By Tom Morris Week 5 of the NFL saw an almost complete and collective offensive slumber. Yes, it was truly offensive, especially to those of you who actually like watching touchdowns ?or even first downs, for that matter. Offensive lines crumbled, quarterbacks scrambled, and defenses were made to look all the better for it. Last weekend that caame to an end. Week 6 provided a bevy of 100-yard rushers, multiple 100-yard receivers, and a heckuva shootout between the Rams and Seahawks. You can actually feel the tension level rising. It was a return to form for many NFL greats so conspicuously absent from the leaderboard through the first five weeks: Joe Horn, Torry Holt, Steve Smith, Jake Delhomme, Matt Hasselbeck, even that guy named T.O., who whether by design or not, managed to make as much hay as he could out of the media attention so ceaselessly thrown his way. I?ll give him those 3 TDs, but you?d think he had single-handedly won that ball game for America?s Team. It certainly got closer in the NFC EAST; Philly?s thrilling loss to New Orleans, coupled with victories by Dallas and New York, leaves all three teams tightly knit atop the division, with the inexplicably flat Redskins the lone team without an invite. Seattle found out they can win big games without Shaun Alexander. He is the key to the Seahawks? offensive success, and no doubt will be upon his eventual return. But Matt Hasselbeck put on a convincing display of fireworks, awakening the team while wresting the division lead from the stunned Rams. Carolina remembered how dangerous they can be when Jake D. and Steve S. share the field. They have managed to reverse an 0 ? 2 start to the season by winning four straight, including a big one Sunday vs. Baltimore. The Bears defense allowed Arizona to score 23 points by halftime (almost 2/3 of the points they had allowed through the first five games!), then swiftly changed their mind by scoring three defense/special teams TDs in half number two. Wow. Those Cardinals can?t catch a break. And even a high-school level peformance by Rex won?t yield an L for Da Bears. In the AFC, Buffalo, the Jets, and the Dolphins played Sunday and, I gotta tell you, I hardly even noticed. The Steelers made the rebound many expected, but which many feared was not possible. The Bengals lost to one of the worst teams in the NFL, and Baltimore got scorched by Carolina; the AFC North is quickly becoming one of the biggest divisional disappointments around. Then there?s that fella who goes by L.T. He was on my radar, all right. He was the starting back for my opponent in my Fantasy league, so his four touchdowns hardly went unnoticed. With the way San Diego is playing right now, I can?t see anyone but the Bolts and the Colts in the conference title game come January. Just a hunch. Could be wrong. I feel I?m pretty right on about my Top-Team Rankings this week, though. I thought pretty hard about it, for at least 15 minutes. This Week?s (tentative) Rankings: [ Last Week?s Rank, and W ? L record, in Parentheses ] 1. Chicago Bears (1), (6 ? 0) Okay, so Rex looked worse than gross, ? man. I remember saying last week how he ?has almost no weaknesses left.? And I?ll go ahead and happily eat those words. When he was tired of throwing and dropping the pigskin into the hands of the giddy Cardinals players, he started trying to send them via text message. Still, if this team --or this team?s powerful defense-- can win even on the very bad days, that means there?s something very good going on in Chitown. Hold that talk of 1985, though. Stranger changes of fortune have happened in the NFL. 2. San Diego Chargers (3), (4 ? 1) San Diego is red hot right now. Right after Marty gets torched across the sports media for not giving Philip Rivers a chance to throw, the young QB comes out and leaves fire trails across the field. But Sunday was All About Ladainian, whose four touchdowns reminded us how much of the team he can carry when he wants to. So, the Chargers? schedule has been fairly light. But the three games they should have won, they did convincingly (115 ? 26 vs. Oak., Ten., and SF!). Played well against Pittsburgh and Baltimore too, have allowed 55 points overall through five games, and are a FG away from being undefeated right now. 3. Indianapolis Colts (2), (5 ? 