Updated: Scroll down for APR vs. ESPN
2009
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Power Rankings For Week 7
| Rank | Team | W-L | Power Index | This week |
| 1 (-) | New Orleans Saints | 7-0 | 7.3385 (LW × 1.151) | won by 8 vs Falcons |
| 2 (-) | Indianapolis Colts | 7-0 | 5.1705 (LW × 1.000) | won by 4 vs 49ers |
| 3 (-) | Denver Broncos | 6-1 | 4.9271 (LW × 0.973) | lost by 23 at Ravens |
| 4 (↑2) | New England Patriots | 5-2 | 4.7948 (LW × 1.276) | Bye |
| 5 (↑2) | Dallas Cowboys | 5-2 | 4.6755 (LW × 1.272) | won by 21 vs Seahawks |
| 6 (↑14) | Baltimore Ravens | 4-3 | 4.4893 (LW × 1.794) | won by 23 vs Broncos |
| 7 (↑3) | Houston Texans | 5-3 | 4.4001 (LW × 1.274) | won by 21 at Bills |
| 8 (↓3) | Atlanta Falcons | 4-3 | 4.2771 (LW × 1.130) | lost by 8 at Saints |
| 9 (↑3) | Minnesota Vikings | 7-1 | 4.2006 (LW × 1.313) | won by 12 at Packers |
| 10 (↓2) | Cincinnati Bengals | 5-2 | 4.1805 (LW × 1.138) | Bye |
| 11 (↓7) | Arizona Cardinals | 4-3 | 4.0727 (LW × 0.876) | lost by 13 vs Panthers |
| 12 (↓1) | Pittsburgh Steelers | 5-2 | 3.9322 (LW × 1.154) | Bye |
| 13 (↓4) | New York Jets | 4-4 | 3.8580 (LW × 1.094) | lost by 5 vs Dolphins |
| 14 (-) | Miami Dolphins | 3-4 | 3.6181 (LW × 1.227) | won by 5 at Jets |
| 15 (↑8) | Philadelphia Eagles | 5-2 | 3.4768 (LW × 1.794) | won by 23 vs Giants |
| 16 (↑11) | Carolina Panthers | 3-4 | 3.1599 (LW × 2.727) | won by 13 at Cardinals |
| 17 (↓4) | San Francisco 49ers | 3-4 | 3.0663 (LW × 1.028) | lost by 4 at Colts |
| 18 (↑1) | San Diego Chargers | 4-3 | 2.9436 (LW × 1.164) | won by 8 vs Raiders |
| 19 (↑3) | Buffalo Bills | 3-5 | 2.8927 (LW × 1.250) | lost by 21 vs Texans |
| 20 (↓2) | Chicago Bears | 4-3 | 2.7689 (LW × 1.095) | won by 24 vs Browns |
| 21 (↓4) | Jacksonville Jaguars | 3-4 | 2.7594 (LW × 1.061) | lost by 17 at Titans |
| 22 (↓7) | Green Bay Packers | 4-3 | 2.6640 (LW × 0.940) | lost by 12 vs Vikings |
| 23 (↓7) | New York Giants | 5-3 | 2.6497 (LW × 1.004) | lost by 23 at Eagles |
| 24 (↑2) | Tennessee Titans | 1-6 | 2.4652 (LW × 1.782) | won by 17 vs Jaguars |
| 25 (↓4) | Seattle Seahawks | 2-5 | 2.2241 (LW × 0.957) | lost by 21 at Cowboys |
| 26 (↓1) | Oakland Raiders | 2-6 | 1.7024 (LW × 1.201) | lost by 8 at Chargers |
| 27 (↓3) | Cleveland Browns | 1-7 | 1.5912 (LW × 1.039) | lost by 24 at Bears |
| 28 (↑1) | Kansas City Chiefs | 1-6 | 1.3268 (LW × 1.275) | Bye |
| 29 (↑1) | St. Louis Rams | 1-7 | 1.2895 (LW × 1.270) | won by 7 at Lions |
| 30 (↑1) | Washington Redskins | 2-5 | 1.1930 (LW × 1.416) | Bye |
| 31 (↓3) | Detroit Lions | 1-6 | 1.1355 (LW × 0.989) | lost by 7 vs Rams |
| 32 (-) | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 0-7 | 1.0351 (LW × 1.402) | Bye |
Comments
The Broncos lose by 23 points, but don't fall much because a) it's on the road, and b) every team they beat increased in power this week (with the Patriots and Cowboys up big).
Compare to the Giants, who actually increased (a very little bit) on their 23 point loss. But the benefit from increases by the Cowboys (and others) offsets the loss.
The behavior of this new margin function seems kind of weird. Are the Texans really a top-10 team? Hard to make the case that they're better than the Vikings, or Bengals, or Steelers.
With the Titans and Rams winning this week, the Buccaneers are the only 0-fer team left. The lowest ranked teams left on their schedule are the Panthers (#16), Packers (#22) and Seahawks (#25).
On the other side, the Saints and Colts are the only remaining undefeated teams. The Colts have one of the hardest remaining schedules, and the Saints one of the easiest. (More on this later in the week).
Teams ESPN likes more than APR:
- Packers (+10)
- The Packers are my team, and I wish I could agree with ESPN and rank them #12. But their wins have come against the Rams, Lions, and Browns, with their week 1 win against the Bears the closest they have to a quality win. Hopefully they'll do better against some teams a little softer than the Vikings, but until then, it's hard to rank them much higher than the #22 that APR gives them.
- Giants (+8)
- The Giants manage to look worse and worse every week. ESPN doesn't have the Giants in their top 10 anymore, but now APR has them in the bottom 10. And with the Chargers, Falcons, Broncos, and Cowboys coming up, the Giants season could be over already.
Teams APR likes more than ESPN:
- Texans (-7)
- After a tough start, the Texans have racked up a solid string of wins, and are now at 5-3. They've also got a real shot at their first-ever winning season. I'm not sure that's worth a top-10 ranking, though.
- Panthers (-7)
- One of the oddities of the new margin system is that one good win can really move a team up a long ways, as evidenced by the Panthers' 11-spot jump this week. If they can sustain that same level in the running game they showed against the Cardinals, it'll be worth it.
