The fourth Sunday of NFL play shed some light on how the teams stack up. Here’s how I see it …

1. N.Y. Giants — Anyone else think torn Achilles when Eli pulled up grabbing his heel? Went 3-0 on the road while The Boss took over their house.

2. New Orleans — Forget the dominant offense for a minute; Gregg Williams has the Saints playing the most opportunistic defense in NFL.

3. Indianapolis — Imagine what they’ll be like if/when Bob Sanders returns. Peyton Manning pretty much flawless this season.

4. New England — Wes Welker makes that offense go. Tom Brady getting better each week. Never seen the Pats blitz this much before.

5. Baltimore — Beat themselves with penalties, drops and strange aversion to running the ball. This team is legit.

6. Denver — Another miracle finish. Predicted the return of Brandon Marshall during GameDay Morning. Mike Nolan has transformed that D.

7. San Francisco –Patrick Willis is the truth.

8. N.Y. Jets — Mark Sanchez was bound to fall to earth. Happens to every rookie QB.

9. Philadelphia — Expect Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook and Kevin Curtis back after the bye.

10. Pittsburgh — That looked more like the Steelers last night.

11. Chicago — Jay Cutler has found his comfort zone in Chitown.

12. Minnesota — I’m picking the Pack tonight.

13. Cincinnati — Should have lost to the Browns, but I guess that’s a karma payback for being robbed by Denver in Week 1.

14. Atlanta — Tony Gonzalez has been a stud.

15. Green Bay — Gonna keep them where I had ‘em last week since they haven’t played yet this week.

16. Jacksonville — Have to love the way these guys have fought the last two weeks. They have already beaten the Titans and Texans and played the Colts tough.

17. San Diego — Have not matched up well with the top physical teams.

18. Arizona — Maybe they figured a few things out during the bye.

19. Houston — If forms holds they will now implode again in the next game, only to shine the week after that.

20. Tennessee — Yeah, they’re 0-4, but I’d still pick them to win over everybody below them on this list. But if they don’t win their next game, is it Vince Young time?

21. Dallas — I’m just not a believer. NFC East looking like a two-team race.

22. Miami — Big, big win for them. Nice first step by Henne.

23. Carolina — Did not play this week.

24. Seattle — They had better get Hasselbeck and Walter Jones back ASAP.

25. Detroit — Matthew Stafford was making great strides. Would be a tough time to lose him to injury for any period of time.

26. Buffalo — Another team ravaged by injuries after a promising start. Does T.O. still play for them?

27. Washington — Do I really need to continue this list at this point? Win was ugly, but I know Jim Zorn will gladly take it over the alternative.

28. Tampa Bay — Blew 10-0 halftime lead over the Redskins, which is saying something.

29. Kansas City — I’m saying it right now — they won’t go 0-16.

30. St. Louis — Well, at least they didn’t get shut out this week. Oh, wait.

31. Oakland — The specter of Tom Cable/Randy Hanson incident still lingers.

32. Cleveland — Sticking with my policy that you don’t get off the bottom until you get a W, but that was a much better performance this weekend.

Posted in: Jason La Canfora  | comments  |