0) Indy got an extra seven days to ponder that near-disaster against the Titans in Week 5. A 14 ? 13 nailbiter it should never have been, regardless what you have to say about Jeff Fisher?s up-and-coming defense. Fact is, the Colts aren?t where they should be yet, and they know it. Hey, don?t look at me that way. They?re the ones who raised that bar as startlingly high as it is. Their porous run defense is becoming all too well-known, so until they learn to plug the holes, look for opponents to take advantage. On the other side of the ball, Addai and Rhodes are shaping up to be a nice little surprise tandem at HB. 4. Denver Broncos (5), (4 ? 1) Denver finished erecting that steel wall at the goal line. It?s been up all year, but with a little extra fine-tuning and reinforcement it is now completely impenetrable. At least that?s what we?re led to believe, with the ?1 TD allowed? stat being hurled about in Denver almost as much as ?the Tuck Rule? was a few years ago here in Oakland. Anyway? Plummer?s still a question mark, folks. Is he afraid to let loose for fear of scrambling Shanahan?s run-first, run-second, run-last offensive scheme? Or is he just not the QB he used to be? Until he sorts that out, Denver will be missing a big piece to the big puzzzle. 5. New England Patriots (6), (4 ? 1) The Pats no doubt spent their bye week working receiver drills. And again. And again. Their hope is that import Jabbar Gaffney will provide enough talent and depth to revive what has become a shell-game of a receiving corps. But they have still managed to fashion a 4 ? 1 record out ofwhat they have . That there is much moreroom for improvement is a scary thought for the AFC East pretenders trailing them. 6. Seattle Seahawks (10), (4 ? 1) Mike Holmgren chose wisely: put the ball in Hasselbeck?s hands, see what happens. Actually, his hand was forced, with his `Hawks trailing 21 ? 7 at halftime. What ocurred was one of the best dogfights of the weekend, outside of the supposedly escalating La russa-Rolen spat in St. Louis. Hasselbeck compensated for an obviously second-string HB in Maurice Morris, by launching the ball to all hands, and orchestrating a thrilling, poised, two-minute drill to get within range for a 54-yard game-winning field goal. Okay, he didn?t kick the monster FG, but without his determination and skill, Seattle falls to 1 1/2 GB of the upstart Rams. 7. Philadelphia Eagles (4), (4 ? 2) When the Eagles lost Sunday, it was because they got done in by a better team that day, plain and simple. It was a close game. And we know Mr. McNabb ate his CHUNKY that day, so he isn?t to blame. The way to beat the Eagles is not to stop McNabb (1849 yards, 13 TDs, 2 INTs). Something tells me that will be almost impossibe to do this year. And counting on them to beat themselves is plain foolish. To beat them a team must exploit their weaknesses at secondary, which is what Drew Brees was able to do all day. Keeps the Eagles from soaring as high as they would like. 8. New Orleans Saints (12), (5 ? 1) Well, I was off-base last week, guardedly shepherding the Saints into my Top-15 Rankings at #12. They needed to prove themselves. Well, I think convincing, hard-fought victories over Atlanta and Philly means they can beat opponents from both sides of the line of scrimmage. Drew Brees has more than enough weapons at his disposal, Horn, Colston, Bush and Deuce making big impacts. At 5 ? 1 they?ve caught us by surprise, and that 8:26 drive to win the game against the Eagles was a little bit of magic. That?s how you stop McNabb. Keeep him off the field when it matters most. 9. Carolina Panthers (13), (4 ? 2) I read an article on NFL.com yesterday about how Steve Smith deserves the not-quite-mid-season MVP. I won?t go that far. But his return to health and to the football field, and the Panthers? return to winning ways (4-game win streak) are not coincidental. Do you think Jake Delhomme hadn?t been saving up those huge bombs all these weeks, waiting for his receivers to become more than a one-man attack? Smith changes the way defenses play, for sure, and as a result Delhomme is the happiest QB out there. Oh, almost forgot: their defense, though still smarting, is improving by the week. 10. Jacksonville Jaguars (11), (3 ? 