Thank goodness for the Cincinnati Bengals. Otherwise, you would think something is drastically different about the NFL. The bizarre has become the norm. The Rams have become the Chargers. The Chargers have become the Rams. Randy Moss has become Freddy Krueger, and the Vikings have become a nightmare.

This week's Super Bowl picks: Eagles vs. Raiders. Yep, I'm a front-runner. Here's what I saw in Week 4:

Most Impressive in Victory

	Jerry Rice has reached the end zone nearly 200 times in his Hall of Fame career.

1. Raiders 52, Titans 25 -- Some espoused the theory that the Raiders were too old and too young (if that makes sense). The old (Jerry Rice, Rich Gannon, Rod Woodson) looked pretty young and the young (Phillip Buchanon) won't get old for a long time.

2. Chargers 21, Patriots 14 -- The Chargers just lined up and played Marty Ball, which was made possible by LaDainian Tomlinson and a fired-up defense.

3. Chiefs 48, Dolphins 30 -- The Greatest Show on Grass. Think about it. Priest Holmes was held to 52 yards, and the Chiefs shredded the Dolphins' defense with Trent Green's best day yet.

4. Ravens 34, Broncos 23 -- Why would anywhere dare line up opposite Ray Lewis?

5. Lions 26, Saints 21 -- Joey Harrington brought the energy and the arm, and the Lions' front four fed off it.

Best Performance: Quarterbacks
1. Drew Bledsoe, Bills -- In Buffalo's four TD drives, he was 15-of-15 for 209 yards.

2. Rich Gannon, Raiders -- Near-perfection with 29-of-39, 381 yards, four TDs.

3. Trent Green, Chiefs -- Five TDs and zero (yes, that's zero) interceptions vs. Dolphins.

4. Brett Favre, Packers -- Harassed and hit all day by Panthers, he punched back with a drive and winning pass to Donald Driver that looked harmful to catch.

5a. Joey Harrington, Lions -- The rookie led seemingly hapless Lions to huge upset over Saints with combination of ability and passion.

5b. Quincy Carter, Cowboys -- This was a pretty efficient effort (24-of-34, 201 yards) in big road game, and he got the 'Boys in position for winning FG.

Best Performance: Running Backs
1. LaDainian Tomlinson, Chargers -- 217 yards and two eye-popping TD runs vs. defending Super Bowl champion Patriots.

2. Fred Taylor, Jaguars -- Over 200 yards running (142 on 21 carries) and receiving (3 for 95) as Jags embarrassed Jets.

3. Shaun Alexander, Seahawks -- Any time a back sets an NFL record with five TDs in one half, it would be the top performance. But we're checking to see if Vikings thought they were playing eight-man football Sunday.

4. Jamel White, Browns -- With 105 yards on 16 carries vs. Steelers, White is showing No. 1 pick William Green how to play in the NFL.

5a. Marcel Shipp, Cardinals -- You didn't even know he existed, did you? Filling in for ailing Thomas Jones, Shipp put up 92 yards on 17 rushes and scored two TDs in fourth quarter to snap 7-7 tie in win over division foe Giants.

5b. Travis Henry, Bills -- Overcame season's fourth fumble and benching to help lead Bills to OT victory, including scoring the winning TD.

Best Performance: Receivers
1. Tony Gonzalez, Chiefs -- Did his NBA thing on the Dolphins with 140 yards and three TDs.

2. Todd Heap, Ravens -- Staying with the tight-end theme, showed he learned his lesson well as his teacher (Shannon Sharpe) watched from the Denver sidelines.

3. Jerry Rice, Raiders -- The 49ers may want to reconsider what they did with this guy.

4. Deion Branch, Patriots -- No Troy Brown, but rookie slot man caught 13 balls and looks like a star. From ... Louisville.

5. Donald Driver, Packers -- He had 97 yards and two TDs, and had to catch a bullet from Brett Favre when it counted.

Best Plays
1. Chris McAlister, Ravens cornerback, took a seemingly half-ending missed field goal by Denver's Jason Elam 108 yards for the longest scoring play in NFL history, made even better by a bone-crunching block from Ray Lewis.

2. LaDainian Tomlinson, Chargers running back, made a cut that left Patriots LB Tedy Bruschi grasping for air, and then watched explosive WR Tim Dwight blow ahead of him to make final block on 58-yard TD run.

3. Brian Dawkins, Eagles safety, took a fake punt shovel pass from Brian Mitchell for 57-yard TD.

4. Bubba Franks, Packers tight end, throwing a 31-yard TD pass to Donald Driver -- even the officials couldn't believe it.

5a. Ricky Williams, Dolphins running back, physically abused and hurt two KC safeties (Greg Wesley and Jason Belser) on a 30-yard run.

5b. Terry Kirby, Raiders returner, took a handoff from Phillip Buchanon -- who had returned a previous punt 83 yards for a TD -- for a 79-yard TD punt return.

5c. Priest Holmes, Chiefs RB, who gained almost half of his 52 yards on a terrific 25-yard run in which QB Trent Green threw a key block downfield.

Defensive Gems
1. Ray Lewis, Ravens LB -- All night long as he punished the Broncos.

2. Ben Leber, Chargers LB -- A terrific third-round pick, rookie Leber stopped Pats FB Marc Edwards dead cold on fourth-and-inches from the San Diego 39 in the fourth quarter. The Pats also lost a valuable timeout on the play when Bill Belichick asked for a better spot via instant replay, and lost.

3. Donnie Edwards, Chargers LB -- His leaping interception of a Tom Brady pass at the Chargers 7 was returned 46 yards. Killed a drive and flipped field position.

