By Tom Morris Things change quickly in the NFL. Two weeks ago the Pats were picked to beat the Colts, and then to make a serious, inevitable run at home-field advantage. Not anymore. People were picking up shovels after Rex collapsed against the awesome Cardinals and Dolphins. Not anymore, they aren?t. And just a short while ago, defense was the only thing winning ball games in the AFC West. That changed Sunday, when the Chargers offense rose their game to a whole ?nother level with 42 second-half points against the defenseless Bengals. Welcome to the NFL, where yesterday?s news is today?s old-hat. In the AFC this past weekend, a few teams gained some further separation from their less than amicable rivals. Indianapolis and Baltimore are almost officially set for the playoffs, provided they don?t do anything like, I don?t know, screw the pooch for seven straight weeks. But things remian fuzzy as concern the remaining division and wild-card spots. New England, Jacksonville, and Kansas City, all losers Sunday, opened the doors to the Jets, giving Eric Mangini?s surprising upstarts cause to celebrate, if only for a week. And San Diego and Denver, bosom buddies all year, remain determined to stay intimate for as long as possible. A showdown between that top-3 defense, and top-3 offense comes to a disagreeable halt Sunday night at Mile-High Stadium. I can tell you their marriage atop the standings will come to a separation, --again, if only for one week. The story of the NFC is a top-heavy conference, with only one clear, inarguable autocrat surrounded by a pack of earnest, ambitious ladder-climbers, all hungry for a share in the power, but for the most part still mired together in a seething muck of mediocrity. With losses by NY, New Orleans, Atlanta, St. Louis, Minnesota, and wins by Philly, Dallas, Green Bay, Carolina, hell even the damn 49ers, we now have a 12-car pile-up across all four divisions. Only the woeful Redskins, Lions, Bucs and Cardinals are out of it, and that other .500 straddling wreckage will need to get cleaned up sooner or later. The way the scheduling looks the rest of the way, don?t be surprised to see not one, but two or even three 9 ? 7 playoff teams representing the NFC. And don?t be surprised. Also, if not one of them makes it past that team in Chicago either. Here?s another thing that may catch you by surprise: my Weekly Top-Team rankings. Try to keep the obscenities to a minimum when you send your hate e-mail. My secretary has very delicate sensibilities. This Week?s Rankings: [ Last Week?s Ranking, and Current W ? L records, in Parentheses ] 1. Indianapolis Colts (1), (9 ? 0) The Colts are getting applauded and razzed for essentially the same thing: they are winning so many close games. Are all these last-minute nailbiters against the Titans and Bills of the world simply a prelude to yet another characteristic postseason collapse? Or are these signs of a great team finding ways to become tough, making up for one of the weakest run defenses in the league? Methinks a little bit of both. Sure, there?s no reason Buffalo should lose by only a point, despite their apparent ?pluck?, but the Colts are still the only 9 ? 0 team out there, have a balanced offense they can turn all the way up to 11 on the dial whenever they feel like it, and ? a guy named Peyton. And try to name one team that has managed to do that so far ?easy schedule or hard. 2. Chicago Bears (2), (8 ? 1) This was a huge swing game for the Bears. If they lose to the Giants ?and if Grossman continues to get rattled like he was vs. Arizona and Miami?then all of a sudden you?re looking at a crisis in Bears land, and more than just one or two fans calling for his head. But Rex regained his poise, tore up NY?s D with 3 TDs and 1 INT, and rallied his team to a come-from-behind 38-20 win over the NFC East leaders. Mark Bradley filled in nicely for injured Berrian to stretch the field, Thomas Jones ran 30 times for 113 yards, and Grossman did not fall prey to the same rain that supposedly was to blame for Eli?s continued struggles. The Bears? D, not New York?s, was the stout one Sunday. Chicago still holds the NFC trump card, and has outscored its opponents 272?120, which after 9 games is one statistic that?s hard to ignore. 3. San Diego Chargers (4), (7 ? 