Some more shake-up near the top of the Rankings.  Another bad week for everyone at the bottom.  And another confusing week for us here at RW.  At least we have Mike Singletary in our lives now.  On to the Rankings.

32.  Detroit Lions (0-7)

I know when you feel like nothing's going right that it might be a good idea to shake things up, but Drew Stanton as a rumored starter this season?  I'd try having everyone wear the same underwear that they wore in practice first and see how that works instead.

31.  Cincinnati Bungles (0-8)

Carson Palmer looks to be done for the year and I'm sorry Bengals fans, but Ryan Fitzpatrick is more useless than even Tyler Thigpen.  Win a game and you can hop KC in the Rankings.

30.  Kansas City Chefs (1-6)

Tyler Thigpen may be the answer.  Unfortunately the question is, "Who's the best 3rd string quarterback in the AFC West?"  The Chefs had a chance in New York but blew it as only they could.  With Tampa Bay coming to town, they're hoping for Cincinnati to hold serve by losing at home to Jacksonville so that they can hold on to this spot in the Rankings.

29.  San Francisco 49ers (2-6)

Why didn't someone tell me that Mike Singletary was utterly insane?  I just remember using him on defense in original Tecmo Bowl.  He mooned his team at halftime?  This guy's an interim coach and I don't think he'll be a head coach anytime soon after this experiment.  I think I've gone from "This team should be good with the weapons they have" to "2 more weeks before the whole team quits and Shaun Hill is starting at QB." 

Wait, Shaun Hill is already starting at QB?  Seriously?  Why do they have to have a bye this week?  I need an automatic win to get off the shnide.

28.  Seattle Seahawks (2-5)

I really hope the trouncing of the 49ers gave the Seattle fans enough joy to last a month or two, because that's about it for big wins in Seattle until . . . sorry Seattle fans, the future looks dim on the sports front.  At least you still have Starbucks and the Space Needle!  And rain!

27.  Oakland Raiders (2-5)

My Raiders bias is not serving me well this season.  It's like having a Dubya bias in the approval ratings betting scene, or a Wachovia bias in the stock market.  Damn it, again, if you ask the question, "how much lower can it go?". . . right, the Raiders.  Well, the only good thing on the Raiders, Darren McFadden, has turf toe on both feet.  Is that even possible?  Did we draft football's Shaun Livingston?  I think I'll have to do my Raiders a service this week and bet against them to give them a fair chance.

26.  St. Louis Rams (2-5)

Operation Bet Against The Rams is still intact at 4-2-1, but Operation Bet Against The Chiefs is breathing down its neck.  The Rams did put up a good fight against Matt Cassel and the rest of the backups, now they return home to face the Arizona Cardinals.  They're only getting 3.  Guess who I'm taking.

25.  Miami Dolphins (3-4)

That was a pretty big win at home against Buffalo.  Their running game is legitimate and Noodle Arm isn't killing them, when they win at least.  Going to Denver this week should be interesting.  I don't know who's going to win, but I'll take the over.

24.  New York Jets (4-3)

They lost to the Raiders.  They almost lost to the Tyler Thigpens at home.  Call me crazy, but I'm not too sold on the Brett Favre led Jets.  They go to Buffalo this week and Buffalo is a team that I suspect may want to bounce back after a loss in Miami.  Sorry Jets fans.  Back to .500 you go.

23.  San Diego Chargers (3-5)

That's it, I give up.  They're not good.  Maybe it's karma from Philip Rivers talking trash to the entire league.  I don't know.  But they have no fire and more importantly, no defense.  Back to the inferiority complex you go San Diego.  Enjoy.

22.  Houston Texans (3-4)

Three wins in a row now and they're slowly climbing up the Rankings.  Things get a little tougher this week when they travel to Minnesota.  I see them loading up the box and making this a shootout with Gus Frerotte.  Call me crazy, but I'm not going to take Gus Frerotte against Matt Schaub.

21.  Minnesota Vikings (3-4)

I still can't get over how many points they gave up to Kyle Orton.  How can you win a game when you can't even beat Kyle Orton in a shootout?  Their defense may be even more depleted now due to banned diarrhea medicine.  I think it's hit the fan in Minnesota now.

20.  Baltimore Ravens (4-3)

Sorry, beating the Raiders doesn't get you much in the RW Rankings.  We're not overly impressed.  A win in Cleveland would help the argument.  How many QB's will they put in the backfield this week?

19.  Cleveland Browns (3-4)

Maybe I was wrong about them after all.  That was an impressive win in Jacksonville, even if Matt Jones did drop the game-tying TD.  Cleveland is starting to get things done, but I still don't like the looming Brady Quinn situation for the team's mojo.

18.  Denver Broncos (4-3)

Yeah, they really have no defense.  Jay Cutler is good.  So is Brandon Marshall.  But they would have to put up Texas Tech like numbers on offense to compete week in and week out.  The good news is, they play in the AFC West, so they're a game up in the division.

17.  Indianapolis Colts (3-4)

Not that losing in Tennessee is reprehensible, but the Colts have problems and I'm not sure how you fix them.  They're not getting any younger, and they still look like the team that won the Super Bowl on paper.  They have the Patriots coming to town and need to start a string of wins to have a shot at the playoffs.  Good thing Matt Cassel's the quarterback in New England now.  Even better that they get Bob Sanders back.

