| Rnk | Team (Lst Wk) | Record | Comment |
| 1. | Green Bay Packers (1) | 8-1 | The Packers magic number for winning the NFC North is 2. Seriously, they have a 5 game lead with 7 to play. If the Pack keep winning and the NFC Championship goes through Green Bay the rest of the conference is in big trouble. |
| 2. | San Fransisco 49ers (4) | 7-2 | The 49ers are winning with ball control and defense. |
| 3. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5) | 7-2 | Bad losses at home by the Eagles and Broncos move the Bucs into the top 3 without even playing. |
| 4. | New Orleans Saints (6) | 7-2 | I'm still not sure about the Saints after they needed a late surge to beat the scuffling Panthers. |
| 5. | Denver Broncos (2) | 6-3 | The Broncos have not performed at their best in prime time. |
| 6. | Philadelphia Eagles (3) | 6-3 | For some reason the Eagles just can not get up for games against the AFC. Inexplicable losses to the Colts, Jaguars, and Titans will likely cost the Eagles a playoff bye. |
| 7. | New England Patriots (7) | 5-4 | The good news for the Patriots is that they won a game they could not afford to lose. The bad news is they again came out flat and needed a late rally to beat the horrendous Bears. |
| 8. | Oakland Raiders (16) | 5-4 | Halting a 4 game losing streak in Denver is an accomplishment. Even better from a Raider perspective is the fact that the rest of the AFC West lost. |
| 9. | St. Louis Rams (9) | 4-5 | Late rally fueled by Mark Bulger's breakout game keeps the Rams in the hunt, although the Falcons' tie and Giants' win further complicates the Rams playoff prospects. |
| 10. | Atlanta Falcons (10) | 5-3-1 | In the Falcons search for a wild card, a tie really is as good as a win. What is the difference if the Falcons hold off the Giants and/or Rams by a half game or a game? This is even more true considering the Falcons scored 17 unanswered points in the last 10 minutes. |
| 11. | Pittsburgh Steelers (8) | 5-3-1 | On the other hand, for the Steelers the tie is basically a loss. The Steelers have a good chance of going 6-0 in their division. They would hold the tiebreaker over all of their divisional foes so a one and a half game lead over the Browns and Ravens is really no different than a one game lead with the tie breaker advantage. Not to mention the Steelers were the team blowing a 17 point lead at home with 10 minutes remaining. The only possible benefit I see with a tie over a loss is the off chance the Steelers finish ahead of the Patriots and/or Raiders by half a game for a first week playoff bye. | |
| 12. | Tennesee Titans (15) | 5-4 | No team looks worse winning games (except maybe the Cowboys, but they don't win as often). |
| 13. | Indianapolis Colts (23) | 5-4 | What a difference a week makes. On a 3 game losing streak with free agent James Mungro starting at RB the Colts went to Philadelphia and bitch slapped the Eagles. Thanks to an impressive win and some pathetic play from the other middle of the road teams the Colts take a huge jump up this weeks poll. |
| 14. | San Diego Chargers (11) | 6-3 | Last year after starting out 5-2 the Chargers lost their last 9 games. At least this year they started 6-1. |
| 15. | Miami Dolphins (12) | 5-4 | Ray Lucas was caught on camera crying as he left the field after Sunday nights loss to the Jets. Dolphin fans have been crying for the last 3 games watching Lucas try to play QB. |
| 16. | Buffalo Bills (14) | 5-4 | Coming off a bye tied for first in the wacky AFC East. |
| 17. | New York Giants (17) | 5-4 | Tried hard to blow a lead in Minnesota, but the Vikings refused to accept the kind gesture. |
| 18. | New York Jets (21) | 4-5 | Haunted by last second losses to the Cheifs and Browns. |
| 19. | Kansas City Chiefs (13) | 4-5 | Divisional realignment and the schedule makers were not kind to the Chiefs. |
| 20. | Cleveland Browns (20) | 4-5 | Jamel White's shoulder injury means William Green and James Jackson will have to share the RB duties for at least a week or two. Oh, the humanity. |
| 21. | Baltimore Ravens (22) | 4-5 | The Plaxico Burress Award for premature celebration goes to Ed Reed. Burress tried hard to win the award himself by twice trying to spin a live ball on the same play after he had gone to the ground without being touched, but was taken off the hook when referees called the play dead. Our winner was showboating during what he thought would be an interception return for a TD by holding the ball out in front of his body with one hand. The ball was knocked out of his hand inside the 5 yardline and recovered for a touchback by the Bengals. Being that the opponent was Cincinnati, the Ravens managed to win anyway. |
| 22. | Jacksonville Jaguars (24) | 4-5 | Just when you expect the Jagruars to fade into the night, Coughlin wakes them up and gets them to play. |
| 23. | Washington Redskins (18) | 4-5 | Spurrier decided to throw the ball 51 times while running the ball 16 times even though the Skins took an early 7 point lead and the Jaguars entered the game rated 26th against the run. The result was no surprise to anyone but Spurrier. Shane Matthews stunk up the joint and the Redskins gave up 26 unanswered points. |
| 24. | Seattle Seahawks (27) | 3-6 | Managed to overpower a fading divisional rival (ok, not much of a rivalry yet between the Hawks and Cards) in the drive to save Holmgren's job. |
| 25. | Arizona Cardinals (19) | 4-5 | Wonder if the Cardinals can talk Mel Gray and/or Pat Tilley out of retirement. Come to think of it, talking Jim Hart or Neil Lomax out of retirement might do more good. |
| 26. | Carolina Panthers (25) | 3-6 | I never thought I would be typing this in the new millenium, but having Rodney Peete back really helped the offense. The Panthers still need some time to rebuild the talent base before they can hang with a good team for 60 minutes. |
| 27. | Detriot Lions (26) | 3-6 | Just not good enough to compete on the road with a top opponent. |
| 28. | Dallas Cowboys (31) | 3-6 | That's the best the Cowboys have looked in at least 6 weeks. Oh wait, they were on a bye. |
| 29. | Minnesota Vikings (29) | 2-7 | Culpepper's problem seems to be he cares to much, trying to carry the team on his back when they are performing poorly. Weirdly enough, that attitude seems to have hurt the Vikes more than Randy Moss giving up on plays. |
| 30. | Chicago Bears (30) | 2-7 | Some actually thought signing Chris Chandler would be the key to improving upon last years 12 win season. |
| 31. | Cincinnati Bengals (28) | 1-8 | I still think this is a team that could end up with 3 or 4 wins to cost themselves the number 1 overall pick. Byron Leftwich certainly hopes that is the case. |
| 32. | Houston Texans (32) | 2-7 | They fight hard week in and week out, but the offense just doesn't have enough explosiveness at the skill positions. |