Super Bowl XLV: Green Bay Packers Finish on Top, Final NFL Rankings
The 2010-11 NFL season is officially over.
This year was unique in the level of parity between almost all the teams. At the beginning of the playoffs you could really make a case for eight to 10 of the teams that they could go all the way.
But the Packers, the unlikely sixth-seed story, was the team to do it. One thing is for certain with the confetti falling down and Rodgers hoisting the trophy, the Green Bay Packers are the No. 1 team in the NFL.
How do the rest rank?
1. Green Bay Packers
1 of 32
Can't dispute it. They beat the one-, two- and three-seeds in the NFC, then went on to defeat a tough Steelers team.
2. Pittsburgh Steelers
2 of 32
They put up a strong fight. Everything was in place for Big Ben to march his team down with a historic two-minute drill. Steelers came up just a little short of being number one.
3. New England Patriots
3 of 32
This is the case of "best team all season gets upset early." Just because the Patriots were not in the final four does not mean they weren't elite. The Patriots looked unbeatable until their shocker against the Jets.
4. Chicago Bears
4 of 32
The Chicago Bears' fight against the Packers looks more impressive after tonight. To almost comeback on the Super Bowl champions with your third-string quarterback down the stretch shows the Bears were no fluke.
5. New York Jets
5 of 32
Just like the Packers, the Jets chose the hard path in the playoffs. Winning in Peyton's home then in Brady's then almost in Big Ben's showed the toughness of a team that needs to start finishing better in the regular season. Rex Ryan had his team close to the Super Bowl.
6. Baltimore Ravens
6 of 32
I don't know how many more years Ray Lewis has in him to position his team at the top of the league, but he definitely had the Ravens there this season. No one ever wants to play the Ravens in the postseason.
7. Atlanta Falcons
7 of 32
They seemed to be an elite team until their beatdown courtesy of the Packers. With the Packers winning the Super Bowl, it made the Falcons loss look just a little bit better.
8. Philadelphia Eagles
8 of 32
The Eagles peaked at the wrong time. If midseason Vick and midseason Eagles entered the playoffs, there is a good chance we would have seen them in action tonight.
9. New Orleans Saints
9 of 32
The Seahawks upset still puzzles me. The Saints finished the season 7-2 and seemed to have the best possible path for a five-seed to get to at least the NFC Championship Game, if not further. They'll be back.
10. Indianapolis Colts
10 of 32
This year's Colts had many flaws. But never ever count out Peyton Manning. He still guided this team to 10 wins and a three-seed in the tough AFC.
11. Seattle Seahawks
11 of 32
A 7-9 regular season record is embarrassing for a playoff team. Defeating the defending Super Bowl champions, however, proved they belonged in the mix.
12. Kansas City Chiefs
12 of 32
This is like the New England Patriots "lite" brand. Not sure why Charlie Weis left this job to go be the offensive coordinator at Florida University, I thought they were building a good team here. It will be interesting to see if the Chiefs can win the AFC West again next season.
13. New York Giants
13 of 32
Could you imagine if the Bears beat the Packers in the season finale and the Giants came in as the six-seed? Weird season for the Giants, still a 10-6 finish.
14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
14 of 32
Poor Tampa Bay sports teams. Both the Buccaneers and Rays have the unfortunate placement of being in the same division as two top-tier teams. Bucs are another 10-6 squad.
15. San Diego Chargers
15 of 32
Why can't this team seem to pull it together for an entire season?
Rivers quietly threw for 4,710 yards this season.
16. Jacksonville Jaguars
16 of 32
With an 8-8 finish, the Jaguars were the definition of a completely average team. Tough three-game losing streak to end the year on and end any playoff chances.
17. Oakland Raiders
17 of 32
The Raiders were kind of, sort of, figuring things out at the end of the season. A 31-10 win over the rival Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium is a good momentum-builder for next year.
18. St. Louis Rams
18 of 32
Something tells me Sam Bradford will not have too many more sub-.500 seasons ahead of him. Would have liked to see him in the playoffs this year, but there will be plenty more opportunities.
19. Detroit Lions
19 of 32
Suh may single-handedly bring back the entire city of Detroit. The Lions ended the year on a four-game winning streak and should find their way to an eight-win or more year in 2011-12.
20. Miami Dolphins
20 of 32
A 7-9 record. They ended the year on three-game losing streak. What's even worse, they play in the same division as New England and New York.
21. Dallas Cowboys
21 of 32
Started out 1-7, finished 6-10.
Strange year for the Cowboys, would have been interesting to see them go 2-14 instead and grab a top draft pick. Tons of talent on this team, but still needs work.
22. Houston Texans
22 of 32
This should be a 10-6 team, not a 6-10. The Texans have been waiting to have their breakout season for a few years.
23. Minnesota Vikings
23 of 32
Even with the on-field play, off-field Favre, collapsing roof on-field and all the other disasters of the Vikings season, they still had Super Bowl-level talent. Their late season win against the Eagles showed this team still has a little fight in them.
24. San Francisco 49ers
24 of 32
They started out 0-5. They finished third in the NFC West. Disappointing year.
25. Cleveland Browns
25 of 32
The 2011-12 Cleveland Browns are kind of like this year's St. John's men's basketball team. They have the big-time wins (Patriots, Saints) the near-victories over quality opponents (Jets, Ravens, Bucs, Chiefs), but finished with a less than stellar 5-11 mark. Even though they proved they could compete, they still belong out of the tournament.
26. Washington Redskins
26 of 32
Tough to see McNabb treated the way he was this season. The Redskins finished last in their division, even behind a struggling Cowboys squad.
27. Cincinnati Bengals
27 of 32
A 10-game losing streak in the middle of the season. This team was dysfunctional on so many levels. Ochocinco and T.O. at least got a Versus TV show out of it.
28. Tennessee Titans
28 of 32
May seem strange to have a team with six wins down this far, but in the second half of the season, this team was awful. The Vince Young mess took its toll on their record.
Start of season: 4-2 .
Ended season losing eight of 10.
29. Arizona Cardinals
29 of 32
There's two ways to look at their season.
They finished last in the worst division in football.
They finished two games out of the No. 4 seed in the NFC.
30. Denver Broncos
30 of 32
Tim Tebow added some energy into this team down the stretch of the season. Next year, we'll see if he can be a starter in this league.
31. Buffalo Bills
31 of 32
Another forgettable season for the Bills.
32. Carolina Panthers
32 of 32
2-14.
Worst of all, they had no luck in being able to draft Andrew Luck. Maybe they can grab him after next year.
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.jpg?w=600 "Shedeur not currently in line for Browns QB1")
