| Week 5 |
| Rank | Team | LW | Comment |
| 1. | Denver Broncos (4-0) | 1 | John Elway goes
down, plug in Bubby Brister; Bob Griese goes down, plug in
Earl Morrall; Sid Luckman goes down, plug in ... uh, O.K.,
that's where the analogy ends. The point is, the defending
champs are
hungry! |
| 2. | Green Bay Packers (4-0) | 2 | The book says you
can't win in the NFL without a running game. But for now,
defense and Brett Favre will do quite nicely, thank
you. |
| 3. | Jacksonville Jaguars (4-0) | 3 | Fred Taylor emerged
just in time, but all those injuries on the D-line are
nerve-wracking. |
| 4. | San Francisco 49ers (3-0) | 4 | Jerry Rice has
found his long ball, which is just another thing for the
enemy to worry
about.
|
| 5. | Miami Dolphins (3-0) | 5 | Dan Marino has
fewer yards per game than any passer who has remained
healthy all the way except Kordell Stewart. Historical
note—Griese completed seven passes in the 1973 Super
Bowl
win. |
| 6. | Minnesota Vikings (4-0) | 6 | Here today, gone
tomorrow. Favre might throw for 400 on Monday against that
zone. |
| 7. | Pittsburgh Steelers (3-1) | 9 | A flawed team,
until Kordell gets it together. All those dinkers just
won't get it
done. |
| 8. | Seattle Seahawks (3-1) | 7 | Can't live on
defense alone. The attack went south in Three
Rivers.
|
| 9. | Kansas City Chiefs (3-1) | 8 | Hanging in while
the wounded get
well. |
| 10. | Oakland Raiders (2-2) | 13 | "Dee-fense!" hollered the eight Raider fans in
Texas Stadium Sunday. See that? The ugly duckling has become a swine—make that a swan.
|
| 11. | New England Patriots (2-1) | 11 | Intriguing matchup
in New Orleans this weekend. Talent level could carry the
Pats, but southern hellfire could topple
them.
|
| 12. | Dallas Cowboys (2-2) | 12 | Jason Garrett was
everyone's Cinderella story—for one game. Now? It's
head-scratching time. And how bad is Emmitt hurt,
really? |
| 13. | New York Giants (2-2) | 15 | Ryan Leaf made them
well, but he'll do that for a lot of
teams.
|
| 14. | Baltimore Ravens (2-2) | 17 | Absolution from
Priest Holmes, but the Bengals made a run at them at the
end. |
| 15. | New Orleans Saints (3-0) | 22 | Could be sniffing
the top 10—imagine that—if they get by New
England. |
| 16. | Tennessee Oilers (1-3) | 19 | Passing game shows
up, running disappears, which has been known to happen in
Volunteer
country. |
| 17. | New York Jets (1-2) | 18 | Everyone's
expecting a big passing show against the sturdy Dolphins
run defense, but Bill Parcells is just quirky enough to
come out pounding. He relishes the
unexpected. |
| 18. | Atlanta Falcons (2-1) | 16 | The Niners exposed
them. Now they're back in the B
League. |
| 19. | Cincinnati Bengals (1-3) | 14 | Liked the way Corey
Dillon was hammering last weekend. Something to build
on. |
| 20. | Detroit Lions (1-3) | 25 | Go figure it. Batch has been better than Manning or Leaf so
far. The answer is, he's got the
wheels.
|
| 21. | Arizona Cardinals (2-2) | 26 | Sack attack stepped
it up, with rookie Andre Wadsworth collecting a pair, but
don't forget, this was against the
Rams. |
| 22. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-3) | 10 | How have the mighty
fallen? Who were those guys in Tampa Bay uniforms Monday
night? |
| 23. | Chicago Bears (0-4) | 24 | Ran well against
the Vikes, and Erik Kramer threw like a dream, then,
kaboom, that dreaded second
half. |
| 24. | San Diego Chargers (2-2) | 21 | Giants' front four
handled Chargers' new O-line and gave Leaf another bad
outing. He goes as his front five
go. |
| 25. | St. Louis Rams (1-3) | 23 | Took them four
games, but they finally found a runner. By December the
rest of the equation should be falling into
place. |
| 26. | Washington Redskins (0-4) | 20 | Could get very
healthy against Dallas Sunday. Another blowout loss and
Slick Willie might be coaching
them. |
| 27. | Carolina Panthers (0-3) | 29 | Billion-dollar
defense held Favre to 388 yards
passing. |
| 28. | Indianapolis Colts (0-4) | 28 | Bet you don't know
who comes in if they bench Peyton? You win the concrete
pizza if you said Kelly
Holcomb. |
| 29. | Philadelphia Eagles (0-4) | 30 | Iggles showed
enough hustle and zip against the Chiefs to lose by three.
Made the bettors happy,
anyway. |
| 30. | Buffalo Bills (0-3) | 27 | A hard choice,
since the Bills were inactive last weekend. Maybe we could
have a postseason playoff to determine who drops to the
Arena
League. |
