Let's hop to it.

First, I'm having a hard time deciding who the top teams in the league are.  In the AFC, your guess is as good as mine.  Right now my guess is Pittsburgh, with the Steelers and the Chargers having a possible AFC Title matchup this week. 

New England has fell off the map, getting hammered by LaDamian Tomlinson last week like no team has done since they won their first Super Bowl.  It doesn't help things that they have to go to the Georgia Dome this week and face off against a run-dominated Falcons.  They could go under-500 for the first time in years.

But what about the NFC?  Donovan McNabb has put up better numbers than anyone in the league so far.  His QB rating is over 100, he's thrown for over 1300 yards, and he's got 11 passing touchdowns.  And note:  most of this came after that Monday night stinker he had in Week 1 AND with injuries that could eventually get the best of him and put him on the shelf.  Then there's Atlanta, which could solidify their argument by beating the Patriots, after handing the Eagles their only loss in Week 1.

Notice who's missing?  That's right...the undefeated teams.  Sorry, but none of those teams have beaten anyone significant in the first four weeks of the season to say without a doubt they are the best in the league.  Everyone else is battle tested.

The Colts defense have turned in some great performances, but those were against teams that have little to no offense to begin with.  The best offense out of any of those teams is Jacksonville, and Brian Leftwich hasn't been playing up to snuff lately.  But the Colts have a pretty easy schedule during the first half of the season.  They should steamroll over there next three opponents (Niners, Rams, Texans) before they meet up with the Patriots on a cold Monday night.  Then again, the way things have been looking for the Patriots, there might not be a team for them to play.

This week, we'll find out whether the Bengals and the Redskins are man or mouse.  The Bengals have Jacksonville, who still has that great defense from last year, but have struggled on offense.  The Redskins have the Broncos, who have been red hot since dropping their opener to the Dolphins.  The Bengals' offense has been impressing everyone, particularly Carson Palmer.  The Redskins...well, let's just say they've had Lady Luck on their side more than a few times this year.  But hey; I can't think of a better coach to get that luck other than Joe Gibbs.

Tampa Bay is on the fence right now.  Yeah they're undefeated, but a lot of people say instant replay and poor officiating robbed the Lions of a win.  I dunno; I didn't see the play.  But the Bucs are playing close games with teams that they should be blowing out.  It doesn't help things that Cadillac has a flat tire too.  They "should" whup a depleted Jets team this week; but what happens when they have that Florida showdown with Miami next week?  Uh oh.

No; I didn't mention my Panthers today.  I want to stay in a good mood.

Anyway, here are my picks:

Baltimore over Detroit (tossup)

Miami over Buffalo

Green Bay over New Orleans

Tampa Bay over the Jets

Cleveland over Chicago

Atlanta over New England

Rams over Seattle

Tennessee over Houston

Colts over Niners

Dallas over Philly (UPSET SPECIAL!)

Panthers over Cards

Denver over Redskins

Bengals over Jacksonville

And Monday night....Chargers over Steelers

This will probably be my shakiest week yet.  I'm not sure about half of these games.  Baltimore/Detroit could go either way; New England could find a way to beat Atlanta (after all, they DID lose to Seattle); Houston needs a win badly, and Lady Luck could be on the side of the Skins again.  I expect to grimace every time I read the ticker this week.