1) Carolina Panthers (13-0): So long as the Panthers remain unbeaten (even have one loss), they'll remain atop my leaderboard.
2) Arizona Cardinals (11-2): If Arizona's healthy, they'll likely remain my NFC favorite to reach the Super Bowl. Their banged up backfield makes me slightly nervous in the short-term, however.
3) New England Patriots (10-3): Not all is right in the Pats' world just yet, but Rob Gronkowski coming back was a huge step back in the right direction.
4) Denver Broncos (10-3): As I've been saying all along, it doesn't matter who's behind center for the Broncos if they can't get good pass protection and can't run the ball successfully. Unless they clean up that mess, they won't be making it far into the postseason.
5) Cincinnati Bengals (10-3): With Andy Dalton going down in the team's loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday, the two big questions are: 1) Will he be healthy for the postseason? and 2) Will the team be able to win 2 out of their next 3 to even guarantee a postseason spot?
6) Green Bay Packers (9-4): Green Bay looked better on both sides of the ball Sunday, but then again, they were playing Dallas, so it remains to be seen if they've worked out their kinks enough to compete against the best in the league again.
7) Seattle Seahawks (8-5): Like with NFC West rival Arizona, Seattle is severely banged up in the backfield, but like Carson Palmer, Russell Wilson is playing out of his mind right now, and with the defense playing as well as they're playing, the injuries shouldn't hamper the team too much in the short-term. Come playoff time, though, they'll need Marshawn Lynch back in the lineup if they want to make a Super Bowl run.
8) Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5): With Denver and Cincinnati's quarterback situations being up in the air at the moment, if someone were to ask me who I thought was the biggest challenge to New England making another Super Bowl, I'd say the Pittsburgh Steelers. The only things standing in their way at the moment are the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets, currently keeping them out of the postseason.
9) Kansas City Chiefs (8-5): The Chiefs offense has improved through the course of the season, but as could be seen in their 10-3 win over 3-10 San Diego on Sunday, they're still quite inconsistent on that side of the ball and that could very well prevent them from making an extended run come playoff time.
10) New York Jets (8-5): Of the three 8-5 AFC teams battling for a playoff spot, the Jets have the toughest road ahead of them, with games against Dallas, New England, and Buffalo (21-18 combined record). New York will likely need to win at least 2 of 3 to have a chance at making the postseason.
11) Minnesota Vikings (8-5): While the Vikings are almost assured a playoff spot this year, they're not playing great football at the moment and will need to make some key adjustments down the stretch in order to have a shot at advancing past the first round.
12) New York Giants (6-7): New York has last four games in the final minute. They could very well be 10-3 at the moment and have already clinched the NFC (l)East. They've been unable to do that, however, and now find themselves in a three-way tie atop the before-mentioned division. While I think this is probably the best team in said division, I know better that to guarantee any one of these four teams will be playing after Week 17 of the season.
13) Buffalo Bills (6-7): This has been a semi-frustrating team. With a solid defense and a potentially explosive offense, coming off a 9-7 campaign a year ago, Buffalo should be better than 6-7 at this juncture in the season. However, they continue to kill themselves with penalties, and will now need three wins and a great deal of additional help to have any shot at the postseason.
14) Washington Redskins (6-7): Big game this coming weekend for Washington, who's tied atop the NFC East with New York and Philadelphia, as they play host to 6-7 Buffalo. While Buffalo definitely needs a win to have any shot at the postseason, Washington could potentially find themselves a game back of both Philadelphia and New York if they fall in this one, and while they still wouldn't be mathematically out of it, they'd likely need some help the final two weeks of the season.
15) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-7): As could probably be expected, being led by a rookie quarterback and all, Tampa has been an extremely inconsistent team this season. Regardless of that, though, they've been a greatly improved team as well, already eclipsing their win total from a year ago by 4 games. Two games back of a Wild Card spot, the Bucs will likely need to win out to have any kind of chance at the postseason. That potential run will start on Thursday night with a visit to another inconsistent team, 5-8 St. Louis.
