NFL Power Index: Seattle drops back to 2nd
By Keith Myers
The Seattle Seahawks are no longer on top of the NFL Power Index, but are still one of the truly dominant teams in the NFL this season.
The NFL Power Index has a new top team. After just one week at No. 1 the Seattle Seahawks dropped back to 2nd. The Kansas City Chiefs re-take over the top spot.
Those two teams, along with Arizona, are clearly the NFL’s elite teams this year. The win-loss records can make it tough to fully buy into KC and Seattle, but they’ve been statistically dominant this season.
Interestingly, the undefeated Carolina Panthers are currently 6th. That’s actually the highest they’ve been all season.
The NFL Power Index said the Panther were definitely paper tigers in the first half of the season, but that hasn’t been true recently. They’ve become a dominant team in recent weeks, and have moved up the ranking steadily.
It should also be noted that the NFL Power Index no longer believes in New England, Green Bay or Denver. All have spent time at or near the top of the rankings at some point. That trio peaked early, and have been dropping steadily every week recently.
The complete other end of the spectrum are the San Francisco 49ers. They aren’t just bad, they’re historically bad. It is a shame to think that they used to be a team that was near the top of these rankings every week just a couple of seasons ago.
NFL Power Index for Week 16
| Rank | Last | Team | Yds | Pt Dif | SoS | Power |
| 1 | 2 | Kansas City | 1.3 | 7.7 | 2.1 | 96.46 |
| 2 | 1 | Seattle | 2.1 | 8.7 | 1 | 92.04 |
| 3 | 3 | Arizona | 1.6 | 12.6 | 0.2 | 89.97 |
| 4 | 5 | Cincinnati | 0.8 | 9.6 | 0.8 | 78.36 |
| 5 | 4 | Pittsburgh | 1.1 | 6.5 | 1.9 | 73.98 |
| 6 | 7 | Carolina | 1.5 | 12.2 | -1.5 | 73.45 |
| 7 | 6 | New England | 0.4 | 11.9 | -0.7 | 68.99 |
| 8 | 9 | Denver | 1.1 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 65.15 |
| 9 | 8 | Green Bay | -0.2 | 5.9 | 0.7 | 64.91 |
| 10 | 12 | Minnesota | 0.3 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 60.55 |
| 11 | 11 | NY Jets | 0.4 | 5.2 | -2 | 57.86 |
| 12 | 10 | Buffalo | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 57.50 |
| 13 | 13 | Oakland | -0.1 | -2.6 | 1 | 51.95 |
| 14 | 14 | Tampa Bay | 1.7 | -3.0 | -2.5 | 49.56 |
| 15 | 16 | Houston | -0.7 | -1.9 | -0.3 | 49.26 |
| 16 | 17 | Atlanta | 0.0 | -0.7 | -2.2 | 47.75 |
| 17 | 15 | NY Giants | -0.8 | 1.0 | -1.1 | 47.43 |
| 18 | 18 | Washington | -1.3 | -1.1 | -1.3 | 45.01 |
| 19 | 21 | Jacksonville | 0.4 | -2.6 | -1.8 | 42.99 |
| 20 | 20 | New Orleans | -2.0 | -5.9 | -1.4 | 42.92 |
| 21 | 24 | St. Louis | -0.1 | -3.8 | 0.4 | 41.85 |
| 22 | 19 | Philadelphia | -0.7 | -3.2 | -0.3 | 38.94 |
| 23 | 23 | Tennessee | -0.5 | -6.4 | -2.1 | 37.46 |
| 24 | 30 | San Diego | -1.5 | -4.9 | 0.3 | 36.54 |
| 25 | 22 | Chicago | -0.7 | -4.5 | 1.4 | 35.30 |
| 26 | 27 | Indianapolis | -1.5 | -6.2 | -0.6 | 33.35 |
| 27 | 25 | Miami | -0.3 | -5.9 | -0.4 | 32.56 |
| 28 | 29 | Dallas | 0.2 | -5.5 | 0.5 | 29.91 |
| 29 | 31 | Detroit | -0.6 | -4.3 | 1.5 | 29.53 |
| 30 | 26 | Baltimore | -0.4 | -4.8 | 0.2 | 28.56 |
| 31 | 28 | Cleveland | -1.6 | -9.5 | 0.5 | 25.45 |
| 32 | 32 | San Francisco | -1.1 | -9.8 | 1.9 | 17.90 |
The NFL Power index is created using 32 team stats. All are either an average (like yards per carry) or are per-game stats (like points per game). For context purposes, the yards index, point differential and strength of schedule are included.