I really root for only one NFL team, and that NFL team plays 16 games in the regular season. I watch way more games than that, though, because I am an American, damn it, and football games are awesome. Unfortunately, not every game is equally watchable—for every wild Colts-Lions finish you have a Cardinals-Jets snoozefest. So what were the best games of the 2012 regular season, regardless of rooting interest?

To investigate, I put together a very simple model to measure "watchability." Feel free to quibble in the comments, but to me the best NFL games are close, high-scoring, meaningful, and have an unexpected result. Each game was scored (out of 25) in these four categories:

Closeness: Based on score differential entering the fourth quarter. Differentials greater than three possessions (24 points) netted a game zero points, a tie game entering the fourth was worth 25.

Based on score differential entering the fourth quarter. Differentials greater than three possessions (24 points) netted a game zero points, a tie game entering the fourth was worth 25. Scoring: Based on total number of points squared. The highest-scoring game of the year got a 25, the lowest scoring got a zero.

Based on total number of points squared. The highest-scoring game of the year got a 25, the lowest scoring got a zero. Meaningfulness: Based on the playoff chances of each team entering the game, courtesy of coolstandings.com. The closer the teams' odds were to 50 percent, the higher the score. No credit was given to clinched teams playing for byes.

Based on the playoff chances of each team entering the game, courtesy of coolstandings.com. The closer the teams' odds were to 50 percent, the higher the score. No credit was given to clinched teams playing for byes. Result: Based on the difference between the final result and the Vegas spread. True upsets got a significant bonus, while underdogs beating the spread received a small bonus.

These four scores were then combined into a Watchability Rating (out of 100 points). No games were strong in all four of these categories, so the highest Watchability Rating was a 70, and the average was a 42. For a list of these ratings for all 256 games, broken down by category, click here.

On to some superlatives!

Top/Bottom 5 Games:

The highest-scoring game this season had a four-point differential going into the fourth and ended in a minor upset. It also came early enough that the Lions and Titans (who finished a combined 19-13 in 2011) were still playoff relevant. Seriously, I'd completely forgotten about this game but it was fucking nuts. Also topping the list: the Eagles' 19-17 win over the Giants that ended with a missed field goal, the critical Week 15 matchup that dropped the Steelers to .500 and pushed the Cowboys (briefly) to the top of the NFC East, and two more early-season shootouts between teams with tough paths to the playoffs.*

At the bottom are a variety of meaningless late-season blowouts. Outside of determining AFC byes and sinking the Giants' sad, sad season, these games accomplished nothing and were decided well before the second half began.

Top/Bottom 5 Teams:

Poor Cowboys. During their late-season surge, the team recorded a dramatic victory against the Steelers in the third-most watchable game of the year. Unfortunately, back-to-back also-dramatic losses to the Saints and Redskins—the 10th- and 7th-most watchable games of the year—kept them out of the playoffs. Including that Week 17 clincher, the Redskins had their fair share of awesome games this year.

At the bottom of the pile, you have two terrible teams in a terrible division, and then second-, third-, and 5th-best defenses in the league. Sorry guys! The model likes points on the board.

Watchability By Week:

No surprises here. Watchability dropped as the season wore on, as teams either clinched or got bounced from playoff berths and the number of completely irrelevant games grew. Week 3 took most-watchable-week honors, highlighted by Lions-Titans, Bengals-Redskins, the notorious Packers-Seahawks, and Chiefs-Saints, the first-, fifth-, 12th-, and 22nd-most watchable games of the year, respectively.

Watchability By Network:

Tough year for Monday Night Football. ESPN's most watchable game (Packers-Seahawks) was a publicity disaster for the NFL, and other than that the network got stuck with a bunch of high-profile blowouts. NBC got six top-50 games for its Sunday night slot, including the flexed Week 17 super-matchup between the Cowboys and Redskins, the seventh-most watchable game of the year.

The AFC sorted itself out a lot quicker than the NFC this year, meaning that Fox games were 7 percent more watchable than CBS games. Also not a great year for the NFL Network, which proved incapable of choosing good games and got stuck with just three in the top 100: Steelers-Titans (25th), Chiefs-Chargers (75th), and Buccaneers-Vikings (96th). Short-rest football: maybe a bad idea.

