NFL Statistical Rankings: The West Is Where the Weak Is

This week, I’m giving the version of the Pigskin Heaven power rankings, and after Eric’s triumphant debut claiming something about some team in Maryland being the best in football based on whatever cockamamie formula he has to base that on, this one should be simple.

Well, okay, maybe not.

As always, with my world-famous rankings, there will be some rankled feelings. How dare I have a team so low, how can this team be ranked over that team, despite losing to them, am I smoking crack again? You know, all the basic questions arise.

Well, as you guys know, I do a strict statistical based formula, with no room for personal opinion; I left those to the comments section. And yes, even I don’t agree with all of these, one-hundred percent, but here we go.

In an effort to be different, I will bring back some of the comments I made in earlier versions of the rankings, to see how they compare to the rankings of today, and I will also go through these by division.

AFC EAST

Perhaps the most competitive division in football today, this division could, and should, see three teams that all win 10 or more games, and if the cards fall right, two of those teams won’t be in the playoffs. It’s a crazy year.

Back in Week 11, I had this to say: “I’m calling it. Miami wins the AFC East.” Not often this year have I been able to pat myself on the back, just look at my division previews for proof of that, but I realized that the Dolphins were not going away.

Sure, since then they took a big loss to New England, but Miami is still here and they’re the team I still predict to win the division.

The Jets have spent most of the season ranked in the high 20s, taking a hiatus for a little while, when they rose as high as 10th. Then they beat Tennessee, and apparently have since forgotten how to play football. Way back in Week Six, I had this to say: “Brett Favre has taken this team from below average to average. Was it really worth it?

Sadly, unless they find their way into the playoffs, that will likely still hold true. So, here is how the AFC East currently stacks up, with their NFL rank on the far left column.

Rank	Team	Offense	Defense	Total
5	Miami	49.770	18.257	34.013
13	New York	40.952	15.737	28.344
16	New England	37.528	17.260	27.394
26	Buffalo	25.610	17.900	21.755

AFC NORTH
This division was expected to be a two horse race, and a two horse race it has been.

Problem was, Big Brown(s) was supposed to be the second horse, instead it has been Baltimore. Early in the season, with the initial rankings, the Ravens were tops in the NFL.

Then, just a couple of weeks later, having fallen to 14th, here is what I had to say: “I closed the book on the Ravens in the preseason, and never really opened it in the first place. Expect more losses.”

Oops! The Ravens gave the Steelers a great game, they will beat Dallas this week, and they currently rank fourth. Of course, that’s two spots below the Steelers, who continue to dominate with defense. A few weeks into the season, I had this to say: “Pittsburgh’s defense has passed Baltimore’s and Tennessee’s and is now the best in the league”

Obviously that has only become clearer since.

The Bengals, despite being really bad, have played their NFC East games surprisingly close, having beaten Washington, tied Philly, and traveling to New York and Dallas to lose by three and nine points, respectively.

Of course, against the rest of the league, they’ve been nowhere near as good. Here is how the North shakes out this week.

Rank	Team	Offense	Defense	Total
2	Pittsburgh	44.788	26.027	35.407
4	Baltimore	45.098	23.797	34.447
17	Cleveland	37.994	15.600	26.797
29	Cincinnati	20.776	15.467	18.121

AFC SOUTH
Tennessee put a stranglehold on this division early, and even this late run by the Colts can’t stop the Titans from taking the crown. Tennessee hasn’t left the top three in the rankings all season.

The Colts, meanwhile, started the season horribly, and it led to me saying this: “Another team that can just about write off the playoffs. Only thing I’m looking forward too is a Jim Mora like press conference from Dungy. Playoffs?!?”

Alright, I may have been a tad off, but it did take winning seven straight, including back to back against New England and Pittsburgh, for Indy to join the conversation.

The Texans are currently playing some very good ball and they have two winnable games left, meaning that at 9-7, they could join two other teams with winning records in the AFC on the outside of the playoffs.

Rank	Team	Offense	Defense	Total
1	Tennessee	48.368	23.267	35.817
7	Indianapolis	45.584	19.383	32.484
22	Jacksonville	32.348	17.303	24.826
24	Houston	29.362	15.417	22.389

AFC WEST
Over the weeks, my placement of a certain team from Colorado that has led this division from the get-go has drawn the ire of some fans. And despite walking away with the division, the Broncos can still only claim the 27th spot in the rankings.

That probably doesn’t bode well for them come playoff time. This was my Week 11 comment on Denver: “Certain Bronco fans should be happy; Denver rises all the way to 26th. Whatever, I’m calling this too, Broncos win AFC West.”

