| Rank |
Up/Down |
Record |
Team |
| 1 |
– |
10-2 |
Atlanta – With 10 wins already and Seattle + Carolina (twice) ahead, a 12+ win season looks to be order. AFC South race should be interesting to the finish. |
| 2 |
1 |
10-2 |
New England – Talked the talk and walked the walk against the Jets, not only blowing them out on offense but getting a top-notch effort on defense as well. Can anyone stop Brady? Two of the NFC’s best (Chicago and Green Bay) up next will try. |
| 3 |
2 |
9-3 |
Pittsburgh – Troy Polamalu and the defense continue to shine; win gave Steelers the inside track to a Division Title and a potential first round bye. |
| 4 |
2 |
9-3 |
New Orleans – Offense is rolling with four straight games of 30+ points, and with five straight wins, the Saints keep looking like their old 2009-10 selves. |
| 5 |
1 |
8-4 |
Baltimore – Baltimore’s defense has sharpened up as the season has progressed, but the offense needs to find its rhythm before the playoffs roll around. |
| 6 |
4 |
9-3 |
NY Jets – I’d love to write it off as one awful game, but a look under the hood shows the Jets are just 1-3 against teams over .500; and have no TDs in all three of those losses. This defense simple has not been as good as advertised. Not writing them off, but they need a statement game soon. |
| 7 |
– |
9-3 |
Chicago – Brutal month of football ahead: NE, @Min, NYJ, @GB. Playoffs start early for the Bears, and if they make it to the real thing, they should be ready. |
| 8 |
– |
8-4 |
Philadelphia – Philly picks up a nice win against Houston, but will have to bring their A-game against the suddenly-dangerous Cowboys this week. |
| 9 |
– |
8-4 |
Green Bay – Detroit should be no problem this week, as long as the Packers aren’t looking ahead to their showdown at New England the following week. |
| 10 |
– |
8-4 |
NY Giants – With two straight wins, the Giants aren’t letting Philadelphia run away with the division. Need a win this week against Minnesota to keep the pressure on. |
| 11 |
– |
8-4 |
Kansas City – With a win over San Diego, the Chiefs would put the Chargers out of the race for the AFC West. Not many believe they can do it; but who’d have thought the Raiders could last week? |
| 12 |
4 |
7-5 |
Jacksonville – Don’t look now, but Jacksonville actually has a legitimate shot of winning the AFC South. They can’t afford to leave the Colts any room though, and that means a must-win against Oakland. |
| 13 |
4 |
6-6 |
Oakland – Remarkable upset over San Diego improves the Raiders to 4-0 in AFC West play; where was this team in Arizona and San Francisco? To keep playoff hopes alive, they’ll need to win out. |
| 14 |
– |
7-5 |
Tampa Bay – Despite an 0-5 record against teams with winning records, Tampa Bay could make the playoffs this season without ever beating a winning team; they’ve got Washington, Detroit, and Seattle ahead. |
| 15 |
2 |
6-6 |
Indianapolis – 11 interceptions in three game for Manning? I keep saying “it’s fine, he’ll turn it around”… but he (and the Colts) are running out of time to do so. |
| 16 |
4 |
6-6 |
San Diego – When you spot the league five losses with your annual slow starts, you can’t afford an abysmal game like the one last week against Oakland. Winning out + one other KC loss still spells playoffs for the Chargers, but room for error is now virtually zero. |
| 17 |
2 |
6-6 |
St. Louis – Like Tampa Bay, St. Louis doesn’t have a win against a team over .500, but they look great against the losing teams. Two chances ahead @New Orleans and at home against Kansas City. |
| 18 |
3 |
6-6 |
Miami – No better microcosm of the madness in the NFL than this inconsistent bunch. Now that we are all counting them out again, they’ll probably go into New York and beat the Jets. Who knows with this team? |
| 19 |
1 |
5-7 |
Houston – Defense fell back down to earth against Mike Vick’s Eagles, no surprise there. Could play spoiler Monday night if they can find a way to stop Baltimore’s struggling offense. |
| 20 |
2 |
6-6 |
Seattle – With Atlanta and @Tampa Bay on the horizon, this week’s game @San Francisco is a virtual must win to keep the pressure on St. Louis in the NFC West. |
| 21 |
2 |
5-7 |
Cleveland – Browns continue to fight hard and pick up the win at Miami; Peyton Hillis could have a monster day this Sunday against Buffalo’s soft rushing defense. |
| 22 |
2 |
5-7 |
Minnesota – 2-0 under head coach Leslie Frazier, but that was Washington and Buffalo. We’ll see what the team is really made of at home against New York (Giants) and Chicago. |
| 23 |
2 |
4-8 |
Dallas – Hard not to wonder how much different this season could have been for the Cowboys under a capable coach. Jason Garrett has this team playing well, and they could continue playing as a dangerous spoiler down the stretch. |
| 24 |
4 |
5-7 |
Tennessee – 5-2 playoff bound team is long gone. In it’s place, this uninspired and mediocre bunch. Another win this season may be tough to come by. |
| 25 |
4 |
5-7 |
Washington – Hard to believe this team has topped Philadelphia, Chicago, and Green Bay this season; three of the NFC’s best. At this point, another win this season would be surprising. |
| 26 |
– |
4-8 |
San Francisco – Remarkably, at 4-8, this team STILL isn’t done in the NFC West. But nothing in their play has suggested that is any reason for 49ers fans to hold out hope. |
| 27 |
– |
3-9 |
Denver – Loss against Kansas City ends the Josh McDaniels era in Denver. Everyone was crazy about this guy at 6-0 in 2009; 5-17 since. |
| 28 |
– |
2-10 |
Buffalo – First good old fashioned butt kicking the Bills have received in nearly two months. Can they get back to competitive football this week at home against Cleveland? |
| 29 |
1 |
2-10 |
Detroit – The Lions lose in heartbreaking fashion to the Bears once again. It is nice that they are keeping games close, but you have to steal a win every now and then. |
| 30 |
1 |
3-9 |
Arizona – How do you follow up being demolished and laughed at home on Monday Night? With another blowout loss at home. They get ANOTHER home game this week; third time’s a charm? |
| 31 |
– |
2-10 |
Cincinnati – Played New Orleans tough, but I’m past the point of caring on this team. Nine straight losses will do that to you. |
| 32 |
– |
1-11 |
Carolina – After a close one at Cleveland, back to being blown out against Seattle. Hard to argue they’ve got much of a prayer against Atlanta this week. |
