| Rnk | LW | Team | Record | Comments |
| 1. | 1. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 14-1 | Completely dominated the Ravens in Heinz Field to avenge their only loss of the season. Officially clinched homefield advantage throughout the playoffs to rebound from a 6 win season in 2003. The improbable regular season was highlighted by rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger winning 13 straight starts and back-to-back blowouts over the then undefeated Patriots and Eagles. Now after a relatively meaningless trip to Buffalo comes the the real test. The playoffs. |
| 2. | 3. | New England Patriots | 13-2 | Rebounded quickly from the Monday night debacle in Miami to put the Jets in their place. |
| 3. | 2. | Philadelphia Eagles | 13-2 | When they take the field in the playoffs they will have not played a meaningful game in a month. Terrell Owens will be on the sidelines. Seeing Atlanta, Green Bay, or even Carolina travel to Philadelphia and beat the Eagles in the playoffs does not seem quite as unlikely as it did just a few short weeks ago. |
| 4. | 4. | Indianapolis Colts | 12-3 | Peyton Manning has the record for most touchdown passes in a season. Now Manning wants a ring. He will likely find that the record was much easier to come by. |
| 5. | 5. | San Diego Chargers | 11-4 | Hard to decide what to take from their trip to Indianapolis. Impressively controlled the game for over 3 quarters, but a special teams letdown opened the door and led to a 15 point 4th quarter collapse. |
| 6. | 6. | Atlanta Falcons | 11-4 | Plan to get Michael Vick some work in the final weekend after resting him against New Orleans. |
| 7. | 9. | Buffalo Bills | 9-6 | One of the hottest teams in football may be home for the playoffs. Need to win against the Steelers and then hope either the Jets or Broncos choke. |
| 8. | 11. | Green Bay Packers | 9-6 | Regular season comeback was completed on Christmas Eve. Won the division crown in Minnesota after starting out 1-4. |
| 9. | 7. | New York Jets | 10-5 | Just not on the same level as the top 4 seeds in the AFC. |
| 10. | 14. | Denver Broncos | 9-6 | Got a break when the Jaguars didn't show up to play the Texans. Now control their own destiny against a Colts team with nothing to play for in Denver. |
| 11. | 8. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 8-7 | Jack Del Rio can not be happy about the total lack of effort his players displayed with the playoffs within reach. |
| 12. | 10. | Minnesota Vikings | 8-7 | A win in Washington gets them into the playoffs. Of course a win last year in Arzona would have had the same result. |
| 13. | 13. | Kansas City Chiefs | 7-8 | Need to fix the defense quickly before the window of opportunity closes on the offense. |
| 14. | 12. | Baltimore Ravens | 8-7 | Ray Lewis and the defense appear to be on the downside. |
| 15. | 15. | Seattle Seahawks | 8-7 | I'm not sure if Mike Holmgren saved his job just by making the playoffs or whether he needs to advance a round. |
| 16. | 16. | Carolina Panthers | 7-8 | Control their own destiny after a 1-7 start. |
| 17. | 17. | New Orleans Saints | 7-8 | A win in Carolina combined with a loss by the Rams would get them into the playoffs. |
| 18. | 18. | Houston Texans | 7-8 | Developing an interesting divisional rivalry against the Jaguars. |
| 19. | 19. | St. Louis Rams | 7-8 | Took advantage of having an opponent that had already clinched homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. That won't happen again with the Jets coming to town needing to win to guarantee a playoff berth. |
| 20. | 20. | Cincinnati Bengals | 7-8 | Trying for a second straight .500 finish. |
| 21. | 25. | Dallas Cowboys | 6-9 | Did nothing on offense all day until Vinnie and Patrick Crayton made 2 big plays in the final drive. |
| 22. | 27. | Detriot Lions | 6-9 | Managed to withstand a rally and stay out of the cellar in the NFC North with the help of the officials. |
| 23. | 21. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5-10 | What happened here? Have gone from champions to also rans in 2 short years of Jon Gruden making personel decisions. |
| 24. | 22. | Washington Redskins | 5-10 | Clinton Portis will fall short of his goal of becoming the first back to ever rush for 1500 yards in each of his first 3 seasons. Portis is done for the year with a torn pectoral muscle and will finish with 1315 yards rushing. |
| 25. | 23. | Oakland Raiders | 5-10 | Here's an idea for Raiders defensive coaches.... When you play against Tony Gonzalez consider covering him downfield with someone other than a converted lineman trying to play linebacker. |
| 26. | 24. | Arizona Cardinals | 5-10 | Denny Green appears to have righted the ship. Whether anyone can ever make the Cardinals a perenial contender is still a major questionmark. |
| 27. | 26. | Chicago Bears | 5-10 | Ruling that Bernard Berian did not have control of the ball in the endzone for the winning touchdown might have been the worst call of the season. |
| 28. | 28. | New York Giants | 5-10 | Players are again grumbling about Tom Coughlin. That's what happens when you lose 8 straight. |
| 29. | 30. | Miami Dolphins | 4-11 | Won 2 straight for interim head coach Jim Bates. AJ Feeley is starting to look like an actual NFL quarterback. Maybe Nick Saban has something to look forward to next season. |
| 30. | 29. | Tennessee Titans | 4-11 | Mired in a 5 game losing streak. At least the surgery on Steve McNair's sternum has been deemed successful. |
| 31. | 31. | Cleveland Browns | 3-12 | Plan to hire a strong GM and let him steer the course of the franchise going forward. That seems like a prudent idea after seeing what Butch Davis did with total control. |
| 32. | 32. | San Fransisco 49ers | 2-13 | Have the least talent and the toughest road ahead of all the teams at the bottom of this list. |