As four teams still dream of Super Bowl glory, 28 other NFL fan bases turn their attention forward to the draft and back on the regular season to reflect on the year that was.
The great thing about the NFL is that nothing is static; while some players decline each year, some will take big steps forward and improve dramatically from one year to the next.
Often that improvement comes from the development of a young player, but there can be other reasons for the jump in performance too. Recovering from a significant injury can take more than the first year back in action, and often just finding a new team and new scheme can instantly boost a player's on-field returns.
So here are the 10 most improved players of the 2015 season.
Geno Atkins, DT, Cincinnati Bengals
In 2012, Atkins was the best defensive tackle in football. He was the standout from his draft class, a class in which the debate was over Gerald McCoy or Ndamukong Suh at the top and Atkins was a relative afterthought. Injury robbed him of his 2013 and the following season he was a shadow of his former self. This season, however, Atkins led all defensive tackles in total pressures with 82, and trailed only Aaron Donald in PFF rating among players who didn't miss time with a score of 93.0.