NFL standings ordered by yards per play: Don't rule out the Colts just yet

With five weeks left on the 2025 NFL schedule, the postseason picture is beginning to take shape. Week 13 was a chaos bomb; several contenders hit a speed bump, while some of the friskiest Wild Card threats made their move. We are in for a heated final stretch. The NFC North, NFC West, and AFC South are all home to three teams with legitimate playoff aspirations. Even the AFC North has a three-horse race brewing now that Joe Burrow is back under center.

Yards per play is a simple but effective measure of how efficient a team's offense is. It is only one metric in a sea of valuable data, but if your team is churning out an extra yard per snap in a given matchup, it certainly means the scale is tipped in your favor. Here's how each division shapes up accordingly:

AFC East

Nothing much to write home about in the AFC East. The New England Patriots won their 10th straight game on Monday night to cushion their lead in the division. The Buffalo Bills, on the other hand, rallied to beat the Steelers in blowout fashion after Week 12's letdown loss in Houston.

Buffalo has dealt with bouts of inconsistency and even some old-fashioned Josh Allen turnover slop, but there isn't a more explosive unit in football. When the Bills are healthy and firing on all cylinders, Allen is the NFL's foremost visual poet — a football magician capable of tricking the defense in a thousband ways. His ability to scramble and extend plays makes Buffalo extremely difficult to keep in check.

That said, this Patriots offense is extremely efficient. Drake Maye has enjoyed arguably the best individual season of any quarterback when accounting for team success. The Patriots just don't make many mistakes. Their ability to chip away at the opposing defense in workmanlike fashion makes New England extremely believable as a Super Bowl contender.

AFC North

The Baltimore Ravens barely kept their heads above water during Lamar Jackson's extended absence. And, to be frank, Jackson has not looked 100 percent himself in the handful of games since his return. Still, the Ravens are 6-6 and clinging to first place in the division. The offense is operating well below its capacity, yet still outpacing the rest of the division. Their defensive personnel far exceeds that of their opponents.

So, yeah, it's a bad look for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals. You can bet Cincy would be much higher in these standings if not for Joe Burrow's extended absence. Joe Flacco can still sling it, but he's a far more modest operator at this stage of his career. The offense came to life with Burrow under center on Sunday. The Bengals are only a couple games back of the division lead. The Bengals are, somehow, very much alive.

The Steelers went ice-cold against Buffalo on Sunday in a truly embarrassing all-around effort. Unfortunately, Aaron Rodgers might be cooked. As for the Cleveland Browns, well... best of luck to Shedeur Sanders.

AFC South

The Indianapolis Colts are deadlocked with the Jacksonville Jaguars at 8-4. The Houston Texans, 7-5, have won four straight, including back-to-back wins over presumed Super Bowl contenders in Buffalo and, yes, Indianapolis. The AFC South, against all odds, might be the most fun division in the NFL — and the murkiest at this stage.

None of the "under the hood" numbers really point to Jacksonville as the best team here, but the Jags continue to beat quality teams in clutch situations. If the season ended today, the Jags would be hosting a playoff game. The Texans, meanwhile, are equipped with arguably the best defense in the NFL. CJ Stroud returned from injury on Sunday and looked the part against a stout Colts defense.

So what's the deal with Indianapolis? This offense has outpaced the rest of the league all season, but on back-to-back Sundays, we've beared witness to horrendous fourth quarter collapses. The Colts just seem to fall apart in clutch time all of a sudden, after walloping opponents in that capacity for 11 weeks. Is this a problem? It sure feels like it, but the overwhelming body of evidence paints the Colts as an elite offense — one that executes against a variety of coverages, almost without fail.

Don't abandon ship yet. Remove a desperate Chiefs team and an immovable Texans defense from the equation, and the Colts probably start to look better. These were still airtight, one-score losses anyhow. Hold the line, Indy fans.

AFC West

The Kansas City Chiefs are in real peril after a Thanksgiving loss to the Dallas Cowboys. This team just cannot sustain the clutch-time performances it so effortlessly churned out a year ago. The Chiefs' offense is still sparky; Patrick Mahomes can still pull rabbits out of hats with his creativity in the pocket. But the Chiefs are coming up just short at an alarming rate, and their postseason fate is underdetermined 13 weeks into the season. That's new territory for Mahomes.

The AFC West broadly has three potential contenders right now, if we give Kansas City its well-earned benefit of the doubt. Bo Nix has regressed somewhat in his second NFL season, but the Broncos still trust him the throw the football — a lot. And with a top-three NFL defense at worst, Denver continues to stack W's. That team is scarier by the week.

On paper, the Los Angeles Chargers — 8-4 and firmly part of the AFC Wild Card pack — are very much the real deal. Their fate will boil down to one essential question: when rubber meets the road, can you trust Justin Herbert to deliver in big moments? So far, Herbert has consistently floundered when faced with adversity. L.A. has the personnel advantages and the coaching to go the distance, but Herbert is a wild card until he proves otherwise.