2) The Colts may have tenure atop the Rankings, but in the AFC it?s becoming clear who?s second in line. If you had a chance to watch Philip Rivers, Ladainian, and a solid O-line on Sunday, you?d know why. Rivers lead the Bolts to 7 TDs in their last 8 drives, the final one sealing an amazing comeback over the stunned and confused Bengals. Rivers may have made folks in SD forget about that guy named Drew, but they trotted out an extremely vulnerable secondary that granted career days to Carson and Ocho. Look for their offense to get dialed down a notch Sunday vs. a Bronco team not known for allowing 49 points a game. 4. Denver Broncos (3), (7 ? 2) One of the only remaining teams with a consistently tight defense is Denver, who continue to do enough on offense to stop themselves from being a one-trick pony. But how often can they skate on this thin ice before finally falling through and sinking? Not this past week. The Running-Bell-By-Committee may be getting worse before it gets better, and Jake Plummer threw three more picks against the no longer underrated Oakland pass defense, but they did just enough in the end to pull out another W. They will, however, have to come up with a better offensive attack Sunday night, because San Diego?s firepower will not be muzzled like Oakland?s was. 5. Baltimore Ravens (6), (7 ? 2) It may have been true that former offensive coordinator Jim Fassel was calling Billick?s plays anyway, but I don?t care if he was getting his plays from online astrology counsellors. When the head coach ousted Fassel is exactly when Baltimore?s offense took flight. McNair was forced to go airborne early after the Ravens D uncharacteristically allowed 26 Titans points 20 minutes into the game. But in the end, the Ravens D clamped down, McNair lead them to the GW TD, and Vince Young could not. Baltimore, it should be noted, has played a tough schedule all year, pitted against the AFC West and NFC South, as well as their own division. And they are still 7 ? 2. That says a lot about McNair and his ability to change a team 6. New Orleans Saints (8), (6 ? 3) The Saints showed a weakness Sunday afternoon: their D. 470 yards allowed against the Steelers ?almost half of that to Willie Parker alone?means New Orleans can be scored upon. Drew Brees showed everyone that the fuel tank he used last year is far from empty, finding three different receivers in the endzone despite the loss. But they do have an offense improving weekly (135 points last 5), and finally got Deuce and Reggie to play well at the same time Sunday against a supposedly tough Steelers run D. They must repair a ?6 turnover ratio, though, to win more of the close ones down the stretch. 7. New England Patriots (5), (6 ? 3) Something more serious happened than Bellichick?s shame for losing to his former-assistant, current-enemy Mangini. It was a second straight loss, something that hasn?t happened to the Pats since the days the NFC was winning Superbowls. Why? Well, they played the best team in football, then the up-to-the-task Jets, and also suffered offensive impotence. Tom Brady may still be neck and neck with Peyton for best QB in the league, but his average outputs tell us something?s missing from his game. He deserves credit for making WR trash-to-treasure this year, but he sill lacks the playmaker to seal the deal when it counts. If he can?t fix that soon, he may start becoming (gulp) mortal after all. Playing the sieve-like Packer secondary could be the salve he needs. 8. New York Giants (7), (6 ? 3) The Giants-Bears game was supposed to be about which offense suffered the most from injuries. Well, in New York?s case, they were hurting on both sides of the ball. Maybe Grossman?s talent and the Bears? punishing D was too much to handle. But I?m thinking the truckload of injured players finally caught up with the G-Men. Umenyiora, Strahan, Plaxico, Toomer, Emmons, and so on, and so on. And Eli?s 11 INT?s are simply too many for a QB touted by many to take his squad to the next Superbowl. This team is at a midseason low, and will need to bounce back fast to boost an NFC East lead that just got very tight, very quickly. They play an enigmatic Jacksonville team Monday. Let?s see what that brings. 9. Seattle Seahawks (12), (6 ? 3) I am impressed with how the ?Hawks have found ways to win important games without their starting QB or RB. They outlasted the Rams by a hair for the second time this season, all but sealing the fate of that division. 6 ? 