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Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

ESPN.com's Week 5 power rankings are out, and I don't know if I understand how they work anymore.

The New York Jets somehow climbed a spot despite losing to the New Orleans Saints, and the Buffalo Bills dropped only two spots for getting vaporized by a team that was three spots beneath them in last week's rankings.

Here is how the AFC East breaks down in the latest rankings, drawn up by ESPN senior writers John Clayton and Jeffri Chadiha, AFC South blogger Paul Kuharsky and NFC West blogger Mike Sando.

No. 5 New York Jets

• Last week's rating: No. 6
• Best rating: No. 5 (Chadiha, Sando, Kuharsky)
• Worst rating: No. 6 (Clayton)
• Note: A loss to the fourth-ranked Saints didn't hurt them at all. In fact, it nudged the Jets upward. The Jets' defense looked impressive, and a lot of the blame could be hung on the poor decisions of one player, rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez, but pulling within one spot of a team that beat them by two touchdowns seems peculiar to me.

No. 6 New England Patriots

• Last week's rating: No. 7
• Best rating: No. 6 (Chadiha, Kuharsky, Sando)
• Worst rating: No. 7 (Clayton)
• Note: The Patriots dropped to 10th after their Week 2 loss to the Jets, but are back among the top three teams in the AFC after back-to-back victories over the Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Ravens.

No. 21 Miami Dolphins

• Last week's rating: No. 24
• Best rating: No. 21 (Chadiha, Sando)
• Worst rating: No. 22 (Clayton, Kuharsky)
• Note: The Dolphins were better than their 0-3 record suggested, and their first victory must've encouraged the voters to bump them into the middle third of the rankings. Granted, the Dolphins pillaged the Bills, but it's a mark in the W column.

No. 23 Buffalo Bills

• Last week's rating: No. 21
• Best rating: No. 22 (Chadiha, Sando)
• Worst rating: No. 24 (Clayton, Kuharsky)
• Note: This one is a head-scratcher to me. The Bills finally slipped from the No. 21 spot they've held in every edition of the power rankings since May. But I can't believe they dropped only two spots after that pathetic display against a team that was ranked three slots beneath them last week.

This might be some sort of record.

In early balloting Monday afternoon, Buffalo Bills coach Dick Jauron is pulling down a 4 percent in the latest SportsNation head coach approval ratings.

Jauron

That's dead last in the NFL and the worst number in the two years SportsNation has conducted the polls.

Four percent.

Genghis Khan wasn't that despised. Idi Amin was embraced more by his people. Spencer Pratt is adored by comparison.

Four percent.

Jauron's rating is 20 points lower than when Richard Nixon left office.

Bills fans loathed the guy last year, but his lowest rating for 2008 was 8 percent. So he was twice as popular then.

The Bills were manhandled 38-10 by the winless Miami Dolphins on Sunday. Dolphins coach Tony Sparano, a darling last year, so far has skyrocketed from 43 percent to 75 percent with the victory.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick led all AFC East coaches Monday afternoon at 85 percent after knocking off the Baltimore Ravens.

New York Jets coach Rex Ryan suffered his first loss and slipped from 92 percent to 76 percent in the early voting, which generally holds up through the week, give or take a couple of percentage points.

So Jauron actually could go lower than 4 flippin' percent.

	AP Photo/David Duprey
	Many NFL players, like the Bills' Donte Whitner, show their support for breast cancer awareness by wearing pink.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

The moment his father called a family meeting, Ryan Denney knew something was wrong.

The Denney clan had gathered in their hometown of Thornton, Colo., for a happy occasion in March 2008. Brett Denney, a defensive end for Brigham Young University and little brother to Buffalo Bills defensive end Ryan Denney and Miami Dolphins long-snapper John Denney, was getting married.

The wedding was Saturday. The meeting was called for Sunday morning at their parents' home.

"I had a bad feeling," Ryan Denney said.

There, in the living room, patriarch Craig Denney delivered the sobering news to his children. Their mother had breast cancer. Two lumps had been found. Both were malignant.

"People were tearing up. It was quiet," Ryan Denney said recently in front of his stall in the Bills' locker room. "You need a minute to take it all in.

"Then our first reaction was 'What can we do to try and fight it? What are the options?' Fortunately, it was early enough that there was a good plan of attack."

