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.

11. New York Jets (3-2)
Hey – there’s the Braylon Edwards Cleveland fans had been looking for when their team drafted him in the top 5 a couple years back. Too bad he’s now wearing green and white. All of a sudden things are awfully quiet in New York following back-to-back losses…

12. New England Patriots (3-2)
Tom Brady looks out of sync with his receivers and even in the Patriots’ three wins this season, he hasn’t looked himself. He looks like he’s playing with a lack of confidence.

13. Baltimore Ravens (3-2)
The Ravens can’t stew over their losses to the Patriots and Bengals too long with a trip to Minnesota on the docket. They need to go back to the drawing board and rekindle the confidence that made them 3-0.

14. San Francisco 49ers (3-2)
Mike Singletary must have thrown up nine times after watching the film of the Falcons’ 45-10 win over the Niners last week. San Fran clearly thought their bye week was one week earlier than they thought.

15. San Diego Chargers (2-2)
The Chargers had a week off to figure out what’s wrong with their defense. We’ll see if Norv Turner’s team ironed out their issues during their bye when they take on the division-leading Broncos on Monday night.

16. Green Bay Packers (2-2)
The Packers better hope that Mark Tauscher can help solve their issues along the offensive line or else Aaron Rodgers won’t make it past Week 10.

17. Seattle Seahawks (2-3)
Don’t sleep on the Seahawks now that Matt Hasselbeck is healthy again. If he can remain healthy, the Hawks are far from finished.

18. Arizona Cardinals (2-2)
The Cardinals blew a 21-0 lead last Sunday against the Texans, but give them credit for keeping their composure and coming up with a huge goal line stand to earn a victory.

19. Miami Dolphins (2-3)
The spark that Chad Henne has given the Dolphins has been fun to watch. Nobody runs the Wildcat formation like Miami does.

20. Dallas Cowboys (3-2)
The Cowboys may have a winning record, but all three of their wins have come against opponents with losing records and two of which (the Bucs and Chiefs) are still winless. Dallas needed a comeback and overtime to beat a bad Kansas City team. Ouch.

21. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-3)
Just when you think the Jags are going to be competitive this year, they go out and lay a dud in Seattle.

22. Houston Texans (2-3)
Texan fans need to sit down and buckle up because they’re going to be on a roller coaster all season.

23. Carolina Panthers (1-3)
Congratulations to John Fox and his Panthers for earning their first victory of the 2009 season. They had to rally from double digits down against a bad Redskins team to do it, but hey, a win is a win.

24. Detroit Lions (1-4)
Even though they’re 1-4, the Lions have shown more fight in five games this year than they did in 16 games last season.

25. Washington Redskins (2-3)
I guarantee that Daniel Snyder already has a list of head coaching candidates that he’ll interview after the season is over. At the top: Jon Gruden.

26. Tennessee Titans (0-5)
Vince Young may not solve all of the Titans’ problems, but he would at least provide a spark. Jeff Fisher needs to make a change.

27. Cleveland Browns (1-4)
Cleveland’s 6-3 win over Buffalo on Sunday might go down as the ugliest victory in NFL history.

28. Buffalo Bills (1-4)
This pathetic excuse for a team let Derek Anderson complete just 2 of 17 pass attempts and still win. The Bills are horrible and their near-win against the Patriots in Week 1 is nothing but a distant memory.

29. Kansas City Chiefs (0-5)
At least the Chiefs are showing a little bit of fight. That’s more than I can say about the three teams listed under them.

30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-5)
Even though they lost, quarterback Josh Johnson displayed some good things in Philadelphia on Sunday. Too bad he doesn’t play defense.

31. Oakland Raiders (1-4)
If JaMarcus Russell weren’t a former No. 1 pick and had just an average NFL arm, he wouldn’t be on any team’s roster. Not as a starter, not as a backup, not even as the guy that fetches water for the head coach. He’s that bad.

32. St. Louis Rams (0-5)
Two days after Matt Holliday ripped the hearts out of St. Louis sports fans everywhere, the Rams gain 400 yards of offense and 27 first downs yet still get their ass handed to them. Way to go Rams.