3 looks good, but nothing?s a lock in the NFC right now. Still, Seneca Wallace has been a confident, adaptable QB in a pinch, Maurice Morris contributed 124 yards rushing, and Seattle?s regenerating defense contained Marc Bulger?s offense enough for the win. Their schedule lightens up right as Hasselbeck and Shaun start to return. The last 7 games they have San Fran twice, Arizona, Tampa Bay and the Packers. NFC West could be won before you know it. 10. Dallas Cowboys (15), (5 ? 4) After three weeks as the starter Tony Romo has officially gained enough positive attention to warrant a T.O. Tantrum. The self-serving wide-out will only be able to put up with this kind of thing for so much longer. But Terrell is too happy with all the throws Romo?s making in his direction to say anything. The Dallas offense is rounding out nicely under their new QB?s lead, and their defense is good enough to compete. All of a sudden the East got interesting again. 11. Philadelphia Eagles (13), (5 ? 4) The Eagles needed a confidence boost, and boy did they get it with the Redskins, whom they blazed, 27 ? 3, Sunday to crawl back into an early four-way tie for the top 2 wild-card spots. I know, one can?t talk about wild cards nine games in, in a conference almost as faulty as the 2006 National League. Anyway, McNabb may have completed only a third of his passes, but he made the big ones, including an 84-yarder to Donte Stallworth. The Eagles Defense totally silenced Brunell ?you might say they held the door open for him on his way out. Is this Philly team the one we saw soar through games 1 ? 5, or the lost, flightless birds of the three weeks that followed? I think neither. Though they are missing a steady ground game right now, they have enough talent, speed, firepower, and experience to give the Giants a run for their money. 12. Kansas City Chiefs (9), (5 ? 4) The Chiefs suffered a setback Sunday, running into a Miami defense high on confidence and low in tolerance. Damon Huard needed to be next to perfect to hold onto the starting job even after Green?s return, and for six to seven weeks he almost was. But two days after he was corralled by the Fins, and KC?s 3-game win streak halted, ol? Herm announced Trent was healthy and ready to play Sunday. This was the right decision. Garrard may be the hot hand in Jacksonville right now, but there is a huge difference between Leftwich and Green. Take a look at their career stats. Green deserves the ball, and should be the key to whether or not the Chiefs make the postseason. 13. Jacksonville Jaguars (10), (5 ? 4) Whatever you think the Jaguars will do this week ?based on their performance last weekend?just expect the opposite. They are making no sense. They have absolutely shut down a good handful of teams this year, then turned around to get torched by the sad Redskins and swept by the Texans. Makes no sense, no matter who they have at QB. Will the real Jaguars team please stand up 14. Carolina Panthers (NR), (5 ? 4) Carolina is thiiissss close to finally taking their collective game back to the level they knew back in 2002, when they came feet away from winning the Superbowl. Their defense gradually has been plugging its numerous gaping holes from the early games. (Peppers for President banners can be seen regularly at home games of late).And Jake Delhomme, despite a very ordinary game vs. Dallas in Week 9, has enjoyed huge bursts of yardage with Keyshawn and a healthy Smith on the other end. This is the kind of team that needs to fire on all cylinders however, and can?t rely on one or two guys to keep them aloft. A little more fine-tuning, and there?s no reason this former NFC heavyweight can?t start swinging again. 15. Atlanta Falcons (11), (5 ? 4) To be honest, I really had to put these guys in here, despite the fact they are playing absolutely lousy team football. Michael Vick?s two great gams in weeks 8 and 9 are almost certainly aberrations. Or, at best, they were as close to a consistent string of games as the former Va. Tech QB can muster at his age. Either way, a pass defense (233 yards/game) better than only Washington and Green Bay is not containing anyone who throws. It?s not the faulkt of their running game, which continues to threaten with Vick, Dunn, and Norwood. But with three fomer first-round picks at WR not running the routes, or making the catches, and a QB intermittently able to get it to them, Atlanta has become a one-dimensional offense.