The Associated Press NFL Pro32 Power Rankings, as voted by a 12-member panel, with 32 points for a first-place vote, 1 for a 32nd-place vote. First-place votes in parentheses, 2011 record.
| RANK | TEAM | 2011 RECORD | POINTS | PV |
| 1 | Green Bay Packers (5) | 15-1 | 374 | — |
| 2 | New England Patriots (2) | 13-3 | 369 | — |
| 3 | New York Giants (5) | 9-7 | 362 | — |
| 4 | San Francisco 49ers | 13-3 | 336 | — |
| 5 | Baltimore Ravens | 12-4 | 315 | — |
| 6 | Houston Texans | 10-6 | 314 | — |
| 7 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 12-4 | 308 | — |
| 8 | Philadelphia Eagles | 8-8 | 290 | — |
| 9 | New Orleans Saints | 13-3 | 272 | — |
| 10 | Denver Broncos | 8-8 | 271 | — |
| 11 | Chicago Bears | 8-8 | 257 | — |
| 11 | Detroit Lions | 10-6 | 257 | — |
| 13 | Atlanta Falcons | 10-6 | 255 | — |
| 14 | Cincinnati Bengals | 9-7 | 218 | — |
| 15 | Dallas Cowboys | 8-8 | 217 | — |
| 16 | San Diego Chargers | 8-8 | 216 | — |
| 17 | New York Jets | 8-8 | 189 | — |
| 18 | Kansas City Chiefs | 7-9 | 182 | — |
| 19 | Buffalo Bills | 6-10 | 169 | — |
| 20 | Carolina Panthers | 6-10 | 167 | — |
| 21 | Tennessee Titans | 9-7 | 162 | — |
| 22 | Seattle Seahawks | 7-9 | 137 | — |
| 23 | Arizona Cardinals | 8-8 | 115 | — |
| 23 | Oakland Raiders | 8-8 | 115 | — |
| 25 | Washington Redskins | 5-11 | 101 | — |
| 26 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 4-12 | 100 | — |
| 27 | Miami Dolphins | 6-10 | 64 | — |
| 28 | St. Louis Rams | 2-14 | 55 | — |
| 29 | Minnesota Vikings | 3-13 | 49 | — |
| 30 | Cleveland Browns | 4-12 | 42 | — |
| 31 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 5-11 | 31 | — |
| 32 | Indianapolis Colts | 2-14 | 26 | — |
Voter Panel
- Chris Berman, ESPN
- Clifton Brown, Sporting News
- Cris Collinsworth, NBC Sports
- Rich Gannon, CBS Sports/SiriusXM NFL Radio
- Bob Glauber, Newsday
- Rick Gosselin, Dallas Morning News
- Clark Judge, CBSSports.com
- Ira Kaufman, Tampa Tribune
- Pat Kirwan, SiriusXM NFL Radio/CBSSports.com
- John Lynch, Fox Sports
- Alex Marvez, Foxsports.com
- Dan Pompei, Chicago Tribune