| Rnk | LW* | Team | Record | Comments |
| 1. | 1. | New England Patriots | 8-0 | The first meeting between coaches with 3 or more Super Bowl wins wasn't much of a matchup. Next up. The first meeting between teams with 7 or more wins and no losses. |
| 2. | 2. | Indianapolis Colts | 7-0 | Undefeated Super Bowl champion is a home underdog. Doubt that has ever happened before. |
| 3. | 3. | Dallas Cowboys | 6-1 | Agreed to an extension with Romo during their bye week. |
| 4. | 4. | New York Giants | 6-2 | Slogged out a win in the rain and mud of Wembley Stadium to head into their bye on a 6 game winning streak. Only the second team in the last 32 years to win 6 straight after losing their first 2 games. |
| 5. | 5. | Green Bay Packers | 6-1 | Favre again played under control and then made a spectacular throw to win on the first play of overtime. |
| 6. | 6. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 5-2 | Won their seventh straight in Cincinnati to remain unbeaten on the season in Pennsylvania and Ohio. |
| 7. | 7. | Tennessee Titans | 5-2 | Escaped with a win even though Young totaled only 42 yards passing and 11 yards rushing in what was perhaps a premature return from a quad injury. |
| 8. | 8. | San Diego Chargers | 4-3 | Adjusting to Turner. |
| 9. | 9. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 5-2 | Snuck out of Tampa with a win despite horrible quarterback play. Things don't get any easier in New Orleans. |
| 10. | 10. | Baltimore Ravens | 4-3 | Billick had 2 weeks to come up with some offense. Unfortunately he has the same players. |
| 11. | 16. | Detriot Lions | 5-2 | Lead the NFL with 20 takeaways. Did Millen finally get it right with Marinelli? |
| 12. | 12. | Kansas City Chiefs | 4-3 | Winning ugly the Edwards way. |
| 13. | 13. | Seattle Seahawks | 4-3 | Return of Branch and Hackett should help. |
| 14. | 11. | Carolina Panthers | 4-3 | 4-0 on the road. 0-3 at home. Unusual to say the least. |
| 15. | 20. | Cleveland Browns | 4-3 | Over .500 for the first time in the Crennel era. |
| 16. | 14. | Washington Redskins | 4-3 | Gave up 82 points in their first 6 games. Gave up 52 in Foxboro as Gibbs suffered the worst defeat of his career. |
| 17. | 17. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 4-4 | Couldn't overcome turnovers against the Garrard-less Jaguars. |
| 18. | 23. | New Orleans Saints | 3-4 | Climbing back into the NFC South race after an 0-4 start. |
| 19. | 19. | Arizona Cardinals | 3-4 | Easy schedule and sub par division makes their first playoff appearance since 1998 a real possibility. |
| 20. | 15. | Denver Broncos | 3-4 | Shanahan's attempts to rebuild the defensive front 7 have been a failure so far. |
| 21. | 22. | Philadelphia Eagles | 3-4 | Will Reid be able to keep his focus on the field after his son's failed drug test and incarceration? |
| 22. | 24. | Buffalo Bills | 3-4 | Swept the Jets for the first time since 1997. Losman subbing for an injured Edwards took advantage of the rapport developed with Evans last season to put the game away. |
| 23. | 18. | Chicago Bears | 3-5 | Griese threw 7 interceptions in 2 starts against the Lions. |
| 24. | 21. | Cincinnati Bengals | 2-5 | Lewis seems to have lost his team. |
| 25. | 25. | Houston Texans | 3-5 | Worried enough about Schaub's post concussion symptoms that they signed Nall for depth. |
| 26. | 26. | San Fransisco 49ers | 2-5 | Decision to trade next year's first rounder to the Patriots so they could take Staley is looking like a huge mistake. |
| 27. | 27. | Minnesota Vikings | 2-5 | Holcomb is expected to miss at least a few games with a neck injury. Jackson's return from a broken finger is still uncertain. Which leaves Bollinger. Not that it really matters. They all stink. |
| 28. | 28. | Oakland Raiders | 2-5 | Culpepper threw an interception and lost 3 fumbles as a solid defensive effort was again wasted. |
| 29. | 29. | New York Jets | 1-7 | Time to see if Clemens can provide a spark. |
| 30. | 30. | Atlanta Falcons | 1-6 | Deciding between Brohm, Ryan and Woodson will be more important than anything they do the rest of the season. |
| 31. | 31. | St. Louis Rams | 0-8 | Jackson lasted only a little over a quarter in his return from injury. |
| 32. | 32. | Miami Dolphins | 0-8 | Offense unable to overcome the loss of Green, Brown and Chambers. |
*Last week's ranking