16) Philadelphia Eagles (6-7): Honestly, Philly's win over Buffalo impressed me more than their victory over New England, for the simple fact they scored three return touchdowns against the Patriots (punt, blocked punt, and interception), whereas they actually had to generate some offense and put a few drives together against the stingy Bills defense. While Philly is tied atop the NFC East with New York and Washington, they'll have to face 11-2 Arizona over the weekend, so if they want to at least stay tied atop the division, they'll definitely need to earn it.
17) Oakland Raiders (6-7): Oakland isn't mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, but it's highly unlikely they'll make the postseason this year. They're two games back of New York, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh, with three remaining, and will be welcoming 9-4 Green Bay to town on Sunday. Regardless of whether or not they make the postseason this year, though, there's a lot to be excited about in Raider Nation for the coming years.
18) Houston Texans (6-7): For as bad as the NFC East is, I personally feel it's better than the AFC South. The AFC South is currently led by 6-7 Houston and Indianapolis, who will be facing one another this coming weekend, being led by quarterbacks Tyler Yates and Charlie Whitehurst, respectively. Not only that, but 5-8 Jacksonville, after thumping the Colts this past weekend, is only a game behind the co-division leaders. Oh, and did I mention 3-10 Tennessee is not mathematically eliminated from playoff contention? Yes, this division is THAT bad...
19) Atlanta Falcons (6-7): Speaking of bad, it'd be difficult to make a convincing argument that the Atlanta Falcons are not playing the worst football in the league at the moment. After starting the season 5-0, the team has lost 7 of 8, and looking at their schedule, I'm hard-pressed to seeing them win another game. Yes, I have about as much faith in the Falcons winning another football game this year as I have in Donald Trump building a "big, beautiful wall" along this country's southern border with his bare hands.
20) Indianapolis Colts (6-7): It's been ironically humorous for me to observe the parallels between the Colts, Peyton Manning's former team, and the Broncos, the veteran quarterback's current team. Andrew Luck was labeled by many as the perfect replacement for Peyton Manning, almost the second-coming of the future Hall-of-Famer. Both quarterbacks struggled early in the season, especially with turnovers, and ended up on the sidelines with injuries. The backups impressed for the most part and even prompted debate on whether or not the teams should go back to the starters if/when they overcame their injuries. After witnessing the backups struggle over the past couple of weeks, these same analysts are now saying the teams' seasons can only be saved if the original starters come back from injury and play behind center for their respective squads. Both clubs have capable running backs and some talented receivers, yet have't been at all impressive along the offensive line. What's been the one key difference between the two? Defense. While Denver showcases one of the best, if not the best defense in the league, Indianapolis has been subpar, which has resulted in one team being 10-3 at the moment, and the other being 6-7.
21) St. Louis Rams (5-8): The Rams defense was able to come through for them against Detroit on Sunday and lead them to a victory, but regardless of how great the defense has been at times this season, they're going to need some serious help on offense come the offseason if they want to contend for a playoff spot next year.
22) Jacksonville Jaguars (5-8): Don't look now, but the Jaguars are just one game back of Houston and Indianapolis for the AFC South lead. Houston and Indy square off this coming weekend and Jacksonville faces the Texans in their regular season finale. Yes, it's still quite possible the Jaguars could make the playoffs...
23) New Orleans Saints (5-8): This has not been a fun season for the New Orleans Saints. The offense has been explosive like in the past at times, yet been shut down at others. The defense has been the worst thing since moldy sliced bread at times, yet slightly below average at others. Moving forward, the questions are going to be: 1) Will the team keep their stars on offense or attempt to rebuild for the future?, 2) Will they maintain their coaching staff or go in a new direction?, and 3) Will they have faith that their young defense will drastically improve from year 1 to year 2 or decide to sign some more veteran, proven players on that side of the ball?
24) Miami Dolphins (5-8): One thing I've continually heard ESPN analysts say about this team, and which I tend to agree with, is they appear to lack fight and motivation while on the field. Until they find that leadership, that determination on both sides of the ball, it's going to be extremely difficult for this team to regularly compete with New England and the ever improving New York Jets and Buffalo Bills in the AFC East.
25) Chicago Bears (5-8): Yeah, I have one question: Why in the world did they get rid of Brandon Marshall again? (Psst, the Jets went from 4-12 to 8-5 and the Bears are sitting at 5-8).
