Mathematical NFL Power Rankings – Week 13
By Keith Myers
Nov 18, 2012; Foxboro, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) celebrates a touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts during the fourth quarter at Gillette Stadium. The New England Patriots won 59-24. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE
We have a new #1 this week, as the Patriots jumped past the 49ers into the top spot. I’m a little surprised that it took this long for them to get up into that spot. Any time you’re averaging almost 15 points more than you’re giving up every week, you’re clearly a dominant team. Throw in very good special teams and a good turnover differential, and you’re going to be pretty high on this rankings even if you do have a pretty week defense. That 92.7 Power ranking means they’re a rare dominant team.
After dropping from 1st all the way to 5th last week, the Bears rebounded up to the #4 spot. They’ve been in the top 5 all season, meaning they’ve been consistently one of the league’s best teams. The Seahawks have their work cut out for them if they are going to pull off an upset in Chicago this Sunday.
As for the Seahawks, they dropped down to #12 after their loss to Miami. 12 seems to be about where they’ve settled in to stay over the past 2 seasons. This team is a borderline playoff team, so 12 seems about right for them. They were higher earlier in the season, but the defensive stats have been slipping every week now for the past 6 games.
Rank |
Last
Team
Yds
PTDif
ST
Power
1
2
New England
0.5
14.8
16.4
92.7
2
1
San Francisco
4.9
11
3.42
89.4
3
3
Houston
1.2
10.5
-1.8
81.8
4
5
Chicago
0.3
9.3
5.76
79.6
5
4
Denver
2.05
8.8
13.3
79.4
6
6
Baltimore
0.3
5.8
12.46
73.9
7
11
NY Giant
-0.65
7.2
-11.08
70.9
8
8
Tampa Bay
1.25
5.1
-11.34
70.3
9
9
Atlanta
-1.2
7.1
2.84
70.2
10
13
Washington
2.45
0.9
1.02
68.8
11
7
Green Bay
0.15
2.5
14.06
68.3
12
10
Seattle
0.5
3.1
5.38
65.5
13
16
Cincinnati
0.3
3.1
2.7
64.7
14
12
Pittsburgh
1.05
1.9
-6.44
63.0
15
14
Minnesota
1.65
-0.1
2.22
60.6
16
15
San Diego
0.2
0.8
-2.34
59.7
17
20
Miami
0.3
-1.3
4.78
56.7
18
17
New Orleans
-2.35
0.4
-0.92
56.4
19
24
Cleveland
-0.95
-3.5
8.5
56.1
20
19
Detroit
-0.2
-1.2
-8.44
55.2
21
22
Carolina
0.5
-4.6
-1.58
54.8
22
18
Dallas
-1.2
-1.8
10.08
53.6
23
26
St. Louis
0.45
-4.5
-12.88
51.5
24
23
Arizona
-2
-4.2
-5.6
49.2
25
25
Buffalo
-0.4
-6.9
12.38
48.0
26
21
NY Jets
-1.1
-6.3
5.22
47.2
27
28
Indianapolis
-1.65
-3.9
-11.08
46.0
28
27
Tennessee
-0.7
-8.9
6.08
45.8
29
29
Philadelphia
-0.25
-8.9
-18.02
39.6
30
31
Jacksonville
-1.8
-10.9
-10.1
37.7
31
30
Oakland
-1.9
-12.6
-15.5
32.1
32
32
Kansas City
-1.95
-12.8
-3.96
31.0
Yds – A combination of offensive and defensive index. Generally a positive number means that a team’s offense is better at moving the move than how opposing offenses are at doing so against it’s defense.
PTDEF – point differential per game.
ST – Special team’s index. Combination os all parts of special teams play.
There are also about 30 other things involved in determining the power level for each team. Those 3 are just the ones I wanted to include in the table this week.