With Drew Brees and Peyton Manning leading their teams to victory again, barely, there is no good reason to drop them in the rankings here. Meanwhile, Brett Favre and Jared Allen did not play, so we held spots for them, but moved Cedric Benson up based on a second 100-yard rushing performance against the Ravens.

1. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—Halfway through the season, Brees and his Saints are 8-0 and have a three game lead in their division. Suffice to say, this team appears to be headed toward a first round bye, and their QB is one of the biggest reasons.

2. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—After a subpar start to 2008 after knee surgery, Manning wanted to get off to a fast start this season, and he has done just that. But what might be more impressive is that after Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark, he’s throwing to guys named Garcon and Collie.

3. Cedric Benson, Cincinnati Bengals—He rushed for 120 yards against the Ravens in Week 5, and 117 yards against them in Week 9. Read that back. That’s two 100 yard games against the Baltimore Ravens, and that’s just sick.

4. Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings—The old man still has it, much to the dismay of everyone in Northern Wisconsin. You think Ted Thompson is sleeping well lately?

5. Jared Allen, Minnesota Vikings—He’s had two weeks to rest those wheels that never seem to stop moving. Next on Allen’s hit list is that poor Stafford kid in Detroit.

Honorable Mention–Elvis Dumervil, Broncos; Andre Johnson, Texans, Tom Brady, Patriots; Adrian Peterson, Vikings; Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars, Chris Johnson, Titans; Reggie Wayne, Colts; Michael Turner, Falcons; Reggie Wayne, Colts; Steve Smith, Giants

For the past couple days, I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out why in the world the Panthers would stick with Jake Delhomme at quarterback.

To say that Delhomme has struggled this year would be a gross understatement. He is 2-4 as a starter, is leading the league in interceptions and has somehow found a way to make explosive receiver Steve Smith non-existent. So why stick with him instead of giving A.J. Feeley or Matt Moore an opportunity?

One reason is because the Panthers have so much money invested in Delhomme after they signed him to a five-year, $42.5 million extension in April. They thought Delhomme would shake off his brutal performance in last year’s playoffs and at the very least, be able to turn around and hand the ball off to DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart.

But Delhomme has been a disaster thus far and head coach John Fox is taking a huge risk in sticking with him. If Delhomme continues to struggle and Fox doesn’t make a move, then he’s basically saying to upper management that he can’t evaluate his own players Neither Feeley nor Moore would come in and light the world on fire, but as long as they didn’t turn the ball over they’d be more efficient than Delhomme.

Fox better hope Delhomme turns things around or else they both could be gone at the end of the year. The Panthers have been a model organization for inconsistency under Fox and I highly doubt management would stick with a head coach that can’t make a change when one is needed. Fox is essentially putting all his eggs in the Jake Delhomme basket and that’s a risky endeavor to say the least.

There was some shifting in the ranks after Week 6 games, and now we have three Vikings in the Top 5. Here is how we’re seeing things now, subject to change again after this weekend!

1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—We can’t let Peyton slide down just because he didn’t play last week. And he’s likely to stay here with the Rams looming on Sunday.

2. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—After dissecting the Giants’ stingy pass defense on Sunday, it’s safe to say Brees and his Saints are not only for real, but they are legitimately the top dog in the NFC and maybe in all of football.

3. Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings—He’s done nothing to let us think he’s not worthy of MVP consideration. 278 yards and 3 more TDs against Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and company is Favre’s latest line.

4. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings—He hadn’t rushed for 100 yards since the opener against Cleveland, but Peterson managed to bust through for 166 all-purpose yards against the Ravens and he took over the NFL’s rushing lead from Cedric Benson, who laid an egg against Houston.

5. Jared Allen, Minnesota Vikings—Check out this year-to-date stat line—27 total tackles, 7.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, one fumble return for a TD and one safety. The dude is a one-man wrecking crew on an already stout defense, and this makes three Vikings contending for MVP.

Honorable Mention–Cedric Benson, Bengals; Elvis Dumervil, Broncos; Andre Johnson, Texans, Steve Smith, Giants, Tom Brady, Patriots

I think Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith is one hell of a receiver. He’s a threat to take it to the house every time he gets the ball in his hands and he still finds ways to make plays when he’s double-covered. I’ve written several times in the past about how he is the Panthers’ offense.

That said, the guy needs a small reality check.

