| CNN/SI Power Rankings |
| Rank | LW | Team |
| 1 | 1 |  | St. Louis Rams 6-0 |
| Yes, I think they'll keep it going in Tennessee this weekend. But, as you know, I've been wrong before. |
| 2 | 2 |  | Jacksonville Jaguars 5-1 |
| Do you know what they call the Jags' cheerleading group? The Roar. And I ain't lion. |
| 3 | 3 |  | Tennessee Titans 5-1 |
| Neil O'Donnell is from Madison, N.J., about eight miles away from the very spot where these power rankings are created. Is this scary, or what? |
| 4 | 4 |  | Miami Dolphins 5-1 |
| Lacking Danny's arm, the Dolphins put a functional ground game together against, well, Philly. If they duplicate it this weekend in Oakland, and show they're really serious about this thing, you'd have to rate them a very serious Super Bowl contender. |
| 5 | 6 |  | Green Bay Packers 4-2 |
| The Packers went into the Charger game at minus one in the old turnover ratio. They came out of it plus three. The Kramer-Harbaugh duo is making a lot of secondaries healthy. |
| 6 | 7 |  | New England Patriots 5-2 |
| Take away the Browns game and you've got six contests decided by a total of 11 points. How does this define the Patriots? Dunno. I just wanted to get the information out before the Sunday pre-game shows did. |
| 7 | 8 |  | Indianapolis Colts 4-2 |
| Two home games in the next two weeks--Dallas followed by Kansas City--could shape the Colts' season. |
| 8 | 9 |  | Oakland Raiders 4-3 |
| Yes, they nearly blew one to the Jets, but then they pulled themselves together and came on strong with that furious finish. That, to me, is the definition of a good team. |
| 9 | 13 |  | Seattle Seahawks 4-2 |
| They could have been looking ahead to Green Bay, but instead they went out and played their best game of the year. |
| 10 | 17 |  | Kansas City Chiefs 4-2 |
| O.K., they won on the road in convincing fashion, and their reward was a seven-place boost in the rankings. Chiefs fans are never satisfied, though, and I'm sure I'll be asked why I didn't move them higher. And the answer is that no one currently above them deserved to be moved down. |
| 11 | 12 |  | Detroit Lions 4-2 |
| I look at the way I've handicapped the Lions this year and I think I've gotten them wrong in five out of their six games. And now I've gone and picked them over the Bucs, which is not a kind thing to do to the Lions. |
| T12 | 5 |  | Washington Redskins 4-2 |
| Redskins beat the Giants, who beat the Cowboys, who beat the Skins twice. For the life of me, I can't figure out who's best and who's worst. Or wurst. |
| T12 | 16 |  | New York Giants 4-3 |
| See above. |
| T12 | 18 |  | Dallas Cowboys 4-2 |
| See above the above. |
| 15 | 15 |  | Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3-3 |
| All night long my phone was ringing. Impassioned Bucs fans pleaded: Please don't move us down after that Chicago smeller. We'll do better, we promise. O.K., but I'm running out of patience. |
| 16 | 10 |  | Buffalo Bills 4-3 |
| The Bills were a dead, lifeless team against the Seahawks. Looked more like the one that got blown out in the Colts opener than the one that beat Miami. |
| 17 | 11 |  | San Diego Chargers 4-2 |
| I can lay the Packers' blowout off on injuries, but when's Mike Riley planning to get some production out of those QBs? |
| 18 | 19 |  | Minnesota Vikings 3-4 |
| I had 'em too high early on; now I've probably got 'em too low. But I've still got to be convinced that the Jeff George Happycamp is the real thing. |
| 19 | 14 |  | Denver Broncos 2-5 |
| Hey, I don't know what to do with the Broncs. They play a bad game, they lose. They play a good game, they lose by a little. I think they'll beat the Vikings Sunday. I think they'll win in San Diego the following week. I think a lot of things, but that doesn't mean they'll happen. |
| 20 | 20 |  | Pittsburgh Steelers 4-3 |
| I love the way the TV guys cop out for Kordell. Every time he completes a 10-yard out pass we hear about how he's got his confidence back. |
| 21 | 21 |  | Carolina Panthers 2-4 |
| Perhaps I should have lowered them after the Lions chewed 'em up, but look below them on the chart and you'll see not one victory last weekend. |
| 22 | 22 |  | San Francisco 49ers 3-4 |
| Sinking, sinking, sinking are the once-mighty Niners. And wait, the inter-office sniping will soon begin. |
| 23 | 24 |  | Philadelphia Eagles 2-5 |
| Granted, they may be a bit more sound than one or two teams ranked higher, but that offense, whew, managed only 175 yards last game. |
| 24 | 25 |  | Chicago Bears 3-4 |
| Well, we found out about Cade McNown, another miracle worker from the fabulous QB class of '99. And guess what? Not one of that quintet of first round draftees draws pay from a club with a winning record. |
| 25 | 26 |  | New York Jets 1-6 |
| I'll give them this -- they're creative. Each week they lose in a brand new way. |
| 26 | 23 |  | Baltimore Ravens 2-4 |
| Brian Billick is an offensive guru. And after seven weeks he's on his third QB. Which only proves that this is a position that mystifies everyone, without exception. |
| 27 | 27 |  | Arizona Cardinals 2-4 |
| Can Jake Plummer really recover from a broken finger during one measly bye week? Does it matter? |
| 28 | 28 |  | Atlanta Falcons 1-6 |
| Chris Chandler's courage was questioned. So the last view we got of him was half-running, half-limping downfield so he could spike the ball in front of the Steelers' goal line. It's sad, really. |
| 29 | 29 |  | New Orleans Saints 1-5 |
| Well, we finally saw Ricky Williams put together a 100-yard game -- while the Saints were suffering their worst loss of the season. There's a message in this. A Greek one. It's called hubris and nemesis. |
| 30 | 30 |  | Cincinnati Bengals 1-6 |
| Why do I feel that one of these weeks the Bengals are going to rise up in a fury and spring a major upset over some sleepwalker? |
| 31 | 31 |  | Cleveland Browns 0-7 |
| They'll be feeling the Saints' wrath this weekend, but mark down Nov. 7 as the day they finally break into the W column -- against Baltimore. |
