1. Patriots (14-5; final regular-season ranking No. 4): They’ll still be here, for maybe another year. Or two.
2. Saints (14-4; No. 1): They would have scored more than three points in the Super Bowl.
3. Rams (15-4; No. 2): Jared Goff holding the ball for too long when Brandin Cooks was wide-ass open could eventually prompt the Rams to find a new quarterback.
4. Chiefs (13-5; No. 5): They would have scored more than 13 points in the Super Bowl.
5. Eagles (10-8; No. 14): A healthy and maturing Carson Wentz could be the difference.
6. Chargers (13-5; No. 6): Anthony Lynn is the most underrated coach in football.
7. Cowboys (11-7; No. 12): Jerry Jones thinks five teams would have offered Jason Garrett their head-coaching jobs in January. It’s unclear whether the Cowboys would have been one of them.
8. Colts (11-7; No. 10): Many will peg them as a potential banner-raising AFC finalist for 2019.
9. Bears (12-5; No. 3): They’ll catch no one by surprise next season.
10. Ravens (10-7; No. 8): Can Lamar Jackson be healthy and effective for a full season?
11. Seahawks (10-7; No. 9): If 2018 was a return to 2012, will 2019 be a return to 2013?
12. Texans (11-6; No. 7): Forget about not being able to get past the Patriots; the Texans suddenly have a Colts problem.
13. Titans (9-7; No. 11): Is Marcus Mariota the long-term answer in Nashville?
14. Vikings (8-7-1; No. 13): Maybe they could send Kirk Cousins to Nashville.
15. Steelers (9-6-1; No. 15): Maybe they could send Antonio Brown to Nashville. Or anywhere.
16. Browns (7-8-1; No. 16): If the new coach can’t continue the trend that got him the job, he won’t have it for long.
17. Panthers (7-9; No. 21): A disastrous stretch turned a playoff team into an also-ran. Next year, much more will be expected.
18. Falcons (7-9; No. 22): The window is still open, but they’re getting farther away from hitting it.
19. Dolphins (7-9; No. 20): If they can get a quarterback who can play well and stay healthy, they could make things interesting in the AFC East.
20. Washington (7-9; No. 19): But for an unexpected run of success early in the year, they’d be a lot lower.
21. Packers (6-9-1; No. 17): How bad would they be if they didn’t have Aaron Rodgers?
22. Lions (6-10; No. 27): Sometimes you need to take more than one step back to move two steps forward.
23. Bills (6-10; No. 26): Josh Allen was a pleasant surprise; what can they get out of him in year two?
24. Broncos (6-10; No. 18): Another losing season, and the greatest player in franchise history (turned G.M.) could be losing his job.
25. Giants (5-11; No. 23): With or without Eli, the Giants have a long way to go to contend in the division.
26. Raiders (4-12; No. 24): If they draft a quarterback in round one, Derek Carr will have one more year, at most.
27. Jaguars (5-11; No. 25): With a little discipline and a lot of quarterback, the Jaguars can move back toward the top of the conference.
28. Bengals (6-10; No. 28): This team makes Super Bowl LIII look like a funhouse wrapped in a rollercoaster.
29. 49ers (4-12; No. 29): The heat will begin to intensify in Santa Clara.
30. Buccaneers (5-11; No. 30): The Bucs will go boom or bust in 2019.
31. Jets (4-12; No. 31): Sam Darnold and Adam Gase working together will push this team in the right direction.
32. Cardinals (3-13; No. 32): If the Cardinals were an actual laboratory experiment, they’d clear the building and have a fire truck on standby.