| Rnk | LW | Team | Record | Comments |
| 1. | 1. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 12-1 | Have proven their mettle in a playoff type atmosphere the last 2 weeks. Should be kept sharp by the likely need to run the table to procure home field advantage throughout the playoffs. |
| 2. | 2. | New England Patriots | 12-1 | Hard to envision them losing to either the Dolphins or Niners which means their sole remaining test will be on the day after Christmas in the swamps of Jersey against the Jets. |
| 3. | 3. | Philadelphia Eagles | 12-1 | Keeping their focus in the final 3 weeks will not be an easy task. |
| 4. | 4. | Indianapolis Colts | 10-3 | My head is already about to explode just thinking of Joe Theisman and Paul Maguire fawning over Peyton Manning and Ray Lewis this coming Sunday night. |
| 5. | 5. | San Diego Chargers | 10-3 | One more victory clinches the AFC West. Whoulda thunk it? |
| 6. | 7. | Atlanta Falcons | 10-3 | Again showed the ability to rebound from a bad loss. |
| 7. | 6. | New York Jets | 9-4 | Chad Pennington's lack of arm strength has to be a major concern. |
| 8. | 8. | Green Bay Packers | 8-5 | Defensive concerns make a deep run in the playoffs appear unlikely even though Brett Favre can still take over a game. |
| 9. | 10. | Denver Broncos | 8-5 | Beat Miami by 3 at home with Jake Plummer flipping off the crowd after throwing 2 more interceptions. That's the definition of winning ugly. |
| 10. | 11. | Baltimore Ravens | 8-5 | Need to win in either Indianapolis or Pittsburgh to make the playoffs. |
| 11. | 12. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 7-6 | Head-to-head victories over the Broncos and Bills give them a tiebreaker advantage. |
| 12. | 13. | Buffalo Bills | 7-6 | On a roll. Have scored 154 points in their last 4 games and won 6 of their last 7. Who would have thought at the time that Ernest Wilford's touchdown catch on 4th down as time expired in the opening week could end up keeping them out of the playoffs? |
| 13. | 16. | Carolina Panthers | 6-7 | Continue their incredible turnaround from 1-7. |
| 14. | 20. | Seattle Seahawks | 7-6 | Back in sole possession of first in the pathetic NFC West. |
| 15. | 9. | Minnesota Vikings | 7-6 | The 5-1 start is a distant memory. Inability to capitalize on early success for the second straight season could cost Mike Tice his job. |
| 16. | 14. | St. Louis Rams | 6-7 | Could not overcome Chris Chandler's 6 interceptions in Carolina. Trying hard to give the division to the struggling Seahawks. |
| 17. | 15. | Cincinnati Bengals | 6-7 | Need to win 3 straight to finish with their first winning record since 1990. |
| 18. | 22. | Kansas City Chiefs | 5-8 | Dick Vermeil only let Larry Johnson touch the ball 9 times in a reserve role even though Derrick Blaylock is unlikely to return as an unrestricted free agent. Johnson gained 123 combined yards and scored twice. Vermeil needs to put his obvious bias aside and give Johnson a prolonged look. |
| 19. | 18. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5-8 | Sort of in limbo along with all of the other 5-8 teams in the NFC. Not quite in the thick of the playoff race. Not eliminated. |
| 20. | 27. | New Orleans Saints | 5-8 | Remain maddeningly inconsistent. |
| 21. | 17. | Dallas Cowboys | 5-8 | Played the up-and-down Saints during the wrong week. It is time to start evaluating the youngsters. |
| 22. | 19. | Chicago Bears | 5-8 | Talk that Chad Hutchinson looked like a quality backup for Rex Grossman appears to have been a bit premature. |
| 23. | 21. | Houston Texans | 5-8 | Held Peyton Manning to only 2 touchdown passes and the Colts to a season low 23 points. That gives the defense a little something to be proud about even though a loss is a loss. |
| 24. | 23. | Tennessee Titans | 4-9 | Lost at home despite gaining 542 yards and scoring 38 points. |
| 25. | 24. | Detriot Lions | 5-8 | Joey Harrington is looking more and more like a bust. |
| 26. | 25. | Washington Redskins | 4-9 | Things were actually looking up until Patrick Ramsey heaved a 4th quarter pass into double coverage in the endzone. The ensuing interception sealed the loss and again raised questions about Ramsey's decison making capabilities. |
| 27. | 26. | New York Giants | 5-8 | Scored 16 offensive points in 4 games with Eli Manning as the starter. |
| 28. | 28. | Oakland Raiders | 4-9 | Rolled over and died in Atlanta. |
| 29. | 29. | Arizona Cardinals | 4-9 | Suffered 4th straight loss behind 3rd different starting quarterback since Denny Green made the ill fated decsion to start Shaun King. |
| 30. | 30. | Cleveland Browns | 3-10 | Could only manage an almost unfathomable 17 total yards of offense in Buffalo. Butch Davis left this team in shambles. |
| 31. | 31. | Miami Dolphins | 2-11 | Matchup against the Patriots this coming Monday night is precisely why flexible scheduling is needed for primetime games in the final 6 weeks. |
| 32. | 32. | San Fransisco 49ers | 2-11 | Proved they can beat the Cardinals. Twice. Unfortunately they haven't been able to beat anyone else. |