26) Detroit Lions (4-9): While the defense has improved markedly since the first half of the season, the offense has been a huge disappointing all throughout the course of the year (save for the Thanksgiving Day game against Philadelphia). Like with so many other teams, Detroit needs help on the offensive line and in a hurry if they want to get back to their winning ways.
27) Dallas Cowboys (4-9): No, at 4-9, Dallas is still not eliminated from playoff contention because they play in the NFC (l)East. Two games back of three teams, however, with just three to go, it's becoming increasingly unlikely the Cowboys will make the postseason again.
28) San Francisco 49ers (4-9): This has been a strange team to observe this season. The 49ers started the year by convincingly beating the now 8-5 Minnesota Vikings. They recently competed with 11-2 Arizona to the final whistle, beat 5-8 Chicago on the road in overtime, only to lose to then 2-10 Cleveland. They plan an Andy Dalton-less Cincinnati Bengals team at home this coming Sunday. No, they probably shouldn't win, but this season? Who in the hell knows?!?
29) Baltimore Ravens (4-9): Joe Flacco's out for the rest of the year. Matt Schaub is hurt. Terrell Suggs is out for the year, as is Steve Smith. Yeah, that's pretty much all you need to know about this year's Ravens' squad...
30) San Diego Chargers (3-10): This past weekend's 10-3 loss to Kansas City was rather fitting for this Chargers team, which seems to always find a way to get close yet come out on the losing end. With time running out and on the Chiefs' one-year-line, the Chargers were called for a false-start penalty, backing them up 5 yards, and they wouldn't get any closer to the end zone.
31) Tennessee Titans (3-10): One semi-positive thing about the Titans' being 3-10 is, if they lose their final three games, they'll be guaranteed one of the top three spots in the NFL draft to provide Marcus Mariota with a vertical passing threat he's sorely lacked this season.
32) Cleveland Browns (3-10): If Johnny Manziel closes the year out with some decent performances, it'll be interesting to see if the Browns' front office decides to use him as trade bait as they get rid of their coaching staff, or to give him a shot as the starter heading into next season with a different coaching staff. Personally, if I were Johnny, I'd be hoping for the former to occur...
2) Arizona Cardinals (11-2): If Arizona's healthy, they'll likely remain my NFC favorite to reach the Super Bowl. Their banged up backfield makes me slightly nervous in the short-term, however.
3) New England Patriots (10-3): Not all is right in the Pats' world just yet, but Rob Gronkowski coming back was a huge step back in the right direction.
4) Denver Broncos (10-3): As I've been saying all along, it doesn't matter who's behind center for the Broncos if they can't get good pass protection and can't run the ball successfully. Unless they clean up that mess, they won't be making it far into the postseason.
5) Cincinnati Bengals (10-3): With Andy Dalton going down in the team's loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday, the two big questions are: 1) Will he be healthy for the postseason? and 2) Will the team be able to win 2 out of their next 3 to even guarantee a postseason spot?
6) Green Bay Packers (9-4): Green Bay looked better on both sides of the ball Sunday, but then again, they were playing Dallas, so it remains to be seen if they've worked out their kinks enough to compete against the best in the league again.
7) Seattle Seahawks (8-5): Like with NFC West rival Arizona, Seattle is severely banged up in the backfield, but like Carson Palmer, Russell Wilson is playing out of his mind right now, and with the defense playing as well as they're playing, the injuries shouldn't hamper the team too much in the short-term. Come playoff time, though, they'll need Marshawn Lynch back in the lineup if they want to make a Super Bowl run.
8) Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5): With Denver and Cincinnati's quarterback situations being up in the air at the moment, if someone were to ask me who I thought was the biggest challenge to New England making another Super Bowl, I'd say the Pittsburgh Steelers. The only things standing in their way at the moment are the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets, currently keeping them out of the postseason.
9) Kansas City Chiefs (8-5): The Chiefs offense has improved through the course of the season, but as could be seen in their 10-3 win over 3-10 San Diego on Sunday, they're still quite inconsistent on that side of the ball and that could very well prevent them from making an extended run come playoff time.
