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Well after an exciting weekend of upsets and mismatches, I am left the sisyphean task of trying to order the teams from trending well to trending poor. As always if you think you can do better; leave your own rankings in the comments below.

1. Houston Texans (8-1).  Houston is the best team in football and now they finally get the recognition.

2. Atlanta Falcons (8-1). You lose, you fall.

3. Chicago Bears (7-2). Right there with the Texans and the Falcons.

4. Baltimore Ravens (7-2). A blowout over the Raiders is nothing to crow about. Beat the Steelers and then we’ll talk.

5. San Francisco 49ers (6-2-1). Losing Smith to a concussion stings badly.

6. Green Bay Packers (6-3). Still one game back of the Bears, but right in the hunt.    

7. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-3). Barely beating the Chiefs has got to have the Steelers worried. Especially with Ben on the sidelines.

8. Denver Broncos (6-3). Peyton is learning to win outdoors.

9. New England Patriots (6-3).  The Bills could not get out of their own way and the Pats squeak out the win.

10. Indianapolis Colts (6-3).  If the playoffs started today Indy would travel to Denver for the wildcard. Somewhere Roger Goodell is drooling.

11. Minnesota Vikings (6-4). Ponder silences his critics for another week.

12. Seattle Seahawks (6-4).  Next to the Ravens this is the most dangerous home team in Football.

13. New York Giants (6-4). Brutal loss to the Bengals.

14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-4). Tampa coming on strong turns the NFC South into a bona fide chase.

15. New Orleans Saints (4-5). Saints may be getting hot at the exact right moment to make a run.

16. Cincinnati Bengals (4-5). A lifeline victory over the Giants proves a boon for the reeling Bengals.

17. Dallas Cowboys (4-5). How long until Jerry Jones starts nipping at the heels of Romo and Garrett.

18. Miami Dolphins (4-5). Back to back losses really sting as we prepare for the playoff chase.

19. San Diego Chargers (4-5). Not playing very good football right now. In trading for Phillip Rivers, the Chargers likely cost themselves three Super Bowls (Manning 2, Brees 1).

20. Detroit Lions (4-5). Playing for the wild card from here on out.

21. Arizona Cardinals (4-5). No QB = No wins.

22. Tennessee Titans (4-6).  Only three of teams have been outscored by bigger margins than the Titans. Minus 92. Ouch

23. St. Louis Rams (3-5-1). NFL players need to stop admitting that they didn’t realize games can end in a tie.

24. Philadelphia Eagles (3-6). A concussion could spell the end for Andy Reid and Michael Vick in Philadelphia.

25. Buffalo Bills (3-6). Had the Pats on the ropes, and then gave the game away.

26. Washington Redskins (3-6). Limping through the bye week, the Skins technically have a chance at the playoffs. 

27. New York Jets (3-6). Rex Ryan is intrinsically linked to Mark Sanchez. Both may be on their way out the door after this season.

28. Oakland Raiders (3-6). Oakland got absolutely stomped by the Ravens.

29. Cleveland Browns (2-7). The Browns have skill, it’s just a matter of translating that into wins. 

30. Carolina Panthers (2-7). So much for all that good momentum generated in DC the previous week.

31. Kansas City Chiefs (1-8). Marginally better than the Jaguars. Marginally.

32. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-8). There’s not even a Suck for Luck type campaign this season to get excited about.