Pats, Colts struggle, opening up spots for new teams

I've got two things to say about my power rankings gold medalist, the San Diego Chargers, one good, one not so good. Which one do you want first, up here on top? The good one? OK.

I'm always impressed by a team that has made sure to fortify itself in the depth department. Sure, the high priced free-agent signings look pretty, but depth is the key to the drive for the Super Bowl (or at least it is right now, until I think of another key factor). Shawne Merriman is out for four games, the Chargers plug in Carlos Polk and don't miss a beat. Randall Godfrey is out of the Denver game with a leg injury. Stephen Cooper plays what the British call a "blinder" in his place. Keenan McCardell was hurt Sunday. The wide receiving corps hardly missed him.

And now we move to Part Two:

NFL Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 1 San Diego Chargers (11-2) Chargers (11-2)-OK, hats in the air for LaDainian Tomlinson's 29 TD's. Best back in football this year. No argument here. But will you forgive me, please, if I mention that I don't get thrilled by two gimme touchdowns scored in the final four minutes of a game in which the lead was 34-20 and then 41-20? That's it. I've said my piece. Open the door and let the rippers in, Andrew. 2 4 Chicago Bears (11-2) Whew, the Rex Grossman crisis is over. Monday night he passed the test against a Rams team that has one legitimate pass rusher, Leonard Little. I don't see any of the final three opponents, Bucs, Lions, Packers, exerting enough pressure to jeopardize his job. Then come the playoffs. Who knows what monsters lurk in dark forests? 3 6 Baltimore Ravens (10-3) Fairly easy in the old rankings game this week, wouldn't you say? Just move the winners forward and penalize the losers, right? No argument so far. Just wait. 4 8 Cincinnati Bengals (8-5) Ah, action at last. Four teams that were higher than them last week, all lost, none of them gracefully. I leapfrogged the Bengals over all of them. Cincy, with a happily meshed defense, the left cornerback of which became the latest to hit the police blotter (DUI), has won four in a row. Next case. 5 9 New Orleans Saints (9-4) I rubbed my eyes in disbelief as the Saints whooshed through Dallas like a, well, like a hurricane. Then, after I stopped bleeding, I sat down and tried to think it through. The Saints went into the game leading the NFL in offense ... 400 yards per contest. So was it really that stunning that they gained 536 against a pretty decent Cowboys defense? Hmmmm, well, yeah I guess it was. You know something? Why have I ranked them only fifth? I guess because the Bengals beat them , and so did Baltimore, and ... ah, let's leave 'em here. Fifth place is pretty good. 6 10 Jacksonville Jaguars (8-5) A total of 375 yards rushing against Indy gets them a raise of four spots, using the formula that I favor of 93.8 yards per ranking position. If Maurice Jones-Drew averages 112 yards rushing from here on in, he'll top 1000 for the season. Fred Taylor's already there, so this will give the Jags the first pair of G-noters since ... help me out, someone (I'm too lazy to do the research) ... Franco and Rocky? Mercury and the Zonk? Who? 7 2 Indianapolis Colts (10-3) It's the Year of the Great Softness. Theories abound. TV analysts seem to favor the "Well, Bob Sanders didn't play" theory. Come on. The guy's played, what, four games this year? And let's face it, he's not Goliath. He's a safetyman. I hear "poor tackling" pretty often. That's the one that jumped out at me as I began to watch my tape of the Jaguars game. Tough guy coaches cure this with tough drills. Tackling live alligators in full pads. Stopping streetcars. Tony Dungy isn't built that way. It shames me to say this, but it's time to get vicious, Tony. Hard times mean hard measures. 8 3 New England Patriots (9-4) Ben Watson's leg injury is a major concern. Let's face it, Tom Brady never has been comfortable with his wideout corps. But Watson is special, a tight end whom they can flank and play as a wide receiver, collecting very favorable match-ups in the process. The offense is in enough disarray after Miami undressed it. Losing Watson for any length of time would make things a lot worse. 9 5 Dallas Cowboys (8-5) I'll give T.O. credit. He's got this technique down to a science. He might be the best I've ever seen at it, and that is creating the impression that a pass that goes by him is strictly the quarterback's fault. It's subtle. Just a slight shifting of position will do it, and of course, throwing his arms in the air doesn't hurt, either. 10 7 Seattle Seahawks (8-5) This was my favorite quote that came out of the Arizona disaster. From Mike Holmgren: "We're not dead yet." What courage! They're only leading the division by three games, and a home victory over the Niners Thursday night will clinch it for them.