Chances are right now you?re enjoying another Thanskgiving day. A special day for all of us. Great food. Cold beer. Staying out of the kitchen. Staying out of the way of an in-law is not high on your must-see list. Trying to remain polite while leaning across your jabbering nephew to catch a glimpse of some football to help spell all the interminable family punishment. Aaahh, the memories. Doesn?t mean you can?t take a break, sit down and take a look at my Weekly Team Rankings, now does it? I thought so. This past week saw the Colts suffer their first loss of the season, the Eagles lose their offensive lynchpin McNabb for the season --for a second consecutive year, and second straight week 11, no less-- and the Falcons officially lose their way. There were three shutouts, and ten losing teams held to 14 points or less, while Drew Brees launched the pigskin 510 yards through the air. And lost. This league is anything but predictable. You can set your watch by it. The AFC has become a secret society of winners, one that grants entry to a select few teams, and they?re all very good. Baltimore. New England. Indianapolis. At this point, all six of them would have an easy time against the entire NFC, save the Bears, who are actually looking for a way to switch leagues. Yet for a pack of teams so top-heavy in the win departments, only one true division battle is still to be won: the West, where two games separate San Diego, Denver and Kansas City. In the NFC there was a continued drop in stock prices for a slew of teams that sprinted out of the gates. Now the Vikings, Falcons, Rams, Eagles, and to some extent the Giants and Saints, are buckled over, winded and in pain, and wondering if they?ll ever make it to the finish line. And, if anyone will still be watching when they do. And while those teams spiral downwards, a small group of insurgents, led by Dallas, Carolina and the 49ers, of all teams, take advantage by winning huge games, and rising rapidly up my Rankings page. What it leaves us with, though, is one more week of guesswork, as we try to distill the good from the bad in a league acting very much mediocre. Only one team with more than 6 wins (and there are already too many damn turkeys this week as it is, thank you very much). Who is this team? Of course, the Bears, who hold a slim lead atop my Rankings, despite that Charging San Diego team. The quarterback carousel continued, in a year unusually fond of the new dance the QB Shuffle. 16 of the 32 teams have used at least two starters behind center this year. The list was augmented Sunday, when McNabb and Favre left their games with injuries, Trent Green returned for his first start in two months, and Matt Hasselbeck makes his return in four days. Don?t think Peyton Manning will be benched any time soon, but don?t be surprised if the shake-ups just keep on going the next several weeks. But let?s see what I?ve got for you this week. I know, time?s precious. Your wife?s hollering at you to get a huge turkey bone out of the jammed garbage disposal, your Fantasy players are getting demolished in three otherwise unwatchable football games, and Uncle Ernie just drank the last cold Samuel Adams. I can see you?ve got things to do. This Week?s Rankings [ Last Week?s W ? L Record, and Team Rankings, in Parentheses ] 1. Chicago Bears (9 ? 1), (2) The Bears take the top spot back this week, and this time their ranking did not hinge on the performance of Rex Grossman. He was decent against an upstart Jets defense (119 yards, 1 TD), but this was all about defense and special teams again. Pennington got shut down, as did the Jets? offense, and the Bears rode Thomas Jones? back to their second shutout of the season. Now Chicago?s wondering how to work one more game at The Meadowlands into their schedule. Might not happen. With the way the Giants are playing, the path to the Superbowl will have to go a different route. 2. San Diego Chargers (8 ? 2), (3) You know, I actually thought hard about putting the Bolts at the top spot this week. Really did. But in the end, Chicago?s defense is just too strong to ignore right now, despite San Diego?s offensive indomitability. Sure, Marty Ball may be dead (thank God!), but that?s only because future MVP Philip Rivers put a gun to its head, and squeezed hard. Ladainian is still the anchor of the offense, of course (22 all-purpose TDs, 1037 yards rushing), but this team is no longer handicapped by a one-dimensional offense. And once Merriman returns, this defense should return to form. 3. Indianapolis Colts (9 ? 