Written by Matt Clapp at The Comeback
1. Carolina Panthers (12-0; Last Week- No. 1)
It looked like the Panthers were finally headed for a loss, until Cam Newton threw his fifth touchdown of the game with just over a minute left to beat the Saints.
This team has been incredible, and need to just put together four more weeks of what they’ve been doing to complete an undefeated regular season.
Oh, and Luke Kuechly is just as impressive off the field as he is on it.
2. Arizona Cardinals (10-2; Last Week- No. 4)
Arizona’s ranks:
Yards per game (offense)- 419.5; 1st in NFL
Points per game (offense)- 31.8; 1st in NFL
Yards per game (defense)- 316.8; 4th in NFL
Points per game (defnese)- 19.3; 4th in NFL
Point differential- +150; 1st in NFL
The Cardinals are a complete team built to play with anyone in January, and Carson Palmer is currently a prime NFL MVP candidate.
3. Denver Broncos (10-2; Last Week- No. 3)
The Broncos are now 3-0 with Brock Osweiler as their starting quarterback.
Week 16 against the Bengals in Denver could decide home field advantage in the AFC. Right now the Bengals are the No. 1 seed with the Broncos No. 2. Also keep in that the Broncos would hold the tiebreaker over the Patriots (No. 3 seed), since Denver beat New England in Week 12.
4. Cincinnati Bengals (10-2; Last Week- No. 5)
The Bengals can wrap up the AFC North on Sunday with a win over the Steelers, but as we alluded to above, their main focus to trying to keep that No. 1 seed and make the AFC playoffs go through Cincinnati.
5. New England Patriots (10-2; Last Week- No. 2)
Injuries have of course had a massive impact on these two consecutive losses, but there were still far too many mistakes that can’t happen in the 35-28 loss to the Eagles.
So, it’s been a rough couple of weeks and we’ve dropped the Patriots to No. 5 on this list as a result.
But, if they can get healthier in the next few weeks (the return of Gronk, especially), they are still the team to beat in the AFC. And even if they rolled out the active roster they have right now, it would still be hard to pick Brock Osweiler or Andy Dalton to beat Tom Brady in a playoff game (and even harder to pick 2015 Peyton Manning).
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