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

1. Saints — I believe it was Ric Flair who once said: “To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man.” And New Orleans just did.

2. Colts — Will Peyton Manning ever not have a 300-yard passing game? Yeah, same thing I wrote last week. But the only thing that slowed him down was the bye.

3. Giants — Still a very good, very balanced team. It’s a long season.

4. Broncos — Big game Monday night.

5. Vikings — Brett Favre‘s fourth-quarter wonders continue. But there’s still a lot of time left.

6. Steelers — They are who we thought they were.

7. Patriots — Are the 2007 Pats back? Man, imagine how many points they would have scored if there wasn’t a snow storm.

8. Falcons — They had a lot of luck against the Bears, for sure, but have posted some nice wins, too.

9. Eagles — Didn’t see that coming. But I still like them being among the league’s best.

10. Bears — What’s up with Matt Forte this season? Those goal-line fumbles are killers.

11. Bengals — You could sense a letdown coming after four emotional wins (at least I could).

12. 49ers — I’m a Mike Singletary guy. What can I say?

13. Ravens — Wouldn’t write them off yet. Defense has been troubling, though.

14. Jets — It wasn’t going to be all chocolates and candy with a rookie quarterback.

15. Cardinals — Perhaps are emerging from the post-Super Bowl swoon.

16. Packers — Offensive line could end up being too much to overcome.

17. Chargers — Need to reclaim their identity Monday night.

18. Dolphins — In the Wildcat we trust. Could see why they wanted Josh Cribbs.

19. Texans — Nice win will be followed by horrific loss, if history holds.

20. Cowboys — Hope Tony Romo enjoyed his brief reprieve from the media.

21. Jaguars — Yeah, I know the Seahawks crushed them eight days ago, but there is little reason to power rankings.

22. Seahawks — Capable of wild extremes and crippled by injuries.

23. Panthers — Two tragically flawed wins in a row. But, hey, that beats the alternative.

24. Chiefs — Congrats to the Todd Haley/Scott Pioli (or is it Pioli/Haley?) regime for win No. 1.

25. Lions — We are really splitting hairs between the worst of the worst here, but losing Matthew Stafford long-term would hurt.

26. Browns — They need a quarterback.

27. Bills — Strong effort Sunday.

28. Raiders — Quite the upset, gentlemen. Nicely played.

29. Titans — Need to adopt a halftime mercy rule. If CBS had stayed with that game out of halftime, I would have put my head through the television.

30. Redskins — Cannot imagine this play-calling trick working. Need to make a real change in the personnel department.

31. Bucs — Enjoy London, mates, but this is not the week I’d want to be seeing the Pats.

32. Rams — You lose 16 in a row, this is where you land.

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