1. Bills (last week No. 1; 13-3): The Dolphins desperately needed to win, and the Bills still hung 56 points on them.
2. Chiefs (No. 2; 14-2): The Ravens could be coming to town in an effort to disrupt an AFC Championship date with the Bills.
3. Packers (No. 3; 13-3): The road to Tampa goes through the Frozen Tundra, which means the Packers will be the favorite to get to Tampa.
4. Saints (No. 4; 12-4): They’re possibly a Tampa Bay upset over the Packers away from hosting their division rivals in the NFC Championship.
5. Buccaneers (No. 5; 11-5): They let the expectations get out of control in September and October. The expectations are not out of control now; they could be the NFC team best equipped to win the Super Bowl.
6. Seahawks (No. 6; 12-4): They get a postseason home game, but not an ideal matchup with the Rams coming to town.
7. Ravens (No. 7; 11-5): After playing five straight playoff-style games to end the season, the narrative that they can’t win playoff games should be dead.
8. Steelers (No. 8; 12-4): Will one good half of football in a month translate to a playoff win?
9. Browns (No. 10; 11-5): They’ve come a long way since their blowout loss to the Steelers in Pittsburgh.
10. Titans (No. 11; 11-5): They need more from their defense to duplicate last year’s playoff success.
11. Colts (No. 12; 11-5): The Bills beat the Dolphins to let the Colts in the playoffs. Now, the Colts can show their appreciation by trying to knock the Bills out.
12. Dolphins (No. 9; 10-6): Not that it would have made a difference, but this outcome was sealed the moment Ryan Fitzpatrick tested positive.
13. Rams (No. 15; 10-6): John Wolford may be going from the AAF to the round of eight.
14. Bears (No. 14; 8-8): Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy likely will be back. Whether Mitchell Trubisky joins them may hinge on what happens on Sunday in New Orleans.
15. Cardinals (No. 13; 8-8): The Hail Murray was the high water mark. Then, the dam broke.
16. Patriots (No. 17; 7-9): Bill Belichick’s routine will wear thin (thinner) after a couple of years of mediocrity.
17. Washington (No. 19; 7-9): Washington’s defense is good enough to compete with Tampa. The rest of the roster is not.
18. Vikings (No. 18; 7-9): Another year, another new offensive coordinator.
19. Cowboys (No. 16; 6-10): At least they had plenty of fans in attendance to watch their disappointing performances at home.
20. Falcons (No. 20; 4-12): This team may not fully recover from 28-3 until the franchise is sold.
21. Raiders (No. 21; 8-8): What happened in Vegas should have stayed in Oakland.
22. Chargers (No. 22; 7-9): Hire the right coach, and the Chargers become the dominant team in L.A.
23. 49ers (No. 23; 7-9): Jimmy GQ needs to be Jimmy GO.
24. Giants (No. 27; 6-10): Joe Judge should worry less about one Eagles loss and more about 10 of his own.
25. Bengals (No. 24; 4-11-1): Will Joe Burrow be the next Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson? For now, it’s far closer to Watson.
26. Panthers (No. 26; 5-11): It’s really starting to feel like Teddy Bridgewater won’t be the quarterback next year.
27. Texans (No. 28; 4-12): The Texans have one year, maybe two, to start turning this around before Deshaun Watson starts wondering is the grass is less brown elsewhere.
28. Broncos (No. 29; 5-11): The man known for an on-field helicopter has now mastered the upward pratfall.
29. Eagles (No. 25; 4-11-1): The decision to lay down in Week 17 made sense; the way it was handled did not.
30. Lions (No. 30; 5-11): Bobby Layne’s curse is a lot stronger than originally believed.
31. Jets (No. 31; 2-14): Keep Sam Darnold? Use the No. 2 pick on a quarterback? Jets fans are assuming that, whatever they do, it will be the wrong decision.
32. Jaguars (No. 32; 1-15): The Jaguars tanked the old fashioned way — quietly and slowly and in games no one was paying attention to.