Starting with week 4, I included a contrast of APR's power rankings with ESPN's weekly power rankings. This is the final installment of the series for the 2009 season, along with a summary of the teams that appeared on these lists over the regular season.
Teams that ESPN likes more than APR, week 17:
- Cardinals (+11)
- APR had the Cardinals as high as #4 in week 13 after they beat the Vikings. Since then, they had an embarrassing loss to the 49ers, a couple lackluster wins over the Lions and Rams, and finished up with a no-show game against the Packers. Even if you discount that final game, it hasn't been an impressive home stretch for the Cardinals.
- Colts (+10)
- APR doesn't take into account when teams rest their players. All it knows is the Colt lost to a very weak Bills team by 23 points.
Teams that APR likes more than ESPN, week 17:
- Panthers (-15)
- I will admit the Panthers are not the #3 team in the league right now. But they did show some definite improvement down the stretch, and probably deserve to be ranked higher than #18, where ESPN has them.
- Buffalo (-11), Jets (-11)
- On the other hand, APR clearly has the Bills, and particularly the Jets ranked way too high. As I mentioned several times through the season, APR seems to give a single big win too much weight. It's something I will try to fix over the off-season.
Teams that ESPN liked more than APR, regular season
- Giants (7 weeks)
- The Giants got off to a 5-0 start, and ESPN was in love. The trouble was 4 of those teams (Redskins, Buccaneers, Chiefs, and Raiders) were all dogs, and APR knew it. The Giants won just 3 more games after that.
- Bengals (4 weeks)
- The Bengals look a lot like paper tigers this season. Seven of their wins are by a touchdown or less. That means (like in the loss to the Raiders), all it takes for them to lose is one late game error. It's not the sign of a team that will do well in the playoffs.
- Also-rans
- Eagles, Packers (3 weeks), Cardinals, Chargers, Colts, Vikings (1 week)
Teams that APR liked more than APR, regular season
- Jets (6 weeks)
- As discussed above, this was APR giving too much weight to individual wins, along with a couple division winners laying down for them at the end of the season.
- Panthers (5 weeks)
- The Panthers benefitted from the same quirk, but at least with them I can point to a couple upset wins over the Cardinals and Vikings, along with a strong 3-1 finish.
- Titans (4 weeks)
- The Titans also benefitted from APR's love of wins, rising very quickly once they started their winning streak.
- Also-rans
- Cardinals, Texans (3 weeks), 49ers (2 weeks), Bills, Dolphins, Patriots (1 week)
