I think we used to do these last year, maybe even on a weekly basis. A few sets of objective rankings before I list my own:
W-L:
1. SD 5-1
2. Den 4-1
3. Cin 3-1-1
T-4. Ind 4-2
T-4. NE 4-2
T-4. Bal 4-2
7. Cle 3-2
T-8. Hou 3-3
T-8. Pit 3-3
T-8. Buf 3-3
T-11. Mia 2-3
T-11. KC 2-3
13. Ten 2-4
14. NYJ 1-5
15. Oak 0-5
16. Jax 0-6
Point Differential:
1. SD +73
2. Bal +67
3. Ind +53
4. Den +43
5. NE +31
6. Cin +21
7. Cle +19
8. KC + 18
9. Hou +12
10. Miami -4
11. Buf -8
12. Pit -15
13. Ten -49
14. Oak -55
15. NYJ -62
16. Jax -104
DVOA:
1. Den 38.7
2. Bal 28.2
3. Cin 18.0
4. SD 12.9
5. Cle 11.7
6. NE 9.4
7. Ind 6.6
8. KC 6.0
9. Mia 1.1
10. Buf 0.2
11. Pit -1.5
12. Hou -9.9
13. Ten -19.9
14. NYJ - 21.0
15. Oak - 25.8
16. Jax -41.1
A few observations from those lists:
1. SD - class of the AFC, thus far. Still have two tilts with Denver
2. Denver - still better than the Pats from this view; showed me a lot in the loss to Seattle, actually
3. Pats - I would take this team over Indy and Cincy when it matters
4. Indy - think they are a smidge better than Cincy; Cincy has some injuries and their D has been lit up the last two weeks
5. Cincy - see above
6. Baltimore - maybe I'm not giving them enough credit but I don't think they do anything particularly well; I think they are in good position for the 6th seed though
7. Cleveland - playing with an edge and I would take them on a neutral field over the next few teams
10 8. KC - tough team to figure out; don't think they will contend for a wild card spot
8. 9. Buffalo - despite the loss to the Pats I think this is a solid team that is likely to end up ahead of...
9. 10. Miami - Tanny is just too up and down
11. Pitt - wheels falling off
12. Houston - somewhat competitive but inconsistent from week to week; in other words, Ryan Fitzpatrick is their QB
13. NYJ - I would take them over the next three teams on a neutral field due to the D, even if the pass D is a liability
14. Tennessee - they are bad, but again would take them on a neutral field over the next two
15. Raiders - their point differential is worse than it seems since they've only played five games
16. Jacksonville - I've been saying in the survivor threads that they are going to win a game, but I'm really not so sure of that
What say SoSH?
Edit: moved KC up a few spots
W-L:
1. SD 5-1
2. Den 4-1
3. Cin 3-1-1
T-4. Ind 4-2
T-4. NE 4-2
T-4. Bal 4-2
7. Cle 3-2
T-8. Hou 3-3
T-8. Pit 3-3
T-8. Buf 3-3
T-11. Mia 2-3
T-11. KC 2-3
13. Ten 2-4
14. NYJ 1-5
15. Oak 0-5
16. Jax 0-6
Point Differential:
1. SD +73
2. Bal +67
3. Ind +53
4. Den +43
5. NE +31
6. Cin +21
7. Cle +19
8. KC + 18
9. Hou +12
10. Miami -4
11. Buf -8
12. Pit -15
13. Ten -49
14. Oak -55
15. NYJ -62
16. Jax -104
DVOA:
1. Den 38.7
2. Bal 28.2
3. Cin 18.0
4. SD 12.9
5. Cle 11.7
6. NE 9.4
7. Ind 6.6
8. KC 6.0
9. Mia 1.1
10. Buf 0.2
11. Pit -1.5
12. Hou -9.9
13. Ten -19.9
14. NYJ - 21.0
15. Oak - 25.8
16. Jax -41.1
A few observations from those lists:
- Jacksonville is horrible. We knew this
- Tennessee, the Jets, and Oakland are all really bad too. We also knew this
- DVOA doesn't love Indy, or relatively SD
- DVOA does like Cincinnati and Baltimore
- The Ravens are higher on these lists than I'd have expected, but how much of that is due to a blowout of the horrible Bucs?
- The Pats show up as 5-6 on most of these lists. They seem like a better team than that based on the last two weeks but the first four weeks count too
1. SD - class of the AFC, thus far. Still have two tilts with Denver
2. Denver - still better than the Pats from this view; showed me a lot in the loss to Seattle, actually
3. Pats - I would take this team over Indy and Cincy when it matters
4. Indy - think they are a smidge better than Cincy; Cincy has some injuries and their D has been lit up the last two weeks
5. Cincy - see above
6. Baltimore - maybe I'm not giving them enough credit but I don't think they do anything particularly well; I think they are in good position for the 6th seed though
7. Cleveland - playing with an edge and I would take them on a neutral field over the next few teams
11. Pitt - wheels falling off
12. Houston - somewhat competitive but inconsistent from week to week; in other words, Ryan Fitzpatrick is their QB
13. NYJ - I would take them over the next three teams on a neutral field due to the D, even if the pass D is a liability
14. Tennessee - they are bad, but again would take them on a neutral field over the next two
15. Raiders - their point differential is worse than it seems since they've only played five games
16. Jacksonville - I've been saying in the survivor threads that they are going to win a game, but I'm really not so sure of that
What say SoSH?
Edit: moved KC up a few spots