Ranking the potential Super Bowl matchups

All season long, we brought you viewability rankings for every game every week. That's over with now, because every game is a must-watch. However, let's rank the 16 possible Super Bowl games from most to least enticing. 

1. Patriots vs. Saints: Could the Patriots lose the Super Bowl for the third time in seven years? Could the Saints win only a year removed from Bountygate? The two biggest lightning rods in the NFL go head-to-head in a high-scoring game. 

2. Broncos vs. Saints: Manning vs. Brees 2.0. A quarterback rematch from 2009. Plus, so much offense!

3. Broncos vs. Seahawks: You could argue that this is the NFL's best-ever offense against this year's best defense. Plus, it's No. 1 seed vs. No. 1 seed. 

4. Colts vs. Panthers: Cam Newton vs. Andrew Luck. Back-to-back No. 1 overall picks in a battle for Super Bowl No. 1. This would be amazing considering how bad both teams were just a couple years ago. 

5. Chargers vs. Saints: Brees against the team that gave him up. That would be remarkable. 

6. Broncos vs. Panthers: Anything with Peyton Manning shooting for his second Super Bowl is good. Add the Cam Newton element and you're golden. 

7. Broncos vs. 49ers: Same deal as above but with Colin Kaepernick instead of Cam. 

8. Colts vs. Saints: An actual rematch of the 2009 game, and to set this up the Colts would be one hell of a Cinderella. 

9. Colts vs. 49ers: Cinderella Colts against a franchise looking for its sixth Super Bowl, which would tie Pittsburgh for the most all time. Plus it's Luck vs. Harbaugh. 

10. Colts vs. Seahawks: Blowout possibility but Andrew Luck vs. Russell Wilson would be fun. 

11. Patriots vs. 49ers: Great coaching matchup, offensive vs. defense and two tremendous fan bases. 

12. Patriots vs. Seahawks: Fun coaching matchup and offense vs. defense. 

13. Patriots vs. Panthers: It is a rematch of a great regular-season game and a superb Super Bowl from a decade ago. Plus, it's David and Goliath.

14. Chargers vs. 49ers: California Super Bowl. The South vs. the North. Not a lot more to it than that, and there's definitely a blowout possibility. 

15. Chargers vs. Panthers: At least we'd be guaranteed a first-time Super Bowl winner. 

16. Chargers vs. Seahawks: Same deal as above, but this could be a blowout. 

About Brad Gagnon

Brad Gagnon has been passionate about both sports and mass media since he was in diapers -- a passion that won't die until he's in them again. Based in Toronto, he's worked as a national NFL blog editor at theScore.com (covering Super Bowls XLIV, XLV and XLVI), a producer and writer at theScore Television Network and a host, reporter and play-by-play voice at Rogers TV. His work has also appeared at Deadspin, FoxSports.com, The Guardian, The Hockey News and elsewhere at Bloguin, but his day gig has him covering all things NFC East for Bleacher Report.

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