Following Carolina’s win over Tampa Bay in Week 6, Smith had this to say about his role in the Panthers’ offense:

“It’s bittersweet. We get the win, but I have a limited role. So, obviously, I see this game as showing I’m no longer an asset to this team. That’s all I got. My name’s Steve Smith and I stand by that.”

He’s no longer an asset to this team? Give me a break. Jake Delhomme has looked Smith’s way so many times throughout his career that I’m surprised the quarterback doesn’t have No. 89 tattooed on his retinas. Now all of a sudden Smith doesn’t feel like he’s an asset to his team?

Recently, Smith admitted that he was worried that Carolina was going to trade him at the deadline.

From Carolina Growl.com:

Steve Smith said he received several text messages from friends around the country about the possibility of him being traded to another team, one of those being the Miami Dolphins, prior to Tuesday’s trade deadline.

In fact, Smith received so many that he went as far as to contact his agent to see if there was any truth to them.

“I heard multiple teams I was going to,” Smith said during the team’s open locker session on Wednesday. “You hear the stories about waking up and being traded. You never want to be a guy who wakes up Carolina and hears there is a flight for you going somewhere else, so when you hear that you ask people. I asked my agent if there was anything going on. I got a few texts from different people in different states, so I had to make sure and investigate it.”

When contacted about the rumors, Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said they were completely false.

“We had no conversations with anybody about trading Steve Smith,” Hurney said.

Not that I’m Adam Schefter, but I didn’t read/hear any trade rumors involving Smith. Not one; not even from Profootballtalk.com, which makes up rumors on a daily basis around the deadline.

Maybe he wasn’t worried that he was going to be traded, but hoping that he would. Either way, the reality is that he is under performing, has a huge salary and is liable to punch one of his teammates during practice. Why would any team trade for him?

Again, I think Steve Smith 1.0 is a fantastic player outside of his slow start this year. But for some reason, his name doesn’t get mentioned enough when people criticize the other prima donnas in the league.

“It’s bittersweet. We get the win, but I have a limited role. So, obviously, I see this game as showing I’m no longer an asset to this team. That’s all I got. My name’s Steve Smith and I stand by that.”

– Steve Smith on Carolina’s win over the Buccaneers (Herald Online)

Some of the candidates for NFL MVP strengthened their case last weekend and some did not. Of course, some also were on bye, maybe hurting their chances but not helping the ones ahead of them who had poor performances. Here is an update on the MVP power rankings through Week 5…

1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—Manning did nothing to hurt his standing here against Tennessee last Sunday, throwing for 309 yards with 3 more TDs, and leading his team to a 5-0 mark going into the bye week.

2. Eli Manning, New York Giants—Remember all the talk about how this guy wasn’t worth his huge new contract? Well, little brother is making his own case for MVP with a 111.7 QB rating, second only to Peyton, and 10 TDs to just 2 picks. And he only played two quarters last Sunday with a bad foot and still turned in a near-perfect performance. Dude is on fire.

3. Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings—He wasn’t as flashy against the Rams after that emotional win over Green Bay, but the fact remains that the Vikings would not be 5-0 without Favre, and that’s the definition of MVP.

4. Jared Allen, Minnesota Vikings—He was already having an MVP season but then added a fumble return for a TD last Sunday. He’s at least the best defensive player this year.

5. Cedric Benson, Cincinnati Bengals—With all due respect to Adrian Peterson, Cedric does not have Steve Hutchinson to run behind and he’s currently leading the NFL in rushing with 487 yards, and has 3 scores.

Honorable Mention: Drew Brees, Saints; Adrian Peterson, Vikings; Elvis Dumervil, Broncos; Antwan Odom, Bengals, Matt Ryan, Falcons; Steve Smith, Giants

We’re going to start something new this week….individual power rankings in the NFL for MVP, coach of the year and rookie of the year. We may expand this to separate entries, since frankly it’s difficult picking just three of each. But here is what we’re thinking so far after the first quarter of the season….

MVP

1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—With all due respect to Drew Brees and Peyton’s little brother, there is no way in hell the Colts would be 4-0 without Peyton. And he’s doing it with young receivers not named Harrison and Gonzalez.

2. Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings—Favre mostly handed off to his stud RB Adrian Peterson the first two weeks, then made himself comfortable with a game winning pass with 2 seconds left against the Niners, and a fierce performance including 3 TDs against his former employer Monday night. Again, without Favre, is this team 4-0? Probably not.