10) New York Jets (8-5): Of the three 8-5 AFC teams battling for a playoff spot, the Jets have the toughest road ahead of them, with games against Dallas, New England, and Buffalo (21-18 combined record). New York will likely need to win at least 2 of 3 to have a chance at making the postseason.
11) Minnesota Vikings (8-5): While the Vikings are almost assured a playoff spot this year, they're not playing great football at the moment and will need to make some key adjustments down the stretch in order to have a shot at advancing past the first round.
12) New York Giants (6-7): New York has last four games in the final minute. They could very well be 10-3 at the moment and have already clinched the NFC (l)East. They've been unable to do that, however, and now find themselves in a three-way tie atop the before-mentioned division. While I think this is probably the best team in said division, I know better that to guarantee any one of these four teams will be playing after Week 17 of the season.
13) Buffalo Bills (6-7): This has been a semi-frustrating team. With a solid defense and a potentially explosive offense, coming off a 9-7 campaign a year ago, Buffalo should be better than 6-7 at this juncture in the season. However, they continue to kill themselves with penalties, and will now need three wins and a great deal of additional help to have any shot at the postseason.
14) Washington Redskins (6-7): Big game this coming weekend for Washington, who's tied atop the NFC East with New York and Philadelphia, as they play host to 6-7 Buffalo. While Buffalo definitely needs a win to have any shot at the postseason, Washington could potentially find themselves a game back of both Philadelphia and New York if they fall in this one, and while they still wouldn't be mathematically out of it, they'd likely need some help the final two weeks of the season.
15) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-7): As could probably be expected, being led by a rookie quarterback and all, Tampa has been an extremely inconsistent team this season. Regardless of that, though, they've been a greatly improved team as well, already eclipsing their win total from a year ago by 4 games. Two games back of a Wild Card spot, the Bucs will likely need to win out to have any kind of chance at the postseason. That potential run will start on Thursday night with a visit to another inconsistent team, 5-8 St. Louis.
16) Philadelphia Eagles (6-7): Honestly, Philly's win over Buffalo impressed me more than their victory over New England, for the simple fact they scored three return touchdowns against the Patriots (punt, blocked punt, and interception), whereas they actually had to generate some offense and put a few drives together against the stingy Bills defense. While Philly is tied atop the NFC East with New York and Washington, they'll have to face 11-2 Arizona over the weekend, so if they want to at least stay tied atop the division, they'll definitely need to earn it.
17) Oakland Raiders (6-7): Oakland isn't mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, but it's highly unlikely they'll make the postseason this year. They're two games back of New York, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh, with three remaining, and will be welcoming 9-4 Green Bay to town on Sunday. Regardless of whether or not they make the postseason this year, though, there's a lot to be excited about in Raider Nation for the coming years.
18) Houston Texans (6-7): For as bad as the NFC East is, I personally feel it's better than the AFC South. The AFC South is currently led by 6-7 Houston and Indianapolis, who will be facing one another this coming weekend, being led by quarterbacks Tyler Yates and Charlie Whitehurst, respectively. Not only that, but 5-8 Jacksonville, after thumping the Colts this past weekend, is only a game behind the co-division leaders. Oh, and did I mention 3-10 Tennessee is not mathematically eliminated from playoff contention? Yes, this division is THAT bad...
19) Atlanta Falcons (6-7): Speaking of bad, it'd be difficult to make a convincing argument that the Atlanta Falcons are not playing the worst football in the league at the moment. After starting the season 5-0, the team has lost 7 of 8, and looking at their schedule, I'm hard-pressed to seeing them win another game. Yes, I have about as much faith in the Falcons winning another football game this year as I have in Donald Trump building a "big, beautiful wall" along this country's southern border with his bare hands.
20) Indianapolis Colts (6-7): It's been ironically humorous for me to observe the parallels between the Colts, Peyton Manning's former team, and the Broncos, the veteran quarterback's current team. Andrew Luck was labeled by many as the perfect replacement for Peyton Manning, almost the second-coming of the future Hall-of-Famer. Both quarterbacks struggled early in the season, especially with turnovers, and ended up on the sidelines with injuries. The backups impressed for the most part and even prompted debate on whether or not the teams should go back to the starters if/when they overcame their injuries. After witnessing the backups struggle over the past couple of weeks, these same analysts are now saying the teams' seasons can only be saved if the original starters come back from injury and play behind center for their respective squads. Both clubs have capable running backs and some talented receivers, yet have't been at all impressive along the offensive line. What's been the one key difference between the two? Defense. While Denver showcases one of the best, if not the best defense in the league, Indianapolis has been subpar, which has resulted in one team being 10-3 at the moment, and the other being 6-7.
