| Rnk | LW* | Team | Record | Comments |
| 1. | 1. | New England Patriots | 7-1 | Come off the bye as the prohibitive favorite to Go All the Way. |
| 2. | 2. | Dallas Cowboys | 7-1 | Only defense in the league this season that has yet to allow a 100 yard rusher or receiver. |
| 3. | 5. | Oakland Raiders | 7-2 | On pace to make the playoffs for the 1st time since '02. |
| 4. | 4. | Kansas City Chiefs | 6-2 | Won ugly with Foles replacing Smith. Schedule gets much tougher. |
| 5. | 6. | Atlanta Falcons | 6-3 | Ryan broke Manning's record of 3131 completions in the first 9 years of a career with 7 games left to play. |
| 6. | 9. | Seattle Seahawks | 4-2-1 | Escaped in a must win home game with a trip to Foxboro on a short work week up next. |
| 7. | 3. | Denver Broncos | 6-3 | Dropped to 3rd in the toughest division in the league. |
| 8. | 13. | New York Giants | 5-3 | Offense could be scary if rookie RB Perkins improves the running game. |
| 9. | 16. | Detroit Lions | 5-4 | Still have trailed in the 4th quarter of all their games this season. |
| 10. | 7. | Minnesota Vikings | 5-3 | Zimmer panic move to force out Norv and elevate uninspiring Shurmur worked about as well as you might have expected. |
| 11. | 15. | New Orleans Saints | 4-4 | Visiting Broncos will provide a test to help determine if recent improvement can be sustained. |
| 12. | 12. | Houston Texans | 5-3 | Come off the bye up by 2 games in the loss column in their division. |
| 13. | 8. | Green Bay Packers | 4-4 | A disappointment. Basically the NFC version of the Steelers. |
| 14. | 10. | Philadelphia Eagles | 4-4 | Fast start a distant memory. |
| 15. | 27. | Baltimore Ravens | 4-4 | Leaders of the only division in the league without a team over .500. |
| 16. | 11. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 4-4 | Abysmal on the road. Had fewer yards from scrimmage than penalty yards against deep into the third quarter in Baltimore. Lack of preparation coming off the bye a huge indictment of Tomlin. |
| 17. | 17. | Cincinnati Bengals | 3-4-1 | Ravens victory over the Steelers while they were on a bye keeps them within striking distance. |
| 18. | 18. | Washington Redskins | 4-3-1 | How much will they be affected by suspension of LT Williams? |
| 19. | 19. | Arizona Cardinals | 3-4-1 | Window of opportunity rapidly closing with Palmer showing his age. |
| 20. | 21. | Miami Dolphins | 4-4 | Emergence of Ajayi has turned around their season. |
| 21. | 22. | San Diego Chargers | 4-5 | In the wrong division to make a run in the 2nd half of the season. |
| 22. | 23. | Carolina Panthers | 3-5 | Is young defense finally starting to gel? |
| 23. | 28. | Indianapolis Colts | 4-5 | Luck hasn't won consecutive games in his last 18 starts. |
| 24. | 14. | Buffalo Bills | 4-4 | Losers of 34 straight when giving up 24 or more points in a game. |
| 25. | 20. | Tennessee Titans | 4-5 | Conservative offense can't afford to give up a single defensive score let alone a pair like they did in San Diego. |
| 26. | 24. | New York Jets | 3-6 | Might as well take a look at Petty and/or Hackenberg. Will reportedly stick with Fitzpatrick for now. |
| 27. | 25. | Los Angeles Rams | 3-5 | Fisher stubbornly sticks with Keenum over Goff as defensive dominance continues to be wasted. |
| 28. | 26. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 3-5 | Home record a pathetic 3-17 since the start of the '14 season. |
| 29. | 29. | Chicago Bears | 2-6 | Return of Cutler before the bye a rousing success. Can they build on momentum? |
| 30. | 30. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 2-6 | Failure of Bortles and Gabbert before him has crippled the franchise. |
| 31. | 31. | San Francisco 49ers | 1-7 | Only defense in league history to ever give up a 100 yard rusher in 7 straight game. Hard to see the streak ending with Johnson and the Cardinals up next. |
| 32. | 32. | Cleveland Browns | 0-9 | Franchise hadn't lost 9 games in a row to start a season since '75. |
*Last week's ranking