Here’s how I see things 1-32 in the NFL after eight weeks in the books:

1. New Orleans Saints (7-0)
The Saints have the most balanced offensive attack in the NFL, have been a more aggressive and opportunistic defense under new coordinator Gregg Williams and are off to their best start in franchise history. There is a lot of season left, but this team has a Super Bowl-feeling about them.

2. Indianapolis Colts (7-0)
I don’t know if the 49ers necessarily laid out a blueprint on how to stop Peyton Manning and the Colts, but they at least showed how to contain the potent Indy offense for four quarters.

3. Minnesota Vikings (7-1)
I bet Brett Favre and Jared Allen wish they could play the Packers every week, because they’ve owned Green Bay in two games this season.

4. Denver Broncos (6-1)
Teams always learn more from losses than they do wins, so it’ll be interesting to see how Josh McDaniels and his coaching staff adjusts heading into Monday night against the Steelers.

5. New England Patriots (5-2)
We’ll see what kind of team the Pats are over their next five games: vs. Miami, at Indy, vs. the Jets and at New Orleans. Is Tom Brady back to his usual self or did he just benefit from putting up outrageous numbers against two bad teams in the Titans and Bucs the past two games?

6. Cincinnati Bengals (5-2)
The Bengals should be fresh coming off their bye, but they face two opponents in the Ravens and Steelers in the next two weeks that are looking to avenge losses to Cincinnati earlier in the season. Can the Bengals at least earn a split to stay atop the AFC North?

7. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2)
The Steelers are feeling good after beating the Vikings two weeks ago and then getting Week 8 off. But they travel to Denver and then host Cincinnati the next two weeks, so we’ll see whether or not their record isn’t just a byproduct of facing bad teams like the Titans, Lions, Browns and the ever-inconsistent Chargers.

8. Dallas Cowboys (6-2)
Wade Phillips’ defense is starting to do a better job of creating turnovers and getting pressure on the quarterback. In the Cowboys’ last two games, they’ve racked up five takeaways and seven sacks. It’s no surprise that Dallas won both of those games and they’ll need more of the same when they travel to Philadelphia on Sunday night.

9. Philadelphia Eagles (5-2)
What an impressive win last Sunday as the Eagles thumped the Giants in every facet of the game. Can they do it again this week in another big divisional test?

10. New York Giants (5-3)
I don’t know what to make of this team – are they suffering from injuries or have the last three weeks been the norm? To date, the G-Men only have one win against a winning team, which came in Week 2 against the Cowboys. Their four other victories came against the Redskins, Bucs, Chiefs and Raiders. Yikes.

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According to a report by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Browns owner Randy Lerner said that Eric Mangini’s job is safe heading into the team’s bye week, but also noted that he was sick about their 1-7 record. Lerner also said that the Browns’ quarterback situation “doesn’t seem sensible” and that he may bring in a team president to overlook Mangini and GM George Kokonis.

Considering Mangini only has one offseason under his belt in Cleveland, he deserves more time. He’s essentially not working with the roster that he wants yet, so it makes sense that Lerner won’t pull the plug on him after only eight games.

That said, Mangini has to get this team to at least be competitive or else nobody will blame Lerner for scrapping the whole thing and starting from scratch again in the offseason. That might sound nauseating to Browns fans, but if Mangini is in over his head, then why waste one or two more years?

The Browns are a putrid 1-7. After giving a good Cincinnati team a run for its money in Week 4, Cleveland has scored a combined 29 points in four games. That’s barely a touchdown a game, which is staggering. Making matters worse, Mangini has already made one quarterback change this year switching from Brady Quinn to Derek Anderson, and may have to make another as Anderson continues to drive the Browns further into NFL purgatory. (He has failed to throw for over 100 yards in four of the six games he’s played in this season.)

Cleveland isn’t going to even sniff the playoffs this season, but what Lerner needs to see is a team that competes. If the players quit on Mangini, he may never get them back and then it’ll be time to make a change. He deserves another offseason to build the roster he wants, but at the same time he better earn it over the next eight games.

Following the Browns’ ugly 30-6 loss to the Bears on Sunday, running back Jamal Lewis said that he plans to retire after the season.

While he claims it wasn’t just a statement made in the heat of the moment, nobody would blame Lewis if it were. Lewis is 30, has seen his play drop quite a bit this year and he’s stuck on a morbid franchise. So why stick around?

I honestly don’t know how the Browns have won a game this year. Their defense is bad, but it pails in comparison to how atrocious Derek Anderson and the offense is, which turned the ball over five times on Sunday. Chicago’s secondary has been shredded at times this season, yet Anderson found a way to only complete 6-of-17 pass attempts for a measly 76 yards. Oh, and he also threw two interceptions and fumbled once.

