1. Cowboys (11-1)
Some might dock the Cowboys for struggling to win at the Vikings. I give them credit for winning ugly.
2. Patriots (10-2)
They handled the Rams but placed TE Rob Gronkowski on IR. Can QB Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick do it without him?
3. Raiders (10-2)
Down 24-9 to the Bills, they rallied with touchdowns on three straight drives. QB Derek Carr is sharp and LB Khalil Mack is dominating.
4. Seahawks (8-3-1)
A week after scoring a field goal at Tampa Bay, Seahawks put up 40 on the Panthers at home. They need home-field advantage because their offense doesn’t travel.
5. Chiefs (9-3)
They keep winning in improbable fashion. At least the Falcons’ misery made for a nice personal story for Chiefs S Eric Berry (above).
6. Falcons (7-5)
Regarding Matt Ryan’s pick-six: Why were the Falcons being aggressive late in the first half? Regarding the pick-two: Why not run a safer play?
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7. Broncos (8-4)
Broncos took advantage of several mistakes by Jags to win on the road. But can they stay in wild-card race with closing schedule of at Titans, vs. Pats, at Chiefs and vs. Raiders?
8. Lions (8-4)
Convincing W at Lions showed they may have the D to be legit. Maybe I should stop thinking they are just lucky and not very good.
9. Steelers (7-5)
Big win over Giants is second beat-down in a row for Steelers. They’ll be a dangerous playoff opponent.
10. Buccaneers (7-5)
Good win in San Diego. Ex-Falcons staffers Dirk Koetter and Mike Smith are doing good work.
11. Ravens (7-5)
They rediscovered their offense in a big way during thrashing of Dolphins.
12. Giants (8-4)
Getting dominated in Pittsburgh is the latest clue that they may be pretenders. We’ll find out more when the Cowboys visit on Sunday.
13. Dolphins (7-5)
Defense collapsed at Baltimore.
14. Bills (6-6)
Meltdown at Raiders could end up costing them a playoff berth.
15. Eagles (5-7)
Loss at Bengals was seventh in their last nine. That W vs. Falcons could end up being high point of season.
16. Titans (6-6)
Weird to get a bye week this late, and after everyone played last week.
17. Washington (6-5-1)
Lost at Cardinals but still lead the pack of nondescript NFC teams that can sneak into the playoffs.
18. Packers (6-6)
That wasn’t an artful win against the Texans but Packers are in wild-card race.
19. Vikings (6-6)
Good effort against the Cowboys but they just don’t have the horses.
20. Colts (6-6)
QB Andrew Luck (concussion) returned after missing a game and lit up the Jets.
21. Cardinals (5-6-1)
Bounced back from loss at Falcons with strong W vs. Washington.
22. Texans (6-6)
After loss at Packers, they’ve been outscored by 50 points this season. And yet they may win the AFC South.
23. Saints (5-7)
Loss to Lions showed they’ve got issues all around. Major rebuild is in order.
24. Chargers (5-7)
Another good effort that wasn’t good enough vs. Bucs.
25. Panthers (4-8)
Hard to believe they’ve fallen so far so fast.
26. Bengals (4-7-1)
Bengals finally got their A.J. Green-less offense going against good Eagles D.
27. Rams (4-8)
Rookie QB Jared Goff (above) is taking his lumps while learning on the job. He’ll face improving Falcons’ D on Sunday.
28. Jets (3-9)
Their fans booed them from the start of surrender to Colts.
29. Bears (3-9)
They proved they are better than the 49ers, so there’s that.
30. Jaguars (2-10)
QB Blake Bortles seems to be regressing.
31. 49ers (1-11)
They’ve lost 11 in a row after they’d never lost more than nine straight in their history.
32. Browns (0-12)
I won’t make the easy joke about the Browns losing to the Bye.
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