| Rnk | Team (Lst Wk) | Record | Comment |
| 1. | Oakland Raiders (3) | 11-5 | Must take advantage of being the top seed in the AFC with window of opportunity quickly closing due to age and cap related issues. |
| 2. | Tennesee Titans (4) | 11-5 | Hottest team in the NFL on a 10-1 streak looks to return to the Super Bowl for the 2nd time in 4 years. |
| 3. | Philadelphia Eagles (1) | 12-4 | Overtime loss on Saturday at the Meadowlands did not cost them homefield when the Packers lost the next day in the same venue. |
| 4. | Pittsburgh Steelers (5) | 10-5-1 | Erased an 11 point 4th quarter deficit behind the strong running of Amos Zereoue and Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala. Defense forced 4 turnovers to overcome giving up 422 yards playing without the inactive Chad Scott and James Farrior. Kendrell Bell also missed significant time after reinjuring his ankle. Hopefully they will all be ready for the playoff opener. |
| 5. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6) | 12-4 | Managed to beat a bad Bears team despite another lackluster offensive performance behind a backup QB. Luckily the Packers loss gives Brad Johnson another week to recover. |
| 6. | New York Jets (13) | 9-7 | Crushing win over Packers combined with Dolphins collapse in New England made them the unlikely winner of the AFC East. |
| 7. | Green Bay Packers (2) | 12-4 | Lost a bye and getting to play in the friendly confines of Lambeau Field throughout the playoffs when they were obliterated by a 9 win AFC team that needed help to make the playoffs. This along with the Bucs loss last week at home to the Steelers and the Eagles losing 3 games to AFC competition raises the question, are the top NFC teams good or are their records more a product of the 9 teams with losing records in that conference. |
| 8. | New York Giants (9) | 10-6 | On a roll entering the playoffs after impressively winning 4 straight following a depressing loss in Houston to the Texans and a crushing last minute loss to the Titans. |
| 9. | San Fransisco 49ers (7) | 10-6 | Not heading to the playoffs on a high note after surrendering 28 4th quarter points to Jamie Martin and the scuffling Rams. |
| 10. | Indianapolis Colts (11) | 10-6 | Tony Dungy did a good job turning around a team that won only 6 games last season, but they don't seem to have the horses on defense to succeed in the playoffs. |
| 11. | Cleveland Browns (15) | 9-7 | If Kelly Holcomb plays anything like he did earlier in the season, Tim Couch's broken leg could be a blessing in disguise for the most surprising team to sneak into the playoffs. In 4 years Couch has 57 touchdowns, 60 interceptions, and never had a quarterback rating in a single season that exceeded 78. |
| 12. | Atlanta Falcons (8) | 9-6-1 | Backed into the playoffs thanks to the inept Saints. |
| 13. | Denver Broncos (16) | 9-7 | Not only suffered another disapointing season out of the playoffs, but the poor play of Brian Griese down the stretch means the QB position in now a major worry going forward. |
| 14. | New England Patriots (17) | 9-7 | The defending Super Bowl Champions do not get a chance to defend their title. After an improbable overtime comeback win to keep their playoff hopes alive they were eliminated by the Jets dismantling of the Packers. |
| 15. | Miami Dolphins (10) | 9-7 | Blew an 11 point lead in the 4th quarter, losing 3 of 4 in December to shockingly miss the playoffs despite the best efforts of Ricky Williams. |
| 16. | New Orleans Saints (12) | 9-7 | Needed to win only 1 of their last 3 games all against teams with losing records to make the playoffs. They unbelievably failed. |
| 17. | Buffalo Bills (19) | 8-8 | Tom Dohahoe has the offensive weapons in place, now he has to spend the offseason building a defense. |
| 18. | Kansas City Chiefs (14) | 8-8 | Not the same offense without Priest Holmes. |
| 19. | Seattle Seahawks (20) | 7-9 | Saved Mike Holmgren's coaching job with solid play down the stretch, although Holmgren will relinquish his GM duties. |
| 20. | San Diego Chargers (18) | 8-8 | Went a disapointing 2-6 in the second half. |
| 21. | Carolina Panthers (22) | 7-9 | John Fox laid the groundwork by quickly building a defense, now he needs to find an NFL caliber QB to lead the offense. |
| 22. | St. Louis Rams (23) | 7-9 | Finally won a game without Marc Bulger as the starter, although Jamie Martin had to replace a clearly overmatched Scott Covington. |
| 23. | Baltimore Ravens (21) | 7-9 | Jeff Blake showed why he could never hold onto a starting QB job, making the big mistake at the wrong time despite putting up good numbers. |
| 24. | Minnesota Vikings (24) | 6-10 | Mike Tice deserves kudos for getting his team to play hard down the stretch after being eliminated from contention. |
| 25. | Washington Redskins (26) | 7-9 | Finished the season on a high note after Steve Spurrier finally figured out his offensive personel was more suited to feature the run than the pass. |
| 26. | Jacksonville Jaguars (25) | 6-10 | Tom Coughlin's run as the only coach in Jaguar history ended not because of the losses, but because fans tired of his dour personality. |
| 27. | Arizona Cardinals (27) | 5-11 | Goodbye Jake the Snake, don't let the door hit you in the arse on the way out of Pheonix. |
| 28. | Chicago Bears (28) | 4-12 | Henry Burris set back offensive football by about 50 years with his abysmal performance in the nationally televised Sunday night game. |
| 29. | Houston Texans (29) | 4-12 | Ended a rather satisfying expansion season in which they beat 2 playoff teams by making it hard on the hottest team in the AFC before sucumbing in the 4th quarter. |
| 30. | Dallas Cowboys (30) | 5-11 | Emmitt Smith gained 13 yards on 18 carries, finishing 25 yards short of a 12th straight 1000 yard rushing seasons. |
| 31. | Detriot Lions (31) | 3-13 | Foolishly went for 2 at the start of the 4th quarter after scoring a touchdown to get within 5 points. The conversion failed, the Vikings kicked a FG to go up by 8, the Lions scored again, and then lost by 2 when the subsequent 2 point conversion failed. Someone needs to explain to coaches that you shouldn't go for 2 to try to get within 3 points unless their are 5 minutes or fewer remaining in the game. Lions fans get to live with this type of decision for at least another season. Mornhinweg has officially been retained for next year despite a 5-27 record in 2 seasons, including 0-16 on the road. |
| 32. | Cincinnati Bengals (32) | 2-14 | Dick LeBeau should be relieved that he will not be retained as the Bengals coach. Mike Brown has already said he will not overhaul the front office, hire any new scouts, or allow the coach to bring in his own staff. Why would anyone want to work under those conditions? |