| Rnk | LY* | Team | Record+ | Comments |
| 1. | 2. | New England Patriots | 9-2 | Firing on all cylinders with last 3 wins by 22 or more points against opponents that all now have 7 or more wins. |
| 2. | 3. | Green Bay Packers | 8-3 | Rodgers faces Brady for the first time in their careers. Could this be a Super Bowl preview? |
| 3. | 1. | Arizona Cardinals | 9-2 | Stanton was overwhelmed by resurgent Seahawks defense. |
| 4. | 5. | Denver Broncos | 8-3 | Overcame an 11 point deficit entering the fourth quarter. How did they get that far behind the Dolphins in Denver? |
| 5. | 6. | Philadelphia Eagles | 8-3 | Can Sanchez come up big against a top opponent in the national spotlight on Thanksgiving? |
| 6. | 8. | Dallas Cowboys | 8-3 | How would Romo's legacy change if he made a run deep into the playoffs? |
| 7. | 9. | Cincinnati Bengals | 7-3-1 | Entire AFC North is 3 games over .500 or better. |
| 8. | 10. | Indianapolis Colts | 7-4 | Won their 11th straight against a division opponent. |
| 9. | 12. | Seattle Seahawks | 7-4 | Finally appear to be shaking off their Super Bowl hangover. |
| 10. | 11. | Baltimore Ravens | 7-4 | Forsett has already shattered his previous career best single season totals of yards with 903 and rushing TDs with 7. |
| 11. | 4. | Kansas City Chiefs | 7-4 | Allowed their first rushing TD of the season in Oakland, the Raiders had previously only scored twice on the ground all season. Then allowed another of 90 yards. |
| 12. | 7. | Detriot Lions | 7-4 | Stafford continues to struggle in first year coordinator Lombardi's offense. |
| 13. | 13. | San Diego Chargers | 7-4 | Running game buoyed by return of Mathews. |
| 14. | 14. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 7-4 | Haunted by losses to the Jets and Bucs. |
| 15. | 15. | San Francisco 49ers | 7-4 | Kaepernick and the offense continue to struggle. |
| 16. | 18. | Cleveland Browns | 7-4 | Gordon dominated in his return. |
| 17. | 16. | Miami Dolphins | 6-5 | Defense collapsed in the fourth quarter in Denver. |
| 18. | 20. | Buffalo Bills | 6-5 | Hard to fathom 5 to 6 feet of snow falling in a few days. |
| 19. | 23. | Chicago Bears | 5-6 | Could conceivably get back in the race with a win in Detroit on Thanksgiving. |
| 20. | 17. | Houston Texans | 5-6 | Lost Mallett for the season with a torn pectoral muscle. |
| 21. | 19. | St. Louis Rams | 4-7 | Continue to fight hard. Hamstrung by complete lack of offensive skill position talent. |
| 22. | 21. | Atlanta Falcons | 4-7 | Entire division is 3 games under .500 or worse. |
| 23. | 22. | New Orleans Saints | 4-7 | Almost unfathomable that they have lost 3 straight at home. |
| 24. | 24. | Minnesota Vikings | 4-7 | Rest of the season is about developing Bridgewater. |
| 25. | 25. | New York Giants | 3-8 | Will Coughlin be back? Reese? |
| 26. | 26. | Carolina Panthers | 3-7-1 | Stayed alive during their bye thanks to losses by the Saints and Falcons. |
| 27. | 27. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2-9 | Evans tied Williams' franchise record of a receiving TD in 4 consecutive games. |
| 28. | 28. | New York Jets | 2-9 | Display on Monday night was disgraceful. Time to start over. |
| 29. | 29. | Washington Redskins | 3-8 | RGIII continues to regress, turning to McCoy this coming weekend still seems ridiculous. Have a lot of decisions to make this offseason. |
| 30. | 30. | Tennessee Titans | 2-9 | Evaluating Mettenberger makes the stretch run at least somewhat interesting. |
| 31. | 32. | Oakland Raiders | 1-10 | Won't duplicate the Lions in going winless during a 16 game schedule. Broke 16 game losing streak. Murray had 4 carries for 112 yards and a pair of TDs before leaving with a concussion. |
| 32. | 31. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 1-10 | Young players seem to have hit a wall, treading water instead of developing. |
*Last week's ranking