Rnk | LY* | Team | Record+ | Comments |
1. | 1. | Denver Broncos | 6-1 | Regular season dominance no surprise, anything short of a Lombardi Trophy a major disappointment. |
2. | 4. | Arizona Cardinals | 6-1 | Off to their best start since '74. Palmer threw TD passes of 80 and 75 yards to put a stake in the heart of the Eagles. |
3. | 7. | New England Patriots | 6-2 | Gronkowski is back. |
4. | 3. | Philadelphia Eagles | 5-2 | Couldn't overcome red zone turnovers in Arizona. |
5. | 2. | Dallas Cowboys | 6-2 | Praying Romo's back is OK. |
6. | 10. | Detriot Lions | 6-2 | Tate continues to dominate with Megatron sidelined. |
7. | 12. | Seattle Seahawks | 4-3 | Did they right the ship in Charlotte? Defense certainly played better. |
8. | 13. | Cincinnati Bengals | 4-2-1 | Saved by a questionable offensive pass interference penalty on Smith Sr. during what would have been an 80 yard TD pass with under a minute remaining. |
9. | 5. | Indianapolis Colts | 5-3 | Vinatieri is the first kicker with 200 or more FGs with 2 different franchises. |
10. | 6. | Green Bay Packers | 5-3 | Lacy's career best 182 yards from scrimmage was not enough in the Big Easy. |
11. | 11. | San Francisco 49ers | 4-3 | Should be interesting to see how they perform the rest of the way with all the rumors swirling around Harbaugh. |
12. | 8. | San Diego Chargers | 5-3 | Gates passed Bambi as the franchise's all-time leader in receiving yards. |
13. | 9. | Baltimore Ravens | 5-3 | Swept by the Bengals. |
14. | 14. | Kansas City Chiefs | 4-3 | Charles has combined for 25 rushing and receiving TDs in 2013/14, the most in the league. |
15. | 15. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 5-3 | Roethlisberger is the first QB in franchise history to throw 6 TD passes in a game, the first in league history with a pair of 500 yard passing games in his career. He joins Brady, Montana and Bradshaw as the only QBs with 100 wins in their first 150 starts. |
16. | 17. | Buffalo Bills | 5-3 | Journeyman Orton has stabilized the offense which quite frankly reflects incredibly poorly on Manuel. |
17. | 18. | Miami Dolphins | 4-3 | Sluggish offense didn't matter in Jacksonville thanks to a pair of interceptions returned for TDs. |
18. | 22. | New Orleans Saints | 3-4 | Everybody knows they can play at home. Can they win a divisional road game outdoors in Charlotte? |
19. | 19. | New York Giants | 3-4 | Need at least 2 wins in the next 4 weeks against the Colts, Seahawks, 49ers and Cowboys to be considered legitimate playoff contenders. It won't be easy. |
20. | 20. | Cleveland Browns | 4-3 | Entire AFC North is over .500. |
21. | 21. | Houston Texans | 4-4 | Dangerous as long as Foster and Watt stay healthy. |
22. | 16. | Carolina Panthers | 3-4-1 | Lead their division with a sub-.500 record. |
23. | 26. | Washington Redskins | 3-5 | McCoy came up big against all odds in his return to Texas, RGIII still can't return quick enough. |
24. | 27. | Minnesota Vikings | 3-5 | First rounder Barr forced a fumble and returned it for a TD for a rare defensive walk off OT victory. |
25. | 23. | Chicago Bears | 3-5 | Emblematic of the complete disaster in Foxboro was Houston tearing his ACL celebrating a sack of Garoppolo down 48-23 in the fourth quarter. |
26. | 24. | St. Louis Rams | 2-5 | Loss of Long to torn ACL and Quick to torn labrum bigger blows than loss in Kansas City. |
27. | 25. | Atlanta Falcons | 2-6 | Blew a 21 point halftime lead to lose their 6th straight, Smith is a Dead Man Walking. |
28. | 28. | Tennessee Titans | 2-6 | Whisenhunt era off to an abysmal start. |
29. | 29. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 1-7 | Should they start to worry about Bortles? |
30. | 30. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 1-6 | Jettisoned Barron and Casillas at the deadline as Lovie starts to rebuild in earnest. |
31. | 31. | New York Jets | 1-7 | Geno replaced by Vick after throwing 3 first quarter interceptions, Vick then lost a pair of his 4 fumbles and threw a pick of his own. |
32. | 32. | Oakland Raiders | 0-7 | Tough remaining schedule gives them a legitimate chance to go winless. |
*Last week's ranking