Wild Card Playoff Ranks

The Wild Card round of the playoffs are in the books, with the ranks predicting 3 of the 4 playoff matchups correctly. The only one it missed was Seattle, but it can be explained. First, home field advantage can't be taken into account with the power ranking formula, and Seattle's 12th man is pretty tough. Second, Washington ended the season red hot while Seattle tanked the last game against Atlanta. As I mentioned last week, that's another challenge with a computerized ranking for the NFL that the BCS doesn't have to deal with. Looking ahead to the Divisional Playoffs, the ranks predict that this week the #1 Patriots will beat the #4 Jaguars, the #2 Colts will beat the #5 Chargers, the #3 Packers will beat the #13 Seahawks, and the #6 Cowboys will beat the #12 Giants. Here are the ranks...

1. Patriots - 83.88 - E - vs JAX
2. Colts - 79.65 -E - vs SD
3. Packers - 72.13 - E - vs SEA
4. Jaguars - 71.11 - E - at NE
5. Chargers - 70.68 - E - at IND
6. Cowboys - 67.66 - E - vs NYG
7. Titans - 61.97 - +1
8. Eagles - 61.05 - +1
9. Redskins - 60.49 - -2
10. Texans - 59.42 - E
11. Browns - 58.60 - E
12. Giants - 57.90 - E - at DAL
13. Seahawks - 56.76 - E - at GB
14. Vikings - 53.00 - +1
15. Bengals - 52.30 - +1
16. Steelers - 51.95 - -2
17. Bears - 49.07 - E
18. Cardinals - 48.08 - +1
19. Buccaneers - 47.32 - -1
20. Panthers - 44.62 - E
21. Saints - 42.95 - E
22. Broncos - 41.42 - E
23. Lions - 39.18 - E
24. Bills - 36.79 - E
25. 49ers - 36.47 - E
26. Ravens - 34.40 - E
27. Jets - 31.28 - E
28. Falcons - 26.72 - E
29. Raiders - 25.56 - E
30. Chiefs - 24.51 - E
31. Dolphins - 23.19 - E
32. Rams - 21.40 - E