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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Here’s how I see things 1-32 in the NFL now that seven weeks are in the books.

1. New Orleans Saints (6-0)
Considering they gave up 34 points last week, it would be easy to assume that the Saints defense didn’t play well. But it was actually Drew Brees that allowed the Dolphins to jump out to a 24-3 halftime lead with all the turnovers he had. Credit Sean Payton for not abandoning the run and getting away from his game plan despite the early deficit.

2. Indianapolis Colts (6-0)
The Colts continue to feast on bad teams, as they blew out the Rams in St. Louis last Sunday. But they’ll get a couple of decent challenges from their next four opponents: 49ers (or maybe not considering how overrated Mike Singletary’s team now looks), Texans, Patriots and Ravens.

3. Denver Broncos (6-0)
It’s amazing how this team continues to be underdogs week after week. Despite being undefeated and facing an opponent that has lost three straight, the Broncos are 3-point underdogs at the Ravens this Sunday. Something tells me Josh McDaniels wouldn’t have it any other way.

4. New England Patriots (5-2)
I’m not overlooking the fact that the Patriots absolutely demolished two bad teams the past two weeks. But I’m also not going to overlook how comfortable Tom Brady seems in the pocket again.

5. Minnesota Vikings (6-1)
Why Brad Childress decided not to use Adrian Peterson more in those final six minutes on Sunday is beyond me. Brett Favre shouldn’t be attempting 51 passes in a game unless it’s a blow out and the Vikes need to throw to get back into it.

6. Cincinnati Bengals (5-2)
Any lingering doubts about whether or not the Bengals could put their home loss to the Texans in Week 6 behind them were erased once they scored their fourth touchdown of the first half against the Bears. What a season Cedric Benson is having.

7. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2)
This hasn’t been an overly impressive team through the first seven weeks of the season, but the Steelers always have a knack for making their opponents look really bad on Sundays.

8. Arizona Cardinals (4-2)
This may be a little high for the Cardinals, but I can’t force myself to rank them below the Giants after their impressive win last week in East Rutherford. There’s a lot to like about this Cardinals team right now: They’re playing well defensively, their offense is starting to get into a rhythm and Beanie Wells is even showing potential in the running game. ‘Zona is once again the team to beat in the NFC West.

9. New York Giants (5-2)
The Giants are who we thought they were: An injury-riddled team that is going to have to battle some tough opponents over the next couple weeks to stay afloat in the NFC East.

10. Dallas Cowboys (5-2)
If the Cowboys can play with the same intensity, focus and determination every week as they did last Sunday against the Falcons, they’ll have no problem making the playoffs. I swear the Dallas players thought it was the Super Bowl with how they got up for Atlanta.

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Okay, so we can finally separate Josh McDaniels and Marvin Lewis after the former beat San Diego to reach 6-0 and the latter lost a tough home game to Houston. Here is our current power rankings for NFL Coach of the Year:

1. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos—Seriously, 6-0? The schedule keeps getting tougher, but it doesn’t seem to faze this team or their confident coach. Dude is a mini-Belichick, the first “offspring” to be worthy of that title.

2. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—After beating the Giants to reach 5-0, we can start talking about the very real likelihood of the Saints reaching the Super Bowl for the first time, and this guy is a big reason why. It’s still amazing that he managed to pay his defensive coordinator a quarter mil of his own cash to lure him, but it seems to have been worth it.

3. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—Just like his QB, you can’t fault Caldwell for the bye week.

4. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—Now 6-0, there should be no question that Childress did himself and the city of Minnesota a huge favor bringing back #4. He sure wasn’t going to be 6-0 with Tarvaris Jackson, was he?

5. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons—A tough win against the Bears, and this team is not fading any time soon. Really, the Falcons and Saints are two of the best teams in the NFC and it should be interesting when they meet.

Honorable mention: Tom Coughlin, Giants; Bill Belichick, Patriots; Marvin Lewis, Bengals

Here’s how I see things 1-32 in the NFL now that the first six weeks of the season are in the books.