Here's the full slate, ranked by watchability (click here for a sortable version):

Rnk Wk Winner Loser Ch Close Scoring Meaning Result SUM 1 3 Titans Lions FOX 21 25 8 16 70 2 4 Eagles Giants NBC 22 8 25 12 67 3 15 Cowboys Steelers CBS 25 13 14 14 66 4 4 Patriots Bills CBS 25 23 9 7 65 5 3 Bengals Redskins CBS 25 19 5 15 64 6 4 Packers Saints FOX 22 15 14 13 64 7 17 Redskins Cowboys NBC 18 11 24 10 63 8 2 Eagles Ravens CBS 25 12 13 12 62 9 6 Browns Bengals CBS 24 16 9 13 62 10 16 Saints Cowboys FOX 18 18 9 15 60 11 17 Vikings Packers FOX 22 20 9 9 60 12 3 Seahawks Packers ESPN 24 5 16 15 59 13 13 Colts Lions CBS 16 19 5 19 59 14 14 Redskins Ravens CBS 24 16 7 11 58 15 7 Titans Bills CBS 19 19 3 16 58 16 2 Giants Buccaneers FOX 14 22 10 12 58 17 10 Buccaneers Chargers CBS 22 16 10 10 57 18 8 Lions Seahawks FOX 22 14 11 11 57 19 9 Colts Dolphins CBS 22 10 11 14 57 20 7 Giants Redskins FOX 25 13 7 12 57 21 2 Cardinals Patriots FOX 21 9 2 25 57 22 3 Chiefs Saints CBS 14 13 9 20 57 23 1 Redskins Saints FOX 12 20 4 20 57 24 7 Steelers Bengals NBC 25 10 11 10 56 25 6 Titans Steelers NFL 19 13 7 18 56 26 1 Lions Rams FOX 16 13 13 13 55 27 11 Texans Jaguars CBS 18 23 0 14 55 28 6 Lions Eagles FOX 18 13 9 15 55 29 12 Texans Lions FOX 25 18 0 12 55 30 13 Seahawks Bears FOX 21 9 10 15 55 31 1 Vikings Jaguars CBS 23 13 7 12 55 32 8 Giants Cowboys FOX 24 14 5 11 54 33 13 Cowboys Eagles NBC 19 20 2 13 54 34 13 Steelers Ravens CBS 18 10 7 19 54 35 17 Bears Lions FOX 23 13 6 12 54 36 6 Packers Texans NBC 14 18 6 16 54 37 6 Redskins Vikings FOX 13 18 9 14 54 38 14 Cowboys Bengals FOX 16 9 14 15 54 39 13 Broncos Buccaneers FOX 23 14 5 12 54 40 10 Cowboys Eagles FOX 25 17 3 9 54 41 6 Bills Cardinals CBS 22 8 7 17 53 42 16 Bengals Steelers CBS 25 3 10 15 53 43 2 Rams Redskins FOX 20 16 2 15 53 44 17 Panthers Saints FOX 22 24 0 7 53 45 9 Seahawks Vikings FOX 18 13 12 10 53 46 3 Jets Dolphins CBS 18 10 13 12 53 47 15 Redskins Browns FOX 15 16 6 16 53 48 3 Ravens Patriots NBC 19 17 5 12 53 49 14 Eagles Buccaneers FOX 22 11 1 19 53 50 10 Patriots Bills CBS 18 19 2 14 53 51 6 Ravens Cowboys FOX 21 16 3 12 53 52 1 Eagles Browns FOX 23 7 9 14 53 53 7 Patriots Jets CBS 15 15 9 14 52 54 14 Colts Titans CBS 24 13 4 12 52 55 14 Giants Saints FOX 17 23 6 7 52 56 4 Falcons Panthers FOX 22 16 2 13 52 57 5 Colts Packers FOX 23 15 9 5 52 58 12 Falcons Buccaneers FOX 23 12 6 12 52 59 4 Cardinals Dolphins CBS 19 11 10 12 52 60 6 Seahawks Patriots FOX 15 12 9 16 52 61 5 Steelers Eagles FOX 22 6 12 12 52 62 12 