NFC East

The Cowboys' offense has been tracking near the top of the NFL leaderboards all season. Dak Prescott has put up MVP numbers, while George Pickens is unsurprisingly enjoying his best individual season now that he's not catching passes from Russell Wilson or Kenny Pickett. Dallas generates explosive plays as frequently as any NFL team; the only limiting factor is the defense. Back-to-back wins over Philadelphia and Kansas City signal that perhaps the tides are turning and the Cowboys are figuring it out.

Marcus Mariota deserves a ton of credit for the job he has done in place of the injured Jayden Daniels. The Washington Commanders' postseason hopes are effectively zilch, but this team should not look as respectable and competitive as it does. The offense remains a relative strength, honestly — it's Dan Quinn's aging defense that has all too often let the Commanders down.

The New York Giants falling toward the middle of the pack is unsurprising, but the Philadelphia Eagles are the real story. Nick Sirianni's ongoing commitment to OC Kevin Patullo is baffling. Philly has more talent than just about every NFL team on offense, but Saquon Barkley's production has cratered after a historic 2024 campaign, and the passing attack is stuck in neutral.

NFC North

The Chicago Bears are the No. 1 seed in the NFC through 13 weeks, an unexpected development and a major credit to Ben Johnson — or a major discredit to Matt Eberflus. Caleb Williams looks so much more comfortable than he did a year ago. The former No. 1 pick is still working out a few kinks, but his talent is on full display every Sunday.

Still, the Detroit Lions are the class of the NFC North offensively. A few bad losses — 16-9 to the sputtering Eagles, 27-24 to the woefully incompetent Vikings — has kept Detroit in postseason limbo, but it's still hard to bet against them with confidence. The defense needs to step up in the face of injuries in the secondary, but the Lions shan't be counted out.

The Green Bay Packers are lurking in second place, a half-game behind Chicago heading into next Sunday's highly anticipated rivalry match. Jordan Love has quietly worked his way into the MVP conversation. His rapid refinement as a decision-maker has been remarkable to witness. Love's arm talent was elite from the jump, but now he's minimizing mistakes and maximizing a flawed receiving corps.

You could argue that, after initial bumps in the road, the North has the three best Super Bowl contenders in the NFC. Meanwhile, the Vikings are sorting through an unmitigated disaster in the QB room. Godspeed, Kevin O'Connell.

NFC South

The NFC South has all too predictably faded into the weak sauce of the conference. The Atlanta Falcons clocking in at No. 1 checks out on paper. There isn't a more talented offense in the division, and Michael Penix Jr.'s skill set (and Kirk Cousins's, for that matter) is built upon stretching the defense. Bijan Robinson is one of the most effective running backs in the NFL. And yet, Atlanta is still only middle of the pack here, just unable to establish any measure of consistency.

Not too long ago, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at least felt like a fringe contender in the NFC, but Sunday's narrow win over Arizona did little to mask the stink of three straight losses to Buffalo, New England and Los Angeles. Those are three of the best teams in the NFL, but if the Bucs want to be taken seriously in the broader landscape, they need to beat quality opponents. Baker Mayfield's production has shifted into a lower gear of late and the injury woes facing Tampa Bay's offense are becoming painfully apparent.

The Carolina Panthers are, somehow, 7-6, within a half-game of Tampa in the division. Sunday's 31-28 win over the Rams was one of the most impressive and improbable victories of the 2025 season. Bryce Young continues to come up large in clutch situations, a fascinating NFL subplot that feels completely at odds with the general malaise this Panthers offense is prone to. The Panthers are a scrappy bunch — and in this division, that might be enough to get somewhere and host a playoff game.

NFC West

Take a moment to compare the offensive efficiency of the Seattle Seahawks and the Minnesota Vikings. Therein lies the value of Sam Darnold, who has more than resurrected his career. He's in the upper echelon of NFL quarterbacks now. These last couple weeks have proven tough for the 28-year-old, but he packs incredible velocity and touch on his throws — and his connection to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the No. 1 wideout in the NFL right now, is textbook stuff. The Seahawks are the real deal.

Right behind them in these rankings are the Los Angeles Rams, who might be the best overall offense in the NFL. You can pick and choose various stats to formulate your arguments, and Sunday's loss to Carolina was a bummer. But that was really the only letdown performance of the season for Matthew Stafford, one of the most seasoned vets in the league and the current odds-on favorite to win MVP. Sean McVay's playbook is the sacred text for so many offensive coordinators these days. Los Angeles just out-schemes and out-processes opponents on a weekly basis.

The San Francisco 49ers are a strong No. 3 — a major credit to both Mac Jones and Brock Purdy. The former kept the Niners competitive during a prolonged absence from the latter. Meanwhile, Purdy hasn't skipped a beat in his return. Kyle Shanahan's playbook happens to be the sacred text for Sean McVay. The Niners are dealing with injuries and other limiting factors, but San Francisco is very much live in the wide-open NFC.