| Rnk | LW* | Team | Record | Comments |
| 1. | 1. | Denver Broncos | 13-3 | Record setting regular season is meaningless if Manning falters again in the playoffs. |
| 2. | 2. | Seattle Seahawks | 13-3 | Prohibitive favorites to be playing in Jersey in February even though Cards showed they can be beaten at home. |
| 3. | 3. | San Francisco 49ers | 12-4 | Beat the Super Bowl loser jinx. |
| 4. | 4. | Carolina Panthers | 12-4 | Remember back in week 3 when prevailing wisdom had Rivera on the hot seat? |
| 5. | 5. | New England Patriots | 12-4 | Loss of 4 All-Pros to injury makes a championship run that much more difficult. |
| 6. | 6. | Indianapolis Colts | 11-5 | Loss of Wayne makes long playoff run seem unlikely. |
| 7. | 7. | Cincinnati Bengals | 11-5 | Have to be thrilled refs handed the Chargers a playoff berth, no way they wanted to face the Steelers for a third time. |
| 8. | 10. | New Orleans Saints | 11-5 | Hard to envision them winning 3 straight road playoff games and a cold weather Super Bowl. |
| 9. | 8. | Kansas City Chiefs | 11-5 | Charles gives them a punchers chance. |
| 10. | 11. | Philadelphia Eagles | 10-6 | Kelly proved he can coach at any level. |
| 11. | 9. | Arizona Cardinals | 10-6 | In the wrong division of the wrong conference. |
| 12. | 12. | San Diego Chargers | 9-7 | Deserved to lose to the Chiefs backups, not a good sign entering the playoffs. |
| 13. | 17. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 8-8 | Needed a miracle in the last 2 weeks and fell just short. In the end they simply dug themselves too deep a hole in the first quarter/half of the season. |
| 14. | 19. | Green Bay Packers | 8-7-1 | Return of Rodgers and Cobb makes them dangerous. |
| 15. | 20. | New York Jets | 8-8 | Ryan deserved and got another season. |
| 16. | 13. | Dallas Cowboys | 8-8 | Dysfunction starts at the top. |
| 17. | 14. | Baltimore Ravens | 8-8 | Flacco looks like a complimentary player, not a franchise QB. |
| 18. | 15. | Miami Dolphins | 8-8 | Playoff teams don't lose to the Bills and Jets with the season on the line. |
| 19. | 16. | Chicago Bears | 8-8 | Will Cutler be back? |
| 20. | 18. | St. Louis Rams | 7-9 | Future is bright especially if Bradford can stay of the field. |
| 21. | 23. | New York Giants | 7-9 | Missed the playoffs for the fourth time in last 5 years, but Coughlin likely will be allowed to leave on his own terms thanks to his winning a pair of Lombardi trophies. |
| 22. | 21. | Buffalo Bills | 6-10 | Marrone's pro career tied inexorably to the development of Manuel. |
| 23. | 22. | Tennessee Titans | 7-9 | Munchak still holding on to his job as of Wednesday night. |
| 24. | 26. | Minnesota Vikings | 5-10-1 | Getting rid of Ponder and Freeman more important than firing Frazier. |
| 25. | 24. | Detriot Lions | 7-9 | Collapsed, losing 6 of their last 7. Need a disciplinarian to replace Schwartz. |
| 26. | 25. | Atlanta Falcons | 4-12 | Can they rebound from nightmare season? Certainly have the pieces. |
| 27. | 27. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 4-12 | Appear headed in the right direction, but must address the QB position. |
| 28. | 28. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 4-12 | Hiring Smith would provide the stability they lack. |
| 29. | 29. | Oakland Raiders | 4-12 | Barring a surprising change of course Allen will get another season. Can McKenzie find him a QB? |
| 30. | 30. | Cleveland Browns | 4-12 | Firing Chudzinski after a single season was a shocker. Same old clueless Brownies. |
| 31. | 31. | Washington Redskins | 3-13 | Can't blame Snyder for this season's failure. Shanahan had to go. |
| 32. | 32. | Houston Texans | 2-14 | Candidate to be next year's Chiefs with O'Brien and Bridgewater. |
*Last week's ranking