| Rnk | LW* | Team | Record | Comments |
| 1. | 3. | Denver Broncos | 10-3 | Manning just seems to keep getting better the further removed from surgery. Scary. |
| 2. | 4. | New England Patriots | 10-3 | Losses are by a combined 4 points. |
| 3. | 5. | Green Bay Packers | 9-4 | Can win their division in Chicago. |
| 4. | 1. | Houston Texans | 11-2 | Kubiak/Schaub did not belong on the same field as Belichick/Brady. |
| 5. | 7. | San Francisco 49ers | 9-3-1 | Consecutive road games in New England and Seattle should tell us where they stand. |
| 6. | 2. | Atlanta Falcons | 11-2 | Have to be a little nervous considering past late season/playoff failures. |
| 7. | 6. | Baltimore Ravens | 9-4 | Firing Cameron was the type of panic move that rarely works out. |
| 8. | 11. | Indianapolis Colts | 9-4 | Wild card all but clinched, division within reach with 2 of their final 3 games against the Texans. |
| 9. | 12. | New York Giants | 8-5 | Nothing like facing the Saints defense to make a struggling offense feel good about itself. |
| 10. | 13. | Seattle Seahawks | 8-5 | Wilson is the first rookie QB since the AFL/NFL merger to start and win his first 6 home games. |
| 11. | 8. | Chicago Bears | 8-5 | Could another late season swoon put Lovie on the hot seat? |
| 12. | 14. | Washington Redskins | 7-6 | Need a big week from Cousins against the resurgent Browns with RGIII nursing a sprained LCL. |
| 13. | 15. | Dallas Cowboys | 7-6 | Overcame a 9 point deficit in the final 5 minutes. |
| 14. | 9. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 7-6 | Continue to play down to bad competition. |
| 15. | 10. | Cincinnati Bengals | 7-6 | Done in by a horrendous roughing penalty against Nelson on a third and 21 which got Dallas back in the game. |
| 16. | 18. | Minnesota Vikings | 7-6 | Purple Jesus needs an even 400 yards in the final 3 games to notch the seventh 2000 yard rushing season in league history. |
| 17. | 19. | St. Louis Rams | 6-6-1 | How does Fisher have them at .500? |
| 18. | 23. | New York Jets | 6-7 | Somehow back in the race for a wild card with the Titans, Chargers and Bills left on the schedule. |
| 19. | 16. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 6-7 | Heartbreaker against the Eagles basically ended their season. |
| 20. | 24. | Cleveland Browns | 5-8 | Playing well for Shurmur. |
| 21. | 26. | San Diego Chargers | 5-8 | Could Norv conceivably save his job with another late season run? Doubtful. |
| 22. | 17. | New Orleans Saints | 5-8 | Stick a fork in them. Better hope Payton returns and doesn't get an offer he can't refuse from the Cowboys or someone else. |
| 23. | 20. | Detriot Lions | 4-9 | Losers of 5 in a row travel to Arizona to face losers of 9 in a row. |
| 24. | 21. | Miami Dolphins | 5-8 | Need offensive weapons. |
| 25. | 22. | Buffalo Bills | 5-8 | How many in Toronto will show up to watch them? |
| 26. | 28. | Carolina Panthers | 4-9 | Future buoyed by Newton's late season resurgence. |
| 27. | 30. | Philadelphia Eagles | 4-9 | Improved Foles gives them some hope. |
| 28. | 25. | Tennessee Titans | 4-9 | Couldn’t take advantage of a botched call on a Luck interception for a TD that wasn't overturned despite replay clearly showing he was down pre-pass. |
| 29. | 29. | Arizona Cardinals | 4-9 | Free Fitzgerald! |
| 30. | 27. | Kansas City Chiefs | 2-11 | Hit the wall in Cleveland after an emotional week. No surprise. |
| 31. | 31. | Oakland Raiders | 3-10 | Trade for Palmer is the gift that keeps on giving (to the Bengals). |
| 32. | 32. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 2-11 | GM Smith and Mularkey unlikely to be back with good reason. |
*Last week's ranking