Dirty Dozen: The Mysteries of Rankings

"Why does the subjective rating of one NFL team compared to another move folks to anger?'' a fan named Aron Galonsky tweeted to Bob Glauber of Newsday this week after another fan had complained vociferously about Bob's rating of New England over Cincinnati.

"I do not know,'' Bob tweeted back.

Very good question and a very good answer. It's an exchange that makes me wonder why we bother to rate teams every week when the NFL, unlike major college football, has playoffs and a Super Bowl. Actually, I sort of know the answer because when I started in the business, an editor told me "people love lists,'' something I've learned on my own over the years.

Which gets me to this week's top and bottom six and, coincidentally, why I might rate New England higher than Cincinnati this week. (I'm still thinking about it as I write this.)

I don't want to spend much time on Bill Belichick's call. I thought it was the wrong one at the time, but I understand why B.B. thought asking Tom Brady to get him two yards might be safer than giving the ball to Peyton Manning against his defense. That's it. End of debate.

But beyond that, what I saw was a New England team on the road that, for 58 minutes, was better than Indianapolis.

It's a team that will go into that dome in the playoffs knowing it's as good as the Colts, no matter what the records turn out to be. Even Dwight Freeney acknowledged that the Patriots handled him quite easily with their rookie left tackle from Germany, Sebastian Vollmer, who is the first European-born and raised player other than a kicker ever to make a real contribution in the NFL.

Does anyone think New England won't win the AFC East? Yes, it will probably spend the playoffs (or most of them) on the road, but that's not as daunting a task as it used to be -- the Giants did it two years ago and the Steelers did it four years ago and won a title despite it.

But (and I've reached my conclusion) I don't think the Patriots are better than the Bengals right now. Cincinnati went into Pittsburgh and beat up the Super Bowl champions the way the Steelers usually beat up other teams -- by pounding them with defense. Pittsburgh's final offensive play in the 18-12 Cincy win said it all -- Ben Roethlisberger, under pressure from both ends, throwing a desperation fourth-down pass as he was falling backwards.

So I won't risk the ire of the fan who went after Glauber. Cincinnati one spot over New England.

Top 6

1. New Orleans (9-0): Maybe a narrow win over St. Louis is the Saints' bad game for this year. I think they'll lose down the line somewhere, but the Saints are a solid No. 1.

2. Indianapolis (9-0): Colts fans are rather placid, so i don't think they'll come after me for ranking them second after a good win. If they do, it's fair. No. 2 because the Saints defense is better -- or at least healthier.

3. Minnesota (8-1): Another example of the ranking silliness because this could be the best team in the league -- in part because Sidney Rice is playing like Jerry, who is said to be a distant cousin. Also an example of the silliness of the Pro Bowl voting -- are 10 Vikings really the best at their positions in the NFC? Stuff those ballot boxes and make the game even more meaningless than it already is.

4. Cincinnati (7-2): Despite all-timers at QB on the above three teams -- and the one below -- you still win with running and defense. The Bengals have running and defense. And, come to think of it, they also have a pretty good QB.

5. New England (6-3): Brady is back in top form. And the young defense will be better by playoff time. Do any of the teams above the Patriots NOT worry about playing them in the postseason.

6. San Diego (6-3): The Chargers caught Denver a lot earlier this season than they did in '08. If LaDainian Tomlinson (the only "LT" is Lawrence Taylor) can run as he did last week, they are a legitimate threat.

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Bottom 6

27. Kansas City (2-7): Larry Johnson may well help the Bengals, but he was counterproductive on a rebuilding team.

28. St. Louis (1-8): At least the Rams are trying.

29. Oakland (2-7): JaMarcus Russell and Darrius Heyward-Bey -- two examples of a series of bad picks that make this the decade's worst franchise, despite a Super Bowl appearance.

30. Tampa Bay (1-8): At least the Bucs are becoming competitive.

31. Detroit (1-8): How close are we to 0-25 over the last two seasons?

32, Cleveland (1-8): I don't want any arguments from fans of other awful teams. Any coach who thinks he can score 16 points on the final play of a game and gets his best player hurt trying it should be fired on the spot. When the Browns start again from scratch next season, how many "fresh'' starts will that be since they re-entered the league 10 years ago?