1. New England Patriots: Beat their two previous NFC North competitors handily.
2. Atlanta Falcons: Great off-man coverage by Brent Grimes — just the latest big play.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers: Huge plays down stretch of game likely sealed the division.
4. New York Jets: Will be hard to replace Jim Leonhard, who called the defense.
5. Baltimore Ravens: Throwing late in game has to be questioned.
6. New Orleans Saints: Saved chances to win the division, but it's an uphill battle.
7. Green Bay Packers: Rookie Starks sparked running game in Week 13.
8. Philadelphia Eagles: Should not look that bad defensively without Asante Samuel.
9. Chicago Bears: Earl Bennett has been the man since they sped up passing game.
10. New York Giants: Don't look now, but rookie Jason Pierre-Paul is bringing the heat.
11. Kansas City Chiefs: Decided not to get into a track meet with the Broncos — wisely.
12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: No doubting the fight in this group, loss or not.
13. Jacksonville Jaguars: Don't overlook Rashad Jennings in what they do.
14. Indianapolis Colts: Plenty of blame to go around, but Manning clearly isn't right.
15. San Diego Chargers: Really missed their golden chance to make a run.
16. Oakland Raiders: Among the more intriguing teams left in the race.
17. St. Louis Rams: Steven Jackson's postgame Tweet: "I'm proud of this team."
18. Seattle Seahawks: Spotting 14 to Panthers turned out to be easy comeback.
19. Miami Dolphins: Henne's picks seem to come at the worst time possible.
20. Dallas Cowboys: Losing Dez Bryant hurts as they were turning things around.
21. Minnesota Vikings: Frazier will have choice to make if Favre's shoulder acts up.
22. Tennessee Titans: Why throw to Randy Moss when he's half-running routes?
23. Cleveland Browns: Lest we forget, Delhomme almost threw a late pick-six.
24. Washington Redskins: Shanny playing games with Haynesworth while team flops.
25. Houston Texans: They own a 5-7 record for the fourth consecutive season. Sigh.
26. Denver Broncos: One bright spot in loss: Knowshon Moreno's running.
27. San Francisco 49ers: Only a mathematician would say they are in the race.
28. Buffalo Bills: Vikings clearly picked on CB Leodis McKelvin.
29. Cincinnati Bengals: Jumping offside late is as much coaching as anything else.
30. Arizona Cardinals: Hard to say they are playing better than any team now.
31. Detroit Lions: When they led 20-14, it was over ... you knew they'd lose again.
32. Carolina Panthers: Not all of this is on Clausen, but they won't pass up another QB.