RK Points (record) Team - Last week's ranking 1 9.283 (4 - 0) New Orleans Saints - 1 Saints take their number one ranking into a bye week. They'll probably lose this spot to the winner of the Bronco-Patriot game. 2 7.900 (4 - 0) Denver Broncos - 2 After each Bronco win you come away wondering just how bad the other team really is. But as the Bengals keep winning that week 1 miracle looks more and more impressive. At least mathematically. 3 7.650 (4 - 0) Minnesota Vikings - 4 After looking like it was going to be a season of Favre riding Adrian Peterson's coattails, the old man delivers two straight wins on his back. 4 6.658 (3 - 1) New England Patriots - 9 How do the Pats outrank all other 3-1 teams and and two 4-0 teams? 3 of 4 opponents are over .500. 5 6.083 (4 - 0) Indianapolis Colts - 8 The Colts first 6 opponents: Jax, Mia, Ari, Sea, Ten, Stl. A combined 5-18. They won't move up this ranking any time soon. 6 5.750 (4 - 0) New York Giants - 6 No opponents in first 5 games over .500 and the last two weeks were against 0-4 Bucs and Chiefs. 7 5.650 (3 - 1) New York Jets - 3 1-1 against other teams in the top 10. In the next 4 weeks they get 4 opponents that are currently 1-3 (Miami twice.) 8 4.500 (3 - 1) Cincinnati Bengals - 7 A real test for this team at Baltimore this week. 9 4.500 (3 - 1) Chicago Bears - 12 3 straight victories for Cutler's Bears. 10 3.875 (3 - 1) Baltimore Ravens - 5 They stay in the top 10, but face another tough team in the Bengals. 11 3.708 (3 - 1) San Francisco 49ers - 11 I like this team, but they really haven't beaten anyone yet. 3 victories against Ari, Sea, and Stl. But they are a Favre miracle pass from being 4-0. 12 3.025 (2 - 2) Green Bay Packers - 10 13 2.250 (2 - 2) Dallas Cowboys - 13 14 2.250 (2 - 1) Philadelphia Eagles - 14 15 2.250 (2 - 2) Jacksonville Jaguars - 18 16 2.125 (2 - 1) Atlanta Falcons - 16 17 1.750 (2 - 2) Pittsburgh Steelers - 26 Biggest mover of the week, up 9 spots. 18 1.375 (2 - 2) Houston Texans -22 19 0.875 (2 - 2) San Diego Chargers -15 20 0.875 (1 - 3) Detroit Lions - 17 21 0.875 (1 - 2) Arizona Cardinals - 21 22 0.375 (2 - 2) Washington Redskins - 24 23 -0.250 (1 - 3) Seattle Seahawks - 23 24 -0.250 (1 - 3) Miami Dolphins - 27 That was a bad Buffalo team the Dolphins beat. But a nice debut and 1-0 record for Henne. Let's hope they feed Ronnie the ball on Monday night and get after Sanchez. 25 -0.500 (1 - 3) Oakland Raiders - 20 26 -0.500 (1 - 3) Buffalo Bills - 19 Biggest drop of the week, down 7 spots. Losing to the Dolphins really hurt. Lets do that to the Jets this week! 27 -1.250 (0 - 4) Cleveland Browns - 25 28 -2.500 (0 - 3) Carolina Panthers - 28 29 -3.000 (0 - 4) Kansas City Chiefs - 29 30 -3.125 (0 - 4) Tennessee Titans - 31 31 -3.125 (0 - 4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 30 32 -3.500 (0 - 4) St. Louis Rams - 32
Strength of schedule 2009 strength of Schedule - Team - (games played thus far) 0.587 Detroit Lions ( 0.750 ) 0.583 Carolina Panthers ( 0.600 ) 0.563 Cleveland Browns ( 0.875 ) Toughest schedule through 4 games 0.559 Tampa Bay Buccaneers ( 0.563 ) 0.556 Kansas City Chiefs ( 0.667 ) 0.556 Oakland Raiders ( 0.500 ) 0.548 Philadelphia Eagles ( 0.364 ) 0.531 Baltimore Ravens ( 0.313 ) 0.525 Atlanta Falcons ( 0.429 ) 0.517 New York Giants ( 0.286 ) Easiest schedule through 4 games. 0.516 Miami Dolphins ( 0.583 ) 0.508 Chicago Bears ( 0.375 ) 0.508 St. Louis Rams ( 0.500 ) 0.500 Cincinnati Bengals ( 0.500 ) 0.500 New England Patriots ( 0.727 ) 0.492 Denver Broncos ( 0.375 ) 0.492 Green Bay Packers ( 0.625 ) 0.492 Dallas Cowboys ( 0.533 ) 0.492 Washington Redskins ( 0.313 ) 0.476 Tennessee Titans ( 0.563 ) 0.469 Pittsburgh Steelers ( 0.500 ) 0.468 Minnesota Vikings ( 0.375 ) 0.460 Houston Texans ( 0.375 ) 0.460 San Diego Chargers ( 0.438 ) 0.452 Arizona Cardinals ( 0.750 ) 0.452 Buffalo Bills ( 0.500 ) 0.452 New York Jets ( 0.563 ) 0.444 Indianapolis Colts ( 0.273 ) 0.419 Seattle Seahawks ( 0.833 ) 0.397 Jacksonville Jaguars ( 0.467 ) 0.390 New Orleans Saints ( 0.467 ) 0.383 San Francisco 49ers ( 0.200 )
the strength of schedule is not very valid at this point of the season IMO. The Browns have the toughest so far because they have contributed 25% of their opponents' wins. The same goes for the Giants, contributing 25% of their opponents' losses. notice how most of the bad teams have had "hard" schedules; and the good teams had "easy" schedules.
Yes, most of the teams with good records have an easier schedule thus far because they've made it so. But what is interesting is the teams that are the exceptions to that rule. Interesting exceptions. The Redskins have had the 2nd easiest schedule thus far, and they are a mere 2-2. The Patriots have had the 5th toughest schedule thus far, but they are still 3-1. The Jets, Titans, and Bucs have the same strength of schedule (opponents are 9-7) but two are 0-4 and one is 3-1. The Browns have the toughest schedule so far because they played the Vikings, Broncos, Ravens, and Bengals. Two 4-0 teams and two 3-1 teams. So even if the the Browns were an average 2-2 their opponents so far this season would be 12-4 instead of 14-2. They've clearly had the hardest schedule so far. No need for "quotes" there.
His'n, how many points has the Ravens defense allowed this season? Going on memory it seems that KC hung 23 on them, SD hung 28, the Browns, had maybe 6 pts, and the Patsies had 28? 84 pts? The Phins have had, 19, 26, 24, 10...79?
