Dirty dozen
The top six and the bottom six heading into Week 10:
| Team | Comment |
| 1. Pittsburgh (7-1) | Not the Steel Curtain yet. Watch out for letdown |
| 2. New England (7-1) | It looks like a loss is just what Pats needed |
| 3. Philadelphia (7-1) | Easily best in NFC, but problems against the run could hurt later |
| 4. Atlanta (6-2) | The way the NFL is these days, a week off moves you up |
| 5. San Diego (6-3) | Drew Brees and Antonio Gates. Even Schottenheimer didn’t expect this |
| 6. Vacant | |
| 27. Arizona (3-5) | Broke road losing streak. But does one-point victory in Miami count? |
| 28. New Orleans (3-5) | Is the end of the Haslett era approaching? |
| 29. Oakland (3-6) | See Arizona. Beat banged-up Carolina |
| 30. San Francisco (1-7) | Even with a relatively easy schedule |
| 31. Carolina (1-7) | An all-star team is on injured reserve |
| 32. Miami (1-7) | Might win another game at some point |
Source: Associated Press