1), (1) The Colts and Peyton were manhandled by the surging Cowboys on Sunday. That gave them their first loss of the year, which means I don?t have to wait patiently through countless more discussions on ESPN?s SportsCenter about if, or when, Indi. will finally lose one. Thank you. Now, back to business, which for the Colts means making some fixes. It?s not just the running defense, though 32nd in the league is hard to get around. Defenses are finding ways to limit Addai and Rhodes. And the Colts committed 4 turnovers in their inaugural visit to Texas Stadium. That doesn?t mean Indi.?s gonna tank it. But the Chargers and Patriots could be serious hurdles to jump if they don?t polish off all this rust soon. 4. New England Patriots (7 ? 3), (7) Tom Brady didn?t put a fork in it as so may fearful fans expected. But let?s face it, for a QB that has never ?I say, never?experienced a two-game losing streak in his career, two losses because of two straight crappy passing performances is something to cause full-on panic in New England area codes. Well, you could tell it didn?t sit well with Brady. He came out and torched the Packers? below average secondary, throwing four TDs to lead his team to a 35 ? 0 shutout, and bringing the Pats back up at the top of the Rankings where they belong. This Sunday game against Chicago will show us whether Tom?s back on track or not. 5. Baltimore Ravens (8 ? 2), (5) A team like the Ravens, languishing toward the bottom end of the offensive ranking, with a QB that has 10 TDs and 9 INTs, and a defense vulnerable to the deep pass play, shouldn?t be this good, right? Wrong. Stats may not lie, but they don?t always tell the whole truth. McNair has gotten better each week since coming off a short stint on the DL, the defense literally shuts down the run, and creates their own scoring opportunities, and now Jamal Lewis (3 TDs Sunday) is back on the scene. Oh, and the Ravens are 8 ? 2. That?s a statistic I?m sure the Bengals and Steelers have taken note of. 6. Denver Broncos (7 ? 3), (4) If the Broncos don?t do something, they could very easily start a big slide down the Rankings. Their RB situation, that one area of Shanahan?s team seemingly golden year after year, has hit a speed bump, while Jake Plummer teases us with occasionally efficient play. Word is, now Shanahan?s going to jump on the QB-change bandwagon, which picked up significant steam after Tony Romo made a genius of Bill Parcells a month ago. Can Jay Cutler do the same? If Jake the Snake doesn?t put on a show Thursday, we?ll be finding out soon enough. Meanwhile, that defense that had allowed 1 offensive TD through like 5 games, is looking less than immortal. San Diego showed them who?s boss on Sunday night, and though this story isn?t over yet, that sure was a big chapter. 7. Dallas Cowboys (6 ? 4), (10) It sure looked as if things were going well in Dallas. Tony Romo smoothly hit the ground running, without even wrinkling his clothes. Terrell Owens was getting his throws (though still dropping too many to be counted), and a happy T.O. is a happy Parcells. And now, after a convincing defensive shutdown of Peyton and the Colts, a two-game losing streak by the G-Men, and a McNabb-less Eagles, it?s not a stretch to say the Cowboys win the East. Don?t change the channel, though. If you think anything happens as expected in the NFL, you need to pay more attention. 8. New Orleans Saints (6 ? 4), (6) The Saints? halos are starting to tarnish a bit. A 5 ? 1 start to the season had folks shaking their heads in amazement. Now New Orleans fans drop their heads in despondency, as their team has lost two straight, and 3 of 4, since then. Hey, don?t blame it on Drew Brees. He is lights-out, only picking up more steam as he goes, and now a good 350 yards ahead of Peyton Manning in the QB rankings. You could throw The Waterboy out at wideout, and Drew would find him, throwing for a Marino-like 1222 yards the past three games. But mistakes, costly turnovers, and an exploitable secondary leaves the Saints on a skid, and now tied with Carolina in the mystifying NFC South. 9. Carolina Panthers (6 ? 4), (14) One of the biggest leaps up the Rankings is Carolina who, like the Bengals, were performing well below both their talent level and their expectations. But it seems they have improved each week. First it was Delhomme and S.Smith and Keyshawn finding each other in a beautiful football daisy chain. Then, it was the defense, which crashed the party, and proceeded to trash the place Sunday against the hapless Rams. Julius Peppers (10 sacks) led a squad of 11 that held St. Louis to only 111 yards, while forcing four turnovers. Looks like the real deal. The Panthers are hoping the return of rookie Deangelo Williams breathes life into one of their few remaining weak spots: their 18th-ranked running game (107.3 yards a game). 