| Rnk | LY* | Team | Record+ | Comments |
| 1. | 4. | New Orleans Saints | 13-3 | Deserve the top spot even though repeating is next to impossible. |
| 2. | 2. | Indianapolis Colts | 14-2 | Manning wins regular season games.... That's just what he does. |
| 3. | 7. | Green Bay Packers | 11-5 | High flying offensive paired with rapidly developing defense makes them a force to be reckoned with. |
| 4. | 5. | Dallas Cowboys | 11-5 | Can become the second team to win 400 games post merger with a victory in the opener over the Redskins. The Steelers were the first. |
| 5. | 3. | Minnesota Vikings | 12-4 | Hard to envision Favre being as good as last season. |
| 6. | 1. | San Diego Chargers | 13-3 | How will team respond to Smith's hard-line negotiating stance with Jackson and McNeil? |
| 7. | 8. | New England Patriots | 10-6 | Injuries to Warren and Bodden mean Brady, Moss and Welker need to put up humongous numbers to keep them competitive. |
| 8. | 12. | Baltimore Ravens | 9-7 | Transitioning from defensive powerhouse to offensive juggernaut. Can the defense hold up enough for them to make a legitimate run? Especially the corners with Reed out to start the season. |
| 9. | 10. | Cincinnati Bengals | 10-6 | Palmer needs to play better than last year. |
| 10. | 14. | Atlanta Falcons | 9-7 | Ryan took a small step back last season after his stellar rookie campaign. His continued development would make them extremely dangerous. |
| 11. | 11. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 9-7 | Have the talent to compete with anyone. The 2008 Super Bowl champions that were 6-2 and favorites to return to the big game before inexplicable losses to the Chiefs, Raiders and Browns sent them home early. Still rebounded to win their final three games. Need Dixon to get them 2 wins while Ben sits due to suspension. If that happens then the schedule after the bye is very manageable. At least barring another special teams collapse and debilitating defensive injuries. |
| 12. | 20. | New York Giants | 8-8 | Sort of the Steelers of the NFC. The 2007 Super Bowl champions that were 5-0 and favorites to go to the big game before the offensive line collapsed and the wheels fell off. |
| 13. | 15. | New York Jets | 9-7 | Ryan talks a good game, but I am not on the bandwagon. Replacing Jones with LT and Faneca with unproven youngsters can't help the running game. Sanchize will have to show me something more before I become a believer. |
| 14. | 6. | Philadelphia Eagles | 11-5 | Kolb and McCoy look like worthy replacements for McNabb and Westbrook. |
| 15. | 18. | San Fransisco 49ers | 8-8 | Improvement from Smith could vault them into legitimate contention. |
| 16. | 16. | Tennessee Titans | 8-8 | Should benefit from having a maturing VY at the helm from the start of the season. |
| 17. | 13. | Houston Texans | 9-7 | Can't seem to get over the hump after winning 8, 8 and 9 games in the last three seasons. |
| 18. | 21. | Miami Dolphins | 7-9 | Parcells turns over full control to Ireland, resigning his presidency to become a consultant, after taking over a 15 loss team and winning 18 games in two season. Don't be shocked if he surfaces again when another owner is willing to pay him multi-millions. |
| 19. | 29. | Washington Redskins | 4-12 | Will Snyder be able to leave Shanahan alone to do his job? |
| 20. | 26. | Oakland Raiders | 5-11 | While Campbell is not a game changer, his competence should be a welcome respite from the historical incompetence of Russell. |
| 21. | 17. | Carolina Panthers | 8-8 | Lame duck Fox tries to rally the youngest team in the league and save his job. |
| 22. | 22. | Chicago Bears | 7-9 | Lovie (and probably Angelo) bet their future on Cutler and Martz. Seems like a fools bet. |
| 23. | 9. | Arizona Cardinals | 10-6 | Never has the loss of one player affected the outlook for a team more than the retirement of Warner. QB situation is an ugly mess. |
| 24. | 23. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 7-9 | Treading water despite the best efforts of MJD. |
| 25. | 30. | Seattle Seahawks | 5-11 | Carroll won't have the talent advantage he enjoyed at USC. Or as high a payroll. |
| 26. | 27. | Kansas City Chiefs | 4-12 | Can Weis get more out of Cassel? |
| 27. | 19. | Denver Broncos | 8-8 | Last year's 6-0 start is a distant memory. |
| 28. | 31. | Detriot Lions | 2-14 | Appear pointed in the right direction. |
| 29. | 24. | Cleveland Browns | 5-11 | Mangini and Delhomme don't inspire much confidence. |
| 30. | 28. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 3-13 | Firing Gruden before last season hasn't worked out in the short term. |
| 31. | 25. | Buffalo Bills | 6-10 | Spiller will be fun to watch. The rest of the team after the uninspiring hire of Gailey as head coach.... Not so much. |
| 32. | 32. | St. Louis Rams | 1-15 | Bradford gives them a future (as long as his shoulder remains intact). |
*2009 final regular season ranking
+2009 final regular season record