Ballot and comments from AP Pro 32 panel voter Ira Kaufman of Tampa Tribune:
Week 14
IRA KAUFMAN (Tampa Tribune)
- Houston Texans - Riding a 15-1 streak, Matt Schaub may be the NFL's most disrespected quarterback.
- Atlanta Falcons - Everyone keeps looking for cracks, but they keep winning the close ones.
- New England Patriots - When the Pats don't score 40 points, Boston residents lower their flags.
- Denver Broncos - Peyton Manning: As good as he ever was, maybe as good as there's ever been.
- San Francisco 49ers - Anytime Frank Gore is contained, this offense struggles.
- Green Bay Packers - Aaron Rodgers and Matt Stafford might combine for 900 yards passing at Lambeau.
- Baltimore Ravens - Ray Rice wants the football - oblige your best player.
- New York Giants - A 1-3 slump has opened the door to the NFC East crown.
- Seattle Seahawks - Russell Wilson's late comebacks are becoming must-see TV.
- Chicago Bears - A swarming defense just disappeared in crunch time.
- Indianapolis Colts - Why stop at Rookie of the Year? Andrew Luck is a viable MVP candidate.
- Cincinnati Bengals - With an October lull well behind them, the Bengals are on a serious playoff surge.
- Pittsburgh Steelers - They likely salvaged their season in an unlikely venue - Baltimore.
- Washington Redskins - Fiscal cliffs aside, the buzz has returned to the nation's capital.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Back-to-back losses to division leaders leaves them at the NFL crossroads.
- Dallas Cowboys - There's no margin for error heading to Cincinnati.
- St. Louis Rams - Outplaying the 49ers twice is no small feat.
- New Orleans Saints - Drew Brees can handle a pass rush, but not this kind of pressure.
- Minnesota Vikings - A slow fade into the Minnesota tundra.
- Miami Dolphins - Just not enough offense to beat the big boys.
- Detroit Lions - It's time to shop around for a new defense in Motown.
- Cleveland Browns - They've been quite competitive for the past two months.
- Buffalo Bills - A heck of a ground game has largely gone to waste.
- San Diego Chargers - It's all over for Norv Turner, and you can tell he knows it.
- New York Jets - They finally met a team with even more troubling QB issues.
- Tennessee Titans - Coughing up 30 points per game is no formula for success.
- Philadelphia Eagles - One of the league's most stable organizations is in disarray.
- Carolina Panthers - Cam Newton will learn from this and come back stronger in 2013.
- Arizona Cardinals - If only Larry Fitzgerald felt free to speak his mind about this debacle.
- Kansas City Chiefs - Out of unspeakable tragedy, the Chiefs bonded together.
- Oakland Raiders - The NFL's worst point differential resides in the East Bay.
- Jacksonville Jaguars - A new owner faces the same old problem ... not enough weapons.
Online:
http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL
