| 1 | DET | Lions | Detroit | The injuries are piling up. Will it derail their Super Bowl run? |
| 2 | BUF | Bills | Buffalo | If the Raiders hadn’t blown their chance to beat the Chiefs, the Bills would be the top seed in the AFC. |
| 3 | PHI | Eagles | Philadelphia | They arguably should be higher. |
| 4 | KC | Chiefs | Kansas City | At some point, their luck is going to run out. |
| 5 | MIN | Vikings | Minnesota | At some point, their luck is going to run out. |
| 6 | GB | Packers | Green Bay | Opportunity awaits on Thursday night in Detroit. |
| 7 | PIT | Steelers | Pittsburgh | Three days after Thanksgiving, Russ cooked up an even better meal. |
| 8 | BAL | Ravens | Baltimore | Winning the division title is fading to winning the No. 5 seed. Which could become securing the No. 6 seed. Which potentially could become settling for the No. 7 seed. |
| 9 | DEN | Broncos | Denver | The Broncos will be hard to beat in the postseason. |
| 10 | WAS | Commanders | Washington | They finally woke up; can they stay awake after the bye? |
| 11 | LAC | Chargers | Los Angeles | Short week, long trip, opponent coming off a bye week, but the new-look Chargers still got it done. |
| 12 | SEA | Seahawks | Seattle | Three wins in a row. Can they keep it going? |
| 13 | TB | Buccaneers | Tampa Bay | Two wins in a row. Can they keep it going? |
| 14 | ARI | Cardinals | Arizona | If they’re going to be a playoff contender, they need to learn how to close out games they should win. |
| 15 | HOU | Texans | Houston | They still don’t look like a team that can win an AFC playoff game. |
| 16 | LA | Rams | Los Angeles | The rest of the NFC playoff field should not want the Rams in it. |
| 17 | IND | Colts | Indianapolis | Anthony Richardson might be turning a corner. |
| 18 | SF | 49ers | San Francisco | They’re running out of time to get back on track. |
| 19 | ATL | Falcons | Atlanta | Three losses, no touchdown passes, six interceptions. When does the Michael Penix Jr. conversation begin? |
| 20 | DAL | Cowboys | Dallas | They’ve still got a long way to go to be contenders. |
| 21 | MIA | Dolphins | Miami | Narratives are stubborn things. |
| 22 | NO | Saints | New Orleans | It was fun while it lasted. |
| 23 | CIN | Bengals | Cincinnati | It was fun while it lasted. |
| 24 | CHI | Bears | Chicago | It was fun while it lasted. |
| 25 | NYJ | Jets | New York | It was never fun. |
| 26 | CAR | Panthers | Carolina | Bryce Young is playing just well enough to not get a fresh start with a better team. |
| 27 | CLE | Browns | Cleveland | Three interceptions or not, the Browns need to keep Jameis Winston for 2025, and beyond. |
| 28 | TEN | Titans | Tennessee | They apparently took Thanksgiving week off. |
| 29 | NE | Patriots | New England | One and done? It still feels TBD. |
| 30 | LV | Raiders | Las Vegas | We argued last year that Antonio Pierce should get a chance. He got one. |
| 31 | NYG | Giants | New York | Who will play quarterback on Sunday? And will it matter? |
| 32 | JAX | Jaguars | Jacksonville | There’s no reason for the Jaguars to put Trevor Lawrence back on the field this season. |