One half gone, one to go

Thanksgiving is seven days away. NCAA College hoops is underway. The NFL will begin the second half of the season this Sunday. Where is your favorite team in the Cook Ratings?

For those of you who do not know, the Cook Ratings are power ratings created by "yours truly" for NFL football. The ratings are calculated based on the performance of each team with an emphasis placed on strength of schedule.

After one half of the season in the books, there are three tiers of teams in my ratings. St. Louis owns a personal tier above the rest of the league with a record of 7-1 and a rating of .651. Detroit owns the opposite end of the spectrum with no wins and a rating of .319.

The Miami Dolphins lead the first tier with a rating of .608. A big win last weekend over the Indianapolis Colts helped propel the Fish into the number two spot. San Francisco (.596), Oakland (.591), Chicago (.580), New York Jets (.579), Pittsburgh (.577), Baltimore (.577) and Green Bay (.572) make up the remainder of tier one.

Look for these teams to compete for their respective division titles as well as make runs deep into the playoffs. Chicago may be the only team that you are surprised to see at this level after finishing with a record of 5-11 last season. Mike Brown's overtime miracles and Michigan rookies, Anthony Thomas and David Terrell have a lot to do with the Bears' early success.

New England is at the top of the second tier with a rating of .536. Tom Brady has filled in nicely for injured QB Drew Bledsoe by leading the team to five wins in seven games. Philadelphia (.531), Indianapolis (.528), Denver (.520), Atlanta (.510), Cincinnati (.510), Cleveland (.506), New Orleans (.506), New York Giants (.506), Tampa Bay (.504), San Diego (.504) and Seattle (.493) are the rest of tier two.

Each of these teams has the capability of getting into the playoffs and upsetting some of the top teams along the way. Philadelphia and the New York Giants will battle for supremacy in the weak NFC East Division. You might not want to watch. It could get ugly.

The underachieving Tennessee Titans lead the bottom tier with a rating of .467. Injuries to Steve McNair and Eddie George have contributed to the less-than-average performance thus far. Jacksonville (.458), Minnesota (.448), Washington (.429), Kansas City (.403), Dallas (.389), Buffalo (.376), Arizona (.375) and Carolina (.369) round out the bottom of the barrel.

Fans of the NFL have to be surprised to see Minnesota this far down on the list. I believe that the death of Korey Stringer devastated the team more than anyone could predict. The playoffs are a fairy tale away for these teams. Respectability would be a realistic goal.

The complete list of the Cook Ratings can be found by visiting www.cookratings.com. The updated ratings for the NFL will be released each Tuesday.

The Cook Ratings Mid-Season Summary

Division Leaders-
AFC East Miami
AFC Central Pittsburgh
AFC West Oakland
NFC East Philadelphia
NFC Central Chicago/Green Bay
NFC West St. Louis

Toughest Schedule-
1 Indianapolis
2 Buffalo
3 Carolina
4 Detroit
5 Tennessee

Strongest Division (by record)-
1 NFC West
2 AFC West
3 AFC East
4 AFC Central
5 NFC Central
6 NFC East

Strongest Division (by strength of schedule)-
1 AFC East
2 NFC West
3 AFC West
4 AFC Central
5 NFC Central
6 NFC East

Strongest Division (by rating)-
1 NFC West
2 AFC East
3 AFC West
4 AFC Central
5 NFC Central
6 NFC East

Strongest Division (overall)-
1 NFC West
2 AFC East
3 AFC West
4 AFC Central
5 NFC Central
6 NFC East