NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 15

The power ranks have been pretty certain on who the top teams in the NFL are over the past few weeks, and again this week there was not much movement. The Falcons and Patriots both improved to 12-2 to stay at #1 and #2, but the Patriots are closing the gap. The Steelers lost to the Jets, but were so far ahead of the #4 Saints going into this week, that they stayed at #3. The Saints, who lost to the Ravens, didn't fare as well, dropping to #7 after losing to the Ravens, who despite being a solid team all year, finally cracked the top 5 for the first time all season in Week 15. The Eagles capitalized on the Saints loss and moved up to #4.

We had some movement on the bottom thanks to some of the bottom 5 teams winning. In a clash of the titans in Carolina, the Panthers got their 2nd win of the season over the #29 Cardinals to move into the #31 spot, dropping the cards to #30. The Bengals also won, moving them up to #29. The Seahawks control their own destiny to win the NFC West, yet are ranked #28. Amazing.

This week we saw 3 teams jump 5 spots in the ranks. The Colts moved to #13 after beating the Jags and taking control of the AFC South. The Lions played wild card spoiler 2 weeks in a row by beating Tampa. The Titans finally showed some life and beat the Texans, jumping them in front of a lot of bunched up teams. The biggest loser this week by far were the Jaguars, who fell 8 spots after losing control of the AFC South, and falling behind a bunch of other mediocre to bad teams.

Playoff Projection:
NFC
First Round Byes: #1 Falcons, #4 Eagles
#9 Giants @ #6 Bears
#7 Saints @ #19 Rams
Top 5 Out: #12 Packers, #14 Buccaneers, #18 Cowboys, #20 Lions, #23 49ers

AFC
First Round Byes: #2 Patriots, #3 Steelers
#10 Jets @ #8 Chiefs
#5 Ravens @ #13 Colts
Top 5 Out: #11 Chargers, #15 Raiders, #16 Browns, #17 Dolphins, #21 Titans

Full Ranks:
1. Falcons - 82.74 - Even
2. Patriots - 82.40 - Even
3. Steelers - 71.40 - Even
4. Eagles - 69.66 - +1
5. Ravens - 68.19 - +1
6. Bears - 65.86 - +4
7. Saints - 65.75 - -3
8. Chiefs - 64.70 - Even
9. Giants - 64.10 - -2
10. Jets - 63.88 - +1
11. Chargers - 62.03 - +1
12. Packers - 57.03 - -3
13. Colts - 54.18 - +5
14. Buccaneers - 50.21 - -1
15. Raiders - 49.05 - +4
16. Browns - 47.68 - -1
17. Dolphins - 46.62 - -1
18. Cowboys - 45.39 - +2
19. Rams - 44.97 - -2
20. Lions - 44.71 - +5
21. Titans - 44.35 - +5
22. Jaguars - 43.71 - -8
23. 49ers - 39.89 - -2
24. Texans - 38.90 - -2
25. Bills - 38.78 - +2
26. Vikings - 36.33 - -2
27. Redskins - 31.37 - -4
28. Seahawks - 31.29 - Even
29. Bengals - 30.26 - +1
30. Cardinals - 26.64 - -1
31. Panthers - 24.94 - +1
32. Broncos - 21.89 - -1

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 14

After an NFL season that has been very tumultuous for just about any team that has been on top of these of the power ranks, I give my salute to the Falcons, who have now been the #1 ranked team in these ranks 5 weeks in a row, and have earned the smiling "Matt Ryan is #1" draft day photo to the right. The Falcons got the blow through the horrible Panthers this week in a 1 vs. 32 showdown, but some of the other top 5 teams had tricky matchups. The Patriots blew out the Bears in snowy Chicago to remain #2, Pittsburgh took care of Cincy to remain 3, and New Orleans beat up on St. Louis to remain #4. The Packers, however, lost Aaron Rodgers and as a result, suffered an awful loss to Detroit, dropping them to #9. Replacing them in the top 5 are the Eagles, who have been lurking around the #5 spot for the past few weeks.

One thing that you may notice this week that will seem odd, is that despite winning 31-0 over Kansas City, the Chargers stayed at #13 while the Chiefs actually moved up a spot to #8. This can be explained. The teams the Chargers were trying to catch, Baltimore and Giants, also got big enough wins to stay in front of San Diego. Meanwhile, the Packers, Bears, and Jets suffered even more devastating losses than the Chiefs (based on opponent strength and/or changes to the "recent success" attribute) knocking them all behind KC.

