Tim's Top 10

By Tim McManus

With the regular season nearly over and the postseason on the horizon, let's figure out who the real contenders are:

10. New York Jets (9-6)

Towards the bottom of the league in both offense and defense statistically, but the Jets just win, baby.

9. Dallas Cowboys (9-6)

Don't write this team completely off. Remember, many experts pegged the Cowboys the NFC's top dog just a few weeks ago. The conference is up for grabs, and Dallas has a lot of pieces in place.

8. Philadelphia Eagles (9-6)

Unbelievable that the Birds are even on this list. Tough to envision Jeff Garcia maintaining this high level of play, but if he does, look out.

7. Denver Broncos (9-6)

The wild card of the bunch. Back-to-back wins with Jay Cutler at the helm have quieted the critics that believed removing Jake Plummer was the wrong move. Cutler and the Broncos are starting to find their groove, and could be a sleeper.

6. Indianapolis Colts (11-4)

Great start, stumble late, get knocked out of the playoffs before reaching the championship, blah, blah, blah...

5. New Orleans Saints (10-5)

Drew Brees is the only top-flight signal-caller in the NFC right now, and he's surrounded by a ton of weapons. The question marks lie on the other side of the ball, justly or otherwise.

4. New England Patriots (11-4)

A bizarre team. The Pats can lose or win any game by 20 points and nobody's shocked. Dangerous as always, but this club seems to be lacking a certain something.

3. Chicago Bears (13-2)

The question: How bad will Super Rex be? The answer: If you have to ask that question, you're probably in trouble.

2. Baltimore Ravens (12-3)

No glaring weaknesses, outstanding veteran leadership and talent, a good quarterback and a savage defense. Sounds like a winning recipe to me.

1. San Diego Chargers (13-2)

Simply the most complete team in football, led by two of the top players on their respective sides of the ball in LaDainian Tomlinson and Shawne Merriman. The detractors point to the youth of Philip Rivers and Marty Schottenheimer's tendency to pucker up in the playoffs as reasons San Diego won't fare well this January. The counterargument is that Marty ball might actually be perfect for this team, because it will limit Rivers' chances to make mistakes while handing a big load to LT. They do that, they win the Bowl.