| Rnk | LW* | Team | Record | Comments |
| 1. | 2. | Carolina Panthers | 15-1 | Newton, the likely league MVP, tied Young's career record of 31 games with both a rushing and passing TD. |
| 2. | 1. | Arizona Cardinals | 13-3 | Set franchise single season records in wins, scoring and point differential. |
| 3. | 4. | Kansas City Chiefs | 11-5 | Hottest team heading into the playoffs riding a 10 game winning streak, but poor start means they will have to win on the road unless they face the Steelers in the AFC Championship game. |
| 4. | 5. | Denver Broncos | 12-4 | Peyton is back. |
| 5. | 6. | Cincinnati Bengals | 12-4 | Tied franchise record for regular season wins, Lewis needs a post season win. |
| 6. | 3. | New England Patriots | 12-4 | Lost 4 of their final 6, could not manage 200 yards of total offense in Miami. |
| 7. | 8. | Minnesota Vikings | 11-5 | Division winners for the first time since ‘09. |
| 8. | 9. | Seattle Seahawks | 10-6 | Not going to get too excited about blow out win in Arizona when Cardinals basically had no reason to play. |
| 9. | 11. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 10-6 | Roethlisberger threw for 328.2 yards per game, third highest single season average in league history. Brown is the first player in league history to have multiple 16 catch games in a single season, the first player in league history with back-to-back 125 catch seasons and his 1834 receiving yards were the fourth highest single season total in league history. Both will need to be on their game in the playoffs with Bell out, Williams unlikely to play at least next week. |
| 10. | 7. | New York Jets | 10-6 | Knocked out of the playoffs in large part due to Fitz throwing interceptions on each of their last 3 possessions in Buffalo. |
| 11. | 10. | Green Bay Packers | 10-6 | Offense out of synch. Rodgers misses Nelson more than anyone wants to admit. |
| 12. | 12. | Washington Redskins | 9-7 | Cousins broke Schroeder's franchise single season passing yards record set all the way back in '86. |
| 13. | 13. | Houston Texans | 9-7 | Watt joined White as the only players in league history with 15 sacks or more in 3 of their first 5 seasons. |
| 14. | 16. | Indianapolis Colts | 8-8 | Seemingly against all odds both Grigson and Pagano signed extensions. Can they suddenly get along? |
| 15. | 17. | Buffalo Bills | 8-8 | Watkins torched Revis to help get Steelers into the playoffs. |
| 16. | 14. | Atlanta Falcons | 8-8 | Lost 8 of their last 11, honeymoon for Quinn will not extend into '16. |
| 17. | 20. | Detriot Lions | 7-9 | Megatron dominated in what could be his final game with the franchise due to his $24M cap hit in '16. |
| 18. | 21. | New Orleans Saints | 7-9 | Reportedly asking for a second round pick for Payton. If true he could move because the price is not ridiculous. |
| 19. | 23. | Philadelphia Eagles | 7-9 | Kelly gone, will Bradford be back? Trying to sort through personnel brought in when Kelly took total control won't be an easy job. |
| 20. | 15. | St. Louis Rams | 7-9 | Couldn't overcome Gurley being inactive due to turf toe, not exactly a surprise. |
| 21. | 18. | Oakland Raiders | 7-9 | Can they take another step forward next season? Will we find out in LA instead of Oakland? |
| 22. | 26. | Miami Dolphins | 6-10 | Will Shanahan take Ross' money? Is a second rounder for Payton a possibility? Niners, Giants seems to be main competition for both. |
| 23. | 19. | Chicago Bears | 6-10 | Suffered double digit losses in consecutive seasons for the first time since 4 year stretch from '97 to '00 in the Wannstedt/Jauron eras. |
| 24. | 22. | New York Giants | 6-10 | Coughlin falls on his sword, surprised Reese will be returning. Defensive talent non-existent. |
| 25. | 24. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 6-10 | Fell apart down the stretch losing last 4, probably better off with the higher draft pick than winning an extra game (or 2). |
| 26. | 30. | San Francisco 49ers | 5-11 | Tomsula done after a single season. Firing him really solves nothing even though he should never have been hired in the first place. Biggest problem remains Baalke. |
| 27. | 25. | Baltimore Ravens | 5-11 | Losers of 5 straight to division rival Bengals. |
| 28. | 27. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 5-11 | Bradley stays, DC Babich the scapegoat. Offense certainly not a problem. Former Penn Stater Robinson the youngest player in league history with 1400 or more receiving yards and 14 or more TDs in a single season. |
| 29. | 28. | San Diego Chargers | 4-12 | Took a major step back after finishing over .500 in McCoy's first 2 seasons. McCoy will get another opportunity, probably in LA. |
| 30. | 29. | Dallas Cowboys | 4-12 | Won fewer games in their home stadium this season (1-7) than Alabama (2-0). |
| 31. | 31. | Tennessee Titans | 3-13 | Webster's contract will mercifully not be renewed. Mullarkey expected to interview for HC opening, unlikely to be hired by a new GM. |
| 32. | 32. | Cleveland Browns | 3-13 | Factory of sadness continues. Fisher/Pettine lost 18 of their last 21 games. Haslam despite reportedly wanting stability didn't really have any other choice besides firing them after 2 seasons. Each of the franchise's last 4 coaches have been fired after 2 seasons or less. Elevating lawyer Brown with no personnel experience to head of football operations and hiring Mets VP DePodesto of Moneyball fame as chief strategy officer whatever that means doesn't seem like a good start to rebuilding. |
*Last week's regular season ranking