So I wrote an article about 3 weeks ago titled 1st Quarter NFL Top Ten Teams. Since I never published it due to lack of editorial responsibility and utter laziness I thought it would be fun to publish it as is now but with a review of how I did along with it. This could be fun...really, it could.

Lets see what I thought the top ten teams were after 4 games. After the article I will critique myself and re-rank these ten teams in order.

Original Article

A quarter of the way through the season we are just starting to be able to make sense of it all. The average NFL team has so much turnover from year to year that it takes about 4 games to get a good feel for every team.

With that said here is the Court Jester's Quarterly Top Ten list of NFL teams:

10 - Denver Broncos (2-2)

They still haven't beaten anyone; their 2 wins came over (1-3) Buffalo and (2-2) Oakland. Shanahan and his chosen quarterback Jay Cutler have gotten past all the second guessing - the kid definitely has guts, he proved that in week 1 in Buffalo when the Broncos won with clock striking 0:00. Travis Henry is going to be the next in the line of great Denver backs - the difference is Henry was already a proven horse, if he stays healthy he gets 1,500 easy.

9 - Tampa Bay Bucs (3-1)

With an experienced QB who in Jeff Garcia, a veteran in John Gruden's west coast style offense, the Bucs are more then capable on offense. The ageless Joey Galloway continues to be an extremely steady weapon. Losing Cadillac Williams will hurt the offense a little but backup Ernest Graham has looked good scoring 3 touchdowns in the last 2 weeks. When writing about the Bucs how could we not mention the defense, or should I say the resergent Bucs defense. It is like the super bowl years again minus the loud mouths of Keyshawn and Sapp.

8 - Seattle Seahawks (3-1)

Hassleback and Holmgren may be in their last legs. I think they have to get it done this year or get out. Enough is enough already with Holmgren, he hasn't won anything meaningful in almost 10 years. Nonetheless the Seahawks are a solid team with a real deal home field advantage. You cannot underestimate the advantage that field creates for Seattle - they literally win games just because they are home.

7 - Detroit Lions (3-1)

Mike Martz, as bad a head coach as he was, is an amazing offensive coordinator. He takes players with marginal talent and makes them into superstars. The 2 best examples of this is Kurt Warner and John Kitna. Warner was bagging groceries and playing in the Arena League while Kitna was kicking around as a backup and a stop-gap guy. Kitna is the kind of quarterback that would not make it in Chicago but under the tutalege of Martz he is a Pro-Bowler.

6 - Green Bay Packers (4-0)

You may be saying; Jester, what the F, the Pack are 4-0?!? I know, I know - they are 4-0 and Favre is amazing again. I am hesitant to place them in my top 5 just because I have a bad feeling about how this season is going to end for the Packers. They don't have a running game and I am sorry to say this but Brett can't keep this up all season long - he just can't. The defense is playing pretty well as of now, lets see how the youngsters are feeling in week 14 in the cold of Green Bay.

5 - Tennessee Titans (2-1)

I LOVE VINCE YOUNG! Really, I think he is a great young quarterback. Not all of his statistics are flashy, as a matter of fact their are only a few - rushing yards and wins. The team just wins games that he starts. Whether it be an athletic run or a beautiful touch pass over the middle Young just makes the plays when they count most. As is the staple of every Jeff Fischer coached team the Titans are extremely tough on defense and control the pace of the game with their rushing attack.

4 - Pittsburgh Steelers (3-1)

Big Ben is back and more confident then ever. A slight stumble this weekend against their former assistant and the guy their passed over for the job Ken Wisenhunt but all in all the Steelers look like a well oiled machine. Santonio Holmes is emerging as a big time threat and Willie Parker and Hines Ward continue their consistent play on offense. The defense as usual is scary. They stuff the run and attack the quarterback as well as anyone in the league. Lookout for this team late in the year - they have a lot of big game experience.

3 - Dallas Cowboys (4-1)

Tony Romo reminds me of a veteran quarterback that I mentioned earlier in the column - no, not Favre - Jeff Garcia. Maybe it's just the way he is throwing to TO but I think the way he runs around behind the line of scrimage and then makes plays moving forward reminds me a lot of the way Garcia played in his years with SanFransisco. Grabbing veteran coach Wade Phillips was perfect for this team who were already playing the 3-4 style that Phillips is known for. Marion Barber and Julius Jones are relentless and they break their opponent down all game long so in the 4th quarter Dallas can create plenty of time for Romo to pick apart the defense.

2 - Indianapolis Colts (4-0)

Usually if the defending champions are undefeated they would be ranked number 1 - well as of this column the Pats are still undefeated and dominating everyone. We all know about Manning and Harrison and Adai and Wayne and Clark - damn they have weapons. Their defense is even decent - especially when Bob Sanders plays. The best Super Bowl would be to have the Colts play the Pats - someone should start a petition for this. The best part about the Colts is that they have not missed a step from last season. A lot of teams do not know how to follow up the year after the Super Bowl - look at their opponents the (1-3) Bears.

1 - New England Patriots (3-0)

What is their to say, cheating aside this team is perfect. A big, fast, and smart defense paired with a big, fast, and smart offense - a recipe for a great football team. As it stands right now Randy Moss for a 4th round draft pick looks like one of the most lopsided trades ever made. Tom Brady has long been considered one of the best quarterbacks in the league and not once did he have a legit number 1 receiver. Deon Branch was a 2, Troy Brown was a 3, their wasn't ever really a go to guy. Give a quarterback a go to guy like Moss along with a slot receiver like Wes Welker and he will be unstopable.

Review

Lets recap with current records:

10- Denver Broncos (3-3)
9- Tampa Bay Bucs (4-3)
8- Seattle Seahawks (4-3)
7- Detroit Lions (4-2)
6- Green Bay Packers (5-1)
5- Tennessee Titans (4-2)
4- Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2)
3- Dallas Cowboys (6-1)
2- Indianapolis Colts (7-0)
1- New England Patriots (7-0)

All in all I didn't do too horrible. I wouldn't change the top 5 much at all. I don't really have a hard time leaving Tampa and Denver on the list even though neither of them are leading their divisions and I don't include Carolina or Kansas City. I guess I could replace Denver with San Diego but at this point I think it is a toss up between those two teams and I feel like KC will fall off by the end of the season, so I will stick with Denver because Norv Turner won't win. As for Carolina, they will fold whether it is Vinny or Carr running the show so I am keeping Tampa up top. Wow - so I am not even going to change my list of top ten teams after three weeks going by - I AM GOOD!

-- Jester Out