Dolphins Seahawks FOX 18 11 8 15 52 63 4 Bears Cowboys ESPN 11 14 12 15 52 64 5 Saints Chargers NBC 22 15 4 11 52 65 2 Bengals Browns CBS 18 17 5 12 51 66 9 Broncos Bengals CBS 21 14 5 11 51 67 3 Vikings 49ers FOX 21 8 3 19 51 68 3 Raiders Steelers CBS 15 18 3 15 51 69 1 Cardinals Seahawks FOX 25 8 6 11 51 70 3 Jaguars Colts CBS 24 9 3 15 50 71 14 Packers Lions NBC 25 12 2 11 50 72 5 Seahawks Panthers FOX 24 5 7 14 50 73 8 Packers Jaguars CBS 23 9 5 13 50 74 6 Broncos Chargers ESPN 15 16 10 9 50 75 9 Chargers Chiefs NFL 21 11 9 9 50 76 9 Falcons Cowboys NBC 25 7 3 16 50 77 6 Falcons Raiders CBS 25 10 1 13 50 78 1 49ers Packers FOX 9 14 10 17 49 79 13 Bengals Chargers CBS 22 7 10 10 49 80 1 Broncos Steelers NBC 24 13 3 9 49 81 9 Ravens Browns CBS 23 9 6 10 49 82 11 Falcons Cardinals FOX 25 10 0 13 48 83 11 Broncos Chargers CBS 17 14 6 12 48 84 7 Saints Buccaneers FOX 18 17 2 10 48 85 12 Panthers Eagles ESPN 24 14 0 10 48 86 2 Dolphins Raiders CBS 14 12 9 13 48 87 4 Rams Seahawks FOX 19 7 8 14 48 88 4 Bengals Jaguars CBS 18 8 8 13 48 89 14 Chargers Steelers CBS 8 16 5 19 48 90 13 Redskins Giants ESPN 19 7 7 15 47 91 1 Cowboys Giants NBC 18 10 5 15 47 92 11 Buccaneers Panthers FOX 21 12 4 10 47 93 1 Buccaneers Panthers FOX 19 5 9 15 47 94 11 Packers Lions FOX 22 11 3 11 47 95 5 Giants Browns CBS 11 19 7 10 47 96 8 Buccaneers Vikings NFL 12 14 4 17 47 97 12 Jaguars Titans CBS 20 10 1 15 46 98 10 Steelers Chiefs ESPN 25 6 2 14 46 99 8 Browns Chargers CBS 24 0 7 15 46 100 10 Vikings Lions FOX 11 16 5 15 46 101 8 Colts Titans CBS 21 7 3 15 46 102 5 Dolphins Bengals CBS 14 6 11 15 46 103 10 Rams 49ers FOX 15 12 0 18 46 104 2 Panthers Saints FOX 10 17 4 15 46 105 7 Packers Rams FOX 14 13 8 10 46 106 12 49ers Saints FOX 18 14 4 10 46 107 7 49ers Seahawks NFL 21 2 10 12 45 108 10 Saints Falcons FOX 14 16 2 14 45 109 13 Packers Vikings FOX 19 8 6 11 45 110 5 Falcons Redskins FOX 22 10 3 11 45 111 9 Buccaneers Raiders FOX 7 21 3 13 45 112 9 Steelers Giants CBS 15 11 4 15 45 113 13 Rams 49ers FOX 20 6 0 19 45 114 10 Seahawks Jets CBS 18 8 11 8 45 115 16 Patriots Jaguars CBS 22 9 0 13 44 116 11 Jets Rams CBS 19 9 1 15 44 117 13 Chiefs Panthers FOX 15 12 0 17 44 118 2 49ers Lions NBC 17 11 4 11 44 119 7 Raiders Jaguars CBS 18 13 1 12 44 120 3 Bills Browns CBS 22 9 3 10 44 121 11 Cowboys Browns CBS 15 10 6 13 44 122 4 Redskins Buccaneers FOX 17 11 1 14 44 123 16 Vikings Texans FOX 15 6 4 19 43 124 16 Colts Chiefs CBS 25 7 0 11 43 125 12 Redskins Cowboys FOX 0 19 9 15 43 126 5 Rams Cardinals