10. Jacksonville Jaguars (6 ? 4), (13) David Garrard is officially the starting QB in Jacksonville. You heard it here first. No, really you did. Frustrated with Byron Leftwich?s wife and the team trainer for leaking his confidential starting QB info., Jack del Rio figured I could hold a secret. Boy, did he get that wrong. Well, it?s Garrard, anyway, and though he may not be the best man out there, he?s good enough for an enigmatic Jaguars team that has spent 2007 flip-flopping game results on an almost weekly basis. Something tells me their defense is just too good to allow for a slide, but those wild card spots are already pretty damn competitive in the AFC. 10 ? 6 might not even be enough. 11. New York Giants (6 ? 4), (8) Things are going wrong in all the wrong places, at all the wrong times. Ravaged by injuries to their defense --a list of names (Arrington, Strahan, Emmons, Umenyiora) that usually makes offenses shudder. The Giants also have to find a way to weather a rough stretch of schedule, as well as a quarterback seemingly intent on doing a repeat performance of his 2005 second-half swoon. It was right after that shameful collapse vs. Seattle that the defense shaped up. But Eli just plain shipped out, struggling to find receivers, with 2 TDs, 5 INTs, and 531 yards passing the last three games. The G-Men get a break against Tennessee Sunday, before going up against Carolina, Dallas, Philly and New Orleans. Someone fix something, or this could be over fast. 12. Kansas City Chiefs (6 ? 4), (12) The big story coming out of KC was the return of team leader Trent Green, a move expected by most, but debated to no end regardless. Damon Huard did as good a job as one could hope for from a back-up, and surely boosted his free-agent value. Green may have had a vanilla outing Sunday, but they were playing a tough Oakland secondary, and wisely let Larry Johnson and co. put up 200 yards of rushing to lead the way. And, in the end, Trent put up half of his 102 passing yards in one key game-winning fourth quarter drive, letting any remaining doubters know why Herm Edwards didn?t flinch bringing his Pro Bowl QB back behind center. 13. Cincinnati Bengals (5 ? 5), (NR) Vaulting back into my Rankings are the Bengals, a team that for several weeks was going through melodramatic daytime soap operatics. In-house bickering. Finger pointing. Second guessing. Missed tackles. Now, with a convincing shredding of a good team in the Saints, things are looking up. Chad Johnson went from silent to explosive with two straight statistical cash cows, as ?Ocho? and Carson made San Diego?s and New Orleans? secondaries look second-string. It?s an uphill battle, with Baltimore seemingly uncatchable. But if ever there were an upswing, this is it for the 2005 division champs. Look for a strong finissh to the season. 14. Seattle Seahawks (6 ? 4), (9) It was one week ago folks such as myself were singing the praises of Seattle, who were able to fight out some gritty W?s with Seneca and Maurice standing in for Matt and Shaun. Well, the truth caught up with them, in an embarrassing, must-not-lose game to the team next on the list. The Seahawks defense has been returning to its 2005 form of late, but the scoring threats have been revealed to be a little less than threatening. Good news? Hasselbeck is back at the helm Sunday, with Alexander behind him. The only big question is how long it takes for those two to inject life back into this substandard offense. 15. San Francisco 49ers (5 ? 5), (NR) The Niners, in their 5 stumbling losses, gave up 34, 41, 38, 41, and 48 points. Their last three games? 9 ? 3, 19 ? 13, and 20 ? 14. That last one was last week, against division leader Seattle. That also puts them at 5 ? 5, on a three-game winning streak, and all of a sudden 1 GB of a playoff spot. Stock is rising in SF for a surprising team pegged by most to get a top-3 2007 draft pick. Frank Gore is a monster right now, but the biggest news is the defense, which has really stepped up of late, taking pressure of a still-unseasoned Alex Smith. I don?t know how late in the season the fairy tale continues, but for now it?s happy endings all around, and a first time in my Weekly Rankings. Happy Thanksgiving everybody. See you next week same RealGM time, same RealGM channel.