The power rankings went 10-4 this week, although I suppose I could argue that I dropped hints in the commentary that would have made it 12-2. But 10-4 it is.
Some nifty changes – Jacksonville was in a JAC=>DAL=>WAS=>JAC beatloop, but Jacksonville has developed an alternate beatpath to Washington, so JAC=>DAL=>WAS reappears back in the graph. This helps out both Indianapolis and Chicago in terms of “strength of beatwins”.
This means that the only operative beatloop at this point is ATL=>CAR=>NO=>ATL. A pretty stable week overall!
PS San Diego still sucks.
Augh! I kept refreshing yesterday to see this, but it didn’t come up! I CRAVED my beatpaths!
BTW, re: San Diego–hate divisional rivals much?
heh heh… I just can’t help myself.
I actually think it’s a fun team, but all last year it just annoyed the heck out of me that people were declaring San Diego to be so powerful. It’s the same this year. There’s a very interesting bias towards particular teams. Last year it was San Diego and the Giants.
Hey–what’s going to happen when SD beats Denver at Mile High in a few weeks? After beating St. Louis? Huh? Mr. Broncos fan? Huh?
But yeah I agree with you about SD getting press it doesn’t deserve. I think mainly this is because of the major shift in focus to reporting on football as if fantasy football was news–everyone picks LT high regardless of how good the team actually is, etc. etc.
That’s why your site is so great–you’ve got a method and it provides interesting and useful information.
If SD beats Denver at Mile HIgh, I will…. whoah! I almost boxed myself in there. That was a close one.
At first glace it looks like SD beating St. Louis would create a beatloop that would help Denver more than hurting them. I can’t wait for St. Louis to fall off that mountain.
I have to admit, I’m amazed that St. Louis is on top. I mean, I know how the graph works, so that’s not amazing. It’s just that, when you watch the games, they sure don’t LOOK like a top-flight team. But then, that’s the point of the graph, right? To judge teams on whether they actually win games?
Re: SD, I’m the same way with Minnesota (I’m a Bears fan). It was really annoying to hear people talk about them in the runup to the CHI-MIN game as being equals. Still, you’ve got to prove it on the field.
As to why SD gets so much press–it’s because most people are watching the games and looking at how the teams play, and San Diego is a team that often LOOKS really good. They just don’t translate it to wins. I mean, look at the FO rankings–SD is 3rd this year, and was 8th last year. They are a good team and look good. But they don’t seem to end up as good as you would think watching them. Plus, the ridiculous competitiveness of the AFC last year hurt them.
Simply put, people who watch San Diego play games usually come out impressed. Even when they lose, they seem to be stronger than you would think.