| Rnk | LW | Team | Record | Comments |
| 1. | 1. | New England Patriots | 12-2 | Haven't lost a game since falling to the Redskins in Andover, MD during the last weekend in September. |
| 2. | 2. | Philadelphia Eagles | 11-3 | Turned around season in week 6 when Westbrook returned a punt for a TD to beat the Giants in the final minutes. Eagles haven't lost since and the Giants were never the same. |
| 3. | 3. | Indianapolis Colts | 11-3 | Manning is well on the way to his first MVP award. He will still mainly be judged by playoff performance. |
| 4. | 4. | St. Louis Rams | 11-3 | Tied a franchise record with thirteenth straight home win. |
| 5. | 5. | Kansas City Chiefs | 12-2 | Despite a blowout win somehow still managed to give up 100 yards rushing to Bryson. The first time a Lions RB managed to top the century mark in over a year. |
| 6. | 6. | Tennessee Titans | 10-4 | Volek showed alot in his first career start. Unfortunately due to a lacerated spleen his season is over. The Titans should be OK. McNair is expected to return and O'Donnell was signed as insurance. |
| 7. | 7. | Denver Broncos | 9-5 | Dodged a bullet when Portis' MRI came back negative. |
| 8. | 11. | Carolina Panthers | 9-5 | Needed OT in Arizona to clinch the division title. |
| 9. | 12. | Green Bay Packers | 8-6 | Refuse to go away. |
| 10. | 14. | Dallas Cowboys | 9-5 | Always manage to beat the bad teams under the steady influence of Parcells. That will get them into the playoffs barring a disaster, but they are probably not talented enough to perservere against top competition. |
| 11. | 15. | Cincinnati Bengals | 8-6 | What did Chad Johnson expect would happen when after scoring a TD he retrieved and held up a sign reading Dear NFL, PLEASE don't fine me AGAIN!!! He of course got fined $10,000. Johnson is apparently fined $5,000 on a weekly basis for wearing orange shoes. Why the NFL cares so much about shoe color escapes me. |
| 12. | 16. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 7-7 | Could still sneak into the playoffs with the Vikings and Seahawks in freefall. |
| 13. | 8. | Baltimore Ravens | 8-6 | Brutal loss in Oakland can still be overcome because the schedule is much easier than what the Bengals must face. |
| 14. | 9. | Miami Dolphins | 8-6 | The annual December swoon has begun. |
| 15. | 19. | New Orleans Saints | 7-7 | Apparently it is better to retrieve and display a sign after scoring a TD (see writeup on Bengals for details) than to receive or make a cell phone call. Horn was fined $30,000 and penalized 15 yards for his display. While I agree these antics are unneccesary, I do think Theisman and the ESPN Sunday night broadcasting crew went a bit overboard in their criticism of Horn. There are bigger things to worry about in the world than post-TD celebrations. |
| 16. | 10. | Seattle Seahawks | 8-6 | Should remain undefeated at home with the Cardinals coming to town. Unfortunately their only road win so far has come in Arizona. A week 17 loss in San Fransisco could spell the end of the Holmgren regime. |
| 17. | 13. | Minnesota Vikings | 8-6 | Have gone 2-6 after a 6-0 start. |
| 18. | 21. | New York Jets | 6-8 | Martin became only the second player in NFL history to rush for 1000 yards in each of the first 9 years of his career. Sanders rushed for 1000 yards in all 10 years of his career. Martin passed Riggins to move into 11th all time in the NFL in career rushing. |
| 19. | 18. | Buffalo Bills | 6-8 | Continue to fight hard, but disappointing season still expected to cost Williams and Gilbride their jobs. |
| 20. | 17. | San Fransisco 49ers | 6-8 | Defense plays like the '86 Bears at home and an expansion team on the road. Tough to explain. |
| 21. | 24. | Chicago Bears | 6-8 | Grossman and Tillman had to make GM Angelo very happy on Sunday. |
| 22. | 20. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 5-9 | The decision to throw the ball 38 times and run only 24 times in a blizzard against the worst run defense in the NFL was mind boggling. Especially after the solid performance on the ground the week before. Now mathematically eliminated Cowher has already decreed that the final 2 games will not be used to evaluate any young players. Play to win is the Cowher mantra. Noble in it's own way until you realize that the youngsters could hardly do worse than veterans like Gildon, Alexander, and Washington. Cowher is often given credit for making the playoffs 8 times in his 12 seasons. Remember though, he has only made the playoffs twice in the last 6 years and the Steelers have had a sub-.500 record in 3 of the last 6 years. |
| 23. | 22. | Washington Redskins | 5-9 | Looks like Spurrier will return. I still think he would be better off in Chapel Hill. |
| 24. | 23. | Houston Texans | 5-9 | Scored a grand total of 3 points in the 2 games started by rookie QB Ragone. Carr is mercifully expected back this week. |
| 25. | 25. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 4-10 | First team to score a TD against the Patriots in New England in 5 games. Seem to be on the right track and could be a sleeper for next season. |
| 26. | 31. | Oakland Raiders | 4-10 | Showed a little life for the first time in weeks by playing the role of spoiler to perfection at home against the Ravens. |
| 27. | 27. | Cleveland Browns | 4-10 | Maybe Davis should have never started jerking around Couch. |
| 28. | 26. | Atlanta Falcons | 3-11 | Vick was very rusty in his second game back after a decent debut. |
| 29. | 28. | San Diego Chargers | 3-11 | Tomlinson has now gained more than 2,000 total yards from scrimmage on the season. |
| 30. | 29. | Detriot Lions | 4-10 | Millen should be fired for his performace as GM, not for derogatory comments made to Morton in a heated exchange. |
| 31. | 32. | Arizona Cardinals | 3-11 | Undrafted rookie free agent FB Josh Rue was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster. Why is this noteworthy? Rue is a Pittsburgh native that played his college ball at Duquesne. Gotta give some props to a former Duke. |
| 32. | 30. | New York Giants | 4-10 | The other teams at the bottom of the rankings have at least shown some life in the last 2 or 3 weeks. The Giants just keep getting worse. Now Fassel is a lame duck coach. Due to injury and ineffectiveness Barber and Toomer are the only 2 offensive starters remaining from the begining of the season. And Barber can't quit dropping the ball. What a mess. |