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NFL Week 7 Power Rankings: Focus On The New Orleans Saints
October 21, 2010
Over at my site—www.GuysNation.com—I do a weekly power ranking of all 32 NFL teams. It's a hugely subjective process in which I try to account for a team's strength of schedule, margin of victory, good wins and bad losses.
Where do the New Orleans Saints currently rank?
A week ago, with a record just slightly above even, the Saints were simply listed in the top half of the NFL, and I was considering them a big disappointment. Not a bad team, but certainly a disappointment following a Super Bowl victory.
Was that Super Bowl a fluke where all the pieces came together at the right time to take a slightly above average team to the promise land, or are the Saints just experiencing some unfortunate circumstances in the early part of this season?
As the weather gets colder, the true mettle of a team starts to arise.
If there's one thing I like, it's when a team goes on the road to win a divisional game. That's part of the reason why I was having trouble believing in the Saints (pun intended) at the beginning of the year, with the effects rippling outwards to these latter weeks as we realize that although the Falcons are a good team, they're not ELITE, so the Saints should've beaten them in New Orleans. Pair that up with the fact that the Saints nearly let one go to the Minnesota Vikings, who have looked hapless against real competition, and things weren't looking good for the Gold & Black Attack.
Then comes the Week 6 drubbing of the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay. When I say drubbing, I mean this is a great example. The offense was performing well and the defense had shut out the Bucs all the way through the third quarter.
So how did I factor that into the rankings? The Saints have now won two-thirds of their games. Only three teams have better records than they do. Did I look past their mostly weak competition and find a way to put them into the Top Five? Did I discredit their wins and look down upon their losses and keep them out of the Top Ten?
For the complete rankings and analysis, check out the article on my website, www.GuysNation.com!
Unlike Power Rankings you see elsewhere, your comments could help persuade me to rank your team better after Week 7!
