| Rnk | LY* | Team | 2010 Record | Comments |
| 1. | 9. | Green Bay Packers | 10-6 | Got hot at the right time despite a spate of injuries. Have the talent to repeat. |
| 2. | 1. | New England Patriots | 14-2 | Haven't won a playoff game since soul crushing defeat in the Super Bowl at the hands of the Giants ended their dream of an undefeated season. Of course they have gone 35-13 in the regular season since then. |
| 3. | 2. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 12-4 | Clearly have all the pieces to return to the big game. Performances after last 2 Super Bowl appearances are reason for concern. |
| 4. | 5. | New Orleans Saints | 11-5 | Breesus appears poised for a big comeback after turning the ball over way too frequently last year. |
| 5. | 4. | Atlanta Falcons | 13-3 | Took a step forward in the regular season. Now need to show they can carry that forward into the playoffs. |
| 6. | 6. | New York Jets | 11-5 | Sanchez is a remarkable 4-2 in road playoff games in his 2 year career. Him and Greene need to do better in the regular season so they can overcome the Patriots in the division and start getting some home playoff games. |
| 7. | 10. | Philadelphia Eagles | 10-6 | Showed Vick the money. Now they better hope he doesn't take a step backwards or get injured with Kolb in Arizona. Offensive line and linebacker are the real areas of concern for the dream team. |
| 8. | 13. | San Diego Chargers | 9-7 | Based on talent alone they should be ranked higher. Alas last year was not a fluke when they somehow found a way to miss the playoffs despite the number 1 ranked regular season offense and defense. Turner has a long history of finding created ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. |
| 9. | 3. | Baltimore Ravens | 12-4 | Trading for Evans and signing McKinnie almost smells of desperation. |
| 10. | 20. | Dallas Cowboys | 6-10 | Hard to envision as much going wrong as last season. |
| 11. | 24. | Houston Texans | 6-10 | Manning injury gives them a perfect opportunity for a fast start in the division. Of course they squandered a victory over the Colts in the opener last season. |
| 12. | 8. | Indianapolis Colts | 10-6 | Manning is now expected to miss 4 games. In big trouble if he misses more. |
| 13. | 19. | Detriot Lions | 6-10 | Defense could be scary. Need Stafford to stay on the field. |
| 14. | 14. | New York Giants | 10-6 | A disastrous half of football against the Eagles cost them a playoff berth in 2010. Injury decimated defense already a concern. |
| 15. | 12. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 10-6 | Future is bright with Freeman. For some reason I see a step backward in the short term. |
| 16. | 7. | Chicago Bears | 11-5 | Still not sure how Lovie coaxed a divisional title out of them last season. I could see a first to worst scenario. Then again I never liked them last year. |
| 17. | 18. | St. Louis Rams | 7-9 | Loss in the finale in Seattle kept them from .500 and cost them the division. Need Bradford to react positively to McDaniels replacing Shurmur. |
| 18. | 29. | Arizona Cardinals | 5-11 | I'm drinking the Kolb kool-aid. OK, maybe sipping. |
| 19. | 11. | Kansas City Chiefs | 10-6 | Took advantage of an easy schedule last season. Don't have that luxury this season. |
| 20. | 15. | Oakland Raiders | 8-8 | Ran the table in their division and still failed to make the playoffs. Didn't get better in the offseason. |
| 21. | 26. | Tennessee Titans | 6-10 | Need Johnson to hit the ground running and avoid injury or season will unravel quickly. |
| 22. | 27. | Cleveland Browns | 5-11 | Can McCoy build on success of the preseason or will the clock strike midnight when the games begin to count? |
| 23. | 21. | Minnesota Vikings | 6-10 | Probably better off in the long run if Ponder gets an opportunity sooner rather than later. McNabb appeared to be toast in Washington last season. |
| 24. | 30. | Denver Broncos | 4-12 | The steadying hand of Fox can't hurt. Keeping Orton also helps in the short term. |
| 25. | 22. | Miami Dolphins | 7-9 | A good offensive line and defense unlikely to be able to overcome Henne, Bush and the ultra-inconsistent Marshall in leading roles on offense. A regime change seems inevitable before 2012. |
| 26. | 31. | Buffalo Bills | 4-12 | Probably not bad enough to fall apart completely and lay claim to Luck. A pity really because there isn�t much to look forward to in the short or long term. |
| 27. | 23. | San Fransisco 49ers | 6-10 | Is Harbaugh hoping to parlay the inconsistent (OK, awful) play of Smith into a reunion with Luck? Garrard could make them a contender in the worst division in football. |
| 28. | 16. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 8-8 | Decision to release Garrard on the Tuesday before the opener and start McCown while grooming Gabbert saves them $8M. Hard to see how it makes them better on the field. Expect Del Rio to be looking for work after the season if not sooner. Veteran Jaguars can't be happy. |
| 29. | 17. | Seattle Seahawks | 7-9 | Carroll seems willing to take a step backward to procure the services of Luck or Barkley after signed Jackson to start at QB. Another NFC West team that could legitimately contend with Garrard behind center. |
| 30. | 32. | Carolina Panthers | 2-14 | Could surprise due to running game, defense and a non-lame duck head coach. Newton's expected growing pains make any great leap forward unlikely in the short term. |
| 31. | 25. | Washington Redskins | 6-10 | The Sex Cannon beat out Beck in QB competition. Wait.... What? That was a QB competition in 2011? |
| 32. | 28. | Cincinnati Bengals | 4-12 | A train wreck. |
*Last year's final regular season ranking