What this is
A comparison of APR's Week 16 power rankings with ESPN's rankings for the same week of games. This acts as a sanity check (both ways) to see what teams are over- or underrated.
Only teams with the widest differential are listed. The number in parentheses is the difference between APR's rank and ESPN's rank.
Teams ESPN likes more than APR:
- Colts (+9)
- ESPN gives the Colts a 1-spot bump on their 1-score win over the foundering Chiefs. The good news is they've clinched a playoff spot. Perhaps also counting as good news, they'll likely play the Ravens in the wildcard round, which is one of the few possible opponents that won't mean an easy win for the home team.
- Texans (-7)
- The Texans are really not giving the impression of a team building up momentum for the playoffs. Since their late October Bye week, they've gone to overtime against a couple bad teams, got blown out by the Patriots, and this week suffered a pretty embarrassing home loss to the Vikings.
- On the bubble
- Nodbody closer than the Falcons (+4)
Teams APR likes more than ESPN:
- Saints (-7)
- APR holds the Saints steady on their overtime win over the Cowboys. If this team had any kind of a defense at all, they'd be right in the thick of the playoff chase.
- On the bubble
- Nobody closer than the Panthers (-5)