On the bottom side of things, I had the pleasure to attend live and in person the game between #28 Denver and #31 Arizona, which was won by the Cardinals in convincing fashion. As a result, the Cardinals moved up to #29 while Denver took their spot at #31. Detroit's win over Green Bay moved them out of the bottom 5 to #25, and they were replaced by NFC West co-leader Seattle, who fell all the way back to #28 after being humiliated by San Francisco. That forever answers the question: What's a good sign your division sucks? When one of your teams that is tied for 1st place is ranked #28 out of 32 teams after Week 14 of the season. The Bengals and Panthers stayed ranked #30, and #32, respectively.

This weeks biggest gainers were the Ravens and 49ers, who each jumped 5 spots. The Ravens look like almost a lock for an AFC Wild Card, and the 49ers win kept them alive in the pathetic NFC West race. The biggest losers were Seattle, who fell 8 spots but in real life are still in 1st place. The Raiders also fell 5 spots as they saw their playoff hopes fade this week.

Playoff Projection:
NFC
First Round Byes: #1 Falcons, #5 Eagles
#7 Giants @ #9 Packers
#4 Saints @ #17 Rams
Top 5 Out: #10 Bears, #13 Buccaneers, #20 Cowboys, #21 49ers, #23 Redskins

AFC
First Round Byes: #2 Patriots, #3 Steelers
#11 Jets @ #8 Chiefs
#6 Ravens @ #14 Jaguars
Top 5 Out: #12 Chargers, #15 Browns, #16 Dolphins, #18 Colts, #19 Raiders

Here are the full ranks:
1. Falcons - 82.40 - Even
2. Patriots - 81.36 - Even
3. Steelers - 77.48 - Even
4. Saints - 74.24 - Even
5. Eagles - 69.24 - +3
6. Ravens - 66.77 - +5
7. Giants - 65.89 - +3
8. Chiefs - 62.92 - +1
9. Packers - 62.62 - -4
10. Bears - 62.60 - -4
11. Jets - 62.20 - -4
12. Chargers - 58.54 - Even
13. Buccaneers - 57.11 - Even
14. Jaguars - 52.04 - +3
15. Browns - 48.08 - Even
16. Dolphins - 47.65 - +2
17. Rams - 47.50 - -1
18. Colts - 46.48 - +3
19. Raiders - 43.86 - -5
20. Cowboys - 52.53 - -1
21. 49ers - 42.41 - +5
22. Texans - 39.99 - Even
23. Redskins - 38.25 - +2
24. Vikings - 38.08 - Even
25. Lions - 37.41 - +4
26. Titans - 37.27 - -3
27. Bills - 35.69 - Even
28. Seahawks - 35.00 - -8
29. Cardinals - 28.71 - +2
30. Bengals - 23.33 - Even
31. Broncos - 21.38 - -3
32. Panthers - 17.19 - Even

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 13

Week 13 featured 3 pretty big showdowns with playoff implications on the line. The #1 ranked Falcons disposed of the Buccaneers, causing them to possibly slip out of the NFC playoff race. The Steelers beat the Ravens to take back control of the AFC North. And, last but not least, in a showdown between 2 9-2 teams on Monday night, the Patriots destroyed the Jets to take over 1st place in the AFC East.

These results, of course, had an impact to the top of the power ranks. The Falcons remained at #1, the Steelers jumped up 2 spots to #3, and the Patriots moved up 1 spot to #2. The Jets, who came into this week ranked #2, fell 5 spots back to #7. The Saints stayed put at #4 for their narrow win over Cincy, and oddly, the Packers leapfrogged the Bears (who have been stuck outside the top 5 most of the season despite being 9-3) into the #5 spot.

As usual, the bottom 5 all lost this week, and did not change position. The only thing to note at the bottom is that the Cardinals are so bad that they are at a very strong risk of falling behind 1-11 Carolina.

The biggest gainers this week were the Cowboys and Seahawks, who each jumped 6 spots. The Cowboys beat the Colts in Indy, which would have been more impressive if they weren't facing the 1999-2009 Colts at this point. The Seahawks got to ravage the Panthers, and stay tied in first in the NFC West. The biggest losers were the Colts, who all of the sudden are in an absolute tailspin, but still look like the favorites to win the AFC South, and the 49ers, who got knocked 2 games back of the horrible NFC West playoff race.

