Ranking for Week 2 – note we’re still using an inferior tie-breaker as we wait for things to shake out a little more. We respect the beatpath graph, and otherwise rely on the previous week’s rankings. This means that if a previous season’s “bad” team beats a previous season’s “good” team, the losing teams sink quickly, and winning teams rise slowly.
| Rank | Team | Notes | Last Week | BeatPower |
1 |
 |
(Beat MIA) Indianapolis retains the top spot after a weirdly efficient offensive game Monday night. |
1 |
100.0(2/2 – 0/2) |
2 |
 |
(Beat NE) The Jets curiously continue to retain the ranking spot they climbed to last season. |
2 |
100.0(5/5 – 0/5) |
3 |
 |
(Beat DAL) Close game – there should be a law against beating a team for their stadium opener game. Bad omen! |
5 |
100.0(4/4 – 0/4) |
4 |
 |
(Lost to NYJ) New England climbs, due to the collapse of Pittsburgh and Tennessee. |
6 |
66.7(2/3 – 1/3) |
5 |
 |
(Beat SD) That was a crazy play at the end by Ray Lewis. Even on the replay I couldn’t fathom how fast he moved there. |
7 |
100.0(3/3 – 0/3) |
6 |
 |
(Lost to NYG) Dallas still stays in the top ten after the loss. |
8 |
50.0(1/2 – 1/2) |
7 |
 |
(Beat CLE) Denver beats Cleveland as expected. Since we’re still relying on previous-week rankings, they don’t rise as much as they could – other variants have them ranked #1. |
9 |
100.0(6/6 – 0/6) |
8 |
 |
(Beat DET) Minnesota wins, but it’s hard to judge quality based off of the quality of their wins. |
10 |
100.0(2/2 – 0/2) |
9 |
 |
(Beat TEN) Houston demolished Tennessee, which either means Houston is good, or Tennessee is really bad. This week’s rankings are choosing to see Tennessee as bad. |
11 |
50.0(1/2 – 1/2) |
10 |
 |
(Beat CAR) Atlanta wins again, and face a more defining test this weekend against New England. |
12 |
100.0(2/2 – 0/2) |
11 |
 |
(Lost to IND) That was a close one, but beatpaths still thinks Miami is pretty good. |
13 |
0.0(0/2 – 2/2) |
12 |
 |
(Beat GB) Adam Schefter thinks Cincinnati is a real contender this season. |
14 |
80.0(4/5 – 1/5) |
13 |
 |
(Beat SEA) A strange game of the week this week – San Francisco at Minnesota. It’s quite possibly a mirage. |
15 |
100.0(4/4 – 0/4) |
14 |
 |
(Beat JAC) I’m not quite ready to trust Arizona yet – in week 1 they played the same as they did all preseason, and then week 2 they sort of magically appeared. Whether they have staying power remains to be seen. |
16 |
50.0(1/2 – 1/2) |
15 |
 |
(Beat TB) Finally, some shakeups in the rankings. Buffalo beats Tampa Bay… |
20 |
33.3(1/3 – 2/3) |
16 |
 |
(Lost to BUF) making them swap places in the rankings… |
19 |
0.0(0/5 – 5/5) |
17 |
 |
(Beat PHI) and New Orleans defeats Philadelphia… |
21 |
100.0(3/3 – 0/3) |
18 |
 |
(Lost to NO) leaving Philadelphia as the team that loses the most power of the four. |
17 |
50.0(1/2 – 1/2) |
19 |
 |
(Lost to ATL) I remember some thinking Carolina would be pretty good, but I don’t have a sense of their identity changing much over the last few seasons. Maybe they’re just aging. |
18 |
0.0(0/3 – 3/3) |
20 |
 |
(Lost to BAL) Back to normal with the rankings – San Diego rises two due to the collapses of Pittsburgh and Tennessee. |
22 |
66.7(2/3 – 1/3) |
21 |
 |
(Beat STL) Did the Washington fans really boo Washington while they were winning? Just because their opponent was St. Louis? That’s a new benchmark in fan behavior. It must suck to be St. Louis. |
23 |
50.0(1/2 – 1/2) |
22 |
 |
(Lost to DEN) Cleveland holds steady (relatively) after the expected loss to Denver. |
24 |
0.0(0/2 – 2/2) |
23 |
 |
(Beat KC) Oakland was actually favored over Kansas City, so their win doesn’t make them look like a tougher opponent for Denver than they did last week. |
25 |
33.3(1/3 – 2/3) |
24 |
 |
(Lost to ARI) In Jacksonville’s defense, good-Arizona is pretty darn good. |
26 |
0.0(0/3 – 3/3) |
25 |
 |
(Lost to CIN) Green Bay was actually ranked pretty poorly before this game, and Cincinnati was favored according to beatpaths. Of course, that has something of an effect… |
27 |
60.0(3/5 – 2/5) |
26 |
 |
(Beat PIT) … in that that also keeps Chicago down. The ranking tiebreakers are a bit pick-your-poison this early in the season. |
28 |
40.0(2/5 – 3/5) |
27 |
 |
(Lost to CHI) And since Chicago beat Pittsburgh, that makes Pittsburgh collapse, particularly since Pittsburgh’s sole win so far… |
3 |
20.0(1/5 – 4/5) |
28 |
 |
(Lost to HOU) is against a winless team that has lost to another team with beatlosses. So, a major reorganization of the rankings this week. |
4 |
0.0(0/7 – 7/7) |
29 |
 |
(Lost to OAK) The rest of the rankings are as they were before. Kansas City still looks like they are casting about. |
29 |
0.0(0/3 – 3/3) |
30 |
 |
(Lost to SF) Seattle has won once, but you don’t get much credit for defeating St. Louis. |
30 |
50.0(1/2 – 1/2) |
31 |
 |
(Lost to MIN) Detroit holds steady – I wonder what would happen if they played St. Louis? I mean, cosmically. |
31 |
0.0(0/2 – 2/2) |
32 |
 |
(Lost to WAS) But on the other hand, did they actually hold Washington to such a low point total, or was that more Washington’s fault? |
32 |
0.0(0/4 – 4/4) |
Those Pittsburgh and Tennessee falls were exactly the type of thing that makes sense early in a season. I’d expect we’ll see a few more big leaps up and down by teams in the next few weeks as well.
I kind of wonder where New England would be if Buffalo had managed to hold on at the end of the week 1 game. I suppose the answer is, “Below wherever Buffalo ended up.” But then you could play “what if” for just about any close game.