Rankings crossposted at sk7326's personal site:
Well, the Buffalo Bills stay at the top was short lived. After their surprising loss to the surprisingly not horrible Cincinnati Bengals, we get a slide. However, with Detroit's shocking comeback over a solid Dallas team (and let's face it, a lot of non-Cowboy fans might have enjoyed that a little) and Green Bay continuing to be Green Bay, the top of the list this week is starting to match the eye test. As we noted in last week's rankings, the "record vs good teams" is a criteria, and this week it starts to kick in a little bit. Anyway, what have we learned through Week 4??
1 (2). Green Bay Packers (4-0) 31 pairwins
2 (6). Detroit Lions (4-0) 30
3 (4). New Orleans Saints (3-1) 27
4 (1). Buffalo Bills (3-1) 27
5 (8). Halfway Between Boston and Providence Patriots (3-1) 27
6 (10). Baltimore Edgar Allan Poems (3-1) 26
7 (11). Tennessee Non-Oilers (3-1) 26
8 (12). Houston Texans (3-1) 23
9 (5). Dallas Cowboys (2-2) 23
10 (13). San Francisco 49ers (3-1) 21
11 (9). Washington Racial Slurs (3-1) 20
12 (3). Oakland for Now Until the Crypt Keeper Moves Them Maybe Raiders (2-2) 19
13 (14). Area Surrounding Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1) 18
14 (7). Northern New Jersey Jets (2-2) 18
15 (15). Northern New Jersey Giants (3-1) 17
16 (17). Cincinnati Other Paul Browns (2-2) 16
17 (16). Chicago Bears (2-2) 16
18 (18). Pittsburgh Steelers (2-2) 12
19 (19). Denver Broncos (1-3) 12
20 (22). San Diego Chargers (3-1) 9
21 (26). Atlanta Falcons (2-2) 8
22 (24). Jacksonville Jaguars (1-3) 7
23 (27). Philadelphia Eagles (1-3) 6
24 (23). Cleveland Paul Browns (2-2) 5
25 (21). Carolina Panthers (1-3) 5
26 (20). Arizona Cardinals (1-3) 5
27 (25). Seattle Seahawks (1-3) 3
28 (28). Minnesota Vikings (0-4) 2
29 (29). Miami Dolphins (0-4) 2
30 (31). Kansas City More Innocuous Native American Reference (1-3) 1
31 (32). Saint Louis Rams (0-4) 0
32 (30). Indianapolis Colts (0-4) 0
The Packers at a clean #1 is not a shock. Combine their top ranked RPI (combination of winning percentage with opponents records) and 2nd rated scoring margin (scoring margin relative to what their opponents usually allow), it is a pretty easy choice. It also matches the eye test one would think. It also is nice to see - given the community ownership model and whatnot - a progressive "number one" at the top. (no, I am not a Packers fan, but hey)
A few of the risers in the bottom need to be taken with some grain of salt. The Eagles move up is essentially a positive offshoot of the Giants and Falcons playing better, and the Jaguars got some push from adding the Saints to their ledger. The Chargers are probably better than a 20th ranked team, but they have played little of substance and lost to the one good team they played.
Anyway, the big riser worth noting is Tennessee. I am not sure they are this good, but it is funny what a quarterback with a pulse can do. The Jets took the big plunge this week, but if you saw that Sunday Night atrocity, you'd do that too. I suspect their game this week will shift things further. Anyway, food for thought.