My Top 5 Performers * 1.   Rich Gannon, Raiders 2.   Priest Holmes, Chiefs 3.   Michael Vick, Falcons 4.   Brett Favre, Packers 5.   Marvin Harrison, Colts * picks made with three weeks to go in the NFL season

Overrated Dallas Cowboys Now, they haven't been the worst team in the league, and they haven't been out of every game. But the problem with the Men of Jerry is this: They set the bar fairly high in the preseason, .500 high, with excitement about their draft and their quarterbacks and their defense. Their QBs (Quincy Carter, Chad Hutchinson) have been crushing disappointments. Their once-formidable line can't block anybody. Their record-setting running back, Emmitt Smith, is being slowly phased out of the offense. The only thing that works is the defense, which is as good as advertised. But this team's 2002 edition will go down as the one that set offensive football back decades. Back to the drawing board, Jerry. Underrated Rich Gannon, Oakland Raiders Every year, we make up lists of the best quarterbacks in football. This year, midway through the season, those lists all had Brett Favre or Drew Bledsoe at the top. Maybe Tom Brady, with his league-high number of touchdown passes, got some consideration, or the tough-as-nails Jeff Garcia. But Gannon, as December dawned, led all quarterbacks in passing yards, was third in touchdown passes, was contending to break the all-time accuracy mark for a season by hovering near 70-percent completions, and was leading the Raiders on another playoff march. Gannon is quite unfamous and doesn't mind that. All he wants to do is play QB. He's really a great one. Annoying The NFL's stimulant policy Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers took one diet pill -- ostensibly to work out harder or play with a feistier edge -- and tested positive for a substance banned under the NFL's new and tough policy encompassing stimulants. But if he had smoked crack cocaine instead of testing positive for the diet pill, Peppers, if a first-time offender, would have been put in the league's substance abuse testing program and permitted to continue playing. A first-time offense with the diet pill would cause him to be suspended without pay for four weeks. How silly. It's good that the league and the players union are vigilant about stimulants, which can provide a competitive advantage for players who take them. But suspending players without pay for a month for a first offense while letting street drug offenders keep playing is loony. Breakthrough Performance of 2002 Marc Bulger, St. Louis Rams What a story. The Rams start 0-5. Kurt Warner's out with a broken thumb. His backup, Jamie Martin, gets nicked and coach Mike Martz has to turn to his third-stringer, a former sixth-round pick of the Saints who'd never seen NFL action. And all Bulger does is pilot the team to three straight wins while Marshall Faulk does most of the heavy lifting; then Bulger takes over with Faulk either ineffective or hurt and beats San Diego and Chicago with his right arm. Bulger then heads to the bench with an injured finger and Warner comes back, only to hurt his hand again. Bulger returns to the starting lineup and leads the Rams to a comeback victory against Arizona. On 319 yards passing and two touchdowns, he improves to 6-0 as a starter. He is also the NFL's top-rated quarterback with a 101.4 rating. Uplifting Robert Edwards, Miami Dolphins Almost four years ago, the 5-foot-11, 220-pound Edwards, coming off a 1,100-yard rookie rushing season with New England, almost had to have his left leg amputated because of a sickeningly severe knee injury suffered in an NFL-sponsored beach football game in Hawaii. But he never gave up his dream of playing football again. Cut by the Patriots, Edwards finally found a home this summer with the Dolphins as the third-down back behind Ricky Williams, and he played his role superbly. He averaged more than five yards a carry and seven yards per reception entering December. "Anyone wanting to see what raw determination can do for a person should look at Robert Edwards,'' Miami coach Dave Wannstedt said. MVP Rich Gannon, Oakland Raiders Mind you, this selection was made with three weeks left in the regular season, and Gannon won't necessarily have my vote when I file my AP all-pro team and awards the morning after the regular season ends. My pick of Gannon after 13 games, though, is grounded in stats, and control. Oakland coach Bill Callahan gives Gannon as much control of an offense as any coach gives his quarterback in the NFL, and Gannon uses that control wisely. Also, he needs 676 passing yards in the final two games of the season to break Dan Marino's single-season yardage mark of 5,084 set in 1984. In my mind, Gannon means more to his team than any other player means to his, and that includes Michael Vick, Marvin Harrison, Ricky Williams ... and barely more than Brett Favre. Storyline to Follow in 2003 The black coaches issue The NFL appointed a five-man committee at midseason to study ways to improve its practice of hiring minority head coaches. The group began meeting in mid-November under the threat of a lawsuit by a legal team headed by Johnnie Cochran. In the NFL, about 70 percent of the players are black, compared with just six percent of the coaches. That's what we call a problem. Look for the league to implement policies urging (forcing, really) all teams to interview at least one minority candidate when a head-coaching opening surfaces.