1. New Orleans Saints (5-0)
As of right now, I don’t see how any team in the NFC can walk into the Superdome and beat the Saints on their home turf. Drew Brees is the early-season MVP and Gregg Williams has transformed New Orleans’ defense overnight.

2. Indianapolis Colts (5-0)
Outside of maybe Miami, the Colts haven’t been tested by a formidable foe. But they’ve done what they’re supposed to do: Crush bad teams. They’ll crush another one this week in the Rams.

3. Minnesota Vikings (6-0)
The way the Ravens moved the ball at will on the Vikings’ defense in the fourth quarter on Sunday is troubling, but nobody can stop Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson right now…except maybe the Steelers, that is. Minnesota gets another huge test this weekend in Pittsburgh.

4. Denver Broncos (5-0)
I see an offensive growing under Josh McDaniels, which is a bad sign for future opponents. What a great special teams effort by Eddie Royal on Monday night.

5. New York Giants (5-1)
Sunday proved that the Giants have to get healthy on defense. They can get away with not having several defensive starters against teams like the Redskins, Bucs, Chiefs and Raiders, but the Saints made them look like a JV squad.

6. Atlanta Falcons (4-1)
The Falcons weren’t overly impressive on Sunday night, but their defense rose to the challenge. They forced two red zone turnovers, completely shut down the Bears’ running game and held Chicago to only 14 points. It looks like Mike Smith’s young defense is starting to come together.

7. Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2)
The Steelers played a sloppy game on Sunday, but Ben Roethlisberger continues to make plays vertically in the passing game and now that Troy Polamalu is healthy, Pittsburgh’s defense is almost back to form.

8. New England Patriots (4-2)
Sure, the Titans are a bad football team. But Tom Brady finally looked like Tom Brady again on Sunday and New England’s defense turned in its best effort of the season.

9. Cincinnati Bengals (4-2)
I think the Bengals’ loss to the Texans on Sunday will actually do them more good than bad. The players may have started to read their own press clippings and now Marvin Lewis can remind his team that they have a long way to go.

10. Chicago Bears (3-2)
The Bears missed so many opportunities to earn a victory Sunday night in Atlanta that I would need a calculator, a ruler, an abacus and a stiff drink to total all of them up. The offensive line better start gelling soon or else Chicago’s running game is going to be non-existent all season.

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Here’s how I view things 1-32 after five weeks of NFL action:

1. New York Giants (5-0)
The G-Men didn’t suffer a letdown against the Raiders last weekend and Eli Manning didn’t appear to be slowed by his foot injury. The Giants will now get their biggest test of the year this week: A road trip to New Orleans.

2. Indianapolis Colts (5-0)
The Colts carved up opponents in the first five weeks of the season and now have the bye week to rest up before making a run at the top seed in the AFC.

3. New Orleans Saints (4-0)
A win over the Giants this Sunday will prove that the Saints are the best team in the NFC. Drew Brees and company is well rested, but the Giants have one of the best defenses in the league and will challenge New Orleans from start to finish.

4. Minnesota Vikings (5-0)
Everything is working out swimmingly right now for the Vikings. Opponents are still stacking the box in efforts to stop Adrian Peterson and Brett Favre is beating teams with his accuracy through the air. The Vikes’ defense has played great thus far, but the Ravens will test them this Sunday.

5. Denver Broncos (5-0)
After earning a fluke win against the Bengals in Week 1 and notching two gimmies against the Browns and Raiders in Weeks 2 and 3, respectively, the Broncos showed their meddle in wins over the Cowboys and Patriots. This team is legit.

6. Philadelphia Eagles (3-1)
The Eagles may possibly have the easiest first half schedule of anyone in the NFL. With wins over the Panthers, Chiefs and Bucs already in the books, the Eagles will take on the Raiders and Redskins in the next two weeks. They better notch two more victories because after they play Washington in Week 7, Philly faces a daunting second half schedule that features the Giants (twice), Bears, Falcons, Chargers, 49ers, Cowboys (twice) and Broncos.

