1. Cowboys (10-1; last week No. 1): The biggest threat to the No. 1 seed resides in their own division.
2. Raiders (9-2; No. 2): Playing down to the level of the competition could make Oakland a one-and-done playoff participant, if they’re not careful.
3. Patriots (9-2; No. 4): Avocado ice cream apparently has magical healing powers. Unless it’s the toppings.
4. Giants (8-3; No. 5): The Giants are possibly doing well enough to get Todd Bowles fired.
5. Chiefs (8-3; No. 8): Tyreek Hill could be Dante Hall, Priest Holmes, and Dwayne Bowe rolled into one player.
6. Seahawks (7-3-1; No. 3): If the road to the Super Bowl doesn’t go through Seattle, the Seahawks likely won’t be playing there.
7. Falcons (7-4; No. 7): With the Buccaneers rising, the Falcons’ margin for error is shrinking.
8. Broncos (7-4; No. 6): If the Broncos can’t trust their defense, can any team trust its defense?
9. Lions (7-4; No. 10): With visits to the Saints, Giants, and Cowboys upcoming, those close games could be ending, soon.
10. Dolphins (7-4; No. 11): Has any six-game winning streak ever been more overlooked nationally?
11. Washington (6-4-1; No. 9): They may be better than they were a year ago. Unfortunately, the rest of the division is, too.
12. Bills (6-5; No. 14): The NFL is better when Rex Ryan is in it, and the Bills may be doing enough to ensure that he will be.
13. Buccaneers (6-5; No. 20): It may not happen this year or next year, but the Buccaneers will win a Super Bowl with Jameis Winston at quarterback.
14. Packers (5-6; No. 15): Two games behind the Lions and one game behind the Vikings, the schedule says that the Packers are still the favorites to win the division.
15. Ravens (6-5; No. 17): When the field goal kicker is the best player on the team, that says a lot about the kicker. Or not a lot about the rest of the team.
16. Steelers (6-5; No. 18): All I want for Christmas is a Steelers-Raiders playoff game.
17. Texans (6-5; No. 12): Good news/bad news -- they finally broke the cycle of winning the games they should and losing the games they should.
18. Vikings (6-5; No. 13): “Playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game.”
19. Titans (6-6; No. 21): A late bye week gives them extra time to get ready for what would be a signature win over the Broncos.
20. Eagles (5-6; No. 16): The silver lining in their 2-6 slide could be that Jim Schwartz won’t get hired as a head coach elsewhere.
21. Chargers (5-6; No. 25): The worst team in the AFC West continues to prove that it would be the best team in three or four other divisions.
22. Saints (5-6; No. 26): Bounty penalty for the team, a pair of second-round picks. Lost revenue for Sean Payton, more than $7 million. Ramming it sideways up the rear end of Gregg Williams, priceless.
23. Colts (5-6; No. 19): Jim Irsay prefers championships to Star Wars statistics. He now has neither.
24. Bengals (3-7-1; No. 22): “At least we’re the best team in Ohio, if you leave out the Buckeyes.”
25. Cardinals (4-6-1; No. 23): They were supposed to be better. They’re worse. Much, much worse.
26. Panthers (4-7; No. 24): OK, it’s finally time to insert the fork.
27. Rams (4-7; No. 27): Given the scrap with Eric Dickerson, they’re actually 4-8.
28. Jets (3-8; No. 28): Woody Johnson is five weeks away from pressing the reset button, again.
29. Bears (2-9; No. 29): If no one pays attention to their game against the 49ers, will it make a sound?
30. Jaguars (2-9; No. 30): What was supposed to be a big step up from 5-11 has been a major step back.
31. 49ers (1-10; No. 31): The Titans suddenly look very smart for not reuniting Chip Kelly with Marcus Mariota.
32. Browns (0-12; No. 32): The last, best chance to win a game comes when the Bengals visit after the bye.