21) St. Louis Rams (5-8): The Rams defense was able to come through for them against Detroit on Sunday and lead them to a victory, but regardless of how great the defense has been at times this season, they're going to need some serious help on offense come the offseason if they want to contend for a playoff spot next year.
22) Jacksonville Jaguars (5-8): Don't look now, but the Jaguars are just one game back of Houston and Indianapolis for the AFC South lead. Houston and Indy square off this coming weekend and Jacksonville faces the Texans in their regular season finale. Yes, it's still quite possible the Jaguars could make the playoffs...
23) New Orleans Saints (5-8): This has not been a fun season for the New Orleans Saints. The offense has been explosive like in the past at times, yet been shut down at others. The defense has been the worst thing since moldy sliced bread at times, yet slightly below average at others. Moving forward, the questions are going to be: 1) Will the team keep their stars on offense or attempt to rebuild for the future?, 2) Will they maintain their coaching staff or go in a new direction?, and 3) Will they have faith that their young defense will drastically improve from year 1 to year 2 or decide to sign some more veteran, proven players on that side of the ball?
24) Miami Dolphins (5-8): One thing I've continually heard ESPN analysts say about this team, and which I tend to agree with, is they appear to lack fight and motivation while on the field. Until they find that leadership, that determination on both sides of the ball, it's going to be extremely difficult for this team to regularly compete with New England and the ever improving New York Jets and Buffalo Bills in the AFC East.
25) Chicago Bears (5-8): Yeah, I have one question: Why in the world did they get rid of Brandon Marshall again? (Psst, the Jets went from 4-12 to 8-5 and the Bears are sitting at 5-8).
26) Detroit Lions (4-9): While the defense has improved markedly since the first half of the season, the offense has been a huge disappointing all throughout the course of the year (save for the Thanksgiving Day game against Philadelphia). Like with so many other teams, Detroit needs help on the offensive line and in a hurry if they want to get back to their winning ways.
27) Dallas Cowboys (4-9): No, at 4-9, Dallas is still not eliminated from playoff contention because they play in the NFC (l)East. Two games back of three teams, however, with just three to go, it's becoming increasingly unlikely the Cowboys will make the postseason again.
28) San Francisco 49ers (4-9): This has been a strange team to observe this season. The 49ers started the year by convincingly beating the now 8-5 Minnesota Vikings. They recently competed with 11-2 Arizona to the final whistle, beat 5-8 Chicago on the road in overtime, only to lose to then 2-10 Cleveland. They plan an Andy Dalton-less Cincinnati Bengals team at home this coming Sunday. No, they probably shouldn't win, but this season? Who in the hell knows?!?
29) Baltimore Ravens (4-9): Joe Flacco's out for the rest of the year. Matt Schaub is hurt. Terrell Suggs is out for the year, as is Steve Smith. Yeah, that's pretty much all you need to know about this year's Ravens' squad...
30) San Diego Chargers (3-10): This past weekend's 10-3 loss to Kansas City was rather fitting for this Chargers team, which seems to always find a way to get close yet come out on the losing end. With time running out and on the Chiefs' one-year-line, the Chargers were called for a false-start penalty, backing them up 5 yards, and they wouldn't get any closer to the end zone.
31) Tennessee Titans (3-10): One semi-positive thing about the Titans' being 3-10 is, if they lose their final three games, they'll be guaranteed one of the top three spots in the NFL draft to provide Marcus Mariota with a vertical passing threat he's sorely lacked this season.
32) Cleveland Browns (3-10): If Johnny Manziel closes the year out with some decent performances, it'll be interesting to see if the Browns' front office decides to use him as trade bait as they get rid of their coaching staff, or to give him a shot as the starter heading into next season with a different coaching staff. Personally, if I were Johnny, I'd be hoping for the former to occur...
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