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freeland1787's Week 9 NFL Power Rankings

The Patriots are #1 once again, but the rankings formula has been changed again to better reflect a team's actual play.

By Michael McDermott
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

This week's Power Rankings come with a major formula change. I've added a tab that counts the number of plays from scrimmage. The spreadsheet already had the numbers for offense and defense, but I also added the number of kickoffs and punts for all 32 teams. Instead of just averaging the four components (Offense, Defense, Special Teams, Schedule) equally, I've created a weighted average between Offense, Defense, and Special Teams by the number of plays then averaged that number with the Schedule component. For Special Teams snaps, field goal attempts are not counted because they aren't counted in the Special Teams rankings page. Due to the change, the Steelers and the Vikings have dropped from the top 10 and have been replaced by the Jets and Raiders.

On offense and defense, I've also added Goal to Go efficiency as part of the Situational Downs grade. There are two components to that grade. The first is a weighted average of 3rd and 4th down conversion rate and the second is a weighted average of Red Zone and Goal to Go efficiency.  Here are the rankings for this week.

Rank Team W-L Off Def ST Schedule OVR Comments
1 NE 7-0 83 53 82 98 84 The Patriots look like the juggernaut of the NFL.
2 CIN 7-0 67 57 66 97 80 The Bengals have already taken care of the AFC North.
3 DEN 7-0 42 75 49 102 79 Peyton Manning's struggles are still an issue.
4 CAR 7-0 49 66 51 99 78 Cam Newton is not an MVP candidate, but their defense is nasty.
5 GB 6-1 61 54 54 86 72 Despite an embarrassing loss, they still can clinch NFC HFA.
6 ATL 6-2 57 50 65 67 61 Despite humiliating loss to Tampa, Falcons can still win division.
7 AZ 6-2 67 59 47 61 61 The Cardinals have looked pretty pedestrian the last 4 weeks.
8 NYJ 4-3 57 68 42 58 59 The Jets are still in the WC race, but QB situation worth monitoring.
9 STL 4-3 36 69 63 59 57 Todd Gurley has been carrying the Rams to 3 straight wins.
10 OAK 4-3 61 47 54 59 56 Oakland is a quick rising team with a very potent offense.
11 MIN 5-2 44 56 72 56 55 Vikings have taken advantage of a weak schedule.
12 NO 4-4 60 40 48 59 54 Brees is healthy, but defense is a concern.
13 PIT 4-4 55 54 68 52 54 The Steelers are now fighting for their playoff lives.
14 SEA 4-4 43 62 47 55 53 Seattle has SB hangover, but don't count them out yet.
15 PHI 3-4 36 66 56 51 52 NFC East is still up for grabs and the Eagles already beat the Giants.
16 KC 3-5 54 49 54 47 49 Chiefs still 1 back of Oakland with 2 H2H games for the WC.
17 BUF 3-4 49 53 49 46 48 It didn't take long for Rex Ryan to work his magic in Buffalo.
18 NYG 4-4 55 45 56 42 46 Despite leading their division, the Giants are unimpressive.
19 WAS 3-4 47 47 41 46 46 Redskins still in the race, but have work to do to jump ahead.
20 TB 3-4 49 45 61 42 46 Bucs picked up an impressive road victory over the Falcons.
21 IND 3-5 42 44 56 40 42 Colts tenuously hold the lead for a very awful division.
22 MIA 3-4 40 45 48 38 40 Dolphins experienced a humiliating loss to the Patriots last week.
23 HOU 3-5 46 48 36 33 39 The Texans might be able to sneak into the playoffs.
24 DAL 2-5 41 41 52 36 39 Dallas needs Romo back in the worst way possible.
25 JAX 2-5 43 40 38 34 37 Jaguars are still only 1/2-game back of Indy.
26 BAL 2-6 49 33 74 29 37 No meaningful January games for January Joe.
27 CHI 2-5 49 35 35 31 36 Bears in desperate need for a total rebuild.
28 SD 2-6 59 39 23 24 35 Rivers is still a top QB, but the rest of the team is garbage.
29 SF 2-6 34 38 56 31 35 49ers are dysfunctional from the top down and it's showing.
30 CLE 2-6 42 42 52 25 34 Browns blew a chance to upset a very beatable AZ team.
31 DET 1-7 37 36 37 15 26 Lions are no longer watchable.
32 TEN 1-6 34 54 66 2 24 Ken Whisenhunt is the first head coach casualty of the season.

The Patriots lead the NFL with a team score of 84. The atriots Offense ranks 1st, Defense 13th, and Special Teams 1st. This should be the final formula for ranking teams unless anyone comes up with great suggestions. If this is indeed the final formula, I would like to thank everyone who helped in perfecting the system. This season is still a beta test, but I'm hoping it turns out well into the future.

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