1. Arizona Cardinals (7-1): While I'm still not convinced Arizona is the front-runner to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, they have arguably the most opportunistic defense in the league, have one of the best coaches in all of football, and seem to do just enough offensively to win football games. Being the only one-loss team left in the league, I have to place them up top for the time being.
2. New England Patriots (7-2): Ever since getting blown out at Arrowhead on Monday night by the Kansas City Chiefs, the Pats offense has been rolling like the Pats offense of old. Where are those Tom Brady and Bill Belichick doubters again?
3. Denver Broncos (6-2): Even after the embarrassing loss at Foxboro on Sunday, the Denver Broncos still appear to be one of the best all-around teams in the NFL. So long as the team doesn't suffer any major injuries, they should be right there in contention to again represent the AFC at the end of the year (well, start of next year).
4. Philadelphia Eagles (6-2): The big question for Philly isn't where they are today, which is atop the NFC East, but where they'll be in a few weeks without starting quarterback Nick Foles or defensive standout DeMeco Ryans. Foles hasn't been nearly as efficient this year as he was last year, so I don't think the offense will drop off much with Mark Sanchez behind center. The bigger question will be on defense without Ryans. Regardless, for the time being, the two-loss Eagles deserve to be at #4.
5. Cincinnati Bengals (5-2-1): Early in the season, the Bengals appeared to be a legitimate contender for the AFC championship. They then hit a lull and looked more like a Wild Card team, at best. Fortunately for them, it appears as if the defense is back on track and a healthy A.J. Green should open up the offense. In the wacky AFC North, however, anything is possible.
6. Dallas Cowboys (6-3): Remember when the Cowboys were 6-1 and being called by many as the best team in football? Following losses to both Washington and Arizona, Dallas is in desperate need of a win in London against the one-win Jacksonville Jaguars. With or without a healthy Tony Romo, if Dallas loses that game to fall to 6-4, they could soon be fighting for a Wild Card spot, if any spot at all in the playoffs. The Cowboys should be able to get back on track this week, but then again, they lost to Washington, so anything's possible.
7. Seattle Seahawks (5-3): Seattle has not been looking like the team from last year, but at 5-3, are still in the thick of the playoff race, and if they can get their special teams on track and their defense to play with the passion they had a year ago, they could give it another run this year. After starting 3-3 and only beating 3-5-1 Carolina and 0-8 Oakland by a combined 10 points the past two weeks, however, they'll need to start playing better if they want to do that.
8. Detroit Lions (6-2): I'm still not fully convinced that Detroit is a legitimate playoff-caliber team this year, but at 6-2, it's also difficult to rank them below 8th in the power rankings. The offense has been inefficient, the defense has improved a great deal, and the special teams have been a disappointment. It'll be interesting to see what the offense can do if and when a healthy Calvin Johnson returns. Until that point, this team is still a bit of a mystery to me.
9. Kansas City Chiefs (5-3): As I was saying after their 7-point loss to Denver a while back, Kansas City was a much better team than their record indicated. After dominating New England at home on a Monday night, defeating the then hot San Diego Chargers, and upending the New York Jets this past weekend, it appears as if the Chiefs were definitely better than their early record showcased. So long as Alex Smith can stay healthy, look for the Chiefs to be a pain in the backside this year and to contend for another playoff spot.
10. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-3): Where did this team come from? After a 31-10 loss to Cleveland to set the Steelers back to 3-3, Pittsburgh appeared to be aging and not the same team from a few years ago. Over their past three games, however, the Steelers have outscored their opponents 124-80, and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has thrown 12 touchdown passes with 0 interceptions in their past two games. While the defense is still looking suspect, if the offense continues to put up 30-50 points every game, that's not going to matter much. It'll be interesting to see how long the offense can sustain this level of excellence.
11. Indianapolis Colts (6-3): Indy may have had a bit of a hiccup two weeks ago in their loss to Pittsburgh. However, they bounced back with a convincing win against the New York Giants last night and are 6-1 in their past seven games. So long as Vontae Davis stays healthy on defense, the Colts should have a chance come playoff time.
