Last year I posted my own personal power rankings. As we gear up for next season its never too late to look back and review 2007 power rankings. Below are my pre-season personal rankings and the actual SFL Power Rankings after week 17.
Lets take a look at which teams where my prediction was completely wrong!
St. Louis Rams #6 | Actual #14The Rams season was derailed by injury. On paper I had them in the top ten with the potential of being even higher. In our preseason show Will predicted the Rams to make a Super Bowl appearance! But the commissioners curse strikes and by Week 17 the Rams had the most season ending injuries at CB, MLB, SS, WR, HB, and more. Even with injuries the Rams managed to rank in the top half of the power rankings. Pending another injury riddled season, the Rams should be a contender for next season?s playoffs. Originally I had the Rams ranked at #8, but costly injuries lost games and they concluded at #14 in the power rankings. The Rams make my list of wrong predictions falling 8 spots.
Oakland Raiders #3 | Actual #22Super Bowl hangovers are real. I thought the combination of division and little change in the offseason, I thought the Raiders would be poised for a return trip to the playoffs. But the surprising Chargers bumped the Raiders out of the playoffs and finished with a 7-9 record and a surprisingly weak defense that gave up 420 (yeah, duuuuuuude) points. I expect the Raiders to be another competitive team next season and this will be a small hiccup in the teams? history. I originally put the Raiders at #3 but a hangover season dropped them to #22 in the power rankings. The Raiders make my list of wrong predictions falling 19 spots.
Minnesota Vikings #1 | Actual #15The always reliable Vikings was my pick to win the Super Bowl, but the madden gods had other plans. Losing Daunte Culpepper for more than half the season was a true death nail. QB Jordan Palmer had big shoes to fill and to his success helped Randy Moss lead the SFL in receiving yards. Costly losses in the second half of the season was the difference in a playoff spot and the Vikings earned an early vacation with an 8-8 record. I originally had the Vikings as my #1 team at preseason, but after a so-so finish the Vikings concluded at #15 on the power rankings list. The Vikings make my list of wrong predictions falling 14 spots.
New England Patriots #12 | Actual #27Another victim to season ending injuries, the loss of QB Tom Brady was too much to keep up in the AFC East and the Patriots finished with their lowest divisional ranking in the lifetime of the SFL. After a fantastic start to the season with a 4-2 record, the Patriots finished the season only winning two more and concluding at 6-10. In Tom Brady?s absence, HB Musa Smith carried the team and finished as the #2 HB in rushing yards. I expect the Patriots to be right back in the mix for top of the division next year and a bounce back season for Tom Brady. I originally predicted the Patriots at #12 in my preseason rankings, but after week 17 the Pats finished at #27 in the SFL power rankings. The Patriots make my list of wrong predictions falling 15 spots.
The overwhelming theme is how devastating QB injuries can be. Losing your team to injury and losing your offensive leader can be the difference of Super Bowl run and being irrelevant in week 17. If the law of averages has any say, these teams got their injuries out of the way and can look forward to better seasons ahead.