Playoff Projection
NFC
First Round Byes: #1 Falcons, #5 Packers
#6 Bears @ #8 Eagles
#4 Saints @ #16 Rams
Top 5 Out: #10 Giants, #13 Buccaneers, #19 Cowboys, #20 Seahawks, #24 Vikings

AFC
First Round Byes: #2 Patriots, #3 Steelers
#11 Ravens @ #9 Chiefs
#7 Jets @ #17 Jaguars
Top 5 Out: #12 Chargers, #14 Raiders, #15 Browns, #18 Dolphins, #21 Colts

Here are the full ranks
1. Falcons - 81.70 - Even
2. Patriots - 79.87 - +1
3. Steelers - 72.76 - +2
4. Saints - 72.07 - Even
5. Packers - 71.57 - +2
6. Bears - 71.14 - Even
7. Jets - 69.26 - -5
8. Eagles - 68.98 - Even
9. Chiefs - 66.48 - +2
10. Giants - 59.92 - +3
11. Ravens - 59.10 - -1
12. Chargers - 57.36 - -3
13. Buccaneers - 55.90 - -1
14. Raiders - 50.47 - +3
15. Browns - 49.92 - +1
16. Rams - 49.42 - +3
17. Jaguars - 49.14 - +1
18. Dolphins - 46.94 - -4
19. Cowboys - 46.93 - +6
20. Seahawks - 44.31 - +6
21. Colts - 44.15 - -6
22. Texans - 42.14 - -1
23. Titans - 40.41 - -1
24. Vikings - 40.13 - Even
25. Redskins - 38.26 - -2
26. 49ers - 36.39 - -6
27. Bills - 31.81 - Even
28. Broncos - 30.74 - Even
29. Lions - 30.60 - Even
30. Bengals - 25.37 - Even
31. Cardinals - 17.39 - Even
32. Panthers - 17.22 - Even

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 12

Remember how last week I mentioned how lopsided the Thanksgiving games were, at least from a power rankings point of view? Well, 5 of the 6 teams that played on Thanksgiving are either in the top 5 or bottom 5. The 3 winners, the Jets, the Patriots, and the Saints, are now ranked #2, 3, and 4, respectively, while the Lions lost pushed them back into the bottom 5 at #29, and the Bengals remained at #30. The other Thanksgiving team, the Cowboys, are #25.

I also realized that I failed to mention last week that we had a #1 vs. #2 battle when the Falcons played the Packers. The Falcons got the win, and remained as the #1 ranked team while the Packers fell all the way to #7 for losing. The Eagles also fell out of the top 5 for losing to the Bears last week, moving down to #8, while the Bears moved up to #6 (these ranks do not count the Eagles win last night).

On the bottom side, the Vikings escaped the bottom 5 by beating Washington, and were replaced by Detroit, as mentioned above. Everyone else in the bottom 5 lost and stayed put.

The biggest gainer this week were the Dolphins, who moved up 6 spots by beating the Raiders and are hanging in there for a playoff spot in the AFC. The Texans and Vikings also moved up 5 spots. The biggest losers were the Titans, who looked terrible with Rusty Smith at QB. They fell 7 spots and would be out of the playoff race if the AFC South wasn't suddenly so mediocre. The Packers, Buccaneers, and Redskins each also dropped 5 spots.

Playoff Projections
NFC
First Round Byes: #1 Falcons, #6 Bears
#7 Packers @ #8 Eagles
#4 Saints @ #19 Rams
Top 5 Out: #12 Buccaneers, #13 Giants, #20 49ers, #23 Redskins, #24 Vikings

AFC
First Round Byes: #2 Jets, #5 Steelers
#10 Ravens @ #9 Chargers
#3 Patriots @ #15 Colts
Top 5 Out: #11 Chiefs, #14 Dolphins, #16 Browns, #17 Raiders, #18 Jaguars