Surgeons removed the lumps and some lymph nodes. She endured four months of radiation. But Sheri Denney survived.

"It's a touchy subject," Ryan Denney said, "but for us it's been very positive."

So often, breast cancer isn't discovered soon enough. Reminders to get mammograms are critical.

The NFL will use its influence -- and acquiesce some of its manliness -- to support National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in a highly visible way during this weekend's games.

As part of a campaign called "A Crucial Catch: Annual Screening Saves Lives," players will wear pink in an effort to drive home the importance of yearly mammograms for women 40 and older.

Players will wear pink cleats, pink wristbands, pink gloves, pink ball caps. Captain patches will be pink. So will the towels quarterbacks tuck into their waistbands. Coins used before the games will be pink. The padding around the goal posts will be pink.

"I'm more than comfortable with my manhood to wear pink shoes," Dolphins outside linebacker Joey Porter said. "I know we're going to auction them off and send the money from the proceeds of that. So whatever I can do to help in that situation is good. And I think it's a good cause."

New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is expected to wear pink cleats and throw spirals into receiver Jerricho Cotchery's pink gloves. New England Patriots running backs Laurence Maroney and Fred Taylor also have signed up for the pink gloves.

Others expected to wear pink cleats this weekend are quarterbacks Brett Favre and Drew Brees, receiver Chad Ochocinco and defensive end Osi Umenyiora.

"I think it's a great statement by the league and by the players and all of us that are putting our support behind something that hopefully can be better for everybody going forward," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said.

"I don't think I'll be in a pink hoodie, though, no."

Bills safety Donte Whitner won't be on the field Sunday because of a thumb injury, but he has clamped onto a pink mouthpiece since training camp. He does so to honor his grandmother, Rosetta, who died from lung cancer in March.

NBCAM.org, the Web site for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, states an estimated 40,170 women will die from breast cancer this year, but there are about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the U.S.

The objective of "A Critical Catch" is to raise awareness and urge regular checkups. The flashes of pink amid all the testosterone-clouded action certainly will stand out.

"The NFL is a national stage," Ryan Denney said. "A lot of people will tune into the game, mostly men. But maybe those are the guys that need to be made aware if they have a wife, a mother, a loved one that they can ask 'Hey, mom, have you been checked out lately?' "

NBCAM.org cites two of the most common reasons women don't get checked are because their doctors don't mention it or because it simply never dawned on them.

Sheri Denney learned she had cancer because a friend badgered her into going along to a mammogram screening.

The fear that cancer might be discovered often causes women to procrastinate on getting a mammogram or to avoid one completely.

"That was one of the reasons my mom was hesitant to go get tested: The only thing you're going to find out is that you have a problem," Ryan Denney said. "So if you don't get tested, you don't have a problem.

"You hate to think that in six months or two years down the road she gets sick and goes in to the hospital. Then it's maybe too late."

While their divisional rivals were mostly disciplined in Week 3, the Buffalo Bills shot to the top of the AFC East penalty tracker with Sunday's sloppy loss to the New Orleans Saints.

The Bills committed 14 penalties. A dozen of them were accepted for 116 yards.

Through three games, they've sustained 242 yards in penalties, 82 yards more than the division's No. 2 transgressors, the New York Jets.

AFC East team-by-team penalties Team Players Flagged Total Flags Accepted Yards Buffalo Bills 22 33 28 242 New York Jets 17 25 21 160 New England Patriots 15 19 19 154 Miami Dolphins 12 17 15 86

The Bills aren't good enough to give away that many yards. Particularly troubling is that they've been whistled for six majors (sorry for the hockey term): two unsportsmanlike conducts, two facemasks, one roughing the passer and one unnecessary roughness. The rest of the division combined has been called for seven such penalties.

Penalties are even more costly when you're shorthanded. The Bills have suffered heavy losses because of injuries. They will go into Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins in Land Shark Stadium minus at least four starters from their defense.

But maybe their flags will decrease without left tackle Demetrius Bell in the lineup. He's out because of a groin injury. Bell has been flagged six times, twice as often as anybody else in the AFC East.

