Ballot and comments from AP Pro 32 panel voter Rick Gosselin of Dallas
Morning News:

Week 14

RICK GOSSELIN (Dallas Morning News)

1. Houston Texans — There have been 46 three-game road trips in the
NFL since 2000. The Texans aspire to become just the sixth team to go
3-0 on one of those trips. That would entail winning this weekend in
New England, though.

2. Atlanta Falcons — The Falcons receiving corps leads the NFL with 11
individual 100-yard receiving games this season. They only had 12 all
of last year.

3. Denver Broncos — The two most balanced teams in the NFL are the
Texans and Broncos. They are the only teams that rank in the top 10 in
both offense and defense.

4. New England Patriots — The Patriots have snapped the ball 883 times
on offense and committed only nine turnovers. Most NFL teams commit
more turnovers in a game than New England does in a month.

5. San Francisco 49ers — The 49ers are 0-1-1 against the lowly Rams
and 8-2 against everyone else.

6. Baltimore Ravens — Ray Rice has scored eight touchdowns this season
but is still looking for his first road score. The Ravens are at
Washington Sunday.

7. Green Bay Packers — Aaron Rodgers has been sacked more than any NFL
quarterback this season — 39 times.

8. Chicago Bears — The Bears and Packers share first place in the NFC
North, but Green Bay owns the tiebreaker and has an easier closing
schedule than Chicago. The Bears play three of their last four on the
road.

9. Indianapolis Colts — The Colts finished fourth in the NFL in
offense in Peyton Manning's last season in 2010. Indy ranks a
surprising third this season with rookie Andrew Luck taking the snaps.

10. Cincinnati Bengals — The Bengals defense has 15 sacks in their
last four games and leads the NFL with 39.

11. New York Giants — If the Giants are to win back-to-back NFC East
titles, they're going to have to earn it these next three weeks with
games against New Orleans, Atlanta and Baltimore. The Falcons and
Ravens both lead their divisions.

12. Pittsburgh Steelers — The Steelers led the NFL in defense in
back-to-back seasons in 2007-08. Pittsburgh ranks No. 1 this season
and is attempting to go back-to-back again in 2011-12.

13. Seattle Seahawks — The Seahawks are 7-5 with games remaining
against Arizona, Buffalo and St. Louis. The Rams and Cardinals are at
home — setting up a potential 10-win season for Seattle with a rookie
quarterback.

14. Washington Redskins — Robert Griffin III is showing maturity
beyond his years with just one interception in his last five games as
the Redskins have pieced together a surprising run at an NFC East
title.

15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — The Buccaneers are a defensive
contradiction, ranking first in the NFL in run defense but last in
pass defense. Tampa Bay has allowed eight individual 100-yard
receivers.

16. Dallas Cowboys — The Cowboys have become notoriously slow
starters. They've been outscored in the first half, 68-27, over the
last four games.

17. Minnesota Vikings — Adrian Peterson leads the NFL with seven
individual 100-yard rushing games — and the last six have come in
succession.

18. St. Louis Rams — The Rams are looking to snap a five-game losing
streak to AFC opponents this weekend in Buffalo. St. Louis is 0-3
against the AFC this season.

19. New Orleans Saints — QB Drew Brees has thrown 50 or more passes in
three games this season and the Saints have lost all of them.

20. Miami Dolphins — Rookie Marcus Thigpen is having a superb season
as a returner, averaging 28.9 yards with a touchdown on kickoffs and
12.7 yards with another score on punts.

21. Buffalo Bills — The Bills lead the AFC with an average of 5.2
yards per rush. Both C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson have rushed for
100-yard games.

22. Cleveland Browns — The 4-8 Browns have the youngest starting
lineup in the NFL but that youth is finally starting to figure this
league out. The Browns have won two in a row since pushing the Cowboys
into overtime in Dallas.

23. New York Jets — Mark Sanchez threw five TD passes in September but
only seven more over the last months.

24. Tennessee Titans — The Titans rank 31st in the NFL with an average
time of possession of barely 27 minutes.

25. Detroit Lions — Calvin Johnson has caught 45 passes for 790 yards
in his last five games. He has at least 129 yards receiving in all
five of the games.

26. San Diego Chargers — The Chargers and Lions are tied for the most
disappointing team of 2012. Both fancied themselves as Super Bowl
contenders but both sit 4-8 here in December.

27. Arizona Cardinals — Since opening the season 4-0, the Cardinals
have lost eight in a row to sink to the bottom of the NFC West.

28. Carolina Panthers — Cam Newton has not thrown an interception in
his last three games covering 84 passes.

29. Philadelphia Eagles — During this eight-game losing streak the
Eagles have fired their defensive coordinator, defensive line coach
and best pass rusher.

30. Oakland Raiders — Carson Palmer has passed for 300 yards six times
this season and the Raiders have lost all six games. Oakland has lost
five in a row and Palmer has 300-yard games in four of them.

31. Kansas City Chiefs — In recent years the 2-10 Chiefs have doled
out $117 million in contracts to QB Matt Cassel (2009), WR Steve
Breaston (2011) and CB Stanford Routt (2012). Routt's already been
cut, Cassel rides the bench and Breaston is a weekly inactive.

32. Jacksonville Jaguars — With Chad Henne at quarterback the last two
weeks, the Jaguars have edged up from 32nd to 31st in the NFL in
offense.

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