Dirty dozen
The top six and the bottom six heading into Week 1:
| Team | Comment |
| 1. New England (1-0) | See “genius.” |
| 2. Seattle (10-6) | Six years and Holmgren’s almost there. |
| 3. Indianapolis (0-1) | Offense: big contracts. Defense: patchwork. |
| 4. Carolina (11-5) | Reports of demise are premature. |
| 5. Kansas City (13-3) | If they could just get a little defense. |
| 6. Philadelphia (12-4) | The weight of expectations. |
| 27. N.Y. Giants (4-12) | Turnover is not a good word in football. |
| 28. Arizona (4-12) | Should have taken a QB. |
| 29. Oakland (4-12) | Bringing in old guys is not rebuilding. |
| 30. San Francisco (7-9) | A long way from glory days. |
| 31. Cleveland (5-11) | QB says offense is “chaotic.” Not good. |
| 32. San Diego (4-12) | Manning family spoke the truth. |
–The Associated Press