12. Green Bay Packers (5-3): Green Bay's success may be more dependent on their quarterback's health than any other team in football (perhaps alongside New England). Aaron Rodgers injured a hamstring two weekends ago and if he battles that for the rest of the year, the team won't be nearly as successful. If he comes back this coming weekend as healthy as he anticipated, the team should be just fine, however.
13. Baltimore Ravens (5-4): The Ravens appear to have improved from a year ago, especially on defense and at receiver, with the new addition of Steve Smith coming over from Carolina. However, they're banged up in the secondary, which has hurt them in their back-to-back losses to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. So long as they can get healthy on defense, they should be able to contend in the AFC North. However, with the division being as competitive as it has been to this point in the season, if the defense is banged up for much longer, the Ravens could find themselves too far back of the pack to even think about contending for a division crown.
14. Miami Dolphins (5-3): Like the Pittsburgh Steelers, I have to ask, "What in the world got into them?" when it comes to the Miami Dolphins. After starting the year 2-3 and hearing chatter about starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill possibly being benched, the Dolphins have won three straight by the combined score of 91-27. If they win a tough road game against 6-2 Detroit this coming weekend, that will even further showcase that this is a team to be reckoned with, one which could even be thinking about an AFC East title if New England ever cools off.
15. New Orleans Saints (4-4): After their incredibly slow start (on both sides of the ball), the New Orleans Saints are finally starting to appear like the team most analysts thought they were before the season started. Also, lucky for them, they play in the NFC South, so even an 8-win season will likely vault them to the playoffs.
16. San Francisco 49ers (4-4): San Francisco is loaded with talent on both sides of the ball, yet due to injury problems and a lack of discipline, they've had trouble putting that talent to full use. If they want to have any shot at reaching a fourth straight NFC title game, they're going to need to get healthy and focused soon, or else their playoff chances may start slipping away, let alone the chance to reach yet another championship game.
17. San Diego Chargers (5-4): Early this season, there was talk about San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers being a legitimate MVP candidate. While I couldn't disagree with that at the time, he has struggled some in recent weeks, and perhaps even more important than that, the seemingly improved defense has regressed, especially in their 37-0 loss to Miami this past weekend. They'll need to get back on track, and soon, before they fall too far back of Denver and Kansas City in the AFC West and other potential Wild Card teams in the conference.
18. Buffalo Bills (5-3): Kyle Orton has brought some stability to the offense, but without tailbacks Fred Jackson or C.J. Spiller in the lineup, it'll be difficult for the Bills to beat some of the better teams in the conference and league. One thing which should keep them in most games, however, is their vastly underrated defense. Also, that Sammy Watkins is going to be something special, and I haven't said that about a young receiver since Calvin Johnson came into the league.
19. Cleveland Browns (5-3): While I don't think the Browns are as good as their 5-3 record indicates, largely due to their blowout loss to one-win Jacksonville, it's also hard to argue against them having a 5-3 record. I still have trouble seeing Cleveland make the playoffs this year, but if they can repeat the first half of their season in the second half and finish 10-6, they'll definitely be in contention.
20. Houston Texans (4-5): Through nine games this season, Houston has doubled their win total from a year ago. Ryan Fitzpatrick still makes me nervous at quarterback, and the Texans run defense hasn't been very impressive, however with Arien Foster, Andre Johnson, and especially J.J. Watt, this team seems to make every game an interesting one, and should win 6-7 games this season.
21. St. Louis Rams (3-5): St. Louis is quite close to being 5-3 and being talked about as a playoff contender. They were extremely close to beating both Dallas (6-3) and Philadelphia (6-2) and have recently defeated Seattle (5-3) and San Francisco (4-4). No matter how the Rams finish the season, one has to give Jeff Fisher and the rest of the coaching staff props for being so competitive after losing their starting quarterback Sam Bradford and many other key players early in the season.
