Rnk | LW* | Team | Record | Comments |
1. | 1. | Green Bay Packers | 12-0 | Clinched the NFC North. |
2. | 2. | New Orleans Saints | 9-3 | Breesus is the first QB in league history to throw for over 4,000 yards in 12 games. Could he challenge Rodgers for MVP? |
3. | 3. | Baltimore Ravens | 9-3 | Finally didn't have a letdown after a big victory. |
4. | 4. | San Francisco 49ers | 10-2 | Clinched the NFC West. Gore passed Perry to become the leading rusher in franchise history. |
5. | 5. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 9-3 | Ward joined Hall of Famers Rice and Monk as only the third player in NFL history with 12,000 receiving yards and two Super Bowl rings. Arians seems intent on getting him the 10 catches he needs in the final 4 games to become the eighth player in league history with 1,000 career receptions. |
6. | 6. | New England Patriots | 9-3 | Gronkowski tied the record for most TD catches by a TE with 13. He thought he had broken the record, but the pass on his third TD of the day was correctly ruled a lateral. |
7. | 8. | Houston Texans | 9-3 | Yates is the first QB from UNC to start an NFL game. |
8. | 14. | Denver Broncos | 7-5 | Tebow! Totalled 202 yards passing on only 10 completions in 15 attempts. |
9. | 15. | New York Jets | 7-5 | Rejuvenated Bills castoff Maybin gives them a much needed pass rushing presence on the edge. |
10. | 16. | Tennessee Titans | 7-5 | Legitimate wild card contenders with Johnson gaining 343 yards in 46 carries the last 2 weeks. |
11. | 7. | Atlanta Falcons | 7-5 | Struggling Ryan was outplayed by rookie Yates in his first career start. |
12. | 9. | Dallas Cowboys | 7-5 | Garrett's clock management was Phillips-esqu. Held onto 2 timeouts after Romo completed a pass to the Cards 31 with 31 seconds remaining. The clock was stopped with 8 seconds remaining on a spike. Then as the play clock ran down he mystifyingly iced his own kicker. |
13. | 10. | Oakland Raiders | 7-5 | Started slowly and never recovered after traveling cross country to play an early game. |
14. | 11. | Cincinnati Bengals | 7-5 | Not ready to play with the big boys of the AFC North. |
15. | 12. | Detriot Lions | 7-5 | Crippled by a lack of discipline. Penalized 22 times for 209 yards in the last 2 games. |
16. | 13. | Chicago Bears | 7-5 | Last thing they could afford was Forte joining Cutler on the sidelines. |
17. | 17. | New York Giants | 6-6 | Left too much time on the clock (55 seconds) when they tied the Packers at 35. |
18. | 19. | Miami Dolphins | 4-8 | Playing like they want Sparano to return. |
19. | 22. | Arizona Cardinals | 5-7 | Beat the Cowboys for the third straight time. Stephens-Howling took a swing pass 52 yards to pay dirt in OT on his only reception of the day. |
20. | 25. | San Diego Chargers | 5-7 | Improved to 18-2 in December and January under Turner. |
21. | 20. | Buffalo Bills | 5-7 | Fitzpatrick became the franchise�s first QB to throw for 20 TDs in consecutive seasons since Kelly in '94 and '95. |
22. | 24. | Kansas City Chiefs | 5-7 | Orton was lost to a dislocated finger on his first play from scrimmage. |
23. | 26. | Carolina Panthers | 4-8 | Newton surpassed Grogan's single season record of 12 rushing TDs by a quarterback. |
24. | 28. | Seattle Seahawks | 5-7 | Lynch has scored in 8 straight games and against the Eagles piled up a season high 75 yards after contact. |
25. | 18. | Philadelphia Eagles | 4-8 | Reid will reportedly have to fire Castillo to survive. |
26. | 21. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 4-8 | The creamsicle throwbacks did not provide good luck. |
27. | 23. | Cleveland Browns | 4-8 | Pounded into submission giving up 290 rushing yards, 202 to Rice. |
28. | 27. | Washington Redskins | 4-8 | Injury ravaged offense will now be without starting TE Davis and LT Williams for the rest of the season due to 4 game suspensions for violating the league's substance abuse policy. |
29. | 29. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 3-9 | Losers of 12 of their last 15 games. |
30. | 30. | Minnesota Vikings | 2-10 | Allen tied an NFL record with his fourth career safety. |
31. | 31. | St. Louis Rams | 2-10 | Injuries to Bradford and Feeley may force them to start Brandstater. |
32. | 32. | Indianapolis Colts | 0-12 | Looked better with Orlovsky at the helm. Best chance at a win remains the season finale against the Jags. |
*Last week's ranking