rankings cross-posted at sk7326's personal site
The only thing these power rankings have done consistently is change. For the fifth time since we've done this, we have a new number one - even if it is a re-entry. The movements this week were generally smaller - there was no eye popping result to be had ... and the Lions falling from #1 involved being knocked off by a fellow Top 5 team, no shame there. So, after this slightly shorter intro, the rankings - complete with a true quirk. As always, these are a team-to-team comparison based on RPI (schedule adjusted winning pct), schedule-adjusted scoring margin, head-to-head, records vs good teams and record vs common opponents:
1 (2). Green Bay Packers (6-0) 31 pairwins
2 (3). Greater Boston and Providence Patriots (5-1) 30
3 (4). San Francisco 49ers (5-1) 29
4 (1). Detroit Lions (5-1) 27
5 (6). Baltimore Edgar Allan Poems (4-1) 27
6 (5). Buffalo Bills (4-2) 26
7 (8). Oakland Raiders Until the Crypt Keeper's Heirs Move Them (4-2) 24
8 (7). New Orleans Saints (4-2) 22
9 (11). Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2) 22
10 (13). Tennessee Non Oilers (3-2) 22
11 (9). Dallas Cowboys (2-3) 20
12 (10). Cincinnati Other Paul Browns (4-2) 18
13 (19). Land Mass Near Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-2) 17
14 (14). Northern New Jersey Jets (3-3) 16
15 (12). Houston Texans (3-3) 16
16 (15). Washington Racial Slurs (3-2) 15
17 (18). Chicago Bears (3-3) 15
18 (21). Atlanta Falcons (3-3) 14
19 (16). San Diego Until They Become the Los Angeles Chargers (4-1) 11
20 (20). Northern New Jersey Giants (4-2) 11
21 (22). Seattle Seahawks (2-3) 11
22 (23). Philadelphia Eagles (2-4) 10
23 (17). Denver Broncos (1-4) 9
24 (24). Minnesota Vikings (1-5) 6
25 (27). Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5) 5
26 (26). Carolina Panthers (1-5) 4
27 (25). Kansas City Sounds Like a Slur But Isn't (2-3) 3
28 (28). Cleveland Paul Browns (2-3) 3
29 (29). Arizona Cactus Wrens (1-4) 3 - h/t TMQ
30 (32). Saint Louis Rams (0-5)
31 (30). Miami Dolphins (0-5)
32 (31). Indianapolis Colts Not Starring Peyton Manning (0-6)
The most obvious rankings question will be "Why are the Giants the 3rd ranked team in their division?" Well - remembering that the rankings only knows how these teams have performed and who they have played this season - the Cowboys are 2-3, but have played the leagues toughest schedule and have performed extremely well against tougher benchmarks. The Giants' schedule has been tissue paper soft so far - the big win against the Bills notwithstanding - and that is baked in the results. But with the Patriots, Jets and Packers on the horizon, one expects this gap to close some. The Redskins remain ahead of the Giants largely on the strength of their one head-to-head meeting, as their profiles otherwise are quite similar. In a similar vein the Chargers have played a laughably easy slate, much too easy to bolster their ranking much more as of this writing.
If somebody had envisioned that last week, there would be a #1 vs #4 matchup and that was the Lions and the 49ers - that person would rightly have been committed. However, that is indeed the case. As one can imagine, the loser was not penalized heavily. What is incredible at this point is that realistically, given the execrable status of the NFC West, San Francisco might be really really close to, for all practical purposes, punching a ticket to the the playoffs. 2 up in the loss column on Seattle, 3 on Arizona, 4 on Saint Louis with 10 weeks to go. It is not clinched by any means, but the 49ers have a chance to really blow this open.
Finally, the schedule ratings - records listed are opponents record exclusive of the team. (e.g team "A" it is the collective record of its opponents' non-team "A" contests) RPI is avg of opponents W% and opponents' opponents W%:
The 8 toughest schedules to date:
1. Dallas Cowboys (18-6 record, .636 RPI)
2. San Francisco 49ers (18-10, .602)
3. Denver Broncos (17-6, .591)
4. New England Patriots (16-11, .575)
5. Detroit Lions (16-12, .575)
6. Buffalo Bills (19-10, .572)
7. Oakland Raiders (16-12, .559)
8. Tampa Bay Bucs (16-14, .537)
The 8 easiest schedules to date
25. San Diego Chargers (8-14, .465)
26. Carolina Panthers (13-16, .460)
27. Pittsburgh Steelers (11-16, .451)
28. Indianapolis Colts (13-15, .449)
29. New York Giants (10-16, .443)
30. Washington Redskins (7-15, .417)
31. Cleveland Browns (8-15, .414)
32. Arizona Cardinals (7-16, .377)