lose two of their star linebackers for awhile.

EAGLES: It would be hard to downgrade the Eagles when they lose to a decent Tampa team on a 62 yard field goal at the end.

PATRIOTS: Yawn. Buffalo roadkill.

SEAHAWKS: When they lost to Minnesota, that proved they are not anywhere near the "elite" category.

GIANTS: Beating the Cowboys in Dallas was impressive, but still not meaningful in the rankings.

RAVENS: Bye week.

FALCONS: The Falcons didn't LOOK like the Falcons in their win over the Steelers. Mike Vick looked like a quarterback instead of a running-back-playing-quarterback. But can he keep it up? Highly doubtful.

STEELERS: The Steelers ought to be ashamed for making Mike Vick look like Dan Marino.

CHIEFS: The Chiefs proved they are better than I gave them credit for with their win over the Bolts.

THE AVERAGE
BUCCANEERS: Even though the Bucs are coming off a win over the Eagles, and they have had a tough schedule, it takes more than a 2-4 record to be considered "good".

VIKINGS: Beating the Seahawks proves they are good. Their loss to the Bills proves they are bad. That leaves them squarely in "average".

COWBOYS: The NFC East is a tough division to be average.

JAGUARS: I should have paid more attention to that Redskins loss several weeks ago. Losing to Houston proves the Jags are merely average.

JETS: They lose to good teams (Pats, Colts, and Jags) and beat bad teams (Titans, Bills, Dolphins, and Lions). They are still the definition of average.

RAMS: Bye week.

REDSKINS: They SHOULD lose to the Colts. And probably a lot of other teams too.

BROWNS: Their loss to the Broncos only reinforces the fact they have the most brutal schedule in the NFL.

THE BAD
BILLS: Being roadkill for the Patriots only further proves this is a good spot for them.

TEXANS: Beating the Jags soundly only proved the Jags were over-rated. But it does prove the Texans are getting better.

49ERS: Bye week.

PACKERS: So they are better than Miami. They still suck.

DOLPHINS: You know you have problems when you lose to Green Bay. In Miami.

LIONS: A loss to the Jets was to be expected.

TITANS: Thank God for bye weeks!

RAIDERS: Thank you Arizona for proving there IS a worse team than the Raiders.

CARDINALS: They only beat the 49ers, and lost to the Raiders. Forget the Bears game: THIS is the worst team in the NFL.