7. Cincinnati Bengals (4-1)
The Bengals have beaten playoff-caliber teams virtually every week and the amazing thing is that they should be undefeated right now had they not allowed a fluke TD to the Broncos in Week 1. And much like Denver, this Cincy team is for realsies.

8. Atlanta Falcons (3-1)
The Falcons absolutely destroyed a good 49ers team last week and it all started up front with the offensive line. Atlanta’s front five gave Matt Ryan excellent protection so he could carve up San Fran’s defense and also gave Michael Turner ample running room. The Falcons have a tough stretch of games coming up, but if Mike Smith’s team continues to play as well as it did last week, then Atlanta will hold strong.

9. Chicago Bears (3-1)
The Bears return to the scene of their most heart-breaking loss of the 2008 season this week when they travel to Atlanta to take on the Falcons. Think Lovie Smith’s defense will cover the out route this time if Matt Ryan needs a big completion along the sidelines with the game on the line? Jay Cutler won in Atlanta last year as a member of the Broncos and his current team is well rested after having their bye last week. Chicago will be well prepared.

10. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2)
Troy Polamalu and Willie Parker are set to return for the Steelers this week, although defensive end Aaron Smith could miss the next three months after he has surgery to fix a torn rotator cuff. While Smith’s loss will be felt, getting Polamalu back is huge.

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Here’s how I see things 1-32 in the NFL after four weeks.

1. New York Giants (4-0)
The Giants have the deepest collection of depth in the entire league. GM Jerry Reese did an outstanding job adding defensive depth this offseason and it’s paying off following injuries to Kenny Phillips, Chris Canty and Michael Boley. Eli Manning’s foot injury is a concern, but the G-Men look as good as anyone in the league right now.

2. New Orleans Saints (4-0)
Thanks to Darren Sharper and new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, the Saints finally have the D to match their explosive offense. Teams are going to find it hard playing inside the Superdome all season.

3. Indianapolis Colts (4-0)
Peyton Manning is playing up to his Pro Bowl-caliber self and the defense looks faster and more aggressive under new coordinator Larry Coyer. Indy is currently the team to beat in the AFC.

4. Minnesota Vikings (4-0)
The Vikings look great so far this season, but the theme all year is going to be whether or not Brett Favre can stay healthy. Last night the Packers took away Adrian Peterson and Favre beat them with some amazing throws. But he also faced zero rush and teams aren’t going to give him that kind of time every week.

5. New York Jets (3-1)
It’s not surprising that a team finally made Mark Sanchez look like a rookie because it was bound to happen. What he does next will determine how good this kid will be and whether or not he can lead the Jets to the playoffs.

6. New England Patriots (3-1)
Something still seems off with the Patriots, but they have a great opportunity over the next couple weeks to rack up three more wins before their bye. Their defense still has holes and they’ve benefited from some questionable calls, but give Bill Belichick and Tom Brady credit for finding a way to get to 3-1 after a lackluster start.

7. Baltimore Ravens (3-1)
A couple of calls didn’t go their way on Sunday, but that’s no excuse for Baltimore’s receivers to drop two key passes in the red zone with the game on the line. This is still a very good football team, but the Ravens cost themselves an opportunity to stay undefeated last week.

8. Denver Broncos (4-0)
The Broncos’ offense is still a work in progress, but Correll Buckhalter and Knowshon Moreno are a form a nice duo in the running game, the offensive line is solid and Brandon Marshall is a weapon. As long as the defense continues to play as well as it has, the Broncos should overcome their limitations on offense.

9. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-2)
Is Rashard Mendenhall the key to what ails the Pittsburgh running game? If he is, the defending champs are going to be tough to beat from here on out. The offensive line played great against San Diego on Sunday night.

10. Atlanta Falcons (2-1)
Hopefully over the bye, Mike Smith fixed some of the Falcons’ defensive issues that were on display in New England two weeks ago. This team needs to do a better job of applying pressure on the quarterback and stopping the run or else they’re going to continue to have problems against elite teams. Michael Turner and the running game need to get going as well so that Matt Ryan can benefit from a balanced attack.