4. Rod Woodson, Raiders S -- Future Hall of Famer intercepted Steve McNair three times, including an 82-yard return for a TD.

5a. Greg Ellis, Cowboys DE -- Making early case for Pro Bowl, Ellis sacked Rams QB Jamie Martin on critical play at end, and also intercepted Kurt Warner's last pass for a while.

5b. Greg Wesley, Chiefs S -- Overcame embarrassing bowl-over by Ricky Williams to make three fourth-quarter interceptions, although Jay Fiedler may have to take the Vinny Testaverde color-blind test.

5c. Justin Lucas, Cardinals DB -- Sniffed out Kerry Collins on a 38-yard interception with just four seconds left in first half that enabled Cards to erase 7-0 deficit en route to 21-7 win.

Memorable Blunders
1. Minnesota Vikings -- First mistake, they honored scheduling commitment. Second mistake, they allowed Randy Moss to make the trip to Seattle. Third mistake, they played with only five players on defense in second quarter.

2. Clinton Portis, Broncos -- The rookie dissed fellow ex-Hurricane Ray Lewis in newspaper, and the Ravens' star took it out on Denver.

3. Kerry Collins, Giants QB -- He threw a sideline pass with four seconds left in the first half that Cards' Justin Lucas intercepted for a 38-yard TD, which wiped out New York's 7-0 lead. Questionable play call? Yeah, but Collins failed to see an open receiver and made the bad throw -- which he owned up to.

4. Matt Turk, Jets punter -- In a Garo Yepremian moment, Turk attempted a pass that slipped out of his hands and into the arms of Jags' Donovin Darius. Seven players later, Jags had a 14-0 lead.

5a. Broncos' field goal unit -- They apparently forgot that Ravens' Chris McAlister had the right to return Jason Elam's field goal miss ... a record 108 yards for a TD.

5b. Mike Martz and Jamie Martin, Rams -- Instead of handing off to Marshall Faulk on third-and-3, Martz called for a pass; Martin took a sack on a three-step drop, and Rams' Jeff Wilkins missed a 49-yard field goal that gave field position to Cowboys, who promptly went 31 yards for winning FG.

5c. Shayne Graham, Panthers -- He missed a PAT-like field goal that could have sent Carolina into OT vs. Green Bay.

Best Games (Week 5)
1. New England at Miami -- Winner becomes the (temporary) favorite in AFC East.
2. San Diego at Denver -- Realignment means just two wild cards. That means this game is big, especially with Chargers (4-0), Raiders (3-0) and Broncos (3-1) in dogfight.
3. Tampa Bay at Atlanta -- Bucs are on a roll since opening loss, but Falcons can get back in race.
4. Oakland at Buffalo -- Bledsoe & Gannon in early MVP battle, with Bills trying to get over .500.
5a. Pittsburgh at New Orleans -- Steelers finally make it to the Superdome in key NFC-AFC matchup.
5b. Philadelphia at Jacksonville -- Tom Coughlin has Jaguars looking like they could contend for title in AFC South.
5c. St. Louis at San Francisco - The 0-5 Rams? Really?

Wishing We Had Drew (Bledsoe)
1. Washington Redskins -- It really would be fun if Spurrier had a gun.
2. Cincinnati Bengals -- Then again, Bledsoe deserved better than this.
3. New York Jets -- Not that Bob Kraft would have allowed it after Curtis Martin fiasco.
4. Miami Dolphins -- Well, why not throw in the whole AFC East?
5. Dallas Cowboys -- Maybe they forgot just what Troy Aikman did for franchise.

Offensive Player (First Quarter)
1. Donovan McNabb, Eagles
2. Drew Bledsoe, Bills
3. LaDainian Tomlinson, Chargers
4. Rich Gannon, Raiders
5a. Tom Brady, Patriots
5b. Ricky Williams, Dolphins
5c. Priest Holmes, Chiefs
5d. Brett Favre, Packers

Defensive Player (First Quarter)
1. Ray Lewis, Ravens
2. Dan Morgan, Panthers
3. Brian Dawkins, Eagles
4. Brian Urlacher, Bears
5. Greg Ellis, Cowboys

Rookie (First Quarter)
1. Deion Branch, WR, Patriots
2. LeCharles Bentley, G, Saints
3. Ben Leber, LB, Chargers
4. Donte' Stallworth, WR, Saints
5a. Julius Peppers, DE, Panthers
5b. Mike Williams, OT, Bills
5c. Randy McMichael, TE, Dolphins

Coach of the Year (First Quarter)
1. Marty Schottenheimer, Chargers
2. John Fox, Panthers
3. Bill Callahan, Raiders
4. Jim Haslett, Saints
5. Andy Reid, Eagles

Executive of the Year (First Quarter)
1. Tom Donahoe, Bills -- ESPN.com still a springboard to genius status. Seriously, Drew Bledsoe and so much more.
2. Al Davis, Raiders -- So he gets two No. 1 picks, $8 million, John Parrella, Sam Adams, Rod Woodson, Bill Romanowski, Phillip Buchanon, Napoleon Harris and extends Rich Gannon's deal. And times have passed him by?
3. John Butler, Chargers -- He knew what he wanted in a coach (Marty Schottenheimer) and keeps finding players.
4. Arthur Blank, Falcons -- OK, he's an owner, but he's inspired a sleepy NFL city and opened up the wallet to land the likes of Warrick Dunn and Todd Weiner.
5. Randy Mueller, Saints* -- Somehow fired, his April draft was another gem.