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Power Ranking for Week 2

There's still plenty to celebrate over our win against the Eagles, on the road, on Monday Night Football, etc. and I encourage reader(s) to celebrate in ways reasonable and... uh, enthusiastic?  [The brothers Mottram love them some Redskins football, Hail to that.]

In the interim, I've got to submit my Power Ranking for this week by tomorrow night and am soliciting reader(s) advice on it. Here's how I'm thinking about doing it: I'm going to rank all the 2-0 teams against one another, all the 1-1 teams against one another, and all the 0-2 teams against one another. That task completed, we're going to open debate on which 1-1 should move up to the 2-0 bracket (pushing another team down) and which 1-1 team should move down to the 0-2 bracket (pushing someone else up). As a matter of consistency in an inherently inconsistent and subjective system, I'd like to rely on resume rating as much as possible. That means teams should be ranked according to what they've done (this year) as opposed to what you might have projected them to do at the beginning of the year. Emphasis is placed on games won, considering strength of opponent (which should primarily be ranked by what the opponents have done). Margins of victory matter. I know that it's difficult to rank teams this way since we all had an imbedded sense of how the NFL universe should unfold coming into the season, though hopefully as we collect data we can get past that. Here goes:

2-0 teams
Pittsburgh Steelers - Net point differential is first in the league and they've decimated opponents, never yet having a game in doubt. I'd feel better about them here if they had 2 wins over 1-1 teams, but they did hold a Cleveland Browns team to 7 points a week before it was inexplicably able to score 50+ points. They also dominated Buffalo, who nearly beat the Broncos.
New England Patriots - Effective cheaters, they are. As with the Steelers they've stormed opponents, a 1-1 Chargers team and an 0-2 Jets team. I'll probably have some people claim the Pats should be #1, though I think I'm comfortable defending my position and will likely not budge.
Houston Texans - Controversial pick, here. The Texans might have beaten one of the worst teams in the NFL currently in the Chiefs, but they also beat a team that has done something neither the Jets, Browns, Chargers, nor Bills have managed; more points scored than points allowed. The Carolina Panthers are currently a better 1-1 team than any of the teams beaten by the two behemoths, and I think the Texans deserve credit for what they've done thus far.
Indy Colts - I don't want to give them more credit than necessary for handling the Saints, who are not looking scary whatsoever, though Tennessee is a solid 1-1 team with a win over another 1-1 team.
Detroit Lions - see below.
San Fransisco 49ers - I can't intelligibly distinguish resumes between them and the Lions. Both have beaten a winless team and an even team. Lions get the nod in virtue of having truly handled their shit, whereas the 49ers have played close.
Your Washington Redskins - Call me biased, I give not a steaming poop. The remaining 2-0 teams have all won against 0-2 opponents and have mixed opponents excepting the Broncos; and they have a 4 point margin of victory on their wins combined, sitting them at the bottom of this list.  They destroyed the Giants, though we're claiming that as the least impressive adversary among the common opponents in virtue of their -32 point differential, 2nd worst in the league. Cowboys deserve praise for dominating both opponents, and doing better against a common opponent than the Redskins, but this space thinks beating the Eagles on the road by 8 points is that much more impressive than the incomparable score between the Cowboys v. Dolphins and the Redskins v. Dolphins. Beating the Giants at home? Pfft. (Hope this doesn't come back to haunt me next week.)
Dallas Cowboys - See above.
Green Bay Packers - Less impressive home win over the Eagles gives me enough justification to rank them below the Redskins, though kudos on beating up the Giants.
Denver Broncos - Explained above.

1-1 Teams
Cleveland Browns - GUTSY PICK SKIN PATROL. Allow me to twist myself into a pretzel defending this, though let me have it in the comments. Some teams in the 1-1 bracket have made my life easier by beating each other. Of note, the Browns beat the Bengals, who beat the Ravens, who haven't beatan anyone of consequence. So it stands to reason that Cleveland>Cincy>Baltimore. As far as I can tell as of this moment, the Browns are the only team on the receiving end of a 3 team chain in the 1-1 bracket (besides the Cardinals, below), and thus provide me enough justification to place them here. Their loss is also to the team I've ranked numero uno, and they scored more points in one week than we might in three or four.
Arizona Cardinals - Beat Seattle (1-1) who beat Tampa Bay (1-1).
San Diego Chargers - Using much of the logic from above. They've beaten a 1-1 Bears team, and they lost to the team currently ranked #2 overall. Before you argue a case for them to move up into the 2-0, consider that you might be doing so based more on expectations of their talent rather than what they've done this year, and you almost might be placing too low an emphasis on coaching. Norv Turner.
Tennessee Titans - Beaten a 1-1 Jacksonville team that has yet to lose convincingly, and only loss is to a 2-0 Colts team that is ranked well above. This team, moreso than some of its co-defendants in the 1-1 pack, could very easily have been 2-0 at this point.
Cincinnati Bengals - Lost to the highest ranked 1-1 team, beat another 1-1 team. I'll fill the next spot with a similarly disposed franchise that didn't score nearly as many points.
Seattle Seahawks - Field Gulls is one of my favorite SBNation blogs. To the ranking, they lost to Arizona, who I've ranked high here, and beat a 1-1 team in Tampa Bay.
Minnesota Vikings - Crap shoot from here on out as the remainder of the 1-1 teams have beaten up on very weak competition. The question becomes how much they've beaten down, and how weak are those opponents. The Vikings have an 18 net point differential, best in this bracket (better than my 'Skins even) in virtue of beating up on the Falcons.
Jacksonville Jaguars - Lost to a highly ranked Titans though beat up on just a lowly Atlanta. Following rankings close out pretty much how I'm ranking the beaten teams...
Carolina Panthers - St. Louis Rams (I think) are better than...
Baltimore Ravens - the New York Jets, who are better than...
Chicago Bears - the Kansas City Chiefs, better than...
Tampa Bay Bucs - the New Orleans Saints. Did I miss anyone?

