Pats return to No. 1, while Bucs, Jags, Ravens climb

Well, New England returns to No. 1 after a soul-searching week that had veterans wringing their hands and asking, "What in God's name did we do to deserve getting dropped to No. 2?" Nothing. I just liked the Colts better at the time. Now the Patriots move back up. Changeable as the weather, that's the old Powerful Rankings column. (Send comments to siwriters@simail.com.)

NFL Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 2 New England Patriots (6-0) This is going to sound nuts. Tom Brady was throwing funny at the start of the Dallas game. The ball was nosing on him. It almost looked as if he were deliberately aiming his passes at knee level. Then after a couple of series, things straightened out. I saw him get off to a bit of an erratic start in the Cleveland game, too. Here's my theory, and if you want to laugh at it, fine. Remember those offseason rumors about him having some kind of vague shoulder trouble? Well, it looks to me as if he comes into a game a little tight, then as he gets into it, his delivery warms up and he's fine. Just a theory, but I go with what the two eyeballs tell me. 2 1 Indianapolis Colts (5-0) Once again, I'll explain my trap formula. Last Sunday I set my own price for the Jacksonville game. Colts minus-six. The opening line out of Vegas was Colts minus-two, which was quickly bet up to three. It still varied three points from my own line, which meant it was a trap-formula game, and to be true to the theory, I'd had to have turned around and picked the Jags. Can you think of anyone in his right mind who'd bet them? No, me, neither, which makes them even better. But the hard part of the formula is taking it to the final step and going with it all the way. And let's face it, I'm a meek, a febe, and I picked the Colts in the magazine with the proviso, "Watch out. Trap." And so forth. Three points or more, variance from my own price, makes it a trap formula game. This season the system is 13-7. Some years it's not so good. 3 3 Dallas Cowboys (5-1) Do they go down because of the lopsided New England score? Hell, no. Don't forget, they had a lead in the third quarter. Their pressure system on Brady was good, but they got beat by New England's top bailout guy on the hot reads, Wes Welker. I'd also advise T.O. to keep that popcorn stuff to himself. What it cost the team was a New England club mad enough to score a TD with 19 seconds left. Oh, the way these boys do carry on! 4 4 Pittsburgh Steelers (4-1) We're running too long, let's tighten it up. Steelers, bye. They hold their position. Sunday they're at Denver. Watch Fast Willie regain the NFL rushing lead. 5 6 Jacksonville Jaguars (4-1) One of my tape specials last weekend was Jacksonville-Houston, figuring it would give me added insight for handicapping Jags-Colts. I hate to admit this, but I actually fell asleep during the thing. "Snoring, too!" adds La Vie en Rose. I'm sorry, but I just couldn't help it. Once you get past the fireworks of Maurice Jones-Drew, all you've got is a collection of seven-feet tall wideouts catching 5-yard passes. 6 7 Green Bay Packers (5-1) I have collected an orgy of analysis from various sources, c/o Scoop McGinn of Green Bay. Favre's audibles make it hard to crowd the box and play run-defense because once he sees a safety sneaking up he changes up to a slant behind him. Favre himself says they have to run the ball to keep the enemy out of Cover Two, which he doesn't like to throw against. To me, it comes down to this -- you have better runners, you run the ball. If they stop it, then you throw, and it doesn't have to be either five yards or 50. Mid-range is OK, too. I am having this report bronzed and sent to Canton. 7 14 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-2) Why'd they pick up Michael Bennett and his 2.6 average? I would have dealt for Reuben Droughns of the Giants. Or how about last year's blood and guts runner, the Broncos' Mike Bell, whose behind has been flattening on the bench all year? 8 10 Baltimore Ravens (4-2) After they flogged poor St. Looie into submission, their weakside LB, Bart Scott, said, "We give up some big plays and people think our defense isn't intimidating, but ask the Cleveland Browns and the St. Louis Rams how they felt after playing us?" This is almost an exact replica of a quote I once heard from Buddy Ryan, whose son, Rex, happens to coach Baltimore's defense. 9 5 Tennessee Titans (3-2) Are we really still in the top 10? When you turn a kid like Vince Young into a kind of media God, what do you do when he goes hobbling off the field, become an atheist? You know players listen to those talk shows, too. 10 12 New York Giants (4-2) I mean look here, ESPN, enough is enough. I watched the Tom Coughlin Family Hour on your pregame Monday night. Did I have to watch assorted highlights from it during the game, too? Tom Coughlin preparing to take his Giants bowling, Tom Coughlin baking them little pies, organizing community sings, quilting bees? OK, I've got it now. Wonderful, heart-warming stuff. Can we move on, please?