3. Steve Smith, New York Giants—Are you kidding me? This guy has not only made everyone forget about Plaxico Burress, but he’s on pace to catch 136 passes, which would be second in NFL history for a single season. Smith is the only receiver in the league averaging 100 yards per game (102.8) and has 4 scores.

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Through all of the criticism that Wade Phillips has received while he’s been the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, he’s always been reprieved in one area: His defense.

Even though the Cowboys faded down the stretch last year, they still owned the eighth best defense in the NFL thanks in large part to Phillips. Dallas ranked fifth in passing yards allowed and 12th in rushing yards allowed, which helped Phillips retain his job over the offseason.

But in two games so far this season, Dallas has surrendered 54 points. In their 33-31 loss to the Giants on Sunday night, the Cowboys were routinely beat through the air as Eli Manning threw for 330 yards and two touchdowns on 25 of 38 passing. And in case you’ve forgotten, he doesn’t have Plaxico Burress at his disposal anymore, nor has Amani Toomer found the fountain of youth and returned to New York to give Eli a solid possession receiver.

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Carolina Panthers:
Receiver Steve Smith is expected to miss at least two weeks with a strained shoulder after suffering the injury in practice on Monday. Dwayne Jarrett is expected to fill in for Smith while he’s out, which is kind of like going from a corvette to a station wagon. (Charlotte Observer)

Indianapolis Colts:
Safety Bob Sanders is expected to meet with orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews soon. Sanders had another clean up procedure done on his knee this offseason and the Colts don’t know when he’ll be healthy again. He hasn’t practiced or played in game since Week 16 of last year. (Indianapolis Star)

Kansas City Chiefs:
Receiver Dwayne Bowe isn’t currently practicing with the Chiefs’ starters and apparently is in new head coach Todd Haley’s doghouse. Haley appears to be making an example of Bowe, who hasn’t responded well to KC’s new disciplined training habits. (Kansas City Star)

New England Patriots:
Tom Brady has yet to miss one practice since returning to action following ACL and MCL surgery. Brady continues to work out with a brace on his knee, although he’ll likely have to play with the brace the rest of his career. (Boston Globe)

Tampa Bay Bucs:
Receiver Antonio Bryant will be out for the next 3-4 weeks with a torn meniscus in his knee. Bryant could miss the entire preseason, but is expected to be healthy by Week 1. Still, the Bucs are thin at receiver and are implementing a new offense so Bryant’s injury is of concern. (Pewter Report)

Earnest Graham is listed ahead of Derrick Ward on Tampa’s depth chart, but considering the Bucs paid Ward like a starter this offseason, it’s wise not to read too much into this. (Buccaneers.com)

Miami Dolphins:
Former Hawaii product Davone Bess has been starting ahead of Greg Camarillo in Miami. Carmarillo appears to be completely recovered from ACL surgery, but Miami likes Bess’ speed and playmaking ability and see him as a starting flanker. (Miami Herald)

Some NFL players are just electrifying to watch when they return kicks. Some are even more electrifying when they are on your fantasy team, or if your D/ST gives you six points for a kick return score. Here is a list of the top five (or so) active players in this very department:

1. Dante Hall, St. Louis Rams (12)—He’s lost a step or two, but between 2002 and 2004 while with Kansas City, this guy was positively money on returns. You just couldn’t kick the ball to him without that nagging fear of a big return. In 2003, Hall had 4 TDs, including a 100-yard kick return and a 93 yard punt return. Just sick.

2. Devin Hester, Chicago Bears (11)—Those 11 returns were in just TWO seasons, 2006 and 2007, as Hester’s focus in 2008 was more as a receiver. But 11 TDs in two seasons is amazing, and consider that he also returned the opening kickoff of Super Bowl 41 all the way.

3. Allen Rossum, San Francisco 49ers (8)—He’s played for five different teams, but that doesn’t make him any less dangerous to defend.

4. Antwaan Randle El, Washington Redskins (6)—He only has one return TD in the last three years while with the Redskins, but still very dangerous as a return man and a receiver in the open field.

4 (tie). Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers (6)—He doesn’t return kicks anymore, but why should one of the game’s perennial Top 5 receivers be relegated to kickoff duty anymore?

4 (tie). Joshua Cribbs, Cleveland Browns (6)—Only 26 years old this season, Cribbs has been one of the lone bright spots on a struggling Browns’ team his first three seasons.

Source: Pro Football Reference