Football is back! That means Power Rankings are back too, and we plug all the rankings into our Rankotron 4000 and get a sense for how all 32 teams stack up.
I don't know about you guys, but it's been a long seven months since the Super Bowl. Even though we're heading into autumn, today kinda feels like the first day of spring. The snow is melting, the grass is coming up, all the little critters are waking up and there's an excitement in the air.
Just like most teams in the NFL, it takes the rankers a few weeks to shake the rust off and get up to speed. Because of that, we don't have the full complement of rankers, especially those on the "Objective" side of things. Well, we don't have any objective rankers. That's fine, since they rely on the actual game stats to make their rankings.
Since it's the start of the season, I'll give everyone a quick primer about how this works.
I troll the web for various NFL power rankings, load them up into my computer and crunch the numbers. I then make observations based on what the numbers tell me. Don't worry, it's nothing too complicated, and I'll walk you through the various displays, explaining as we go along.
Has a team that made it to the playoffs one year ever been so disregarded the next?
Dwight Freeney to Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman: "We're a Super Bowl team because we have the right mentality. There's a feeling on this team that this is our time." Freeney ought to know, having played on a Super Bowl team in Indianapolis. Granted, there was a four- or five-year stretch not that long ago when every season felt like the Chargers' time, and nothing came of it.
It's hard not to like these Chargers. Philip Rivers looked reeeaaal nice in the preseason. As Cousin Eddie would say, it might have been best just to let him finish ... the games, that is. Of course, we don't get to see the No. 1s for very long in August football, so we're still waiting to learn how running back Ryan Mathews will fare. Oh, by the way, coordinator John Pagano's defense looks improved
Before we get to looking at where all the teams rank, let's take look at the bigger picture in the NFL. This table takes the average rankings for each team, then averages the rankings of each team in the division. It's used as a way of showing where the tougher and weaker divisions lie each week.
Division | Week 1 Average | Week 18 Average | Difference |
---|---|---|---|
NFC West | 10.4318 | 7.9605 | -2.4713 |
NFC South | 14.4318 | 14.9605 | 0.5287 |
NFC North | 14.6591 | 19.4079 | 4.7488 |
AFC West | 15.4318 | 13.5132 | -1.9186 |
AFC North | 15.8409 | 17.0526 | 1.2117 |
AFC East | 18.7045 | 16.6184 | -2.0861 |
NFC East | 19.1364 | 20.0789 | 0.9425 |
AFC South | 23.3636 | 22.4079 | -0.9557 |
So, as you can see, I'm including the averages from the last week of last season. I did it this way to see how much things have changed between seasons. So basically, the NFC West doesn't seem as scary as it did a few weeks ago, and the NFC North is surging.
Team | Week 18 Average | Week 1 Average | Difference |
---|---|---|---|
GB | 15.356 | 4.455 | 10.901 |
ATL | 25.578 | 18.273 | 7.305 |
BAL | 18.444 | 11.455 | 6.989 |
CHI | 17.078 | 11.727 | 5.351 |
WAS | 29.983 | 24.818 | 5.165 |
Wow, Green Bay seems poised to be scary good this year. Not surprising that 4 of the 5 teams that rose the most are NFC teams.
Team | Week 18 Average | Week 1 Average | Difference |
---|---|---|---|
CAR | 3.683 | 14.364 | -10.681 |
TEN | 19.444 | 27.364 | -7.920 |
BUF | 22.578 | 29.546 | -6.968 |
KC | 9.494 | 16.273 | -6.779 |
DAL | 18.067 | 23.000 | -4.933 |
Looks like Carolina and Green Bay basically swapped spots. I think the rest pretty much jive with my gut feeling of which teams regressed in the offseason.
We'll start off with the Subjective Average. These rankings are the ones that has actual people ranking the teams based on their gut feelings. You'll see in a moment that some of these sites may even just throw darts at a board, or have a chicken pecking at numbers.
I then take all those rankings and average them together, then sort the table based on the average ranking. This method evens out the peaks and valleys and allows us to get a more reliable "big picture" view of the perception of where teams rank in the league.
Subjective | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
|||
Seahawks | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.182 | 0.374 ![]() |
||
Broncos | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2.000 | -0.444 ![]() |
||
Patriots | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3.818 | 0.515 ![]() |
||
Saints | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4.091 | 2.576 ![]() |
||
Packers | 6 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4.455 | 7.656 ![]() |
||
49ers | 4 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5.636 | -1.747 ![]() |
||
Eagles | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7.546 | 1.787 ![]() |
||
Colts | 8 | 10 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8.818 | 0.182 ![]() |
||
Bengals | 9 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 9.091 | -2.202 ![]() |
||
Ravens | 12 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 10 | 11 | 11.455 | 4.434 ![]() |
||
Chargers | 11 | 12 | 11 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 11.546 | 0.898 ![]() |
||
Bears | 10 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 11.727 | 3.829 ![]() |
||
Cardinals | 14 | 13 | 8 | 10 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 13.273 | -2.495 ![]() |
||
Steelers | 13 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 14.000 | 0.444 ![]() |
||
Panthers | 15 | 14 | 22 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 10 | 16 | 15 | 14.364 | -10.697 ![]() |
||
Chiefs | 16 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 24 | 16 | 16.273 | -7.384 ![]() |
||
Lions | 18 | 11 | 16 | 19 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17.091 | 4.020 ![]() |
||
Falcons | 17 | 19 | 10 | 18 | 27 | 16 | 19 | 14 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 18.273 | 8.283 ![]() |
||
Jets | 21 | 22 | 21 | 17 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 23 | 22 | 18 | 19 | 19.818 | -0.707 ![]() |
||
Buccaneers | 19 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 21 | 25 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 14 | 18 | 21.000 | 5.556 ![]() |
||
Giants | 20 | 21 | 17 | 25 | 23 | 20 | 24 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 23 | 21.182 | 1.040 ![]() |
||
Dolphins | 22 | 20 | 19 | 21 | 18 | 28 | 18 | 27 | 18 | 23 | 24 | 21.636 | -3.192 ![]() |
||
Rams | 24 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 24 | 23 | 20 | 25 | 25 | 20 | 21.636 | -2.303 ![]() |
||
Cowboys | 23 | 25 | 25 | 22 | 26 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 22 | 25 | 23.000 | -5.667 ![]() |
||
Redskins | 25 | 26 | 26 | 24 | 25 | 21 | 27 | 24 | 24 | 29 | 22 | 24.818 | 5.849 ![]() |
||
Vikings | 26 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 22 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 19 | 28 | 25.364 | -0.586 ![]() |
||
Titans | 28 | 30 | 24 | 28 | 24 | 31 | 25 | 29 | 26 | 30 | 26 | 27.364 | -5.475 ![]() |
||
Texans | 27 | 29 | 31 | 26 | 32 | 27 | 31 | 25 | 27 | 31 | 27 | 28.455 | 3.545 ![]() |
||
Browns | 30 | 24 | 28 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 28 | 30 | 28 | 31 | 28.818 | -1.040 ![]() |
||
Jaguars | 31 | 28 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 26 | 28 | 30 | 31 | 26 | 30 | 28.818 | -0.040 ![]() |
||
Bills | 29 | 31 | 29 | 31 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 31 | 29 | 27 | 29 | 29.546 | -4.990 ![]() |
||
Raiders | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 31 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 31.909 | -2.020 ![]() |
Put simply, Standard Deviation is a tool in statistics to measure how much variance there is in a set of numbers. To put more simply: I use it to look at who's ranked the most- and least-consistently. In Standard Deviation, the lower the number, the more consistent the values in the set.
For our purposes, this means the lower the Standard Deviation, the more consistent the rankings. The opposite is true too: the higher the number, the less consistent the rankings.
This table is sorted by most-consistently ranked to least-consistently ranked.
Subjective | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
|||
Raiders | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 31 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 0.288 | -0.279 ![]() |
||
Broncos | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0.426 | -0.071 ![]() |
||
Seahawks | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.575 | -0.110 ![]() |
||
Saints | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 0.900 | 0.233 ![]() |
||
Packers | 6 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 1.076 | -0.024 ![]() |
||
Patriots | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1.113 | 0.170 ![]() |
||
49ers | 4 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 1.150 | 0.413 ![]() |
||
Bills | 29 | 31 | 29 | 31 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 31 | 29 | 27 | 29 | 1.157 | -0.100 ![]() |
||
Eagles | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 1.305 | -0.109 ![]() |
||
Bengals | 9 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 1.443 | 0.568 ![]() |
||
Steelers | 13 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 1.595 | 0.529 ![]() |
||
Jaguars | 31 | 28 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 26 | 28 | 30 | 31 | 26 | 30 | 1.696 | 0.469 ![]() |
||
Browns | 30 | 24 | 28 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 28 | 30 | 28 | 31 | 1.800 | 0.326 ![]() |
||
Cowboys | 23 | 25 | 25 | 22 | 26 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 22 | 25 | 1.859 | 0.704 ![]() |
||
Bears | 10 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 1.911 | 0.340 ![]() |
||
Chargers | 11 | 12 | 11 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 1.924 | 1.427 ![]() |
||
Jets | 21 | 22 | 21 | 17 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 23 | 22 | 18 | 19 | 2.037 | -0.521 ![]() |
||
Colts | 8 | 10 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 2.081 | 1.027 ![]() |
||
Redskins | 25 | 26 | 26 | 24 | 25 | 21 | 27 | 24 | 24 | 29 | 22 | 2.124 | 1.181 ![]() |
||
Giants | 20 | 21 | 17 | 25 | 23 | 20 | 24 | 19 | 21 | 20 | 23 | 2.249 | 0.852 ![]() |
||
Ravens | 12 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 10 | 11 | 2.311 | 1.997 ![]() |
||
Texans | 27 | 29 | 31 | 26 | 32 | 27 | 31 | 25 | 27 | 31 | 27 | 2.311 | 2.311 ![]() |
||
Titans | 28 | 30 | 24 | 28 | 24 | 31 | 25 | 29 | 26 | 30 | 26 | 2.385 | 1.648 ![]() |
||
Lions | 18 | 11 | 16 | 19 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 2.429 | 0.637 ![]() |
||
Cardinals | 14 | 13 | 8 | 10 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 2.453 | 1.138 ![]() |
||
Rams | 24 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 24 | 23 | 20 | 25 | 25 | 20 | 2.460 | 0.969 ![]() |
||
Vikings | 26 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 22 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 28 | 19 | 28 | 2.706 | 2.077 ![]() |
||
Chiefs | 16 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 24 | 16 | 2.863 | 1.200 ![]() |
||
Buccaneers | 19 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 21 | 25 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 14 | 18 | 2.954 | 1.998 ![]() |
||
Panthers | 15 | 14 | 22 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 10 | 16 | 15 | 3.283 | 2.466 ![]() |
||
Dolphins | 22 | 20 | 19 | 21 | 18 | 28 | 18 | 27 | 18 | 23 | 24 | 3.392 | 1.969 ![]() |
||
Falcons | 17 | 19 | 10 | 18 | 27 | 16 | 19 | 14 | 19 | 21 | 21 | 4.114 | 2.543 ![]() |
Subjective |
---|
ESPN |
Fox |
CBS |
USA Today |
Sports Illustrated |
ProFootballTalk |
NFL.com |
SB Nation |
Bleacher Report |
Associated Press |
Loading comments...