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I usually wait until midseason to compile any sort of power rankings for the NFL, but readers eat up power rankings like kids mowing down candy on Halloween so I figured I’d indulge.

Here’s how I see things 1-32 in the NFL for the first two weeks:

1. New York Giants (2-0)
For all the criticism it received in the offseason, the Giants’ passing game looks fine to me. Mario Manningham and Steve Smith have embraced their new starting roles and thanks to NY’s outstanding pass protection, Eli is finding them with the greatest of ease.

2. New Orleans Saints (2-0)
Pundits chalked up the Saints’ 45-point effort in Week 1 as a result of the Lions’ brutal defense…until the Saints hung 48 on the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Week 2. Nobody should overlook this juggernaut, led by their MVP-caliber quarterback Drew Brees.

3. Baltimore Ravens (2-0)
The Ravens still have some issues to iron out in their secondary, but Ray Lewis is playing like he’s 24 (not 34) and the offense is averaging 34.5 points a game. With the lowly Browns coming to town this week, Baltimore is headed for a 3-0 start.

4. Indianapolis Colts (2-0)
How do the Colts win a game by only running 35 offensive plays? Peyton Manning – that’s how. Indy will have concerns all year about its defense wearing down late in games but as long as the score is close, Peyton is going to give them a chance to win.

5. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1)
The defending champs are battling injuries (Troy Polamalu) and still don’t pose a threat running the ball, but Ben Roethlisberger and a great defense will keep this team afloat all season.

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Here are ESPN.com’s NFL Power Rankings for Week 2:

1 Steelers
They need to get their running game going, but Big Ben seems better than ever. (Chadiha)

2 Patriots
Tom Brady is magic in the final minutes, but the Pats’ defense appears shaky. (Clayton)

3 Giants
The Giants might not have a No. 1 receiver, but they seem like a No. 1 team. (Clayton)

4 Eagles
By going for a meaningless fifth TD against the Panthers, Donovan McNabb fractured his ribs and the Eagles’ season. (Clayton)

5 Colts
Jim Caldwell showed some killer instinct at the end, but his running game didn’t prove to be worth the faith. (Kuharsky)

6 Chargers
They escaped with a win in Oakland, but the injury to center Nick Hardwick could be a big issue. (Kuharsky)

7 Falcons
They beat the Dolphins comfortably without getting much production from Michael Turner or the ground game in general. Matt Ryan already seems to have a rapport with Tony Gonzalez. (Sando)

8 Vikings
Adrian Peterson already seems like this season’s MVP. (Chadiha)

9 Titans
Mistakes in Pittsburgh kept the Titans from a potential upset, but Jeff Fisher won’t let them dwell on the opener. (Kuharsky)

10 Ravens
Even though it was against the Chiefs’ defense, the Ravens’ offense appears far more diversified and explosive this season. (Chadiha)

My problem with power rankings that are compiled early in the season is that they put too much emphasis on preseason predictions and not enough on performance.

For example, did the Patriots play like the second best team in the league against the Bills on Monday night? Absolutely not, but because they’re the Patriots they find themselves ranked high in everyone’s rankings. The fact is that the Bills were a Leodis McKelvin touchback away from beating the Pats in Foxboro. That doesn’t sound like a team that should be ranked No. 2.

How about the Chargers? They played uninspired in Oakland and still find themselves in the top 10. For the record, I think San Diego is a Super Bowl contender this year. But there was something very unsatisfying about the Bolts’ (and the Patriots’ for that matter) win last night.

I understand this isn’t how power rankings work, but if we were to rank each team based off of last week’s games, then the Eagles would be No. 1 in my book. No team (outside of the Saints, who played the lowly Lions) dominated their opponent like the Eagles did to the Panthers.

Don Banks of SI.com did a cool feature in which he ranked all 32 teams based on their performance this decade.