I’m sure someone will raise the question of whether or not Brady Quinn should resume the starting spot over Anderson next week. But Quinn has already shown that he’s just as incapable of running the offense as Anderson is, so does it really matter? If I were a Cleveland fan (and I just threw up a little at the mere thought of that), I’d rather see Brett Ratliff given a chance to start before Quinn is given a second opportunity.

About the only reason to watch the Browns these days is to see whether or not defensive coordinator Rob Ryan will get in a fight with anyone on the sidelines. He and Jay Cutler went at it (verbally, of course) on Sunday and it was the only entertainment Cleveland provided all day.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Cleveland Browns are not considering a change at quarterback, which means Derek Anderson will remain the team’s starter.

The Browns are damned if they do, damned if they don’t in this situation. In Brady Quinn, they had a quarterback that didn’t make wise decisions, couldn’t throw the ball vertically, couldn’t hit receivers in stride and couldn’t lead the offense. In Anderson, they have a quarterback that doesn’t make wise decisions, can’t lead the offense and is completely turnover prone. But hey, at least he can throw the ball vertically; sometimes it’s directly to the other team, but vertical nonetheless.

Even though Anderson is incapable of moving the offense, Eric Mangini has to stick with him at this point because if he goes back to Quinn than it’s going to look like he has less of a handle on the situation than he already does. The bottom line is that Cleveland has one of the most inept offenses in the NFL and they don’t have a quarterback on the roster that can guide them out of the muck.

Unless…Brett Ratliff anyone?

The Eagles acquired linebacker Will Witherspoon from the Rams at the trade deadline on Tuesday. In exchange for Witherspoon, St. Louis acquired wide receiver Brandon Gibson and a 2010 fifth round pick.

Witherspoon had been playing the weak side linebacker position for the Rams, but he has experience in the middle, which has been a weakness for the Eagles since Stewart Bradley was lost for the season in training camp. Stewart’s replacements, Jeremiah Trotter and Omar Gaither, are fine against the run but have been a liability in coverage.

Gibson was a sixth round pick of the Eagles’ in April. He impressed Philadelphia’s coaching staff in training camp, but was never going to see the field with DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and others in front of him. St. Louis has had a major need at receiver, especially since Laurent Robinson was lost for the year with a knee injury.

As expected, the trade deadline came and went without any big names being dealt. Rumors circulated last week that Brady Quinn, Joshua Cribbs and/or Terrell Owens might be traded, but nothing came to fruition.

The NFL trade deadline is today and not much is expected to happen because, well, nothing usually happens.

Here are a few reasons why:

- The deadline occurs after Week 6 and good luck getting any head coach to say that the season is over when there are still 10 games left on the schedule. Teams haven’t thrown in the towel yet and still believe the players they have on their roster give them the best chance to win. And if teams with losing records aren’t willing to deal, how are teams with the winning records supposed to improve themselves in an attempt to make the playoffs?

- Not every player is a match for a team’s offensive or defensive system. Football isn’t like baseball where the second base position in Milwaukee is the same as the second base position in San Francisco. It takes players weeks, if not months, if not seasons to learn a new system, so knowing that they can’t get a quick return on their investment, teams are reluctant to acquire new players. Take the Bears and Gaines Adams for example. Chicago acquired him on Friday night from Tampa Bay, but didn’t even bother activating him for Sunday night’s game against the Falcons because they knew he wouldn’t be ready to play in their system. The Falcons traded for cornerback Ty Hill (a former starter for the Rams) right before the season started and still haven’t played him yet.

- Unless an entirely new staff takes over in the offseason (i.e. Cleveland and Tampa Bay), coaches aren’t willing to give up on the players they drafted. You hear the term “his player” used all the time in the NFL. Come hell or high water, a coach is going to fight for the player he drafted (especially if they were a first day pick), because they don’t want to see the fruits of their labor have success anywhere else.

So even if you hear the names Brady Quinn, Josh Cribbs and Terrell Owens thrown around today, don’t buy into the hype that they’ll be traded because those players will likely be wearing the same uniforms come Sunday.

There is growing speculation out of Cleveland that the Browns will deal quarterback Brady Quinn before the October 20 trade deadline. Quinn won the Browns’ starting quarterback job in preseason but struggled mightily once the regular season started and was replaced by Derek Anderson.

Considering the Browns traded Kellen Winslow to the Buccaneers this offseason and Braylon Edwards to the Jets last week, it’s clear that the team has no reservations about dealing former first round picks. So the rumor of Quinn being shipped out of town certainly holds water.