AFC East Penalty Tracker Player Team Pos. Flagged* Yards Demetrius Bell Bills LT 6 20 Will Allen Dolphins CB 3 16 Tom Brady Patriots QB 3 15 Eric Wood Bills LG 3 15 Damien Woody Jets RT 3 12 Kawika Mitchell Bills LB 2 30 Jairus Byrd Bills S 2 28 D'Brickashaw Ferguson Jets LT 2 20 Mark Sanchez Jets QB 2 20 Vince Wilfork Patriots DT 2 20 Shawn Nelson Bills TE 2 16 Vernon Carey Dolphins RT 2 15 Alan Faneca Kets LG 2 15 Nic Harris Bills LB 2 15 Brian Hartline Dolphins WR 2 15 *Includes declined and offsetting penalties

The Jets deserve a commendation for last week's three-penalty performance in beating the Tennessee Titans. The Jets went into Week 3 having been flagged the most in the division.

But the Jets must be concerned with where the penalties are occurring. Nine of their 21 accepted penalties have been committed by their veteran offensive line.

The Miami Dolphins had a disorderly week by their standards. They committed seven penalties, but only one went for 10 yards. Twelve of their 15 accepted penalties have been for 5 yards or less.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

The Buffalo Bills have ruled out six players, including left tackle Demetrius Bell and three-quarters of their starting secondary.

The New York Jets officially scratched right cornerback Lito Sheppard and nickel back Donald Strickland a second straight week.

Notable for the New England Patriots is that receiver Randy Moss and cornerbacks Shawn Springs and Jonathan Wilhite have been removed from the report, meaning they will play Sunday.

Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots, 1 p.m. Sunday

• Ravens -- OUT: None. DOUBTFUL: None. QUESTIONABLE: Quarterback Troy Smith (illness), receiver Derrick Mason (illness) and linebacker Tavares Gooden (shoulder, head). PROBABLE: Receiver Kelley Washington (groin), tight end Todd Heap (back), defensive end Trevor Pryce (illness), defensive end Justin Bannan (knee) and linebackers Antwan Barnes (shoulder), Jarrett Johnson (shoulder) and Ray Lewis (head).
• Patriots -- OUT: None. DOUBTFUL: Linebacker Jerod Mayo (knee). QUESTIONABLE: Receivers Wes Welker (knee), tackle Nick Kaczur (ankle), nose tackle Vince Wilfork (ankle). PROBABLE: Quarterback Tom Brady (shoulder), running back Laurence Maroney (thigh), defensive tackle Mike Wright (shoulder) and cornerback Leigh Bodden.

New York Jets at New Orleans Saints, 4:05 p.m. Sunday

• Jets -- OUT: Cornerbacks Lito Sheppard (quadriceps) and Donald Strickland (ankle). DOUBTFUL: None. QUESTIONABLE: None. PROBABLE: Receiver Wallace Wright (hamstring), tackle Damien Woody (shoulder), guard Matt Slauson (ankle), defensive tackles Kris Jenkins (back) and Sione Pouha (ankle), linebackers Larry Izzo (hamstring), cornerback Darrelle Revis (hamstring) and safeties Kerry Rhodes (knee) and Jim Leonhard (knee).
• Saints -- OUT: Running back Mike Bell (knee), tight end Darnell Dinkins (foot), tackle Jermon Bushrod (knee, ankle) and defensive tackle Kendrick Clancy (knee). DOUBTFUL: None. QUESTIONABLE: Cornerback Malcolm Jenkins (ankle). PROBABLE: Receivers Lance Moore (hamstring) and Rod Harper (foot), defensive end Bobby McCray (back) and long-snapper Jason Kyle (knee, ankle).

Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins, 4:05 p.m. Sunday

• Bills -- OUT: Tackle Demetrius Bell (groin), defensive tackle John McCargo (calf), linebacker Paul Posluszny (forearm), cornerback Leodis McKelvin (leg) and safeties Donte Whitner (thumb) and Bryan Scott (ankle). DOUBTFUL: None. QUESTIONABLE: None. PROBABLE: Tight end Shawn Nelson (shoulder) and defensive tackle Kyle Williams (groin).
• Dolphins -- OUT: Quarterback Chad Pennington (shoulder). DOUBTFUL: None. QUESTIONABLE: Linebacker Joey Porter (hamstring). PROBABLE: None.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

» NFC Final Word: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

Five nuggets of knowledge about this weekend's games:

	Stew Milne-US PRESSWIRE
	Tom Brady and the Patriots will make a statement with a win over the Ravens this Sunday.

