What this is
A comparison of APR's Week 6 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:
- Jets (+7)
- I'm not quite sure what to make of the Jets right now. The Patriots are the only quality team they've beaten, and they've had a couple late wins pretty much gifted to them. On the other hand, their defense has been doing pretty well, and Geno Smith has only a couple games with a passer rating lower than 71.9. If they can even split their next two games (@ Bengals, vs Saints), I'll be willing to admit they belong higher in the rankings.
- On the bubble:
- Nobody closer than the Bears (+5)
Teams APR likes more than ESPN:
- Cardinals (-9)
- As mentioned last week, Carson Palmer is the weak link on this team, and he threw a couple more game-breaking interceptions last Thursday. Still, I think because of the strength of their defense and special teams, the Cards are better than at least a few of the teams ESPN has ranked above them (Browns, Falcons, Eagles)
- On the bubble:
- The Packers (-6), and all the other highly ranked teams seem pretty close together, and I don't see a real favorite. All of the teams ESPN has rated above them have a better win-loss record, so I don't see anything to complain about ESPN's #9 rank. This is another difference that will have to be resolved going forward.