22. Carolina Panthers (3-5-1): In my opinion, this is the most disappointing team in football through the first half of the season. Carolina won the NFC South a year ago, largely due to a solid rushing attack on offense and one of the very best defenses in football. This year, both their offense and defense ranks near the bottom of the league (25th in points scored and points allowed per game), and unless they make some huge improvements, they'll be sitting at home come playoff time.
23. Chicago Bears (3-5): Speaking of disappointments, that's definitely the case with the Bears, especially their offense. With their defense being as mediocre as is (that's being nice), the offense will need to step things up if the Bears want any chance at the post-season.
24. New York Giants (3-5): If there's one word I'd use to describe the Giants, it'd be "inconsistent." It seems obvious the offense, while improving, is still not fully adjusted to the West Coast offense. Also, while Eli Manning (like most quarterbacks) seems to take the brunt of the blame when things aren't going well for the team, the two biggest factors for the Giants struggles these past two seasons is up front on the offensive and defensive lines. Manning has received better protection of late, but until the Giants can find a way to get pressure on the opposing quarterbacks, they'll have trouble winning on a consistent basis.
25. Minnesota Vikings (4-5): Two things I've learned this year about the Vikings: 1) Teddy Bridgewater fell much too far and Minnesota's lucky to have him, and 2) the Vikings defense is much better than they were expected to be. I don't think they'll make a playoff run this year, but seem to be moving in the right direction, and should be vying for a playoff spot in the next 2-3 years, I'd say.
26. Washington Redskins (3-6): While Washington has improved slightly on defense this year, their offense is out of sorts. They have a great deal of talent on that side of the ball, but haven't figured out how to fully utilize it yet, it seems. Also, with Robert Griffin III's injury problems, it's been difficult to find a certain level of stability on the offensive side of the ball, which has also made winning consistently a problem. If RG III can remain healthy for a season, Washington could be a playoff contender. However, anymore, that seems about as likely as the Chicago Cubs winning a World Series.
27. Atlanta Falcons (2-6): Atlanta is kind of reminiscent of the New York Giants. They have a great deal of talent at the skill positions on offense, but have been beaten up on the offensive line and haven't been able to generate much of a pass rush these past couple of years. This has hampered Matt Ryan's effectiveness (and the overall offense's), as well as the secondary's (and the overall defense's). Until they can improve on the lines, Atlanta won't be a force in the NFC South, let alone the league in general.
28. New York Jets (1-8): While Geno Smith didn't play well at all while starting behind center this season, the Jets were also hampered by a lack of explosiveness at the skill positions (until they traded for Percy Harvin) and a beat up secondary. Michael Vick may be able to bring some stability to the offensive side of the ball, but for as bad as things are going in the secondary, rumor has it Rex Ryan may place himself in the game at cornerback, and no, that wouldn't be a good thing.
29. Tennessee Titans (2-6): After surprising Kansas City with a win at Arrowhead in Week 1, the Titans' only victory since that time was a 2-point win against the 1-8 Jacksonville Jaguars. There are more questions than answers to this team, and that's especially true at quarterback. With the oft-injured Jake Locker being banged up off-and-on throughout the course of the season (yet again), the Titans may have to think about making a change there in the off-season (as well as in many other areas).
30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-7): In their two blowout losses to Atlanta and Baltimore, Tampa Bay really did appear to be the worst team in all of football. However, outside of those two games, they've been highly competitive, and regardless of how bad their final record is, I think head coach Lovie Smith should get at least one more year to try and turn the team around.
31. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-8): Speaking of being quite competitive for the most part, the same could be said of Jacksonville. Unfortunately for them, most of these competitive games have ended in losses. However, the future does appear to look brighter than it did a year ago, especially with rookie quarterback Blake Bortles going through some growing pains in his first season.
32. Oakland Raiders (0-8): Oakland appears to be improving, but at 0-8, I have to place them dead last in the league at this point.
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