1. New England
Regular season: 102-42, .708
Playoff wins/record: 14-3
Super Bowls won/appeared: 3 out of 4
Playoff seasons: 6
Winning seasons: 8
Losing seasons: 1
In the past six seasons, the Patriots have won an astounding 77 games in the regular season (one shy of 13 per year), and 11 more in the playoffs. And let’s not lose sight of the fact that Bill Belichick’s 2001 no-name club authored one of the most remarkable Super Bowl upsets in history. If the 2007 Patriots had just been able to close the deal against the Giants, the only debate would be whether that New England team is the NFL’s greatest ever, not whether the Patriots are the best of the current decade. Alas, the Pats are one miraculous David Tyree helmet catch away from all of that.

He’s top five consists of the Patriots, Steelers, Colts, Eagles and Giants, which is hard to argue with. The Patriots won three of the four Super Bowl appearances they played in, while the Steelers won both of theirs. The Colts made the playoffs eight times this decade and won the Super Bowl in 2006. Even though the Eagles didn’t win their Super Bowl appearance in 2004, they had seven playoff seasons and seven winning seasons.

Giant fans might be a little upset that their team didn’t get a higher ranking than No. 5 after producing one of the best upsets in SB history (if not the best), but they were stomped in their other SB appearance of the decade and had three losing seasons, which was the most of any teams in the top 5. Banks’ ranking was fair.

Not surprisingly, the Lions ranked dead last in Banks’ rankings and there’s little debate that they’re the worst team of this decade.

Peter King of SI.com ranked all 32 teams in the NFL based on how they look after minicamps wrapped up and he had a bit of a surprise in his top 5.

4. Chicago
I may not like how Jay Cutler babied his way out of Denver, but by Labor Day, the football world will have forgotten, and by Thanksgiving, the most popular baby name in Chicagoland will be Jay. (Unless it’s Jerry, as in Angelo, the man who stuck his neck out and made this deal.) Cutler’s a big-time player, and I suspect we’ll find out over the next few years if he has nerves of steel and can win the big game.

Now, there’s two things we don’t know about Cutler and this offense. There’s not a great receiver in the house and no promise of one on the way (Angelo should have guaranteed Torry Holt more money to get him to come to the Windy City). So Cutler’s going to have to make do with the Devin Hesters and Rashied Davises, apparently. (Not that there’s anything wrong with Hester. But he should be a third receiver, using his speed to game-break.)

Two: How good of a leader can Cutler be, coming in with the knock that he chafes on some teammates. It’ll be interesting to see if he meshes well with Brian Urlacher; I don’t take for granted that he will. Because of the Cutler factor and because I don’t love the defense the way I did two or three years ago, I didn’t want to leap the Bears over so many other teams. But then I went back and looked at their 2008 numbers. The bedrock stats for a good defense, I’ve always thought, are opponents yards per rush, turnovers forced and opponents’ yards per pass. The yards per rush, 3.4, was excellent, third-best in the league. Turnovers forced, 32, was very good, second in the league. And yards per pass play by foes, 6.20, was eighth in the league. All good. If Cutler can lead an offense that puts up 400 points, only a point and a fraction more than a year ago, the Bears should win 12.

People seem to forget to mention Greg Olsen when they crap on the Bears’ receiving corps. Olsen wasn’t drafted a couple years ago to block – he’s the best receiver Chicago has on its roster. He has outstanding hands, great athletic ability and is fast enough to line up in the slot. Offensive coordinator Ron Turner just needs to find more ways to use Olsen in the passing game.

Another thing to remember is that Earl Bennett played with Cutler at Vanderbilt and the Bears are extremely high on the second year wideout, despite him going o’fer in the catch department last year. The knock on Bennett is that he struggled learning the offense as a rookie and the Bears just couldn’t get him onto the field. If Cutler can help his old Vandy teammate pick up the offense, Bennett could be a wild card for the Bears.

I wouldn’t put the Bears ahead of the Colts or Eagles as King did, but there’s a ton of optimism in Chicago these days.