NFL Power Rankings: Final 2015-16 Regular-Season Review and Standings

With the final games of Week 17 drawing to a close, so does the NFL's 2015-16 regular season. 

Some of the less traditional teams dominated the top of the standings for large portions of the season, including a trio of non-Super Bowl winners entering the postseason liking their odds to bring home a first-ever Lombardi Trophy. 

Here are the updated NFL standings:

Place	Team	W	L
AFC East
1	New England Patriots*	12	4
2	New York Jets	10	6
3	Buffalo Bills	8	8
4	Miami Dolphins	6	10
AFC North
1	Cincinnati Bengals*	12	4
2	Pittsburgh Steelers*	10	6
3	Baltimore Ravens	5	11
4	Cleveland Browns	3	13
AFC South
1	Houston Texans*	9	7
2	Indianapolis Colts	8	8
3	Jacksonville Jaguars	5	11
4	Tennessee Titans	3	13
AFC West
1	Denver Broncos*	12	4
2	Kansas City Chiefs*	11	5
3	Oakland Raiders	7	9
4	San Diego Chargers	4	12
NFC East
1	Washington Redskins*	9	7
2	Philadelphia Eagles	7	9
3	New York Giants	6	10
4	Dallas Cowboys	4	12
NFC North
1	Minnesota Vikings*	11	5
2	Green Bay Packers*	10	6
3	Detroit Lions	7	9
4	Chicago Bears	6	10
NFC South
1	Carolina Panthers*	15	1
2	Atlanta Falcons	8	8
3	New Orleans Saints	7	9
4	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	6	10
NFC West
1	Arizona Cardinals*	13	3
2	Seattle Seahawks	10	6
3	St. Louis Rams	7	9
4	San Francisco 49ers	5	11

And these are my final 2015-16 power rankings:

Rank	Team	Record	Week 17 Result
1	Carolina Panthers	15-1	W 38-10 vs. Buccaneers
2	Arizona Cardinals	13-3	L 36-6 vs. Seahawks
3	New England Patriots	12-4	L 20-10 at Dolphins
4	Denver Broncos	12-4	W 27-20 vs. Chargers
5	Cincinnati Bengals	12-4	W 24-16 vs. Ravens
6	Kansas City Chiefs	11-5	W 23-17 vs. Raiders
7	Seattle Seahawks	10-6	W 36-6 at Cardinals
8	Minnesota Vikings	11-5	W 20-13 at Packers
9	Pittsburgh Steelers	10-6	W 28-12 at Browns
10	Green Bay Packers	10-6	L 20-13 vs. Vikings
11	New York Jets	10-6	L 22-17 at Bills
12	Washington Redskins	9-7	W 34-23 at Cowboys
13	Houston Texans	9-7	W 30-6 vs. Jaguars
14	Buffalo Bills	8-8	W 22-17 vs. Jets
15	Indianapolis Colts	8-8	W 30-24 vs. Titans
16	St. Louis Rams	7-9	L 19-16 at 49ers
17	Philadelphia Eagles	7-9	W 35-30 at Giants
18	Atlanta Falcons	8-8	L 20-17 vs. Saints
19	Oakland Raiders	7-9	L 23-17 at Chiefs
20	New Orleans Saints	7-9	W 20-17 at Falcons
21	Miami Dolphins	6-10	W 20-10 vs. Patriots
22	Detroit Lions	7-9	W 24-20 at Bears
23	New York Giants	6-10	L 35-30 vs. Eagles
24	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	6-10	L 38-10 at Panthers
25	Baltimore Ravens	5-11	L 24-16 at Bengals
26	Jacksonville Jaguars	5-11	L 30-6 at Texans
27	Chicago Bears	6-10	L 24-20 vs. Lions
28	San Diego Chargers	4-12	L 27-20 at Broncos
29	San Francisco 49ers	5-11	W 19-16 vs. Rams
30	Dallas Cowboys	4-12	L 34-23 vs. Redskins
31	Cleveland Browns	3-13	L 28-12 vs Steelers
32	Tennessee Titans	3-13	L 30-24 at Colts

The Carolina Panthers shook off their first loss of the year in Week 16 and made slight work of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to close out a 15-1 regular season strong. It's their best season in franchise history and a historic one, as the NFL on ESPN pointed out:

With home-field advantage, the Panthers are looking to make their first Super Bowl appearance since the days of Jake Delhomme in 2003 when they lost to the New England Patriots. It remains their only Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. 

Another two teams at the top of the power rankings—the Arizona Cardinals and Cincinnati Bengals—have also never won a Super Bowl. 

The Cardinals, who finished the season 13-3 as the NFC's second seed, might not be feeling so great after a 36-6 Week 17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks—a team that showed flashes of why it is the two-time defending NFC champion in a dominant performance.

ESPN Stats & Info pointed out it was easily Arizona's worst performance of the year that broke a nine-game winning streak:

Arizona has played in just one Super Bowl—a last-minute heartbreaker to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2009. They're looking for their first championship since 1947 when they played their home games in Chicago.

Led by veteran quarterback Carson Palmer, the Cardinals possessed the league's best offense, averaging well over 400 total yards per game this season. 

Over in the AFC, the Bengals have never won a championship since their inception in 1968 and haven't reached a Super Bowl in 27 years. Their work could be cut out for them due to quarterback Andy Dalton sustaining a thumb injury that could hold him out for the first two weeks of the playoffs, according to Greg Noble of the Associated Press, via WCPO Cincinnati.

It's the fifth straight season that the Bengals are in the playoffs, and they'll be hoping that 2016 doesn't hold the same results as the previous four years. They were bounced out in the Wild Card Round each time as a part of a seven-game playoff losing streak.

They'll meet their AFC North division rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, in the Wild Card Round. The Steelers, who split the season series with the Bengals, used a win over the Cleveland Browns and a New York Jets loss to sneak their way into the playoffs.

The Patriots, who won the AFC East for the seventh straight season, are also in the hunt for a second straight Super Bowl win, but lost out on the AFC's No. 1 seed after losing to the Miami Dolphins. Instead, the AFC will go through Denver after the Broncos defeated the lowly San Diego Chargers by a touchdown with Peyton Manning back under center. 

Yet, with one of the greatest quarterbacks the game has ever seen back healthy, head coach Gary Kubiak isn't giving away any answers on who will start between Manning or Brock Osweiler, per Lionel Bienvenu of Denver's KMGH ABC-7:

Despite quarterback issues, it was Denver's defense that helped it clinch the top spot in the AFC this season. The Broncos defense allowed the least passing and rushing yards this season while allowing more than 20 points in a game just six times.

With a dynamic mix of frustrated fanbases along with perennial powerhouses, the power rankings' top teams are sure to provide the 2015-16 postseason with some memorable games. 

Stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com.