Here are the full ranks:
1. Falcons - 81.56 - Even
2. Jets - 79.61 - +1
3. Patriots - 73.41 - +1
4. Saints - 71.87 - +4
5. Steelers - 71.38 - +1
6. Bears - 70.53 - +4
7. Packers - 69.76 - -5
8. Eagles - 67.93 - -3
9. Chargers - 65.93 - +4
10. Ravens - 65.16 - -1
11. Chiefs - 61.05 - +1
12. Buccaneers - 58.50 - -5
13. Giants - 53.47 - +3
14. Dolphins - 50.73 - +6
15. Colts - 49.55 - -4
16. Browns - 47.83 - +3
17. Raiders - 46.91 - -3
18. Jaguars - 46.39 - -1
19. Rams - 45.94 - +2
20. 49ers - 44.20 - +4
21. Texans - 44.17 - +5
22. Titans - 43.36 - -7
23. Redskins - 41.74 - -5
24. Vikings - 37.24 - +5
25. Cowboys - 36.54 - -3
26. Seahawks - 36.52 - -3
27. Bills - 34.11 - Even
28. Broncos - 30.74 - Even
29. Lions - 30.09 - -4
30. Bengals - 24.54 - Even
31. Cardinals - 18.82 - Even
32. Panthers - 17.90 - Even

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 11

Happy Thanksgiving! We have a busy day in football today with 3 games, so let's talk about the latest edition of the power ranks.

Even though they are not the #1 team (yet) it seems odd to have a season go by without the shouting Eagles fan pictured for a power rank post. So here he is. Yes, for the first time this season, the Eagles have taken over 1st in the NFC East and cracked the top 5 in the power ranks after beating the stumbling Giants. The Falcons remained as the top team this week after beating the Rams. The Packers moved up 1 spot for crushing their former QB and the Vikings, while the Jets fell back 1 spot to #3 for narrowly winning yet again, this time over the Texans. The Patriots knocked off the Colts to take their #4 spot, while the Colts fell all the way back to #11 for the loss.

On the bottom side, some how, some way, the Bills are out of the bottom 5! They now own a 2 game winning streak. Filling their void at #30 was their Week 11 victim, the Bengals. The Cowboys also climbed out of the bottom 5 for winning their 2nd game in a row. Filling in for the Bills and Cowboys are the new #28 Broncos, who fell to 3-7 this week, and the #29 Vikings, who are in complete chaos. The Cardinals and Panthers held on to their #31 and #32 spots, respectively.

The biggest gainer this week was the Cowboys, who jumped up 6 spots to #22 and actually look alive now with Jason Garrett as head coach. The Redskins, Ravens, and Buccaneers also jumped 5 spots. The biggest loser was the Colts, who narrowly lost to New England but actually fell out of 1st place in the AFC South with their loss. They dropped 7 spots to #11. The Giants and Titans, who were 2 of the highest rated teams a few weeks ago, continued their slides to mediocrity by dropping 6 spots each.

Today's games feature pretty much the best and worst of the NFL. We have 2 8-2 vs. 2-8 games and a 7-3 vs. 3-7 game. In ranking terms, you have the #4 Patriots vs. #25 Lions, #8 Saints vs. #22 Cowboys, and #3 Jets vs. #30 Bengals.

Playoff Projections:
NFC
First Round Byes: #1 Falcons, #2 Packers
#8 Saints @ #5 Eagles
#7 Buccaneers @ #21 Rams
Top 5 Out: #10 Bears, #16 Giants, #18 Redskins, #22 Cowboys, #23 Seahawks

AFC
First Round Byes: #3 Jets, #6 Steelers
#9 Ravens @ #11 Colts
#4 Patriots @ #12 Chiefs
Top 5 Out: #13 Chargers, #14 Raiders, #15 Titans, #17 Jaguars, #19 Browns

Full Ranks:
1. Falcons - 81.28 - Even
2. Packers - 76.57 - +1
3. Jets - 72.37 - -1
4. Patriots - 71.81 - +1
5. Eagles - 70.53 - +1
6. Steelers - 66.50 - +1
7. Buccaneers - 64.76 - +5
8. Saints - 64.64 - Even
9. Ravens - 63.73 - +5
10. Bears - 63.55 - +3
11. Colts - 59.72 - -7
12. Chiefs - 57.61 - +3
13. Chargers - 55.67 - +4
14. Raiders - 55.27 - -3
15. Titans - 53.76 - -6
16. Giants - 52.17 - -6
17. Jaguars - 49.18 - +4
18. Redskins - 49.11 - +5
19. Browns - 47.98 - +1
20. Dolphins - 46.67 - -4
21. Rams - 39.45 - -3
22. Cowboys - 38.17 - +6
23. Seahawks - 38.14 - -4
24. 49ers - 35.58 - -2
25. Lions - 35.33 - Even
26. Texans - 35.19 - -2
27. Bills - 34.97 - +3
28. Broncos - 32.63 - -2
29. Vikings - 29.48 - -2
30. Bengals - 26.04 - -1
31. Cardinals - 21.26 - Even
32. Panthers - 17.76 - Even

