NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Final

The 9-7 Giants are your Super Bowl Champions in a season where mediocrity ruled and the only theoretically good team, the Packers, showed their flawed defense was flawed enough to not win it all. Just think, the Super Bowl loser, the 13-3 Patriots, only beat ONE team with a winning record all season, the Ravens, in the AFC Championship game, thanks to a missed field goal.

So yes, the Giants are the champions, but who do the power ranks say the best team is?

drum roll....

It's the San Francisco 49ers. As a fan, it both hurts to see them end up as #1 without a Super Bowl title but also makes me feel good about their chances in the coming years. The Patriots loss in the Super Bowl knocked them out of the top spot, moving up the Niners. The Giants passed the Ravens for #3, but their 9-7 record made it basically impossible to catch either of the 13-3 teams that at least made it to their conference championship games.

The power ranks did pretty poorly predicting playoff game results this year, going only 6-5. In contrast, my randomly picking dog also went 6-5 and my 4 month old son went 7-4 by correctly picking the Giants in the Super Bowl. If nothing else, the playoffs were fun for watching his motor skills develop as he tried to pick up the helmets with his hands.

Here are the final ranks: