There are so many ridiculous, glaring flaws in your system I don't even know where to begin. You mention Baltimore has played a top 3 difficult schedule and is 3-1. They've also beaten the number one and number 2 teams in your rankings. Oh and they beat Both of those teams on the road. You mention Baltimore has had trouble scoring points but again they played Pittsburgh and the Jets, arguably the two best defenses this year besides Baltimore, who they obviously can't play against. So you then offer up the logic that if Baltimore played AFC West teams on a neutral field, they'd lose....in spite of the fact Baltimore has beaten the other top 2 teams on the road. Did you borrow your system from the AP polls for College football? You're rewarding crap teams for playing other crap teams and getting out to a better record. How about using common sense and tweaking the rankings based on common sense?
Beat the Jets by one point, Baltimore had to come back against the Browns, and beat a Steelers team that was getting insufficient pressure on Flacco to throw him off. The Ravens have a -8 turnover ratio and are only +6 in point differential. If they continue to turn the ball over as they have for the first quarter of the season they will not finish well. Baltimore gas been barely winning close games and turning the ball over at a high rate. This fact makes me not believe in them at the moment. So, according to my ridiculous, glaringly flawed system if Baltimore played an average of their first four games against KC or SD (also playing an average of their first four game) Baltimore would lose. I've added a significant modifier to a team's rating due to wins/losses this year but again, we've only played four games and no team has more than three wins with many having two so this is not affecting the ratings much. I would love to make opponent adjustments but just don't have the time to collect the data in game by game format. As for common sense, I'll let the season play out and prove me wrong. As it goes I'll also update my rankings.
Using the standard home team 3 point cushion for betting lines, the Ravens.....Beat the "number one" Jets by a point on the road. That would have been a 4 point win at home for them. Beat the number 2 Steelers on the road by 3 points, would have been 6 in Baltimore. The Browns are a divisional rival, and those games are always tougher regardless of talent difference. And they still won the game. This isn't Madden football you know, good teams win close games. Not every game is going to be a blowout. Also just because the Jets blew out Buffalo doesn't make me believe in them anymore. I still think they are the best team in the league right now but let's take that victory for what it was really worth shall we? I just don't know how you could watch Baltimore in person as a Jets fan, and see how they absolutely shut you guys down, and then say they aren't a good team. Any rankings system that says that is flat out wrong.
Playing @ Dallas in a must win game for Dallas is not an easy game. The Dallas D is ranked 5. Name a better team in the NFC than the Giants. (personally I hate the Giants...except when they beat the Pats in the SB)
The Giants may very well be the best team in the NFC, but that's beside the point. This is the NFL Power Rankings, not NFC. NFC is a joke this year. Giants may be 5 now though, just not when you said they were...
I still say they aren't the best team in the division. Looking forward to Giants @ Eagles in week 11.
The Giants have taken out 5 QB's this year. It's not an accident. Lucky the Eagles have a spare. They'll need it.
They were playing like shit when u picked em few weeks ago. They have straightened their act now though. Still, they are nowhere near my rankings of top 5 NFL teams. They barely escaped with a win against Lions and their third string QB and without Jahvid Best. They barely escaped with a victory against Kitna, who's team was inches away from recovering an onside kick. No, they are not yet a top 5 NFL team, but maybe a top 10 though. Would you rank them above Pittsburth, Jets, Pats, Ravens and Indy? Or even Atlanta and KC?
Because I love being called an idiot, I'll post my ranking post week 7. 1) Pitt - The best, by far, defense in the league matched with a very good(!?! 8.6ypa) passing attack. 2) Jets - High scoring strong rushing game matched with a defense that prevents points and yards on the ground. Good return game. "If only they had a QB." (MS) 3) Titans - High scoring balanced offense matched with an opportunistic stingy defense. 4) Gints - Strong offense that hurts itself with turnovers. Worst in league return game. Bendable defense that gives up average points. 5) NE - Highest scoring offense, not turning the ball over. Very good return game. Defense is performing slightly below average overall. 6) Chefs (in honor of RJ) - Strong rushing attack, doesn't turn the ball over. Defense is performing above average. 7) Eagles - Strong rushing attack. Defense is doing well against the pass. 8) Da Bearsh - Falling in the ratings. Passing game is still putting up lots of yards, if not lots of points. Return game is best in league, overtaking the Leon Washingtons, but their punter is tied for worst in league. Number two defense in the league. 9) Falcons - Offense is putting up points with a balanced attack and a lack of turnovers. Defense allows lots of yards through the air but is otherwise decent. 10) Leon Washingtons - Offense is poor. Defense is performing well, mainly by preventing yards on the ground. 11) 'Aints - Offense is being held above water by a mediocre passing attack. Defense is performing well all around. 12) Crows - Rushing attack takes alot of reps to pile up the yards. Special teams are underperforming. Defense is preventing points but not getting takeaways. 13) (Fudge) Packers - Good offense led by a very strong passing attack. Defense struggles against the run. 14) Colts - High scoring passing attack. Defense allows alot of yards on the ground. 15) Texans - Best offense in the league. Horrible defense. . . . 32) Bills - I included this for our Canadian friends.
1. Steelers 2. Patriots 3. Jets 4. Dolphins 5. Ravens 6. Titans 7. Giants 8. Colts 9. Falcons 10. Saints It gets pretty ugly after that . . .
You helped my find an error in my spreadsheet. I had the Chargers hard coded as +1 in wins. I fixed that and they drop way down in the rankings. I'll go fix the list.
Also no Ravens in your top 15? They beat your #1 and #2 teams and lost to your #5 team in OT on the road. That's gotta count for something right? EDIT: I'm an idiot, didn't see "Crows" lol. At any rate, 12 seems kinda low considering who they beat
The Crows are 12th. I don't take into account who they beat. Just their win/loss record, yardage, turnovers and points scored/allowed. The Ravens are not beating anyone by much. After barely scraping by the worst team in the league on their home field, I'm starting to come closer to where my rankings put them. I'm ranking wins pretty highly right now, as a result NFC teams beating other NFC teams are ranked higher than I otherwise would rank them.
10/28/2010 my top 10: 1) Pittsburgh Steelers 2) New York Jets 3) Baltimore Ravens 4) Indianapolis Colts 5) New England Patriots 6) New York Giants 7) Houston Texans 8) Washington Redskins 9) Atlanta Falcons 10) Green Bay Packers