Eagles Season Wrap Up: Crunching The Numbers Week 17

Well, it's been a long year. Unfortunately, the season has come to a close for the Eagles, who go home with a 10-6 record while the Panthers host a playoff game at 7-8-1. Here at Crunching The Numbers there have been a lot of twists and turns, with a fair number of you rightfully questioning the system (I'm looking at you AndersJ) and being skeptical of highly ranked teams like Baltimore. All told, it's given me a lot to think about next season. Hopefully I will have more time to work on this since I'll be out of school, but nothing is set in stone. For all I know this could be the last post on this topic.

Enough speculation, now onto observation! What do the numbers finally say about how each team performed in the regular season of 2015?

Crunching The Numbers Rank Index, Week 17

1. Denver (19.037, 1st Seed): The Broncos should probably get an asterisk next to this since New England had nothing to play for, but that walloping of Oakland helped boost them to the top spot. Last Week: 3, 17.011

2. New England (18.222, 2nd Seed): The Patriots dropped a few points only because they went through the motions on a meaningless Sunday. Now they take comfort in knowing that if they fly again they'll be going to Glendale. Last Week: 1, 19.917

3. Green Bay (17.970, 1st Seed): Aaron Rodgers gave the Packers a 2013-like scare on Sunday but returned in the second half. They may have cooled a little bit in December but there isn't a reason why they couldn't go into Seattle and leave with a win. Last Week: 2, 17.801

4. Seattle (16.956, 2nd Seed): As much as a detest Pete Carroll, I'll hand it to him for this season. This was a team that found themselves at a difficult crossroads at 3-3 and then closed out the season 9-1. Of course, all the injuries to Arizona's quarterbacks certainly helped their cause. Last Week: 4, 16.630

5. Baltimore (15.903, 3rd Seed): The Ravens never retook the AFC North like I predicted, but they did qualify for the postseason. Unfortunately I do not think they can beat Pittsburgh in Heinz Field in spite of their high ranking. Last Week: 5, 15.329

6. Dallas (15.306, 3rd Seed): Tony Romo finally delivered in December and the Cowboys enter the playoffs hot for the first time since 2009. I suspect they'll win this first game against Detroit but I can't see them winning on the road in a tough NFC path to the Super Bowl. Last Week: 6, 13.752

7. Houston (12.977, 4th Seed): The Texans had a nice first year under Bill O'Brien, but they still have questions at quarterback. The main theme of their offseason will be determining how the front office feels about Ryan Mallett. Last Week: 7, 12.964

8. Indianapolis (11.411, 5th Seed): Not much to say about the Colts, who beat Tennessee by seventeen points in a meaningless game. They have a pretty good matchup against Cincinnati, whom they shut out in their last game.  Last Week: 9, 10.260

9. Cincinnati (10.405, 6th Seed): What's that? The Bengals beat Peyton Manning? I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of their plane, which has to fly them to their playoff games. Last Week: 8, 11.784

10. Philadelphia (10.246, 5th Seed): The Eagles beat their rivals and secured the "best of the worst" draft position in April. Wahoo. Last Week: 10, 10.000

11. Pittsburgh (10.030): The Steelers get no love here, but Ben Roethlisberger's play could be enough to carry this team pretty far into the playoffs. Last Week: 11, 9.776

12. Kansas City (9.932): Andy Reid's Chiefs took a step back this season, but you get the sense he's doing the most with what he's got, which is more than you can say about his last few years in Philly. Last Week: 12, 9.225

13. Buffalo (9.557): It's always fun to root for the Bills because they've got those blue-collar, hard-nosed fans and face the NFL's Satan in Bill Belichick twice a year. So they had themselves a nice season and maybe something to build on the future... maybe someday they'll actually challenge the Pats. Last Week: 13, 9.069

14. Detroit (7.949, 6th Seed): The Lions almost beat the Packers... for like a quarter... when Matt Flynn was throwing passes... okay, so they might not go anywhere in the playoffs. Last Week: 14, 8.984

