Ranking the NFL - Week 9

THE ELITE
COLTS: Beating New England is always impressive. The only question remaining is: Can the Colts look this good in January?

THE "ALMOST" ELITE
BRONCOS: The last victim was Pittsburgh. The next victim is Oakland. The next real test comes against the Chargers in two weeks.

SAINTS: The NFC Champs this year? Could be.

THE GOOD
CHARGERS: Without Shawne Merriman this week, they will have a real test against the Bengals.

PATRIOTS: Can't blame them for losing to the best team in football right now. Although Tom Brady throwing 4 picks is rather out of character.

SEAHAWKS: The Sea Birdies brought the Raiders back to Earth. Nine times.

RAVENS: I have to hand it to the Ravens. They have that fear factor going for them. You can tell teams just don't want to play them. Cincinnati looked SCARED.

GIANTS: Yawn. They beat Houston. They just might beat the Bears too.

BENGALS: The NFL has figured out how to beat the Bengals. Just give Carson Palmer a few love taps on the knees, and he folds like a chair.

PANTHERS: Bye week.

CHIEFS: The best team in Missouri.

THE AVERAGE
BEARS: "Da Bears" take a HUGE nosedive this week. Considering the best team they beat was Seattle, and they lost to the Dolphins, that tells me this team was a mirage.

FALCONS: Will the real Mike Vick please stand up? Yes, that was him against Detroit.

EAGLES: Bye week.

COWBOYS: I would not read too much into their loss to the Skins. They beat the Skins soundly at home earlier this season (27-10), but only barely lost to them in Washington (22-19).

BUCCANEERS: I think Al Davis had a hand in deciding the Bucs' schedule this year. The Giants two weeks ago, the Saints last week, and the Panthers coming up? Somebody get Gruden an aspirin...

JAGUARS: Welcome to the David Gerrard era in Jacksonville. Of course, if they don't make the playoffs, this era may not last past this season.

STEELERS: Maybe next year...

RAMS: The worst team in Missouri.

VIKINGS: Losing to the 49ers was not a good sign. If they don't pick it up this week against the Pack, this ranking may be too generous.

REDSKINS: Now that they have the big win out of their system, expect the Skins to return to their losing ways this week against Philly.

BROWNS: The Brownies gave the Chargers a small scare. VERY small.

JETS: Bye week.

THE BAD
DOLPHINS: The Fish are still bad, even after beating up the Bears. They just are not AS bad.

LIONS: I will give the Lions credit for looking better than the Falcons. They might even win their next couple of games with their easy schedule (49ers, Cardinals, and Dolphins). But I expect them to return to Earth in week 13, vs. the Patriots.

49ERS: Even though I thought Frisco would beat the Vikings, the most impressive part of it was holding the Vikes to 3 points. Their best defensive performance of the year.

BILLS: Beating up on Green Bay is a sign of...nothing.

TITANS: I still find it hard to believe the rumors about Tennessee letting Jeff Fisher go after this year. Have they LOOKED at this team? I have seen JV teams with more talent.

TEXANS: Got to give the Texans credit for giving the G-men a scare. That and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee.

RAIDERS: The Hawks thumped the Raiders like a Democrat over a scandal-ridden Republican.

PACKERS: According to Brett Favre, this was supposed to be the best Packer team on which he ever played. I never realized how bad those Packer teams in the 90's must have been, if they couldn't even beat this year's Bills.

CARDINALS: On the bright side, the Cards didn't lose this week. Yes, they had a bye week.