Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Week 9 Power Rankings

Another wild week of NFL football, but not a lot of changes besides kicking the Chargers out of the top 10 (dropping 7 spots to 12th, tied with Denver for the biggest drop), and showing some love for the Saints 4 game win streak (who move up 7 spots). I moved up Seattle despite the overtime loss to a good team and dropped the Redskins despite the overtime win against a bad team. The AFC West dropped 17 spots as a division, I'm pretty sure the biggest drop this year for a division, balanced out by the NFC North moving up 10 spots and the NFC South moving up 9 spots.

1. New England Patriots (9-0) (Last week: 1) AFC East
2. Indianapolis Colts (7-1) (2) AFC South
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) (3) AFC North
4. Dallas Cowboys (7-1) (4) NFC East
5. Tennessee Titans (6-2) (6) AFC South
6. Green Bay Packers (7-1) (7) NFC North
7. New York Giants (6-2) (10) NFC East
8. Cleveland Browns (5-3) (11) AFC North
9. Detroit Lions (6-2) (15) NFC North
10. Kansas City Chiefs (4-4) (9) AFC West
11. Seattle Seahawks (4-4) (12) NFC West
12. San Diego Chargers (4-4) (5) AFC West
13. Jacksonville Jaguars (5-3) (8) AFC South
14. New Orleans Saints (4-4) (21) NFC South
15. Buffalo Bills (4-4) (17) AFC East
16. Washington Redskins (5-3) (13) NFC East
17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-4) (19) NFC South
18. Houston Texans (4-5) (23) AFC South
19. Baltimore Ravens (4-4) (16) AFC North
20. Carolina Panthers (4-4) (18) NFC South
21. Denver Broncos (3-5) (14) AFC West
22. Oakland Raiders (2-6) (20) AFC West
23. Minnesota Vikings (3-5) (27) NFC North
24. Arizona Cardinals (3-5) (22) NFC West
25. Philadelphia Eagles (3-5) (24) NFC East
26. Cincinnati Bengals (2-6) (25) AFC North
27. Chicago Bears (3-5) (26) NFC North
28. Atlanta Falcons (2-6) (30) NFC South
29. New York Jets (1-8) (29) AFC East
30. San Francisco 49ers (2-6) (28) NFC West
31. Miami Dolphins (0-8) (31) AFC East
32. St. Louis Rams (0-8) (32) NFC West

Division Power Rankings (by sum of team rankings)
AFC South - 38 (-1 from last week)
NFC East - 52 (+1)
AFC North - 56 (+1)
NFC North - 65 (-10)
AFC West - 65 (+17)
AFC East - 76 (-2)
NFC South - 79 (-9)
NFC West - 97 (+3)

4 comments:

Jimmy said...

Maybe I'm biased, but I'm having trouble seeing the reasoning behind the Seahawks being #11 and the Saints being #14. Granted, the Saints looked horrible the first few games but have since really picked it up, especially against Seattle in Seattle. I'm also curious to know if your roommate has any strong feelings about the #16 team not being ranked any higher. Thanks.

Rorschach said...

My roomie is cool with the Redskins being 16th, but you make a good point about having the Seahawks ahead of the Saints. New Orleans won at Seattle to start their win streak. I didn't give the Saints enough credit for beating the 49ers and Falcons, but now I've got to take them seriously. That whole 10-15 range is tough to sort out.

Looking at their schedule, the Saints could easily win their last 8 games. They're definitely back to being the favorite in the NFC South.

Anonymous said...

Good rankings! Interesting observation, of the 39 games between the NFC and AFC, the win total for each is 19 and 20 respectively (5 of the wins for the AFC are Cols/Pats). Not the overall dominance that I would have assumed based on the constant praise that the AFC receives. It's clear that the Colts and Pats are much better than everyone else, but I don't believe that the rest of the AFC is any better than the NFC. Your rankings do a great job of showing that balance.

Rorschach said...

That's a hell of a stat and thanks.

Top to bottom I don't think there's a huge gap between the conferences anymore, but there's a huge gap between some divisions. For example, the NFC West doesn't have a lot of talent right now, and not many good young players. But the NFC East has DeMarcus Ware, Osi Umenyiora, Sean Taylor, and Trent Cole - all will be Pro Bowlers this year 26 or younger. Tony Romo, Eli Manning, and Jason Campbell all look like keepers, while Alex Smith and Matt Leinart look like probably busts. And I just did an entry gushing about the NFC North. That's why I like to break it down by division.