2008 Navigation Links
Read this for a description of APR
| Rank | Team | W-L | Power Index | This week |
| 1 (-) | Tennessee Titans | 9-0 | 1.5768 (LW × 1.032) | won by 7 at Bears |
| 2 (↑1) | Baltimore Ravens | 6-3 | 1.4748 (LW × 1.018) | won by 28 at Texans |
| 3 (↑1) | New York Giants | 8-1 | 1.4605 (LW × 1.009) | won by 5 at Eagles |
| 4 (↑3) | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 6-3 | 1.4090 (LW × 1.005) | Bye |
| 5 (↓3) | Pittsburgh Steelers | 6-3 | 1.4053 (LW × 0.960) | lost by 4 vs Colts |
| 6 (↓1) | Philadelphia Eagles | 5-4 | 1.4000 (LW × 0.973) | lost by 5 vs Giants |
| 7 (↓1) | Carolina Panthers | 7-2 | 1.3985 (LW × 0.992) | won by 11 at Raiders |
| 8 (↑6) | Indianapolis Colts | 5-4 | 1.3683 (LW × 1.051) | won by 4 at Steelers |
| 9 (↑2) | Atlanta Falcons | 6-3 | 1.3625 (LW × 1.020) | won by 14 vs Saints |
| 10 (-) | Green Bay Packers | 4-5 | 1.3575 (LW × 0.997) | lost by 1 at Vikings |
| 11 (↓2) | Chicago Bears | 5-4 | 1.3402 (LW × 0.969) | lost by 7 vs Titans |
| 12 (↓4) | Arizona Cardinals | 6-3 | 1.3284 (LW × 0.960) | won by 5 vs 49ers |
| 13 (↑4) | New York Jets | 6-3 | 1.3099 (LW × 1.014) | won by 44 vs Rams |
| 14 (↓1) | Minnesota Vikings | 5-4 | 1.3085 (LW × 1.004) | won by 1 vs Packers |
| 15 (↑5) | New England Patriots | 6-3 | 1.3071 (LW × 1.037) | won by 10 vs Bills |
| 16 (↓4) | Miami Dolphins | 5-4 | 1.3010 (LW × 0.993) | won by 2 vs Seahawks |
| 17 (↓1) | Dallas Cowboys | 5-4 | 1.2791 (LW × 0.988) | Bye |
| 18 (↑1) | San Diego Chargers | 4-5 | 1.2703 (LW × 0.995) | won by 1 vs Chiefs |
| 19 (↑4) | Jacksonville Jaguars | 4-5 | 1.2600 (LW × 1.027) | won by 24 at Lions |
| 20 (↓5) | Washington Redskins | 6-3 | 1.2595 (LW × 0.971) | Bye |
| 21 (↓3) | Cleveland Browns | 3-6 | 1.2407 (LW × 0.966) | lost by 4 vs Broncos |
| 22 (-) | Buffalo Bills | 5-4 | 1.2156 (LW × 0.978) | lost by 10 at Patriots |
| 23 (↓2) | New Orleans Saints | 4-5 | 1.2109 (LW × 0.973) | lost by 14 at Falcons |
| 24 (↑2) | Denver Broncos | 5-4 | 1.1827 (LW × 1.053) | won by 4 at Browns |
| 25 (↓1) | Houston Texans | 3-6 | 1.1703 (LW × 0.965) | lost by 28 vs Ravens |
| 26 (↓1) | Seattle Seahawks | 2-7 | 1.1463 (LW × 1.019) | lost by 2 at Dolphins |
| 27 (↑1) | Kansas City Chiefs | 1-8 | 1.1335 (LW × 1.032) | lost by 1 at Chargers |
| 28 (↑1) | Cincinnati Bengals | 1-8 | 1.0873 (LW × 0.999) | Bye |
| 29 (↑1) | Oakland Raiders | 2-7 | 1.0765 (LW × 1.005) | lost by 11 vs Panthers |
| 30 (↓3) | St. Louis Rams | 2-7 | 1.0753 (LW × 0.968) | lost by 44 at Jets |
| 31 (↑1) | San Francisco 49ers | 2-7 | 1.0655 (LW × 1.033) | lost by 5 at Cardinals |
| 32 (↓1) | Detroit Lions | 0-9 | 0.9979 (LW × 0.953) | lost by 24 vs Jaguars |
Comments:
In spite of some impressive recent wins, the Giants are still being held down by the weak teams they've played (Rams, Bengals, Seahawks, 49ers are a combined 7-29). Still, they could've taken second place in the rankings if they had beat the Eagles by 7 points.
It says a lot about how bad the Raiders are that they couldn't beat the Panthers, in spite of the fact that Jake Delhomme threw 4 interceptions and completed just 7 passes (to his own receivers). When the Panthers play a bad game, they don't go for half-measures...
Cardinals lose 4% power, and drop 4 spots. Sometimes, dropping a team on a close win against a bad team is exactly the right thing to do.
Once again, the Broncos are the lowest-ranked team with a winning record. They might not finish with much more than 8 wins this year, but the way the rest of the AFC West is playing, that might be enough to win the division.
The Chargers improve to 1-2 on games decided by last-second, desperation plays. They are presently ranked above the fore-mentioned Broncos, but I wonder if that will last beyond upcoming games against the Steelers, Colts, Falcons, and Buccaneers.
Teams ESPN likes more than APR:
- Redskins (+15)
- A lot of the Redskins' opponents lost this weekend, which caused APR to drop them 5 spots on their bye. Comments from last week still hold.
- Patriots (+8)
- APR moves the Patriots up 5 on their win over the Bills, but so does ESPN. Upcoming games against the Jets, Dolphins and Steelers should resolve who the Patriots are this year.
Teams APR likes more than ESPN:
- Packers (-11)
- APR is giving the Packers the benefit of the doubt for some close road losses. But they are ranked above 10(!) teams with winning records. ESPN says "Something is missing this season in Green Bay". The name of that something is a run defense. APR will pick the Packers to beat the Bears next week, but I'll be really surprised if that actually happens.
- Ravens (-10)
- The Ravens beat up on a pretty bad Texans team. They've got the Giants next, which should finally resolve the #2/#3 issue once and for all.
Historically Bad Teams Watch
With the Rams blow-out loss to the Jets this week, they are now averaging -17.11 net points per game this season, which is good for 5th-worst place since 1970, just ahead of the 4th-worst 1981 Colts, who averaged -17.12 net points per game.
Also worth mentioning: Lions are at -14.00/game (#21), Bengals are at -12.33/game (#30), and the Raiders are at -11.67/game (#38).
