1. Indianapolis (2): First the Manning Bowl. Then the Super Bowl?
2. Pittsburgh (3): This is a gritty, tough team.
3. Seattle (5): Seahawks try to Branch out and get offensive.
4. Cincinnati (6): A healthy Carson Palmer means healthy Bengals.
5. New England (9): A bunch that knows how to win.
6. Jacksonville (11): Not pretty, but the Jaguars win.
7. Atlanta (12): Up-and-down Falcons must find consistency.
8. Carolina (1): Nice pick last week.
9. San Diego (14): The class of the AFC West for now.
10. Denver (4): Losing first game may not be the best formula for a special season.
11. Chicago (15): Definitely the best team in the NFC North.
12. New York Giants (8): Eli held up well against big brother.
13. Baltimore (17): Maybe Steve McNair isn’t McDone.
14. Miami (7): Daunte Culpepper’s knee is fine, but how about his head?
15. Dallas (10): T.O. was strangely well behaved last week.
16. Arizona (18): Cardinals struggled with Niners after requesting them for the opener.
17. Philadelphia (20): Donovan McNabb deserves to play well again.
18. St. Louis (21): Rams offense, please introduce yourself to the end zone.
19. Kansas City (13): Could be a tough stretch for the Chiefs.
20. Minnesota (23): Brad Johnson is one tough hombre.
21. Tampa Bay (16): Chris Simms, ouch.
22. Washington (19): Lots of speed, no scores.
23. New Orleans (27): Reggie Bush is a treat.
24. New York Jets (28): Chad Pennington deserves credit for the comeback.
25. Cleveland (22): Must beat the Saints at home.
26. Detroit (26): Lions will be better, but it’ll take awhile.
27. Buffalo (25): Nice try in New England.
28. Houston (24): Denver South has same record as its namesake.
29. Oakland (29): It just gets worse.
30. San Francisco (30): This team quietly has some players.
31. Green Bay (31): This team loudly doesn’t have any players.
32. Tennessee (32): Loss to Jets will sting all season.
ON THE MOVE
Carolina
The Panthers tumbled all the way from the king of the poll to the No. 8 spot. What a disappointment. Broncos fans may be upset that their team with Super Bowl aspirations lost to the Rams, but it was nothing like the Panthers’ pratfall. The supposed class of the NFC was hammered at home. They were outclassed. They didn’t blow the game. They never had the chance to blow it.