0-2 Teams
Philadelphia Eagles - Mostly self serving at the top of the 0-2 ranks as I don't think it's that important. We're giving props to teams first that have only lost to 2-0 opponents, and especially to those ones that have been beaten by Washington, because we're like so awesome.
Buffalo Bills - Lost to the Steelers. Who wouldn't, right now?
Miami Dolphins - Lost to the Redskins and the Cowboys.
New York Giants - Trying to be consistent here with competing principles. Their margins of loss tell me that they are too high, but the margins have been against the 2-0 Cowboys and the 2-0 Packers. Perhaps an NFC East bias is operating.
Oakland Raiders - Lost to 2-0 Broncos and 2-0 Detroit Lions.
St. Louis Rams - I'm trusting my heirarchy listed in the 1-1 bracket of Rams>Jets>Chiefs>Saints and I'll slide the Falcons after the Saints in virtue of the latter at least losing dramatically to a 2-0 team. Below are the rest:
New York Jets
Kansas City Chiefs
New Orleans Saints
Atlanta Falcons

I am sure there is much tortured logic in there with plenty of inconsistencies, though 32 teams is a lot to keep track of all at once. Let me have it in the comments section and help me get my official power ranking submission ready for next week. I need submissions for which teams should jump brackets, though be very convincing. If you don't like my rankings, there are much smarter, funnier ones elsewhere.

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Well, for starters...
the 0-2's are out.  It's just that simple.

The top 3 are NE, PIT, and IND.  That is also simple.  I know you won't put NE as #1, but they can't be lower than #3.

DEN and DAL have to be near the top 5.  I can't see any reason to exclude WAS.  On the road, beating PHI on Monday night.

So mine would be as follows:

  1. NE
  2. IND
  3. PIT
  4. DEN
  5. DAL
  6. WAS
  7. HOU
  8. GB
  9. DET
  10. SF
The the 1-1's go like this:
  1. SD
  2. BAL
  3. CHI
  4. CIN
  5. CAR
  6. SEA
  7. TEN
  8. MIN
  9. JAX
  10. CLE
  11. ARI
  12. TB
And the 0-2 teams can go in any order, after PHI and NO.  I think they are both much better than they showed in the first 2 weeks.
  1. PHI
  2. NO
  3. BUF
  4. MIA
  5. STL
  6. NYJ
  7. OAK
  8. NYG
  9. KC
  10. ATL
Those are just going by the records... I would put some 1-1 teams (BAL, SD) ahead of some 2-0 teams (SF, DET) but that's just me.

by TexSkins on Sep 18, 2007 9:14 PM EDT   0 recs

Explain Denver
because we seem to really disagree about that one. I'd also like to hear why the Saints are 24 and not 31 or 32.

Some immediate qualms with 1-1 is that you are ranking teams that have beaten others above them. Cinc must be ahead of Baltimore, in my opinion. Cleveland must be ahead of them both. Arizona should be on top of Seattle. Etc.

by Skin Patrol on Sep 18, 2007 9:35 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Winning close games late...
is a sign of a tough team.  Winning late on the road is the sign of a winner, especially in BUF.

Also, I can't fault a team (NO) for losing to tough teams on the road (see SD) so that's why I feel they're better than the 0-2 would suggest.  Losing to ANY division opponent on the road is not a disaster (see CIN) and shouldn't count as much against a team.  That's why NO is that high to me.

Do you really think DET is one of the top 10 teams in the NFL?  And SF?  And HOU?  Power Rankings are so subjective, it's not even funny.  I personally think the Bills (0-2) are better than GB, DET, SF, maybe HOU and maybe WAS, all of whom are 2-0.

