Well, that was interesting.

The regular season is now over, meaning that its time to crown our 2013 winner. Last year, Seth Wickersham of ESPN took the crown on the final day of the season from his ESPN compatriot Chris Mortensen, and this year was just as exciting, as our final two went right down to the wire...

Pickwatch 2013 Champion: John Halpin, FOXSPORTS.com

Congratulations to John, who proved to be one of the most reliable NFL analysts over the entire 2013 season, posting top 10 scores regularly and winning week 12 outright. In a year where the NFL reached new levels of unpredictability, his finial 69.4% win percentage - higher than Wickersham's 68% in 2012 - is particularly impressive.

The final week saw Halpin and Gregg Rosenthal enter the week tied for first place, with Rosenthal holding a tie-breaker advantage by virtue of his better record in week 16. That meant that if the two tied in week 17, Rosenthal would take the crown, however as the picks came in, it became clear that not only would this year's expert contest come down to the final week, it would come down to one game: Detroit at Minnesota...

Incredibly, the game itself came down to a single point, and Minnesota's 13-14 victory saw Halpin win the 2013 regular season contest outright. A fitting finish in a season of wild, crazy endings.

John has also agreed to answer some questions for us at Pickwatch, so we'll bring you that feature later in the week. We'll be trying to speak to more experts during the offseason and getting their thoughts on their picks this season, so keep an eye out for those interviews during the next few weeks.

Pickwatch 2013 Runner-up: Gregg Rosenthal, NFL: Around the League

We admit to being partial to a bit of Around the League action - and not just because we get the occasional mention on their podcast either. Gregg Rosenthal was also the best aspect of ProFootballTalk when he worked there, so it's nice to see that knowledge translate into tangible results. I say it all the time, but picking winners with regularity is what builds many reputations for NFL writers, even if they choose not to acknowledge that (Michael Silver I'm looking at you!)

Anyway, Rosenthal was, like Halpin, a semi-permanent fixture in our top 5 from week 6 onwards and indeed led for many weeks. I think this year he established himself as one of the more trusted experts in the NFL, in fact some of the google search terms used to access Pickwatch were variations on 'Gregg Rosenthal NFL Picks - a sure sign that people are interested in what you have to say.

Congratulations to Gregg on being runner-up and doing so in a semi-entertaining manner on the podcast. We'll have to think of a new nickname as I'm not massive on 'The Boss' as Hanzus refers to him, 'Grumpy Gregg' would seem more appropriate.

Pickwatch 2013 3rd place: Prediction Machine

We like the Prediction Machine. Consistency was the watchword for these guys, as they stayed half a step ahead of their rivals for most of the season and rarely fell below the consensus line. They were also forthcoming with picks that changed through the week, informing us on twitter in advance so that you can keep up to date with any last minute alterations. It's a small thing, but those experts who do this deserve a lot of credit for understanding that fans are hungry for this type of information.

Of course, Prediction Machine is a professional picking website, so it's interesting to see it come out so highly in this type of scenario and set a benchmark not only for other computer-based predictions, but for themselves in the coming years.

As I've mentioned throughout the weekend, Pickwatch will be covering playoff picks starting tomorrow. We'll still incorporate the regular season data so that you can continue to use our tables to make your post-season predictions. We've had some great messages of thanks over the last few days and rest assured, we'll continue to do our very best to keep you ahead of the competition when it comes to picking NFL games.

Happy New Year

Shaun