Another week in the books and with 5 weeks left only 8 AFC teams are realistically alive for the 6 playoff berths. In the NFC, 7 teams can truly believe they are in the race, which makes for a pretty boring final month of the season. Mostly what we’re going to see is jockeying for playoff seeding unless a team like Pittsburgh makes a miracle run or a team like Seattle starts choking and lets Tampa Bay, New Orleans and San Francisco back in the race.

#1 (1) Kansas City (10-1): Can a team that can’t stop the run win the Super Bowl? Probably not.

#2 (4) Indianapolis (9-2): They withstood a shoddy performance early on and put together a pair of solid drives to win.

#3 (3) New England (9-2): NFL record eighth straight win when they go to OT proves how gritty this bunch is.

#4 (5) Tennessee (9-2): The health of McNair is paramount to their success because failing to win the division is a death sentence.

#5 (6) Dallas (8-3): Not the most talented team, but the one that does the most with the talent that the have.

#6 (7) Philadelphia (8-3): I still believe they will win the NFC East, and they are playing as well as any team in the NFL.

#7 (2) Carolina (8-3): They kept pounding Davis and he kept going nowhere, but this is still a team looking at home field in the playoffs, possibly throughout.

#8 (9) St. Louis (8-3): It shouldn’t have been close, but at least they won and now possibly play only one more game outdoors all year.

#9 (10) Miami (7-4): Maybe bringing Fiedler off the bench was the spark they need to claw back into the AFC East race.

#10 (8) Seattle (7-4): Yes, the NFL blew the play clock and allowed Baltimore to tie the game, but giving up 17 points inside of the final 7 minutes is not the mark of a good team..

#11 (11) Minnesota (7-4): The bleeding has finally stopped, and now that Bennett is healthy this offense needs to start delivering points by the bunches.

#12 (13) Green Bay (6-5): Another pounding victory for a team that will get stronger as the weather gets colder.

#13 (15) Cincinnati (6-5): Not an overwhelming win, but they easily could have let down on the road and they didn’t. Now they try to end Pittsburgh’s season.

#14 (16) Baltimore (6-5): Suddenly Anthony Wright looks like Doug Williams out there, but ultimately they were very lucky to win.

#15 (12) Denver (6-5): Horrible showing for a team that had their wild card run right in front of them. Losing to the Bears at home is an embarrassment.

#16 (14) New Orleans (5-6): The lights might have gone out on their playoffs hopes already, but Tampa Bay is coming in this week for the first of many must win games.

#17 (17) San Francisco (5-6): The start of a string where they play 4 of 5 on the road went the wrong way, and a playoff push seems unlikely.

#18 (19) Tampa Bay (5-6): It wasn’t a resounding win, but they got it done and now that Cancer Johnson is gone maybe they can rally the troops.

#19 (18) Buffalo (4-7): Their offense is horrible, and the Price for McGahee move looks pretty bad right about now.

#20 (20) Washington (4-7): This team seems to play well on most weeks, but lacks the killer instinct and finishing ability that comes with a power back.

#21 (24) Pittsburgh (4-7): If this season’s bizarre events are any indication, they might beat Cincinnati this week and crawl back into the AFC North race.

#22 (21) NY Giants (4-7): It’s all over but the fighting for a team that can move the ball but can’t find pay dirt.

#23 (22) Cleveland (4-7): Five turnovers is a good way to bow out of the division race, and the worst is yet to come.

#24 (25) NY Jets (4-7): Santana Moss is on a serious roll and this team should be a contender next season.

#25 (23) Houston (4-7): Another good showing that ends in a loss for a team that needs more playmakers.

#26 (27) Chicago (4-7): They are better than most people think, and proved it this week in Denver. If Rex Grossman is the real deal, the Bears could be back by 2005.

#27 (26) Detroit (3-8): Their defense played well enough for them to win, but without Charles Rogers their offense lacks punch.

#28 (28) Oakland (3-8): Good effort and draft position will help them rebound for a run next year.

#29 (29) Arizona (3-8): They almost claimed another victim in the desert, but they sucked just enough to blow it.

#30 (30) Jacksonville (2-9): Watch for their offense to be pretty potent at the end of the year and break out big next year.

#31 (31) Atlanta (2-9): Up 21-0 they thought they had it. When McNair went down they should have had it. That’s why they are horrible.

#32 (32) San Diego (2-9): It wasn’t a poor showing, but another loss. Do you think losing Harrison and Seau contributed to an NFL high 314 points allowed?