For the last few years, we’ve held our weekly NFL Power Rankings but this year, we’re gonna end the season a little differently.

Instead of putting last week’s rankings in parentheses this week, I thought it would be fun to go back and see where I had these teams ranked at the beginning of the season and then compare how they ended up.

Take a look!

 

(Won-Loss Record and Season Opening Ranking in parentheses.)

  1.  Carolina Panthers (15-1) (T-16) – Not quite “worst to first,” but well in excess of expectations.
  1.  Denver Broncos (12-4) (T-6) – Peyton’s back!
  1.  Arizona Cardinals (13-3) (15) – The game didn’t ultimately matter, but not really the finish you would have wanted was it?
  1.  Seattle Seahawks (10-6) (2) – They finish the season red hot.

T-5.  New England Patriots (12-4) (1) – Having lost four of their last six, can they turn it around for the post season?

T-5.  Kansas City Chiefs (11-5) (24) – Hmm.  This top 5 kind of shows you just how much preseason Power Rankings are worth, doesn’t it?

  1.  Cincinnati Bengals (12-4) (19) – Will Andy be ready next week?
  1.  Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6) (T-6) – They back in, but they could care less.
  1.  Minnesota Vikings (11-5) (10) – They finally won the big one.
  1.  New York Jets (10-6) (25) – I’m not even a Jets fan and I feel terrible for them.
  1.  Houston Texans (9-7) (20) – Looking a lot better than any AFC South team did at any time during the season.
  1.  Green Bay Packers (10-6) (4) – They finish the season looking slightly more appealing than a dumpster fire.
  1.  Washington RacialSlurs (9-7) (32) – Would you rather be the mediocre team that’s hot or the good team that looks like a dumpster fire. We’ll find out next week.
  1.  Buffalo Bills (8-8) (11) – Small consolation.
  1.  Oakland Raiders (7-9) (23) – EVERYONE’s pick for next year’s playoffs.
  1.  Detroit Lions (7-9) (22) – The team that should be everyone’s pick for next year’s playoffs.
  1.  New Orleans Saints (7-9) (T-16) – Got it turned around a few weeks too late.
  1.  New York Giants (6-10) (9) – Can they put some kind of defense on the field next year?
  1.  Atlanta Falcons (8-8) (T-16) – Given the season’s hot start, the .500 finish is still a disappointment.
  1.  Indianapolis Colts (8-8) (5) – When the tornado of house cleaning is over, don’t expect to see anyone for sure except Andrew Luck.
  1.  St. Louis Rams (7-9) (14) – Put their defense with the Giants’ offense and you’d win 3 Super Bowls in 5 years.
  1.  Philadelphia Eagles (7-9) (13) – Think DeMarco Murray is happy Chip Kelly got fired?
  1.  Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-10) (30) – More than enough highs this season to make up for the lows.
  1.  Miami Dolphins (6-10) (12) – A season full of ifs and buts.
  1.  Baltimore Ravens (5-11) (3) – Calling it now:  biggest improvement in record from 2015 to 2016.
  1.  Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11) (26) – The fixes are obvious:  o-line, defensive secondary, a year’s experience worth of cutting down on the mistakes by Bortles.
  1.  Chicago Bears (6-10) (28) – In the end, this team was the dud everyone thought they’d be.
  1.  Dallas Cowboys (4-12) (8) – Fear not Cowboys fans, the division’s gonna suck next year too.

T-29.  Cleveland Browns (3-13) (29) – Please don’t draft another quarterback.

T-29.  San Francisco 49ers (5-11) (27) – Seems a little unfair that they fired the coach. Right?

  1.  San Diego Chargers (4-12) (21) – I’m still dumbfounded that a team with quarterback play this good this year could be THIS bad.
  1.  Tennessee Titans (3-13) (31) – Unlike the Bucs, they are no better now than they were last year.

 

Featured image via Chiefs