15. Miami (6.081): The Dolphins are kind of in the same boat as the Bills this season. Unfortunately they don't really have that "one thing" to build on for 2015. What they do in the offseason will be important. Last Week: 15, 7.685

16. Arizona (6.020): The Cardinals, with Ryan Lindley, may be the one team that could actually lose to Carolina in the playoffs. Last Week: 16, 6.624

17. San Diego (4.694): The Chargers were win-and-in. The numbers said they wouldn't make the cut. Then they lost to the Chase Daniel-led Chiefs. I rest my case. Last Week: 18, 5.938

18. New York Giants (4.204): Eli Manning is still the quarterback, Tom Coughlin is still the coach... Can this team rebound in 2015? I'm skeptical. Last Week: 20, 4.642

19. Cleveland (4.136): The Browns missed their shot at the mythical non-losing season, but the good news is that they seem to be moderately adequate quarterback play from being competitive. Last Week: 19, 5.379

20. New Orleans (3.976, 4th Seed): I'm not going to say too much about the Saints. They had several golden opportunities and blew them all. It'll be interesting to see where they go from here. Last Week: 21, 3.896

21. San Francisco (3.919): The 49ers ruined my winter break by being mediocre all year, paving the way for Harbaugh to be fired and fly right over to Ann Arbor. Ugh. Last Week: 22, 3.163

22. Carolina (3.312): To their credit, the Panthers did move up three spots after their big win over Atlanta. Now they seem to be in good position to win a playoff game and then get crushed by either the Packers or Seahawks. Last Week: 25, 0.381

23. Atlanta (3.134): Everything was set up nicely for the Falcons. Then they did what pretty much every other team in the NFC South has done this year: miss on a huge chance in hilarious fashion. Last Week: 17, 6.045

24. Minnesota (2.313): The Vikings finished with a "good-sign" 7-9 record. They have lots of competition in the NFC North but as long as they continue to draft well they could emerge as a player in a few seasons. Last Week: 24, 1.842

25. St. Louis (1.794): The Rams probably had the weirdest season. They started out horribly, then it was as if someone lit a fire under them for about four weeks, and then they just kind of petered off. Not sure what to make of them moving forward. Last Week: 23, 2.779

26. Chicago (-4.306): I have to say, after so many years of stability, the Bears now look to be one of the more "lost" teams in the league and could quickly devolve into the NFC's version of the New York Jets if they don't get their bearings soon. Last Week: 26, -4.518

27. New York Jets (-4.570): Speak of the devil! The Jets got a nice win over the Dolphins in Rex Ryan's last game, but they are in that awful position of having a thousand questions and no answers moving forward. Last Week: 28, -6.499

28. Tampa Bay (-6.468): The Buccaneers tanked in their last game and now can start rolling out the red carpet for Marcus Mariota. If nothing else, the kid should at least energize the team into winning a few more games next year (assuming they draft him, of course). Last Week: 29, -7.356

29. Washington (-6.542): Everyone got their popcorn ready? Another Redskins offseason is about to start! Last Week: 27, -5.161

30. Jacksonville (-8.683): The Jaguars played a tough game against the Texans but ultimately came up short. They moved up to thirtieth in the last week, so they got that going for them, which is nice. Last Week: 31, -8.916

31. Tennessee (-8.758): The Titans probably deserve that bottom spot after failing to really beat anyone in the latter half of the season. I like to think they were kept out of there purely because of their Week 1 win over the Chiefs. Last Week: 30, -8.117

32. Oakland (-10.506): The Raiders, who are interested in Pat Shurmur, certainly played inspired football for the majority of the season. They finally seem to be drafting well, which should eventually pay off for them if the trend continues. Last Week: 32, -9.056

So what do you think? Which teams are too high? Too low? What about the Eagles? Sound off in the comments below!