Well, since then they’ve dropped a spot, San Diego has fallen completely off the map, and KC and Oakland only seem to manage wins against Denver. What a weird team they are. Here are the rest of the West rankings.

Rank	Team	Offense	Defense	Total
21	San Diego	35.284	15.750	25.517
23	Kansas City	38.398	11.227	24.812
25	Oakland	29.062	15.397	22.229
27	Denver	25.956	12.767	19.361

NFC EAST
Early in the year, I liked Washington. And that was long before it became trendy to like Washington. But it seems now, that the league has caught up to them, and they look like they’ll finish in the basement.

Washington has spent most of the season in the top ten of the rankings, and still rank fairly high, thanks to an NFC best defense. Dallas is an enigma; they’ve pretty much always been ranked outside of the top 15, despite winning games.

After stopping their midseason slump and ranking 20th, this was said: “Much needed win, but I don’t think they have enough to keep it going.” Well, they kept it going, but I still don’t think they have enough to beat Baltimore and Philadelphia, which means that yet another good team is watching the playoffs from the couch like the rest of us.

The Giants have been top two all year, but drop to third this week. Philadelphia, like Dallas, has righted the ship and if I were to guess, it will be Philadelphia, and not Dallas, Washington or Atlanta that wins the number six seed in the playoffs.

After a tie followed by a loss, this was said of the 16th ranked Eagles: “Two weeks ago, they were third. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” Well, the mighty have rejoined the top 10. Here are the division results.

Rank	Team	Offense	Defense	Total
3	New York	48.514	20.923	34.719
9	Philadelphia	39.692	21.570	30.631
15	Washington	33.992	21.067	27.529
19	Dallas	32.834	19.897	26.365

NFC NORTH
Four weeks ago, this division was in a standstill. A three-way tie at the top and all teams were 5-5. After that week, I said of the Packers, ranked eighth at the time: “Took a huge bite out of Chicago this week, can they now ride it to division title?”

As I expected, they could not. Meanwhile, this is what I said about the 21st ranked Vikings: “Still may have the best shot at division title.” Score one for me.

In other news, Detroit received their Christmas present from me early this year. The Lions are not, I repeat, not, the worst team in football anymore, as they have risen to 31st and passed the Rams. Now they’ll back up my ratings and win out. Anyway, here is how the division currently stacks up.

Rank	Team	Offense	Defense	Total
10	Green Bay	43.044	15.933	29.489
12	Chicago	40.088	17.203	28.646
14	Minnesota	36.492	18.600	27.546
31	Detroit	20.304	10.447	15.375

NFC SOUTH

What a great year this division is having. But, despite holding a commanding division lead, the Panthers have yet been able to pass Tampa Bay in the rankings.

One of these teams, perhaps two, will miss out, joining the already extensive group of good teams not in the playoffs. Carolina at one point was ranked seventh, then they won, had a bye and won some more, while continually dropping in the rankings.

After they finally stopped that trend in Week 11, here’s what was said: “Finally, Carolina moves up after a win, first time in about four weeks.”

And can someone explain to me what the Saints have done to anger the NFL offices?

A couple of years ago, after Hurricane Katrina, they were forced to play a “home” game against the Giants at Giants Stadium. What? Then the next year, they played at New York again, in a game where the Giants should have met the same fate, having to play their home game in New Orleans.

But that is nothing compared to this year. First, they give them three straight home games, the last coming on October 12th, and then they send the Saints away, playing on the road, followed by the trip to London, the bye week, and two more road games.

They didn’t see action in the Superdome again until Nov. 24, a span of six weeks. With a schedule like that, the Saints never had a chance to prove whether or not they were the class of the division, which currently looks like this.

Rank	Team	Offense	Defense	Total
6	Tampa Bay	45.416	20.837	33.126
8	Carolina	42.824	19.240	31.032
18	New Orleans	38.048	15.437	26.742
20	Atlanta	35.218	16.510	25.864

NFC WEST
I think we all stopped caring about this division a long time.

Sure, it’s a nice story that Arizona finally won a title, and they were ranked third at one point, but even they’ve been sliding. Problem is that nobody can do anything about it.

After the Rams’ winning streak, I said this: “Two wins and the Rams all of a sudden are trying to get respect. A return to the cellar is not happening.” Hmm, guess it is happening.

The two-win Rams are now back to being worse than the no win Lions. Here are the rankings.

This is an original article by Pigskin Heaven Writer, Sascha Bartels. You can read it, more of Sascha’s articles and more from the Pigskin Heaven staff, here.