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Week 10

Yes, its true. The power ranks are actually being posted before any games start in a week where we have a Thursday night game...

This week saw a lot of movement at the top of the ranks. The former #1 Steelers so-called impervious defense took a beating from New England on Sunday night. As a result, the Steelers fell to #7 in the ranks while the Patriots climbed to #5. Taking the Steelers place at the top of the ranks are the 7-2 Falcons. To celebrate, Matt Ryan is holding up a Falcons jersey showing that they are #1....at least I think that is why he has it... The Jets narrow win over the red-hot Browns moved them up 3 spots to #2, while the idle Packers also moved up 3 spots to #3, taking advantage of the Pittsburgh, NY Giants, and Tennessee losses. Also moving up into the top 5 this week are the Colts, who jumped 6 spots to #4. The former top 5 teams, the Giants and Titans, are now ranked #10 and #9, respectively.

On the low end of things, some of the pathetic teams actually won this week, while other teams looked even more pathetic. The Bills got their first win of the season, and as a result jumped up to #30. The Broncos stomped the Chiefs to move out of the bottom 5. The Cowboys also won, but even though they beat the #3 Giants, they are still sitting in the bottom 5 at #27. As a result of these wins, the Panthers moved down to #32 and the Bengals fell to #28. Replacing Denver in the bottom 5 is Arizona, who fell all the way to #31. It's pretty bad when a 3-6 team is below a 1-8 team in the ranks, but the Cardinals are flat out awful. It's hard to believe they actually won 3 games this year.

This week's biggest gainer was the above-mentioned Colts, followed by the Dolphins and Seahawks, who each jumped 5 spots. The biggest losers were the Giants, who lost to awful Dallas, the Ravens, who sunk in the ranks behind a bunch of other 6-3 and 5-4 teams, and the Redskins, who got murdered by the Eagles on Monday night. They each fell 7 spots

Playoff Projections:
NFC
First Round Byes: #1 Falcons, #3 Packers
#10 Giants @ #6 Eagles
#8 Saints @ #18 Rams
Top 5 Out: #12 Buccaneers, #13 Bears, #19 Seahawks, #22 49ers, #23 Redskins

AFC
First Round Byes: #2 Jets, #4 Colts
#9 Titans @ #7 Steelers
#5 Patriots @ #11 Raiders
Top 5 Out: #14 Ravens, #15 Chiefs, #16 Dolphins, #17 Chargers, #20 Browns

Here are the full ranks:
1. Falcons - 74.47 - +1
2. Jets - 73.13 - +3
3. Packers - 70.48 - +3
4. Colts - 70.42 - +3
5. Patriots - 70.35 - +3
6. Eagles - 68.09 - +3
7. Steelers - 63.61 - -6
8. Saints - 62.73 - +3
9. Titans - 61.17 - -5
10. Giants - 60.85 - -7
11. Raiders - 60.73 - +1
12. Buccaneers - 60.14 - +2
13. Bears - 57.32 - +2
14. Ravens - 57.06 - -7
15. Chiefs - 55.16 - -2
16. Dolphins - 48.78 - +5
17. Chargers - 47.45 - +2
18. Rams - 46.64 - -1
19. Seahawks - 49.95 - +5
20. Browns - 45.84 - -2
21. Jaguars - 44.94 - +2
22. 49ers - 42.31 - +4
23. Redskins - 41.42 - -7
24. Texans - 40.70 - -2
25. Lions - 38.66 - -5
26. Broncos - 36.06 - +3
27. Vikings - 31.79 - -2
28. Cowboys - 29.64 - +3
29. Bengals - 28.02 - -1
30. Bills - 24.41 - +2
31. Cardinals - 23.18 - -4
32. Panthers - 22.38 - -2