This system is just something simple that I came up with this past spring, just as a personal interest.

To get an accurate read over which NFL franchises have been simply the best recently, data was collected from the 2002 season onward. Why 2002? Well 2002 was the first season with the current divisional alignment and playoff structure with the inclusion of the Houston Texans.

So who are the best NFL teams since 2002? Below are the rankings with the total amount of "points" accrued over the last 9 seasons dating back to 2002. Points are awarded for meeting certain criteria (or failing to meet certain criteria) and are explained at the bottom of this page. This criteria was self-created.  Inside the parenthesis are the average points accrued per season.

See the rankings...after the jump...

See how the rankings are determined at the bottom:

1. New England Patriots - 79 (8.78)

2. Indianapolis Colts - 73 (8.11)

3. Pittsburgh Steelers - 69 (7.67)

4. Philadelphia Eagles - 50 (5.56)

5. Green Bay Packers - 45 (5.00)

6. NY Giants - 39 (4.33)

7. Seattle Seahawks - 36 (4.00)

8. New Orleans Saints - 31 (3.44)

9. San Diego Chargers - 29 (3.22)

t10. NY Jets - 27 (3.00)

t10. Baltimore Ravens - 27 (3.00)

12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 26 (2.89)

13. Carolina Panthers - 24 (2.67)

14. Chicago Bears - 22 (2.44)

15. Atlanta Falcons - 21 (2.33)

16. Tennessee Titans - 19 (2.11)

t17. Denver Broncos - 16 (1.78)

t17. Dallas Cowboys - 16 (1.78)

19. Minnesota Vikings - 13 (1.44)

20. Kansas City Chiefs - 12 (1.33)

21. Arizona Cardinals - 6 (0.67)

22. Jacksonville Jaguars - 5 (0.56)

t23. St. Louis Rams - 4 (0.44)

t23. Cincinnati Bengals - 4 (0.44)

t25. Miami Dolphins - 1 (0.11)

t25. Washington Redskins - 1 (0.11)

t27. Oakland Raiders - -2 (-0.22)

t27. San Francisco 49ers - -2 (-0.22)

29. Cleveland Browns - -7 (-0.78)

30. Buffalo Bills - -8 (-0.89)

31. Houston Texans - -10 (-1.11)

32. Detroit Lions - -16 (-1.78)

::Points are awarded for the following::
Super Bowl Win - 20
Super Bowl Loss - 12
Conference Championship Loss - 8
Divisional Round Loss - 6
Wildcard Round Loss - 5
10+ Win Season (no playoffs) - 2
10+ Loss Season - -2

What I am really curious to see is how these will look after this season, the end of a 10 year run.  One popular stat over the last few years is that the NFC has sent 10 different teams to the Super Bowl the last 10 years.  Over the same time span, the AFC has only been represented by either the Patriots, Steelers, or Colts, save for the Raiders way back in the 2003 Super Bowl (2002 season).  This is extremely evident in the rankings where those 3 dominant AFC teams occupy spots 1-3, while the NFC has spots 4-8 and 9 total teams in the top 15.

I'm hoping to add to these rankings after every season, editing the formula as necessary.  So any comments, tips, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Follow me on twitter @bbersin33