| Rnk | LW* | Team | Record | Comments |
| 1. | 1. | New England Patriots | 10-2 | Gronkowski's likely season ending back surgery takes away the only weapon on their roster that opposing defenses needed to specifically account for on every play. |
| 2. | 2. | Dallas Cowboys | 11-1 | Witten's streak of 130 consecutive games with a catch ended on Thursday night. |
| 3. | 3. | Oakland Raiders | 10-2 | First 10 win season since '02 when they went to the Super Bowl. |
| 4. | 5. | Kansas City Chiefs | 9-3 | Scored on their opening drive for the first time this season. |
| 5. | 6. | Seattle Seahawks | 8-3-1 | None of their remaining opponents currently has a winning record. |
| 6. | 8. | Detroit Lions | 8-4 | Last time they won on the road in the week following their annual Thanksgiving contest was '74, a 22 game losing streak. |
| 7. | 9. | Denver Broncos | 8-4 | Really need Siemian back from his foot injury, Lynch is simply not ready for prime time. |
| 8. | 11. | Baltimore Ravens | 7-5 | Flacco threw 4 TD passes against the Dolphins after having thrown only 11 in the previous 12 games. |
| 9. | 12. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 7-5 | Green finally provided the big play ability in the middle of the field envisioned when he was signed as a free agent. |
| 10. | 4. | New York Giants | 8-4 | Complete offensive ineptitude in Pittsburgh takes a lot of shine off their now ended 6 game winning streak. Schedule gets much tougher. |
| 11. | 14. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 7-5 | Firing Lovie to hire Koetter looking better-and-better. |
| 12. | 7. | Atlanta Falcons | 7-5 | Attempted 2-point conversion to go up by 3 was intercepted by Berry and returned for 2 points to provide their margin of defeat. |
| 13. | 10. | Miami Dolphins | 7-5 | Their much ballyhooed 6 game winning streak ended with a thud in Baltimore. |
| 14. | 20. | Green Bay Packers | 6-6 | Rodgers is only 59 yards behind the injured Lacy for the team lead in rushing yards. |
| 15. | 13. | Washington Redskins | 6-5-1 | A pair of losses has really damaged their wild card chances. Things can turn around quickly in the league where they play for pay. |
| 16. | 15. | Minnesota Vikings | 6-6 | Season basically ruined by offensive line injuries and now their first round pick goes to the Eagles. |
| 17. | 23. | Indianapolis Colts | 6-6 | Tied for the lead in the worst division in the league after what can only charitably be called a poor start to season. |
| 18. | 16. | Houston Texans | 6-6 | Easy schedule gives them a leg up in the worst division in football despite continued abysmal play of Osweiler. |
| 19. | 19. | Tennessee Titans | 6-6 | Come off the late bye tied for the division lead. Schedule is against them with games against the Broncos and Chiefs up next. |
| 20. | 24. | Arizona Cardinals | 5-6-1 | Johnson has gained over 100 yards from scrimmage in every game this season. |
| 21. | 17. | Buffalo Bills | 6-6 | Lost their 5th game of the season in Oakland when scoring 24 points or more, the most in the league. |
| 22. | 18. | New Orleans Saints | 5-7 | Brees' streak of 50 straight home games with a TD pass came to an end. |
| 23. | 26. | Cincinnati Bengals | 4-7-1 | End of 3 game losing streak doesn't do much for their dwindling playoff hopes due to wins by the Ravens and Steelers. |
| 24. | 21. | San Diego Chargers | 5-7 | Defense has intercepted at least 1 pass in every game this season. |
| 25. | 22. | Philadelphia Eagles | 5-7 | Wentz threw the ball 60 times in Cincinnati, the only rookie to attempt more in a game was Weinke with 63 back in '01. |
| 26. | 25. | Carolina Panthers | 4-8 | Benched Newton for the first series of the Sunday night game for what was reported as a wardrobe violation, then had Anderson throw a pass on the first play which was intercepted resulting in a FG. Another example of a coach idiotically cutting off his nose to spite his face. |
| 27. | 29. | Chicago Bears | 3-9 | Better than the 49ers, not exactly something to hang your hat on. |
| 28. | 27. | Los Angeles Rams | 4-8 | Dinosaur Fisher officially given an extension. Beyond Ridiculous. |
| 29. | 28. | New York Jets | 3-9 | Could Bowles be 2 and done? He was flying high in his first season at 10-5. After a loss to the Bills in the finale got the Steelers into the playoffs everything has fallen apart. His team especially the defense flat out quit on him on Monday night. |
| 30. | 30. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 2-10 | Bortles has thrown 11 interceptions for TDs in his career, more than his 10 wins as a starter. |
| 31. | 31. | San Francisco 49ers | 1-11 | Moribund franchise with nothing to look forward to in the present or foreseeable future. Kelly actually made the right move going back to Kaepernick as the starter after he was pulled in the snow in Chicago. |
| 32. | 32. | Cleveland Browns | 0-12 | RGIII could return against the Bengals this week. Over/under for him getting hurt again is 3 plays, I'll take the under. |
*Last week's ranking