| Rnk | LW* | Team | Record | Comments |
| 1. | 1. | New England Patriots | 14-2 | AFC playoffs go through Foxboro. |
| 2. | 2. | Dallas Cowboys | 13-3 | Dak tied Roethlisberger for the most wins by a rookie starting QB. |
| 3. | 4. | Kansas City Chiefs | 12-4 | Dynamic Hill gives them the big play element they previously lacked. |
| 4. | 5. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 11-5 | After Roethlisberger (17) and Brady (31) the other QBs in the AFC playoffs have started a grand total of 5 playoff games, all by Smith. |
| 5. | 6. | Atlanta Falcons | 11-5 | Ryan is the front runner for MVP. |
| 6. | 7. | Green Bay Packers | 10-6 | Red hot entering the playoffs. |
| 7. | 8. | New York Giants | 11-5 | Second best record in the NFC get them a road game on wild card weekend because they play in the wrong division. |
| 8. | 9. | Seattle Seahawks | 10-5-1 | Heading into the playoffs questions surround offensive skill positions, defense due in large part to injury. |
| 9. | 3. | Oakland Raiders | 12-4 | What might have been before Carr's broken leg? |
| 10. | 10. | Miami Dolphins | 10-6 | Will go as far as Ajayi can take them. |
| 11. | 11. | Detroit Lions | 9-7 | Backed into the playoffs off 2 losses thanks to the Redskins choking. |
| 12. | 15. | Tennessee Titans | 9-7 | The future looks bright. The extra picks from last year's trade of the top pick don't hurt. |
| 13. | 12. | Houston Texans | 9-7 | Enter the playoffs committed to Osweiler due to Savage being in the league's concussion protocol. |
| 14. | 16. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 9-7 | Decision to move on from Lovie to give Koetter the job was a clear success. |
| 15. | 17. | Denver Broncos | 9-7 | Interesting to see what direction the franchise goes in with Kubiak retiring due to health concerns. |
| 16. | 13. | Washington Redskins | 8-7-1 | Can't lose a home game with a playoff berth on the line against an opponent playing for nothing. |
| 17. | 19. | Indianapolis Colts | 8-8 | Wasted another season of Luck. |
| 18. | 14. | Baltimore Ravens | 8-8 | Need to find some difference makers at the offensive skill positions. |
| 19. | 20. | Arizona Cardinals | 7-8-1 | Will Palmer retire? If so will they gamble on Romo staying healthy? |
| 20. | 23. | Minnesota Vikings | 8-8 | Whether Bradford keeps his job or Bridgewater returns the key will be rebuilding the injury decimated offensive line. |
| 21. | 18. | New Orleans Saints | 7-9 | Talk of trading Payton seems to have died down. Must decide what to do with Brees because of next season's astronomical cap figure. |
| 22. | 24. | Philadelphia Eagles | 7-9 | Season a success simply because they gave Wentz a year of experience. Now need to find him some weapons. |
| 23. | 25. | Cincinnati Bengals | 6-9-1 | Lewis survived black Monday. Can he lead a resurgence or have things grown too stale after 14 years on the job? |
| 24. | 21. | Buffalo Bills | 7-9 | Seem inclined to keep interim coach Lynn at the helm which is almost always a mistake, will likely just delay complete rebuild for a season. |
| 25. | 22. | Carolina Panthers | 6-10 | Never recovered from Super Bowl hangover losing 9 more regular season games than the previous season. |
| 26. | 27. | New York Jets | 5-11 | Decided to give Bowles another chance. Firing him after 2 seasons when he won 10 games in the first does seem unfair. Still hard to envision him being able to clean up what at least on the surface looks like a very dysfunctional roster, locker room. |
| 27. | 26. | San Diego Chargers | 5-11 | Should they move on from Rivers and start over completely in Los Angeles? |
| 28. | 28. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 3-13 | Bortles has 11 wins and 11 interceptions returned for TDs in 46 career starts. |
| 29. | 29. | Chicago Bears | 3-13 | Fox and the veteran coaching staff will get another opportunity. Now they need to find a QB. |
| 30. | 30. | San Francisco 49ers | 2-14 | Had no choice but to move on from Baalke and could not saddle the next GM with Kelly. |
| 31. | 31. | Los Angeles Rams | 4-12 | Terribly mishandled Goff as a rookie. Need to hire a competent offensive coaching staff. |
| 32. | 32. | Cleveland Browns | 1-15 | Finding the QB of the future a priority with the first and 12th picks overall in the draft. |
*Last week's ranking