We've reached the grand finale of the SB Nation Arizona NFL Power Rankings. The change at the top wasn't exactly enormous, since most of the top teams had something to play for against other teams that didn't. It's that simple. The biggest jump this week was by the NFC West-winning Seattle Seahawks, who shot up five spots from 22nd to 17th. Who said 7-9 got you nothing? The biggest dip was the Browns, who fell four spots from 23rd to 27th because they lost their last four and seemed to blow a lot of the competitive goodwill from their midseason performance.
In honor of this being the first power rankings post of 2011 I've decided that the rankings should be presented as New Year's resolutions for each squad. Considering that 20 of the NFL's teams are done for the season it will be their offseason resolutions.
On to the rankings ... the last of the regular season.
(1) New England Patriots (14-2) - I really don't know what else can be asked of this team. Tom Brady hasn't thrown an interception since like 2001, so I'll say he should keep doing that. (LW: 1)
(2) Atlanta Falcons (13-3) - Avoid the indignity of being a number 1 seed that doesn't win a playoff game. If they play like they did against the Saints, they'll go down. (LW: 2)
(3) New Orleans Saints (12-4) - Become road warriors. If the Saints are to defend their Super Bowl title, they are going to have to win at least two road games. (LW: 3)
(4) Baltimore Ravens (12-4) - Take the Chiefs seriously. I'd imagine that it won't be hard to pay mind to a 10-win division champ, but KC is coming off a throttling against Oakland. (LW: 4)
(5) Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4) - Prepare that suffocating defense for a probable match-up with Peyton Manning and the Colts (as they are the highest seed that can advance). (LW: 5)
(6) Chicago Bears (11-5) - Get back to the offense that put up 40 and 38 points in Weeks 15 and 16 before stepping back to 3 in Week 17. (LW: 6)
(7) New York Jets (11-5) - Figure out what went wrong in last year's AFC Championship game and do it quickly. (LW: 8)
(8) Green Bay Packers (10-6) - Remember how last season, they beat a team in the regular season and then failed to beat that same team in the playoffs? At the same place? Well they should avoid that this time. (LW: 9)
(9) Philadelphia Eagles (10-6) - They already did what they needed to do by resting Mike Vick, because Kevin Kolb just kind of sucked in the final game of the season. (LW: 7)
(10) Indianapolis Colts (10-6) - Stay with the run game and defense that helped them to four straight wins to close the season. The 9/2 TD/INT ratio from Peyton Manning didn't hurt, either. (LW: 11)
(11) Kansas City Chiefs (10-6) - Play much, much better against the Ravens than they did against the Raiders or the playoffs will end quickly for them. (LW: 10)
(12) New York Giants (10-6) - Find an ability to finish down the stretch. This team was 9-4 three weeks ago and missed the playoffs. Hard to stomach. (LW: 12)
(13) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-6) - Keep the team together and avoid complacency. To me, Tampa's 10-win season was reminiscent of Cleveland's from 2010. Obviously Freeman is probably better than DA, but still. (LW: 14)
(14) San Diego Chargers (9-7) - Learn to play up to their talent. When you have one of the highest-ranked offenses and defenses in the NFL, there is no way you should miss the playoffs. (LW: 13)
(15) Jacksonville Jaguars (8-8) - Draft or sign some players who aren't incredibly boring. Playoffs or bust for Jack Del Rio next season. (LW: 15)
(16) Oakland Raiders (8-8) - Is it offensive to say Al Davis' death? It seems like Davis doesn't want Tom Cable to stay on as coach, even though he broke their streak of seven straight 11-loss or more seasons. (LW: 17)
(17) Seattle Seahawks (7-9) - Keep it respectable against the Saints. As if this team isn't being laughed at enough already for being the first losing playoff team in NFL history -- a blowout loss at home won't help. (LW: 22)
(18) Miami Dolphins (7-9) - Realize that you are in fact able to win the games that you play at home. If Miami had even gone .500 at whatever they call their stadium, they'd have been a playoff contender. (LW: 18)
(19) St. Louis Rams (7-9) - Get some wide receivers for Sam Bradford. A return to health for Mark Clayton and Donnie Avery will help (LW: 16)
(20) Minnesota Vikings (6-10) - A Brett Favre retirement ceremony that happens in January so they can find a QB and move on with their lives. (LW: 19)
(21) Washington Redskins (6-10) - Jettison all of the guys who aren't Mike Shanahan's. It's pretty clear from his dealings with McNabb and Haynesworth that he can't handle guys who aren't his. (LW: 20)
(22) Tennessee Titans (6-10) - Jeff Fisher or Vince Young. There can be only one. (LW: 21)
(23) Dallas Cowboys (6-10) - Health for Tony Romo and the ability for Jason Garret to motivate the apathetic, complacent Cowboys talent. (LW: 25)
(24) Detroit Lions (6-10) - Find a new shoulder for Matthew Stafford. Shaun Hill wasn't a bad fill-in, but they aren't paying the injury-prone Stafford to sit on the bench. (LW: 26)
(25) Houston Texans (6-10) - If they aren't firing Gary Kubiak then I have no advice for them. I cannot comprehend the concept of keeping him. (LW: 24)
(26) San Francisco 49ers (6-10) - Do everything they can to get Jim Harbaugh to accept their overtures. Two-and-a-half seasons of incompetent coaching has them needing a real leader. (LW: 27)
(27) Cleveland Browns (5-11) - Someone to tell Mike Holmgren that he shouldn't come back. While Holmgren was a pretty great coach five years ago, the end of his stint in Seattle was anything less than impressive. Now he's older. (LW: 23)
(28) Arizona Cardinals (5-11) - Quarterback. Need I go further? (LW: 28)
(29) Cincinnati Bengals (4-12) - Just get rid of Marvin Lewis already. It's not working; time to reset the damn thing. (LW: 29)
(30) Buffalo Bills (4-12) - Don't be so quick to get rid of Ryan Fitzpatrick. Sure, he struggled in his final start in Week 16, but he had a quality season for a crappy team. This team has other needs. (LW: 30)
(31) Denver Broncos (4-12) - I guess a coach that wants to develop Tim Tebow since the idea of blowing a first round pick on a QB because a coach doesn't like him sounds bad. Been there, done that. (LW: 31)
(32) Carolina Panthers (2-14) - Hire a coach that motivates Andrew Luck to declare for the draft. And when he does declare, pick Andrew Luck. (LW: 32)