1. Houston Texans: Schaub outplayed Manning in statement win for Houston.
2. Atlanta Falcons: Balanced, all-around effort from most impressive team in the NFC.
3. San Francisco 49ers: Looked like top team last week, then laid an egg vs. Vikings.
4. Baltimore Ravens: Emotional effort by Torrey Smith (6-127-2) despite heavy heart.
5. New York Giants: Who needs Ballard, Manningham? Bennett, Barden stepping up.
6. Arizona Cardinals: Proved the defense is for real and finally got Ryan Williams going.
7. Green Bay Packers: Which feels worse: the Seattle loss or the fact that Vikings are 2-1?
8. New England Patriots: Dropped below .500 mark for first time since early 2003.
9. Chicago Bears: Pass offense still a concern, but “D” was superb.
10. Philadelphia Eagles: Cardinals finally made them pay for their mistakes.
11. San Diego Chargers: Came down to earth; looked out of sorts vs. Atlanta.
12. Seattle Seahawks: Defense was amazing vs. Green Bay, but luck won the game for them.
13. Dallas Cowboys: Romo got off to a slow start, but “D” stepped up to beat the Bucs.
14. Denver Broncos: Peyton is good coming from behind, but holes “D” is digging too big.
15. Pittsburgh Steelers: Couldn’t survive without Polamalu, Harrison two weeks in a row.
16. Cincinnati Bengals: Dalton-Green connection had one of those special days for Cincy.
17. New York Jets: Surprisingly cut LB Bryan Thomas — run defense could use him.
18. Buffalo Bills: Spiller’s injury not serious; team breathes a sigh of relief.
19. Detroit Lions: Leshoure brings spark to run game, but offense getting off to slow starts.
20. Minnesota Vikings: Beat Niners at their own game: being physical, grinding out a “W.”
21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Bottled up Dallas’ run game. Freeman had game to forget.
22. Washington Redskins: Not a banner day for the DBs: allowed 385 passing yards.
23. Carolina Panthers: Beatdown by Giants raised questions about Newton’s attitude.
24. Tennessee Titans: Music City Miracle Part Two, 378 yards for Locker; quite a win.
25. Kansas City Chiefs: That’s the Jamaal Charles we remember: 233 rushing yards.
26. Miami Dolphins: Think Joe Philbin wants to take that timeout back?
27. Oakland Raiders: Clutch plays by Palmer helped get Dennis Allen his first win.
28. Jacksonville Jaguars: Gabbert’s clutch play overshadowed 28-177 performance by MJD.
29. New Orleans Saints: Winless Saints already have played a quarter of their home slate.
30. St. Louis Rams: Finnegan looking like one of the better free-agent acquisitions.
31. Indianapolis Colts: Rookie T.Y. Hilton looks to be the Colts’ new No. 3 receiver.
32. Cleveland Browns: Traveling to Baltimore on short rest not what an 0-3 team needs.