NFL 18 2 9 13 43 127 4 Vikings Lions FOX 11 7 9 15 42 128 3 Cowboys Buccaneers FOX 22 5 4 12 42 129 11 Patriots Colts CBS 4 24 8 6 42 130 2 Seahawks Cowboys FOX 12 7 8 15 42 131 15 Texans Colts CBS 19 11 0 11 42 132 13 Browns Raiders CBS 22 8 0 12 42 133 17 Seahawks Rams FOX 22 7 0 13 42 134 5 Patriots Broncos CBS 8 14 9 11 41 135 2 Colts Vikings FOX 11 10 5 15 41 136 15 49ers Patriots NBC 4 22 0 16 41 137 7 Vikings Cardinals FOX 11 8 11 12 41 138 15 Bengals Eagles NFL 14 12 7 8 41 139 14 Rams Bills FOX 20 5 1 15 41 140 5 Texans Jets ESPN 16 9 3 13 41 141 16 Redskins Eagles FOX 11 12 7 11 40 142 16 Chargers Jets CBS 15 11 0 15 40 143 9 Panthers Redskins FOX 17 7 1 15 40 144 15 Cardinals Lions FOX 11 12 0 17 40 145 6 Dolphins Rams FOX 14 6 8 12 40 146 17 Bengals Ravens CBS 19 9 0 12 40 147 3 Cardinals Eagles FOX 7 7 11 15 40 148 3 Bears Rams FOX 21 6 4 9 40 149 13 Falcons Saints NFL 21 8 1 10 40 150 12 Colts Bills CBS 11 7 11 10 40 151 13 Patriots Dolphins CBS 18 9 1 12 40 152 12 Rams Cardinals FOX 14 12 0 13 39 153 3 Giants Panthers NFL 6 10 9 14 39 154 11 Ravens Steelers NBC 22 3 2 12 39 155 7 Colts Browns CBS 21 6 1 11 39 156 15 Packers Bears FOX 14 7 7 10 39 157 8 Falcons Eagles FOX 8 12 5 15 39 158 7 Cowboys Panthers FOX 19 7 2 11 39 159 16 Falcons Lions ESPN 17 13 0 9 39 160 12 Browns Steelers CBS 15 7 4 13 39 161 12 Ravens Chargers CBS 18 6 4 11 39 162 4 Chargers Chiefs CBS 11 15 4 8 39 163 6 Giants 49ers FOX 5 6 9 19 39 164 8 Bears Panthers FOX 13 11 1 13 39 165 17 Titans Jaguars CBS 14 16 0 9 38 166 2 Chargers Titans CBS 11 12 9 6 38 167 9 Texans Bills CBS 20 6 1 11 38 168 15 Titans Jets ESPN 21 4 1 13 38 169 1 Chargers Raiders ESPN 15 8 2 13 38 170 9 Packers Cardinals FOX 11 12 4 11 38 171 8 Dolphins Jets CBS 1 9 14 13 37 172 2 Steelers Jets CBS 15 8 5 9 37 173 16 Ravens Giants FOX 5 12 6 14 37 174 8 Broncos Saints NBC 8 12 8 8 37 175 12 Broncos Chiefs CBS 20 5 0 12 37 176 5 Bears Jaguars FOX 15 11 7 4 37 177 2 Bills Chiefs CBS 0 14 15 8 37 178 1 Falcons Chiefs FOX 8 18 2 8 36 179 4 Ravens Browns NFL 12 9 2 13 36 180 17 Bills Jets CBS 20 8 0 8 36 181 10 Texans Bears NBC 21 2 0 13 36 182 17 Colts Texans CBS 20 11 0 5 36 183 17 Steelers Browns CBS 18 7 0 11 36 184 2 Packers Bears NFL 15 7 4 10 36 185 1 Bears Colts CBS 5 17 5 9 36 186 13 Jets Cardinals FOX 22 0 1 13 36 187 17 49ers Cardinals FOX 14 9 0 12 36 188 2 Falcons Broncos ESPN 5 12 7 11 35 189 8 Raiders Chiefs CBS 11 10 1 13 35 190 1 Patriots Titans CBS 7 12 8 8 35 191 14 Vikings Bears FOX 11 8 3 13 34 192 