NFL Power Rankings - End of Regular Season

The playoffs are set, Black Monday has past, and the regular season is over. It's been a year of normalcy, but also of unexpected. I wonder what's in store for the playoffs. Here are the final power rankings of the year:

NFL Power Rankings

End of Regular Season

Andrew – 1448 Points (165-90-1) – Winner of Week 17

Greg – 1407 Points (160-95-1)

NOTE: Last week’s rank is noted in the first parenthesis. Current team record noted in the second parenthesis.

1. (1) Denver Broncos (13-3) – Not only did the Broncos end on an 11 game winning streak, they tied for the best record in the league and clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs. – Andrew

2. (4) New England Patriots (12-4) – They clinched the two seed behind Denver in the AFC. But with Gronk back from injury, they look to be a serious challenger to win yet another Super Bowl. – Andrew

3. (5) Seattle Seahawks (11-5) – Many people, including me, think that Seattle is the favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. They will begin at Washington. – Andrew

4. (7) San Francisco 49ers (11-4-1) – They clinched the two seed in the NFC which means they will likely avoid Seattle until possible the NFC Championship game. Good thing too because Seattle smashed them a week ago. – Andrew

5. (2) Atlanta Falcons (13-3) – Enter the playoffs as the top seed in the NFC but there are a lot of question marks surrounding them. Will Matt Ryan finally win his first playoff game? – Andrew

6. (6) Houston Texans (12-4) – Lost their grip on the top seed and slid to the three spot. Will host Cincinnati this weekend and need to get their defense going again. – Andrew

7. (3) Green Bay Packers (11-5) – I was shocked that they couldn’t contain AD and lost to Minnesota. As luck has it, they now play Minnesota again in the first round. – Andrew

8. (8) Indianapolis Colts (11-5) – Coach Pogano returned to the sidelines in a special way this past Sunday. The Colts are the most shocking story of the year in football. Can they keep it going at Baltimore in the wildcard round? – Andrew

9. (9) Washington Redskins (10-6) – Washington did what they had to in winning the NFC East. RGIII has been great this year but I don’t think he is playing as well now that he’s beat up. – Andrew

10. (11) Minnesota Vikings (10-6) – AD likely won the MVP this last weekend by delivering a playoff birth to Minnesota. He fell 9 yards short of the all-time season rushing record. Blame it on a slow start in week 1. – Andrew

11. (12) Baltimore Ravens (11-5) – They will host a dangerous Colts team this weekend in the first round. They seem to have gotten back on track after a shaky slide in the middle of the year. – Andrew

12. (10) Cincinnati Bengals (9-7) – Will enter the playoffs with the worst record among playoff teams. They travel to Houston, which is a tough first game. – Andrew

13. (13) Chicago Bears (10-6) – Finished with the best record among playoff teams but that didn’t save Lovie Smith’s job. The Bear’s will move in a new direction that hopefully includes beefing up the offensive line. – Andrew

14. (15) New York Giants (9-7) – Finally played with a sense of urgency but it was too late to make the playoffs. Never found the consistency this year that got them the Super Bowl last year. Total failure. – Andrew

15. (14) Dallas Cowboys (8-8) – Romo made the plays once again that make people believe he falters come clutch time. A late roughing the passer penalty also sealed their fate. – Andrew

16. (19) Pittsburgh Steelers (8-8) – Missing the playoffs in this city is a big deal. Injuries played a role but that can’t be an excuse. Mike Wallace won’t be back for a redo next year either. – Andrew

17. (16) St. Louis Rams (7-8-1) – I think the future is bright under Jeff Fisher. They are in a tough division though with the 49ers and Seahawks. – Andrew

18. (20) Carolina Panthers (7-9) – If they continue to build off of the end of this year, they could be a playoff team at this time next season. – Andrew

19. (21) San Diego Chargers (7-9) – A late season charge was nice, but it didn’t save anyone’s job. – Andrew

20. (17) New Orleans Saints (7-9) – With Coach Payton back next year with a new deal, you can expect the Saints to be a bit more consistent in 2013. – Andrew

21. (22) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-9) – Josh Freeman was so up and down this year, which makes for a tough decision on his future with the team. – Andrew

22. (18) Miami Dolphins (7-9) – Ended the year by getting shutout at New England. That’s basically sums up how woeful the offense can get. Changes please! – Andrew

23. (25) Buffalo Bills (6-10) – Most expect Fitzpatrick to be replaced, which I’m okay with, but don’t forget to overhaul the defense. – Andrew

24. (26) Tennessee Titans (6-10) – Great performance by the defense and special teams on Sunday. Makes the game much easier. – Andrew

25. (23) New York Jets (6-10) – Shock of Black Monday for me was the Rex Ryan didn’t lose his job. Don’t understand that at all! – Andrew

26. (24) Cleveland Browns (5-11) – Will be interesting to see who gets hired as the new coach. There is a strong nucleus that makes the job attractive. – Andrew

27. (27) Arizona Cardinals (5-11) – First job of the new coach will be to figure out the quarterback position. But that’s obvious. – Andrew

28. (28) Detroit Lions (4-12) – Congrats to Calvin Johnson on the record, but it’s a meaningless record for him when the team has only four wins. – Andrew

29. (29) Oakland Raiders (4-12) – It will be an interesting offseason for this team as it always is in Oakland. – Andrew

30. (30) Philadelphia Eagles (4-12) – It will be weird watching Philly next season without Reid walking up and down the sideline won’t it? – Andrew

31. (31) Jacksonville Jaguars (2-14) – It’s Tebow time! – Andrew

32. (32) Kansas City Chiefs (2-14) – So many issues with this team that the new coach will have to address. Landing the number one pick in the draft helps though. – Andrew

By: The Sports Guys