Time for the latest power rankings!
First, the graph:
And now the rankings:
| Rank | Team | Notes | Last Week | BeatPower |
1 |
 |
(Beat PHI) Indianapolis is still comfortably in first place. |
1 |
91.7(15/18 – 0/18) |
2 |
 |
(Lost to NE) Chicago loses, but the obliteration of the AFC’s beatpath segment allows them to rise to near the top again. |
10 |
82.5(13/20 – 0/20) |
3 |
 |
(Beat PIT) A quality win over Pittsburgh slams the door on Pittsburgh’s attempts to redefine themselves as a good team again. |
7 |
88.2(13/17 – 0/17) |
4 |
 |
(Beat CHI) New England holds steady near the top of the rankings. |
3 |
75.0(11/20 – 1/20) |
5 |
 |
(Beat DEN) Kansas City’s win over Denver created a key beatloop that was damaging to Denver. Kansas City rises significantly. |
13 |
82.4(11/17 – 0/17) |
6 |
 |
(Beat GB) Seattle continues to improve their standing. |
14 |
80.0(10/15 – 1/15) |
7 |
 |
(Beat DET) Miami was explored a bit more in the comments of the previous entry – they’re continuing to make strides. |
12 |
70.0(6/15 – 0/15) |
8 |
 |
(Beat OAK) San Diego isn’t helped too much by their win over Oakland – they hold steady. |
8 |
82.1(9/14 – 0/14) |
9 |
 |
(Beat TB) Dallas continues to solidify their place in the graph. It wasn’t too long ago they were mired in the bottom. |
11 |
65.0(3/10 – 0/10) |
10 |
 |
(Beat ARI) Minnesota appears helped by two things – the overall flattening of the graph, and the HOU=>JAC link re-emerging. But they do have only one beatloss, so there are a few reasons for their big leap. |
28 |
56.2(4/16 – 2/16) |
11 |
 |
(Beat ATL) New Orleans still is looking good, although their beatwins still aren’t all that impressive. |
9 |
82.1(10/14 – 1/14) |
12 |
 |
(Lost to TEN) Crazy loss to Tennessee – it isn’t impacting them in this week’s graph, but it could in the future if the Giants don’t turn it around. |
15 |
62.5(7/16 – 3/16) |
13 |
 |
(Lost to KC) Denver has lost some key beatwins the last couple of weeks, and finally take a tumble. They could rise again with a win over Seattle, though. |
2 |
64.7(6/17 – 1/17) |
14 |
 |
(Beat CLE) It’s mostly that Cincinnati’s beatwin over Pittsburgh doesn’t look all that impressive anymore, so that’s why they fell. But they still have opportunity to rise with some quality games coming up. |
4 |
60.7(5/14 – 2/14) |
15 |
 |
(Beat JAC) Buffalo gets justly rewarded with their win over Jacksonville. |
23 |
54.5(3/11 – 2/11) |
16 |
 |
(Lost to WAS) Carolina seems like Jacksonville, but less intense. They just can’t seem to get over the hump. |
17 |
50.0(1/12 – 1/12) |
17 |
 |
(Beat SF) St. Louis stands in the way of San Francisco’s resurgence. |
21 |
50.0(3/13 – 3/13) |
18 |
 |
(Beat CAR) Washington helps itself significantly with the win, but the team still has a long way to go. |
30 |
46.2(3/13 – 4/13) |
19 |
 |
(Lost to IND) Philadelphia isn’t really hurt by the loss to Indianapolis, so it’s other minor factors in the graph that explain them rising slightly. |
24 |
44.1(4/17 – 6/17) |
20 |
 |
(Lost to CIN) Cleveland takes a step backward even though their loss to Cincinnati was expected. |
16 |
35.7(3/14 – 7/14) |
21 |
 |
(Lost to NO) Atlanta loses to New Orleans, and it seems like it was through no fault of Michael Vick. |
19 |
30.8(1/13 – 6/13) |
22 |
 |
(Lost to NYJ) Houston is helped by the reappearance of their beatwin over Jacksonville, which might disappear and reappear a couple more times before the season is over… |
32 |
32.1(2/14 – 7/14) |
23 |
 |
(Beat HOU) Despite the victory, the Jets weren’t able to develop a beatwin over Houston, and other graph dynamics lead to them slipping slightly. |
18 |
30.0(2/15 – 8/15) |
24 |
 |
(Lost to SD) Oakland isn’t hurt by their loss to San Diego. |
25 |
20.0(0/10 – 6/10) |
25 |
 |
(Lost to BUF) Jacksonville looked good for a week, but their loss to Buffalo combined with Pittsburgh’s collapse means they don’t have any beatpath foundation anymore, so they tumble. |
5 |
25.0(1/14 – 8/14) |
26 |
 |
(Lost to STL) San Francisco is still looking like they have a lot of potential, even though they don’t have enough quality wins yet. |
27 |
23.1(1/13 – 8/13) |
27 |
 |
(Lost to DAL) Tampa Bay just has a few too many problems to solve, it seems. |
22 |
12.5(0/12 – 9/12) |
28 |
 |
(Beat NYG) Another team with quality potential but that is not quite over the victory hump in terms of beatpaths yet. |
20 |
18.8(0/16 – 10/16) |
29 |
 |
(Lost to SEA) Green Bay had a nice little win streak going on there earlier this season, but they’ve tumbled since then. |
26 |
18.8(1/16 – 11/16) |
30 |
 |
(Lost to BAL) Splat. |
6 |
16.7(0/18 – 12/18) |
31 |
 |
(Lost to MIN) I wonder if Leinart will be paying attention to Cutler’s debut this week. |
29 |
13.9(0/18 – 13/18) |
32 |
 |
(Lost to MIA) According to Bill Belichick, Detroit is a lot better than this. |
31 |
13.6(0/22 – 16/22) |
I find it interesting that this system was started in part out of frustration with stat-driven rankings that don’t account for wins, and yet the Vikes are 5-6 and ranked 10th and the 5-6 Dolphins are 7th! Still, it’s fun stuff.
Yeah, it’s more based off of who you’ve won and lost to, rather than how many wins and losses you have. Things are going to look pretty interesting from now on, because there’s enough season data to suggest some compelling relationships.