http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma5LAUHTQUA

By my estimation, Philip Rivers has had as much to do with the Chargers early struggles as he has with their success this season. He’s thrown a career high 15 interceptions and has been on a short leash passing downfield ever since Norv Turner discovered he has a couple decent backs in LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles. So I’m not so sure his ass can really cash whatever checks he was writing by taunting Jay Cutler during Monday night’s game between San Diego and Denver.

The Miami Dolphins and the St. Louis Rams are both winless and leading the way, but the nod here has to go to the Fins. They just placed quarterback Trent Green on IR and will have to go with Cleo Lemon the rest of the season. They play the undefeated Patriots today and then they travel to London to play the Giants next week. (And isn’t the league thrilled to have the 0-6 Dolphins representin’ in first overseas game?) The biggest threat to Miami getting the #1 pick might be the Jets, who are also in the hunt: When the teams play in Week 13, I wouldn’t put it past New York to throw the game and blemish the Fins record with a win.

The Rams, on the other hand, travel to Seattle today and host the Browns next week, so they too could still be winless at the bye week. But in the second half of the season, St. Louis plays New Orleans, which may or may not have its act together, and they play Atlanta in Week 13. If the Rams aren’t careful they could be picking fourth or fifth in the draft.

Speaking of the Jets and Falcons, both are right in the hunt with just a single win each. The J-E-T-S Jets travel to Cincinnati today where they’re sure to lose and have a pretty tough schedule after that with Pittsburgh, Dallas, and New England all looming after the bye. Miami is a winnable game, but as I’ve already noted, Eric Mangini may want to go to the mat to help his team’s chances for next year.

The Dirty Birds of Atlanta are in New Orleans today where I expect they will get blown out. After the bye week, Atlanta’s schedule includes two games against Tampa and a road trip to Carolina, not to mention a home stand against the Colts. The Falcons could really use a good quarterback next year so they better not screw this up by beating someone like San Francisco.

Also with just a single win are the Bills, Benglas and Rams, but at 1-4 it’s still too early for these teams to throw in the towel. Buffalo looked like a team playing for pride against Dallas so they could still win a few games, and Cincinnati has too much talent to go winless the rest of the year. New Orleans has looked inept enough to go the distance but in the NFC even a 1-4 start doesn’t mean you’re out of the playoff hunt, so they still have something to play for.

There are a bunch of two-win teams with an outside shot at getting the #1 pick, including the Raiders who earned the first pick in the last college draft. (And just look at JaMarcus Russel sitting on the bench and counting his money. Raider Nation must be thrilled.) Could Oakland do it again? You also have like the chances of the 49ers with Trent Dilfer at the helm, though Alex Smith seems to be getting healthy which might screw up everythjing for San Fran.

But among those two-loss teams, you really have to like the chances of the Denver Broncos. They’ve lost three straight and host the Steelers tonight, then they have Green Bay on Monday Night Football. By the time the Broncos get to some teams they have a chance to beat — Detroit, Kansas City, and Oakland — they might be too demoralized to care.