Indy jumps San Diego for top spot; NFC falling fast

Before taping my weekly chalk talk with Brooklyn D. the swimming suitmodel, I encountered Andrew P., who sits in the director's chair for this epic, and he asked to take a look at my rankings chart.

"I can't see one area of complaint this week," he said.

"Just one," I said.

"San Diego," he said. That's the one, all right, so let's clarify the reasoning right now. Last week the Chargers had just leapfrogged the Colts to take over the No. 2 spot, behind Chicago. With the Bears going down in Foxboro, the gold medal position was open, but guess what? Indy hopped up on top again. The Chargers had to overcome a blah day by Philip Rivers to overtake Oakland, while Indy was crushing Philly, and that will be my defense in court.

Believe me, folks, I know what I'm doing, and each entry in the big ledger labeled Power Rankings is carefully weighed, measured and outfitted in the appropriate garment.

NFL Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 3 Indianapolis Colts (10-1) I'll let you in on a secret. Instead of watching Colts-Eagles live Sunday night, I tried to break down my tape of Giants-Titans. But I'd take occasional peeks at the Colts and every time I tuned in, Joseph Addai was running over somebody. Wow, my kind of football, nothing like the typical Colts show with Peyton looking left, looking right, backing up, coming up to the line, throwing up his hands, you know, all that rootie-kazootie stuff. So let's reward 'em while they're on a roll, I say. 2 2 San Diego Chargers (9-2) Here's why I humbly request that people never quote me tackle and assist stats. They're done by the home team's crew. It's a way to reward one's buddies, make new friends, repay old favors, particularly when it comes to "assists." The Raiders ran three more scrimmage plays, so naturally you'd expect the Chargers to have a slight edge in T-A figures, right? Well, they led in unassisted tackles, 51-41. And in assists, 24 to, catch this, six. Where was the game played? San Diego, naturally. Does anyone care about this but me? Yes, my wife does. Don't you, honey? Linda? You what? You're busy? Oh. 3 4 Baltimore Ravens (9-2) So in the middle of the Steeler carnage, this No. 35 kept popping up. Corey Ivy. A wildman, knocking down passes, blitzing, jamming receivers all over the place. Sure I remember Corey Ivy. Ex-Buc, ex-Ram, never a starter, at 5-8, 188, a guy who can only stay around by turning himself into a human kamikaze. Coming back from a lacerated kidney, and it wasn't hard to see how that happened. The CBS crew announcing the game didn't bother to tell us exactly what his role was in the Ravens' scheme ... nickel back, dime, nickel linebacker in one of the weird two-down-linemen setups they used, what? But if they'll let me add a nickel back to my all-pro team this year, he'd be my top choice. 4 6 New England Patriots (8-3) My game ball against Chicago went to LCB Asante Samuel. Everybody else's, too. Three picks, and none of them of the ho-hum variety. They were all skilled, instinctive, highly athletic plays. So answer me this one, please. With the other corner, Ellis Hobbs, playing with a broken wrist and eventually giving up 75 yards on two deep interference penalties, why did the Bears' brain trust keep testing Samuel? You'll have to ask Lovie Smith that, and when you get the answer, would you e-mail it to me, please? 5 1 Chicago Bears (9-2) I read one report that said that Grossman's struggles "had them yelling for Brian Griese." Who, exactly, was yelling? The guys on the bench? The game was played in Foxboro. 6 7 Dallas Cowboys (7-4) Ah, to be sitting on the couch, digesting Thanksgiving leftovers, watching the rest of the league knock itself out, resting up for mop up duty the following week. That's what a Thanksgiving Day victory means; that was Pete Rozelle's eternal gift to Cowboy GM Tex Schramm, his former employer. 7 10 Kansas City Chiefs (7-4) So why did I enjoy their victory over the Broncos so much? One, I picked them in this teeny weeny upset, and two, the thoroughly professional, highly informative announcing job afforded by NFL Network's Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth. And you know how often I hand out praise to announcers. 8 5 Denver Broncos (7-4) Tighten your chinstraps, boys. Put on your heavy duty winter wear. You know what's coming. The Chiefs' Larry Johnson creased you for 157 yards Thursday night. Shaun Alexander, who you'll be facing Sunday night, ran for 201 on the Packers. It'll be Can You Top This? The fans what? They want to know about young Jay Cutler. What's to know? I haven't seen him play an NFL game. They haven't. The experts haven't. Check back next week. 9 11 Seattle Seahawks (7-4) How come Matt Hasselbeck, coming back from his knee injury, showed all that rust against the Packers, whereas Trent Green, who was out even longer, did not? Hey, don't get sore. Just asking. 10 15 Cincinnati Bengals (6-5) I can't get over the way their last Ravens game ended -- T.J. Houshmandzadeh, bear-hugged by the Ravens' nickelback Ronnie Prude, getting no call from the officials supposedly working the game, losing it, throwing his hat, getting flagged for that, you bet. Thunder all around, roars of anger, especially from me, since I had picked the Bingos to win. Now it's get even time.