16.  Arizona Cardinals (4-3)

A good showing in Carolina.  Better than I had expected.  But they have to close out games.  They have a very winnable game going into St. Louis this week.  A win there could put them a possible three games up in the NFC West.  They're slowly growing on me.  If only one didn't wonder whether their QB was palling around with John McCain back in Nam.

15.  New Orleans Saints (4-4)

They still don't have a defense, but man has that offense come alive.  Drew Brees is a legitimate threat to break Marino's passing yards in a season record.  They play in a tough division, but they still have games in Detroit and Kansas City left on the record.  That's like being 6-4 right now.

14.  Chicago Bears (4-3)

Let's see if the Bears can build off of their offense's performance going into last week's bye.  Of course they're going to need the defense to perform, but that doesn't figure to be a problem this week at home against Detroit.  Chicago can give Green Bay a run for its money, even with Kyle Orton at QB.

13.  Jacksonville Jaguars (3-4)

I'm starting to lose faith in the Jags.  I still can't believe that Matt Jones dropped that ball, but we all know that it shouldn't come down to that when you're playing Cleveland at home.  Part of me wants to tease them this week in Cincy, but part of me remembers doing that last week against Cleveland.

12.  Atlanta Falcons (4-3)

I know it's their fault that they blew their timeouts, but that punt was not touched.  Atlanta was in that game in Philly and is not going to lay down for anyone.

11.  Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-3)

Apparently they require you to score points to win in football.  It seems unfair if you're the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because they're not capable of scoring.  4 trips inside the 25.  One would hope that would translate into more than 9 points.  If they can't score on Kansas City then I'm giving up.

10.  Dallas Cowboys (5-3)

That is a team in desperate need of a new coach.  They have zero chance of winning in the playoffs (if they get there) with Grandma Wade.  They go to play the Giants this week and I'm not sure I have all that much faith in Brad Johnson to get the job done.

9.  New England Patriots (5-2)

Somehow, someway, they just get things done.  They're coming off one of those patented, "By the way, we're still the Patriots" games and can put themselves back into the discussion, yes, that discussion, if they can pull off a win in Indy on Sunday night as unlikely as that may have sounded a few weeks back.  I don't know what to make of them.  I swear I'm 0-7 picking their games, but this spot seems about right.

8.  Washington Redskins (6-2)

The more I see them, the less impressed I am, but the number in that win column keeps going up by one.  If they beat an angry Pittsburgh team at home on Monday night then I promise to give them a little more respect.  Clinton Portis is a beast by the way.

7.  Philadelphia Eagles (4-3)

I'm telling you, with a healthy Brian Westbrook, I think this could be the team to beat in the NFC.  He's that important to the Eagles.  Without him I bet they lose that Atlanta game last week.  They have a yawner in Seattle this week, but next week in New York could determine NFC supremacy, for now at least.

6.  Green Bay Packers (4-3)

A big potential statement game this week for the Pack.  I don't see it happening, but they've proven us wrong before.  It doesn't help that the game's in Tennessee, but apparently Vegas likes them with only a 4.5 point spread.  That could very well be the game of the week.

5.  Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2)

This may come as a surprise, but it's not a good thing when your offensive line give up 24 sacks in your first 7 games.  Big Ben can only do so much.  They need to get their running game back, which means not starting Mewelde Moore.  They need Santonio Holmes to stop smoking weed.  They need their long snapper to not have a number that starts in "5." 

4.  Buffalo Bills (5-2)

That's the first time this season Trent Edwards has looked shaky.  However, it's only his first loss and I expect him to regain his form.  I don't envy the Jets' task this week.  I know that looks like a sucker's teaser line, but I think that the country is still in love with Favre.

3.  Carolina Panthers (6-2)

Since that stinker they put up in Tampa, Carolina has looked solid once again.  They will definitely be in the mix when it comes to determining who will represent the NFC in the Superbowl this year.  They're 6-2 heading into the bye with Oakland and Detroit waiting on the other side.  Things are looking up in Carolina.  The only question mark there is what color the state will be on Tuesday.

2.  New York Giants (6-1)

I don't really want to say anything here for fear of angering my Giants fan contingent.  Congratulations, you beat Pittsburgh.  Here's your #2 ranking.  I did have a whole segment here about the guys Pittsburgh was missing, but I figure the Giants fans are just angry not being ranked #1. 

1.  Tennessee Titans (7-0)

I guess all of that talk about the Titans being overrated angered them a little bit.  The Titans have another test this week with the Packers coming to town.  I think we'll see a repeat of Monday night.  A close game that the Titans will end up winning with big plays on defense.

WEEK 9 LINES

Cleveland -2 vs. Baltimore
Kansas City +9 vs. Tampa Bay (how do you give nine points if that's all the points you can score?)
Buffalo -5.5 vs. New York Jets
Arizona -3 at St. Louis
Chicago -12.5 vs. Detroit
Houston +4.5 at Minnesota
Tennessee -4.5 vs. Green Bay
Cincinnati +7.5 vs. Jacksonville
Miami +3.5 vs. Denver
Dallas +9 at New York Giants
Philadelphia -7 at Seattle
Atlanta -3 at Oakland
New England +6 at Indianapolis
Pittsburgh +1.5 at Washington

Season:  53-58-5