The best game of the week is not the New York Jets at New Orleans Saints. As interesting as a battle between two 3-0 teams will be, we'll learn a lot more about the state of the AFC when the Baltimore Ravens visit the New England Patriots in Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, the former Miami Dolphins coaching pariah, is calling the league's second-ranked offense. The Ravens' defense is ranked first against the run and seventh overall. But the Ravens have been relatively vulnerable against the pass. If Tom Brady can manage to work around Ravens safety Ed Reed, then the Patriots could score another big win after that setback to the Jets in Week 2.

The Jets' offensive line still is playing below expectations. Many observers, myself, included considered the Jets among the elite O-line units. They're solid on paper from tackle to tackle, featuring four first-round draft picks. But the Jets have been average in protecting Mark Sanchez and have struggled to generate a run game.

The Jets are tied for 20th in run offense. Take away two long fourth-quarter runs in the season opener, and reigning AFC rushing leader Thomas Jones is averaging 2.3 yards a carry. The starting front five have committed nine penalties for 62 yards.

While everybody's talking about the need to stop Drew Brees, running back Pierre Thomas will be a devil for the Jets' defense. The Saints' offense obviously changed when they started handing the ball to Thomas in the second half of Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills. Thomas didn't touch the ball in the first half, but finished the game with 126 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 9 yards a carry.

Maybe few people noticed because it was against the Bills, and a scan of the box score doesn't show that Thomas did all of that damage in 30 minutes. Brees, meanwhile, threw for only 172 yards to win comfortably.

Bills receiver Terrell Owens should have a nice bounce-back game against the Miami Dolphins. For the first time in 185 games, Owens is coming off a no-catch performance. Bills offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and quarterback Trent Edwards are under fire for not getting Owens and Lee Evans the ball. They've had all week to address those concerns and likely will enter Land Shark Stadium with a plan to get Owens involved early and often.

The Dolphins rank No. 3 against the run, but their pass defense has been the sixth-most lenient. Opposing quarterbacks have a 103.3 passer rating against them and are averaging 9.1 yards per attempt, second-to-worst in the league.

Dolphins reserve Charlie Anderson could be a difference-maker against the Bills. Unless you're a diehard Dolphins, Houston Texans or Ole Miss fan, you probably don't know who the heck Anderson is. He has started just six games in his six-year career. But he will be relied upon Sunday.

Anderson is Joey Porter's backup, and the reigning AFC sack king has been slowed down by a hamstring problem. Porter has insisted he will play, but even if he does, Anderson will see increased snaps. Anderson does have ability. In back-to-back games last year against the Bills and San Francisco 49ers, he recorded two sacks and two forced fumbles.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

CBS Sports color commentator Dan Dierdorf will call Sunday's game between the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints in the Superdome.

Somebody's oh has got to go!

Sorry, for a moment there I reverted to my old days on the boxing beat.

Anyway, Dierdorf shared his thoughts on a fascinating matchup between two undefeated teams.

On the Jets' defense having to deal with Saints' offense:

"When you play an offense as diversified as the Saints', with so many weapons and a guy who is running the show, playing the quarterback position as well as, or better, than anybody in the league, that’s exactly where you start.

"Rex Ryan doesn’t have it in his DNA to lay back and try to play some sort of umbrella defense in coverage against Drew Brees and that passing game. They’re going to do what they do best: apply pressure in a lot of different ways off the edges with overloads and up the middle with overloads in trying to flush Brees out of the pocket and get in his face."

On the showdown between Drew Brees and Mark Sanchez:

"Drew Brees is not the tallest of quarterbacks, but he compensates for that by how well he moves. Mark Sanchez also moves very well. And Drew Brees is very similar in that he buys a lot of extra time by extending plays for New Orleans by sliding out of that pocket. He's not looking to [run] upfield, but he certainly extends the play with the intent on passing the football."

On the Jets and Sanchez playing in Superdome:

"This will be quite an environment in the Superdome. This will be the loudest place that Mark Sanchez has heard in a while. Playing at Southern Cal and outside, I'm not sure he's heard anything quite like what he’s going to hear on Sunday afternoon. It’s going to be a real test in their ability to communicate and focus."