16 Rams Buccaneers FOX 10 10 0 15 34 193 5 Ravens Chiefs CBS 19 1 2 12 34 194 3 Texans Broncos CBS 5 15 4 11 34 195 14 Jets Jaguars CBS 18 5 0 11 34 196 12 Bengals Raiders CBS 11 11 5 7 33 197 10 Titans Dolphins CBS 0 9 6 18 33 198 4 49ers Jets FOX 8 7 13 4 33 199 1 Jets Bills CBS 0 22 3 8 33 200 11 Bills Dolphins NFL 13 7 2 11 33 201 3 Falcons Chargers FOX 8 6 4 15 32 202 15 Vikings Rams FOX 0 16 2 14 32 203 17 Chargers Raiders CBS 8 11 0 13 32 204 9 Saints Eagles ESPN 10 10 4 9 32 205 14 Panthers Falcons FOX 9 13 0 10 32 206 13 Bills Jaguars CBS 8 14 0 9 31 207 7 Bears Lions ESPN 12 2 5 12 31 208 12 Bears Vikings FOX 7 9 6 9 31 209 17 Buccaneers Falcons FOX 13 9 0 9 31 210 16 Broncos Browns CBS 10 11 0 9 30 211 10 Ravens Raiders CBS 0 22 4 5 30 212 10 Broncos Panthers CBS 8 13 2 7 30 213 1 Ravens Bengals ESPN 4 15 4 6 29 214 1 Texans Dolphins CBS 8 9 2 10 29 215 8 Steelers Redskins FOX 7 9 4 9 29 216 16 Panthers Raiders CBS 14 3 0 11 29 217 13 Texans Titans CBS 11 7 0 10 28 218 10 Bengals Giants FOX 0 11 2 16 28 219 14 Browns Chiefs CBS 12 8 0 8 28 220 4 Texans Titans CBS 4 14 2 9 28 221 10 Colts Jaguars NFL 4 8 7 8 28 222 16 Bears Cardinals FOX 3 10 6 10 28 223 12 Patriots Jets NBC 2 19 1 6 28 224 2 Texans Jaguars CBS 8 7 4 8 28 225 12 Giants Packers NBC 0 12 9 6 27 226 9 Bears Titans FOX 0 20 1 5 27 227 9 Lions Jaguars FOX 4 11 2 9 27 228 5 Vikings Titans CBS 2 8 9 8 26 229 11 Bengals Chiefs CBS 10 7 2 7 26 230 14 Broncos Raiders NFL 6 9 0 11 26 231 6 Buccaneers Chiefs CBS 7 12 1 6 26 232 15 Dolphins Jaguars CBS 12 5 0 8 25 233 14 Patriots Texans ESPN 4 15 0 6 25 234 6 Jets Colts CBS 3 11 5 6 25 235 15 Seahawks Bills FOX 0 19 1 5 25 236 11 Saints Raiders FOX 0 15 2 8 25 237 14 49ers Dolphins CBS 4 9 0 11 25 238 11 Redskins Eagles FOX 7 8 2 6 24 239 15 Panthers Chargers FOX 0 9 0 15 23 240 15 Raiders Chiefs CBS 13 1 0 9 23 241 5 49ers Bills CBS 4 12 2 4 22 242 7 Texans Ravens CBS 0 15 1 6 22 243 11 49ers Bears ESPN 5 9 2 6 22 244 15 Broncos Ravens CBS 0 13 0 8 21 245 16 Dolphins Bills CBS 4 7 0 9 21 246 4 Broncos Raiders CBS 0 10 4 6 21 247 8 49ers Cardinals ESPN 4 5 3 8 20 248 16 Seahawks 49ers NBC 0 15 0 5 20 249 16 Packers Titans CBS 0 17 0 2 19 250 8 Patriots Rams CBS 0 14 2 4 19 251 14 Seahawks Cardinals FOX 0 16 4 0 19 252 17 Giants Eagles FOX 0 13 1 5 18 253 17 Broncos Chiefs CBS 0 10 0 7 17 254 17 Patriots Dolphins CBS 4 5 0 8 17 255 15 Falcons Giants FOX 0 7 5 4 16 256 15 Saints Buccaneers FOX 0 10 0 2 12

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