When the season began, we ran a blog detailing the 10 best-selling NFL teams. In order, they were: Dallas, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Minnesota, Green Bay, NY Giants, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore and Cleveland. Each of those franchises (if you include the old Colts teams part of Baltimore) is a pretty storied one, and one that sells merchandise well regardless of wins and losses.

Three months later, for the first time in history, we’ve watched two teams not on that list combine to go 26-0. So where are they now?

Well, one is of course Indianapolis, who’ve shot to seventh in total sales, selling more than $650,000 in goods over the past 30 days. And considering Indy’s status as the league’s winningest team over the past decade, it’s remarkable they’re still that low. Could you imagine where they’d be without Peyton Manning?

The other team is New Orleans, whose rise up the Terapeak NFL Index has been even more meteoric. When the season began, they, like most southeastern teams, were sitting near the very bottom in league sales. But on the strength of Drew Brees and maybe the best offense in NFL history, the Saints have leapt to fifth in league total sales — unthinkable just three months ago. Check out this 90-day total sales trend for “New Orleans Saints”:

Many of the usual culprits are still selling strong: Pittsburgh and Dallas, despite their recent collapses, will likely always lead their respective conferences, while Minnesota’s strong season (not to mention purple Brett Favre jerseys!) has propelled them to second in the NFC.

In terms of disappointments, we expected more from Cincinnati, who despite leading a very tough division are only the 17th-best-selling team in the league. (Is it possible Bengals fans are still in disbelief?) Arizona has sold even less, despite leading their own division and having appeared in last year’s Super Bowl. And then there’s Jacksonville… poor, poor Jacksonville. Despite their winning record, they’ve sold just $83,572 in goods over the past month… pretty bad, considering the Steelers have sold well over $1 million.

Team sales may slow down as the holidays pass, but the Terapeak NFL Index will be one to watch all the way up to February’s Super Bowl… And might we finally see a clash between two unbeaten teams?

In what’s become a tradition over the past several years, the defending champion Steelers will host the Tennessee Titans in a special Thursday game — and there’s little love lost between these two teams. Last year, Tennessee had the NFL’s best regular season record, and during a December win over Pittsburgh they let their distaste for Steel-town be known. Of course, that turned out to be Pittsburgh’s final loss, as they crushed Tennessee in January en route to their sixth Super Bowl win.

But how do the teams stack up on eBay? Well, that’s where the Terapeak NFL Index comes in:

Now, pitting almost any team against Pittsburgh is unfair — they’re one of the most decorated franchises in pro sports, and have long been among the NFL’s top merchandise-sellers. So it should come as no surprise that only the Dallas Cowboys have made more eBay revenue  over the past 30 days, or that Pittsburgh has sold more than twice as many items (17,717) as the next-best-selling AFC team (Miami, with 7,665).

But give the Titans some credit: their average price on eBay ($91.76) is higher than all other 31 NFL teams. (Though only the lowly Bengals have sold fewer items amongst AFC teams.)

Following Dallas and Pittsburgh to round out the Total Sales top 10: Chicago, Minnesota, Green Bay, NY Giants, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore and Cleveland… Not a lot of south on that list, hey?

Just like last year, we’ll be blogging about the index as the season marches on, but save the link for yourself if you’re selling anything sports-related. Also of interest: the Terapeak NHL index… hockey’s just around the corner, too!

It’s interesting to see how similar both curves are, especially given the striking differences between the two franchises. Not only do the teams contrast each other in playing style — Pittsburgh being defense-minded, Arizona preferring to air it out — but also in terms of market, you’d be hard-pressed to find two that are more different. For decades Arizona has been the butt of NFL jokes, having relocated multiple times, rarely gracing a national stage. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, with its five Super Bowl victories, has long been one of sport’s most storied franchises — and consistently the second-most popular on eBay.

If you’ve invested as an eBay seller in either team’s playoff run, it’s likely you’ve been well-rewarded by merch-hungry fans. Check out these sales trends for playmakers on both teams — Pittsburgh wild-man Troy Polamalu, and Arizona’s record-setting wideout Larry Fitzgerald:

Finally, take another look at Terapeak’s NFL sales index, which we released last summer. If anyone had said back then that, come January, the Cardinals would be ranked #1 in Total Sales and #4 in Items Sold (ahead of both the Packers and Redskins) — well, let’s just say they’d be laughed off the field.

Enjoy the game!

Within the index itself, we’ve seen some notable movement — the Jets, for example, were leading the AFC in total sales at the start of the year, but that was on the heels of Brett Favre’s arrival; they’ve since fallen behind Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Still in the AFC East, not only were the Patriots destroyed by the Dolphins in Week 3, they’ve been surpassed by their rivals in total items sold. And finally, in the NFC’s most competitive division, the Eagles have surged from last place to second in two out of three categories — with no hope, of course, of ever catching the Cowboys.

You can view the index at http://www.terapeak.com/nfl, and a link to the bloggable widget (shown above) to the right of the magnifying glass.

We hope you’re enjoying the season!