From this point forward, are you taking:

BUF, MIA, and PHI

or

DET, SF and GB?

by TexSkins on Sep 19, 2007 1:56 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Re:
Do you really think DET is one of the top 10 teams in the NFL?  And SF?  And HOU?  Power Rankings are so subjective, it's not even funny.  I personally think the Bills (0-2) are better than GB, DET, SF, maybe HOU and maybe WAS, all of whom are 2-0.
Naw, I think DET, SF, and HOU have resumes to date that are better than 20 other teams in the league. I'd like to submit a power ranking that orders teams exclusively by what they've done, not by how good I think or feel they are, since the George Castanza experiment proved pretty conclusively that my personal idea of how good a team is doesn't necessarily correspond to the reality of it.

I'd absolutely have to take DET, SF, and GB over BUF, MIA, and PHI, since the first three are undefeated and the last three are winless. GB beat PHI as well.

I may not be right about where, for instance, where SF, WAS, and DET are relative to each other, within a few spots, but I don't think it's controversial to call them a better team than PHI, MIA, or BUF. In my humble opinion, as of this exact moment, every team in the league that has won 2 games is better than every team in the league that has lost 2. We need more data points, but I'd rather operate on the limited data.

But, I haven't submitted my power ranking yet. I'll modify it taking into account what you've said.

by Skin Patrol on Sep 19, 2007 10:55 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Modifying it...
Denver will move up. I'll move HOU down. I might shift DET and SF down but I like keeping them as a 1-2 punch next to one another, as you have in your rankings.

That's a start...

by Skin Patrol on Sep 19, 2007 10:57 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Houston's still an unknown...
I think they're good.  They have a defense that gets turn overs and an offense that doesn't give up sacks.

The beat a good CAR on the road.  Using your basis, they have to be top 5.  Your analysis was pretty right on regarding them.

And remember, these are YOUR rankings so do with them as you please...

by TexSkins on Sep 19, 2007 11:40 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Reposting mine here:
  1. Patriots (2-0)
  2. Colts (2-0)
  3. Redskins (1-0) (2-0 after tonight)
  4. Broncos (2-0)
  5. Steelers (2-0)
  6. 49ers (2-0)
  7. Bears (1-1)
  8. Chargers (1-1)
  9. Ravens (1-1)
  10. Cincinnati (1-1)

by Burgundy and Gold on Sep 18, 2007 10:54 PM EDT   0 recs

Denver at #4...
Simply because Mike Shanahan is better at icing kickers than Andy Reid.

by Burgundy and Gold on Sep 18, 2007 10:59 PM EDT   0 recs

My rankings
I've been working on a power rankings system using a  mathematical formula to balance results vs performance vs "effect" (on other teams)...There are some obvious quirks that will shake out after a few more game, but this week the Redskins have just made #10...

Here's mine:

1 New England Patriots
# Indianapolis Colts
# Pittsburgh Steelers
# Houston Texans
5 Dallas Cowboys
# Detroit Lions
# San Francisco 49ers
# Denver Broncos
# Green Bay Packers
10 Washington Redskins
# Tennessee Titans
# Minnesota Vikings
# Carolina Panthers
# Tampa Bay Buccanneers
15 San Diego Chargers
# Cleveland Browns
# Arizona Cardinals
# Seattle Seahawks
# Cincinnati Bengals
20 Baltimore Ravens
# Chicago Bears
# Jacksonville Jaguars
# Miami Dolphins
# Philadelphia Eagles
25 Buffalo Bills
# Oakland Raiders
# Atlanta Falcons
# Kansas City Chiefs
# St. Louis Rams
30 New York Jets
# New York Giants
# New Orleans Saints

by power rankings on Sep 19, 2007 2:41 PM EDT   0 recs

Interesting, and thanks for stopping by.
Reader(s) directed to Power Rankings website.

I think these are damn fine rankings, but I'm interested to hear why the top 3 shake out as they did. I felt that Pitt was clearly the best team thus far, though here they aren't even 2nd. I'm probably wrong, but what am I missing?

by Skin Patrol on Sep 19, 2007 2:46 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Pittsburgh is a house of cards
By the numbers, Indy has won in prime-time & against a division rival, while the Pats have done the same.

Personally, I agree, as the Steelers 2 wins have come against weak teams (notwithstanding the Browns eruption vs the Bengals)

** My previous reply didn't seem to post, so forgive me if this double-posts...;)

by power rankings on Sep 19, 2007 5:06 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Browns are a division rival
of the Steelers. Indy won close as well.

by Skin Patrol on Sep 19, 2007 8:50 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Interesting fact
Dallas is last in defense in almost all the categories of the 2-0 teams. In fact they are 26th out of all 32 teams in yards and points PPG given up.

I know their offense makes up for it but how long can they keep that up. When it comes playoff time, assuming DAl makes it in, great D is usually better than great O. Look at INDY they couldnt win the big one until their D was sensational throughout the whole post season. They've had all the offense any team could want for how many years.

by Sincethebeginning on Sep 19, 2007 4:26 PM EDT   0 recs

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