| Rnk | LW* | Team | Record | Comments |
| 1. | 1. | New England Patriots | 11-2 | First team to clinch a playoff spot. Outscored winners of a combined 18 games in their last 2 contests by 71 total points. |
| 2. | 2. | Atlanta Falcons | 11-2 | Winners of 7 straight. Abraham got the 100th sack of his career. |
| 3. | 3. | New Orleans Saints | 10-3 | Have scored 30 points or more in all 5 games since turning around their season with a 20-10 win over the Steelers. Can do the Steelers a favor this week by taking care of the Ravens in Baltimore. |
| 4. | 4. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 10-3 | Offense continues to struggle behind makeshift line. Polamalu just refuses to lose. |
| 5. | 7. | Philadelphia Eagles | 9-4 | Jackson's celebration after his 91 yard TD reception drew a flag and the ire of the Cowboys. Maybe if the Cowboys would have managed to hold him under 210 yards receiving I would have more sympathy for them. |
| 6. | 9. | Baltimore Ravens | 8-4 | Blew a 21 point third quarter lead before Schaub handed them the game in OT with a horrible pick 6. |
| 7. | 10. | New York Giants | 8-4 | Best team in New Jersey. Super Bowl winner Coughlin being overshadowed by blowhard Ryan in his own building is a joke. |
| 8. | 5. | New York Jets | 9-4 | Lost despite holding the Dolphins to 131 total yards including a ridiculous 30 net yards passing. Only scored 26 first quarter points this season. Taking the opening kickoff instead of deferring didn't help. |
| 9. | 6. | Chicago Bears | 9-4 | Not on the same level as the Patriots. Who is? |
| 10. | 12. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 8-5 | Travel to Indy with a chance to take complete control of the division. |
| 11. | 14. | San Diego Chargers | 7-6 | Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother, you're stayin' alive, stayin' alive. Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin', and we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive. |
| 12. | 15. | Indianapolis Colts | 7-6 | Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive. Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive. Maurice Gibb was always my favorite member into the Bee Gees. Not sure why I had a favorite member of the Bee Gees. |
| 13. | 8. | Green Bay Packers | 8-5 | Couldn't overcome loss of Rodgers in the 2nd quarter to a concussion. In real danger of missing the playoffs. |
| 14. | 16. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 8-5 | Schedule makes them favorites for a wildcard. A 2 point conversion with just over 3 minutes remaining to take a 7 point lead ended up making all the difference after a bad snap on Gano's extra point attempt in the final seconds. |
| 15. | 11. | Kansas City Chiefs | 8-5 | Croyle fell to 0-10 as a starter. |
| 16. | 22. | Miami Dolphins | 7-6 | Fields changed the complexion of the game by averaging 56 yards on 10 punts in the wind and rains of the swamps of Jersey. Marshall scored for only the second time this season, the first being in the earlier matchup with the Jets. |
| 17. | 13. | Oakland Raiders | 6-7 | Let a legitimate opportunity to become part of the playoff equation slip through their fingers in Jacksonville. This is still progress. |
| 18. | 26. | San Fransisco 49ers | 5-8 | Probably the best team in the NFC West as everyone thought at the beginning of the season. Slow start will still likely make that a moot point. Then again they are only a game back in a division with no one over .500. |
| 19. | 17. | Cleveland Browns | 5-8 | Mangini's chances to keep his job took a blow in windy, stormy Buffalo. |
| 20. | 18. | Minnesota Vikings | 5-7 | Favre's streak of 297 consecutive starts is officially over. |
| 21. | 19. | St. Louis Rams | 6-7 | Not ready to compete against the Saints on the road. Might actually get to play them at home to open the playoffs thanks to their division. |
| 22. | 20. | Seattle Seahawks | 6-7 | I'm hoping the Rams win the division because at least Bradford makes them interesting. Nothing about Carroll's crew is interesting. |
| 23. | 21. | Dallas Cowboys | 4-9 | Is a 3-2 record with a pair of close losses against top competition enough to keep Garrett in the discussion as the full time coach. Possibility of labor strife and desire not to start over with a new coach with the strong possibility of limited off season (and early season) can't hurt. |
| 24. | 23. | Houston Texans | 5-7 | Amazing comeback from 21 down in the third quarter didn't end as they hoped in OT. Not sure why they don't play with more of a sense of urgency until they get way behind. In any case it is likely to cost Kubiak his job. |
| 25. | 24. | Washington Redskins | 5-8 | Losers of 4 straight home games. How often do you see a botched extra point in the final seconds after an apparently game tying TD? |
| 26. | 27. | Buffalo Bills | 3-10 | Gailey may just be a caretaker until they straighten out this mess, but he deserves kudos for getting his team to play hard all season. |
| 27. | 29. | Arizona Cardinals | 4-9 | Feely scored their first 22 points and 25 of their 43 total points including 5 FGs, 4 extra points and a rushing TD on a fake FG. |
| 28. | 31. | Detriot Lions | 3-10 | Finally beat a divisional foe after losing 19 straight. |
| 29. | 25. | Tennessee Titans | 5-8 | Fisher's 17 year tenure appears to be coming to an end with a 6 game losing streak and perhaps more importantly a simmering feud with ownership started over VY. |
| 30. | 28. | Denver Broncos | 3-10 | Studesville didn't have the same short term positive effect as fellow interim coaches Garrett and Frazier. |
| 31. | 30. | Cincinnati Bengals | 2-11 | Scored on the opening drive at Heinz Field and then did nothing. Palmer has now thrown 5 interceptions for TDs this season. |
| 32. | 32. | Carolina Panthers | 1-12 | Could Stanford's Harbaugh and Luck be a package deal? They could do worse. |
*Last week's ranking