Ballot and comments from AP Pro 32 panel voter Pat Kirwan of SiriusXM
NFL Radio/CBSSports.com:

Week 16

PAT KIRWAN (SiriusXM NFL Radio/CBSSports.com)

1. Denver Broncos — Peyton Manning can run his no-huddle offense on
the road as well as he does at home. The defensive pass rush is
exceptional and Knowshon Moreno continues to impress as the running
back.

2. Atlanta Falcons — The critics can back off now after they shutout
the New York Giants.

3. San Francisco 49ers — What an impressive win in Foxborough. The
Kaepernick experiment looks like a great move at this point.

4. New England Patriots — Too many turnovers to overcome against San
Francisco even for Tom Brady. The Patriots and Niners may meet again.

5. Houston Texans — I really like this team, but that loss to the
Patriots still concerns me when it comes to the playoffs.

6. Seattle Seahawks — 108 points in the last two games is a strong
statement. The showdown against the 49ers is days away.

7. Green Bay Packers — The defense is getting players back, but the
offensive line still can't protect Aaron Rodgers. What happens if they
have to play a top pass-rushing team?

8. Baltimore Ravens — The Ravens are headed in the wrong direction and
have to turn things around if they want to win in the post season.

9. Indianapolis Colts — The best story of the 2012 season. They are
young and exceeding expectations. How far they go in the playoffs
against good teams is another story.

10. Washington Redskins — They won on the road with a rookie QB not
named RG3. I hope they hold on for the postseason.

11. New York Giants — This is the tale of two teams. They can score 52
points one week and get shut out the next week. The Giants have five
games when they had more than 30 points, but who knows about the weeks
in between.

12. Dallas Cowboys — The Cowboys look like a team with a single-minded
purpose plus an inspirational performance from Dez Bryant. Jerry Jones
please stay away from them for two weeks.

13. Pittsburgh Steelers — The defense doesn't dominate when it needs
to and the offense needs to hold on to the ball. They can still make
the post season and it starts next week when Cincinnati comes to town.

14. Cincinnati Bengals — They rush the passer, they have an elite wide
receiver and they are running the ball better. They are also 0-6
against Pittsburgh and Baltimore in the Dalton era. Now is the time
with the last two games against those teams.

15. Minnesota Vikings — Who would have thought in 2012 a single man
could run his team into the playoffs? There's a chance with Adrian
Peterson carrying the ball.

16. Chicago Bears — Too many injuries on defense to beat the good
teams. Protecting Jay Cutler is still a problem.

17. New Orleans Saints — It has been a lost season for many reasons,
but they bounce right back next year.

18. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — They got a taste of early success under the
Schiano regime and it will continue to grow, but they just aren't
ready for the step up into the playoffs.

19. New York Jets — They played like they were trying to be No. 32
against the Titans. Sanchez looked bad, but his troubles seem to start
when the team started using Tebow. Play Tebow the rest of the way so
all can see what he can do.

20. Miami Dolphins — A solid defense and a rookie quarterback with
limited talent in the receiver group equals a mediocre season.

21. St. Louis Rams — What happened to the Rams defense when Adrian
Peterson came to town? The same thing that happens to a lot of teams!
The Rams are a year away, but Fisher has them pointed in the right
direction.

22. Carolina Panthers — Cam Newton is playing like the guy we all
thought he would be, and putting 31 points on the Chargers on the road
without running all over the field is a good sign for the future.

23. Tennessee Titans — Beat the Jets on MNF, but they should have done
more this season. Still suffering through Jake Locker's growing pains.

24. Cleveland Browns — Too many young players to expect an 8-8 season,
but they needed to play better against a backup rookie quarterback
last week.

25. Detroit Lions — The season from hell is almost over. What a shame
this team never got on track.

26. San Diego Chargers — So much for the great December record. The
Chargers let Rivers get sacked six times and the season looks over
which is puzzling after their outstanding performance in Pittsburgh
two weeks ago.

27. Philadelphia Eagles — Still enough time to evaluate Nick Foles and
develop a plan for the new coach for next year.

28. Arizona Cardinals — They finally stopped the losing streak and
they did it with Ryan Lindley under center.

29. Buffalo Bills — Seattle went through the Bills defense like they
took the week off. I don't know what to say about the Bills right now.

30. Oakland Raiders — They are a different team when McFadden can stay
on the field. Once they get out of salary cap jail and put more talent
on this team they will be all right. For now, a shutout of division
rival Chiefs will have to do.

31. Jacksonville Jaguars — At least they have some fight left in them.
MJD hasn't played since mid-October and he still leads the club in
rushing.

32. Kansas City Chiefs — Bad has turned to worse. Shut out by the
Oakland Raiders.

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