Despite his brutal 2-for-17 passing performance against the Bills last Sunday, Anderson has shown that he can move the offense better than Quinn can. Anderson is turnover prone, but he has the strong arm that head coach Eric Mangini covets. Quinn, on the other hand, displayed poor pocket awareness and the inability to hit receivers in stride during the first few weeks of the season.

But while a trade makes sense for the Browns (Mangini reportedly favors former Jet Brett Ratliff as his backup, making Quinn even more expendable), they just don’t happen that often midseason. I realize Cleveland just dealt Edwards to New York last week, but his recent off-field incident and growing tension with management expedited that process.

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The Browns’ 23-20 overtime loss to instate rival Cincinnati on Sunday really summed up Eric Mangini’s start in Cleveland.

The Browns did the improbable in the fourth quarter by blocking an extra point following a Chad Ochocinco 2-yard touchdown pass to force overtime. Then they really did the improbable by allowing a gimpy Carson Palmer to scramble 15 yards in the extra period to set up Shayne Graham’s game-winning 31-yard field goal with four seconds remaining.

Did I mention that Palmer’s scramble was on fourth down? Had they stopped the Bengals on that play, Mangini and the Browns were looking at a tie at the very least, which certainly would have been better than suffering their fourth consecutive loss.

The good thing for Cleveland is that they fought hard after trailing Cincinnati 14-7 early in the first half. They also forced two key turnovers and the offense looked more efficient with Anderson under center than they did with Brady Quinn in previous weeks. Jerome Harrison rushed for 121 yards on 29 carries, while rookie receiver Mohamed Massaquoi caught eight passes for 148 yards.

But moral victories don’t really count when you’re 0-4. Mangini deserves time to build the roster he wants, but in the meantime he still needs to produce a victory or two because the Cleveland faithful has suffered enough. A win today would have given Mangini a little support.

Hell, a tie would have done the same thing.

Browns head coach Eric Mangini told reporters on Wednesday that Derek Anderson would replace Brady Quinn at quarterback and start this Sunday against the Bengals.

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Mangini said “giving Derek the opportunity is something I think will help us offensively.” He said Anderson’s performance on third down Sunday in Baltimore — including 3-of-4 on a field goal drive — helped him clinch the job. He said he needs to improve on throwing interceptions, after throwing three in Baltimore.

Mangini had little choice. Quinn wasn’t moving the offense, looked uncomfortable in his decision-making and wasn’t giving his receivers a chance to run after the catch. While Anderson shouldn’t be expected to fix what ails the Browns, he does have a stronger arm, will test defenses vertically and did move the ball more efficiently than Quinn last week against the Ravens. (Granted, Anderson also threw three interceptions against Baltimore.)

Cleveland’s defense has played well enough to keep the Browns competitive, but the offense has been stagnant and while Quinn isn’t the only one to blame, the quarterback is always the first one to be replaced when a team is losing. If Quinn had showed any signs that he was progressing as a passer, then maybe Mangini would have given the young QB more time. But he wasn’t, and thus it’s time to give Anderson a shot to lead the offense again.

Mangini needs this move to pay off or else he’s going to start losing the locker room (if he hasn’t already). He got off to a rough start with players like Shaun Rodgers when he was hired, and hasn’t endeared himself to others with his crass attitude and Bill Belichick-like demeanor. It may be too early to suggest that he’s on the hot seat, but if he doesn’t get a win soon he’s going to have a mess on his hands.

One of the knocks on Brady Quinn entering the 2007 NFL Draft was that he lacked the arm strength to zip the ball into tight coverage on passes longer than 10 yards. To a lesser degree, his accuracy and footwork were also questioned.

One thing Quinn rarely received criticism for was his ability to run a pro offense after studying under Charlie Weis at Notre Dame for two years. But so far, that’s one of the main factors playing into whether or not he’s long for the Browns’ starting quarterback job.

Said head coach Eric Mangini via the Canton Repository following the Browns’ embarrassing 27-6 loss to the Broncos on Sunday: “There were definitely some opportunities for him to get the ball to receivers that were open. There were some plays where I thought he had nice throws, but it’s consistency, it’s consistency, it’s consistency…first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter.”

While Mangini’s comments were hardly an indication that a change is coming, that doesn’t sound like a head coach that completely backs his starting quarterback. And whether it was semantics or not, Mangini was the one that waited the entire preseason before naming Quinn the starter, which raises the question of how long he’ll stick with the young QB if Quinn continues down the path he’s on.

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