2) We?ll see which Jaguars team trots out on the field next Sunday. The one that allowed the Redskins to rack up yardage and points against them three Sundays ago, or the one that rebounded by burying the clumsy Jets in the ground? My guess is the latter. That?s right, they?re playing Houston. And something tells me the Jags add to their league-leading 9 INTs. But Jacksonville should aim for the Wild Card spots, ?cause they are not going to catch up with the Colts. Not this year. 11. Baltimore Ravens (7), (4 ? 2) Ravens coach Brian Billick opened a can on his offensive coordinator, sending a not-quite-subtle message to his team?s offensive unit. They are not getting it done, though they hardly got whooped by Carolina on Sunday, pointwise. The problem is not the offense? OK it might be now that McNair?s on his favorite DL. It was all those Panthers passes! Short ones, deep ones, fat ones, skinny ones, you name it. Delhomme embarrassed what is supposed to be one of the most unforgiving defensive squads out there. A quick reversal of fortune by Ray Lewis and co. is the only thing that can drag this team out of my Rankings purgatory. Kyle Boller certainly won?t do it. 12. Cincinnati Bengals (8), (3 ? 2) All the talk of the Bengals while they rested in Week 6 was how defunct they are on offense. It?s true. Rudi Johnson got held to 52 yards on 17 carries. And who was this dominating D responsible for Rudi?s rough day? The Buccaneers, whose run defense ranked next to last before kickoff. Not only that, Palmer and his wideouts are out of synch, and almost out of time, in an ultra-competitive AFC North division. I can?t see this malaise lasting too long, but it had better stop soon. If they can?t win this weekend, then you can really start waving those white flags. 13. New York Giants (15), (3 ? 2) You might think my reluctance to launch the Giants up the Rankings has something to do with my undying support for the Redskins. Sounds nice, but not so much. They?re down here because of their ability to confound. They have put together consecutive wins, by a total of 46 ? 17. Their defense woke up and humiliated the ?Skins two weeks ago, and Sunday they found a way to stifle Vick and his team of runners. But only a short-term memory problem would help you forget the yards this team allowed Philly and Seattle to pile up. Tiki is torching it, and Eli has shown occasional grit and explosiveness, but his seven INTs are too high to be reliable. 14. St. Louis Rams (14), (4 ? 2) St. Louis won in week one thanks to six Jeff Wilkins FGs (actually, that seems to be the only way to beat the Broncos so far). Since then they have slowly unearthed the offensive monster temporarily interred by a defensive-minded new coach, Scott Linehan. Now, with Bulger and Holt connecting for huge stats on Sunday, and 92 points the past three games, the defense has taken a breather (84 pts last three). If Linehan can trot out the best of each on the same day, they might have something. Until then, it?s wait and see. 15. Atlanta Falcons (9), (3 ? 2) It is absolutely frustrating. Look down the team stat sheets for the year, and you may be tempted to kneel down in awe of the Falcons? thumping running game. 232 yards/game to date. And I know many a team has found great success with an almost invisible QB at the helm (see: Dilfer and the Ravens). But Michael Vick is no more complete behind center than he was three years ago when people complained of his inability to be an effective pocket passer. Blame it on Vick, blame it on Mora, blame it on me. It?s true, and Vick?s weak numbers are dragging this otherwise great team into the turf. Waiting is what I?ve got to tolerate as well. With a Fantasy team and an NFL team both at 2 ? 4 this year, and each going up against one of the powerhouse teams in its respective league, things look bleak. It?s like being told to go to the guillotine, but you?ve got to take a number and wait first. Hurts. Here?s hoping your teams, real and otherwise, do better this weekend. And don?t throw too many things at the television. Guacamole is very hard to remove from the screen.