NFL Power Rankings - Week 8

Nov 3, 2011, 10:27 PM UTC

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For those of you who are wondering, my friend and I developed this formula as a project for math class. Since we created it two years ago, we have tinkered with it to the point it is currently at. Here is the criteria that our rankings our based on.

Here are the parameters that these rankings are based on

Record (winning percentage)

Strength of Schedule

Strength of Victory

Points Per Game and Points Allowed per game

Yards per Game and Yards allowed per Game

Total offensive rank and Total defensive rank

Turnover differential

Divisional Strength

Conference Strength

After the jump, see this weeks rankings

Rank #. Team Name (Record), (LW Ranking), (LW Percentage), This weeks Percentage

1. Green Bay Packers (7-0) (1), (.995) .995 - They dropped thousandths of a point from .9951 to .9949 because of the Saints loss but still remain the #1 team in the league by a wide margin (For those of you who say, well how is .003 a wide margin it is because the scale is not linear. It is similar to an Earthquake scale where a 9.1 is like 120 times stronger than a 8.8. While it is not that severe, this is not like the BCS where it is linear.)

2. San Francisco 49ers (6-1) (2) (.992) .992 - The Niners maintain there spot at #2 due to having only 1 loss. The Steelers are better by most statistical measures but were unable to make up for having the 1 extra loss. After the Niners drop their 2nd game, I expect them to drop into the middle of the pack for 2 loss teams.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) (5) (.980) .989 - The Steelers rise 2 spots after an impressive victory over the Pats. They barely edge out the other 6-2 team, the Detroit Lions, because of SOS, Division Strength, and their #1 Pass Defense and top 5 overall defense.

4. Detroit Lions (6-2) (6) (.977) .988 - The Lions come in just .0002 points behind the Steelers for reasons listed above. I expect the Lions to consistently finish right behind the Steelers if they have the same record due to the Division Strength mostly (Not saying the NFC North is bad, just that the AFC North is incredibly good. This could change if the Bengals start playing like the Bengals play but as of know the AFC North is the #1 division by a wide margin).

5. Buffalo Bills (5-2) (8) (.972) .984 - The Bills come in as the highest 5-2 team because of a good SOS, quality losses, and high offensive and defensive rankings. Their Division Strength (3rd) helps them as well.

6. Baltimore Ravens (5-2) (7) (.973) .981 - The Ravens are barely holding onto this spot (.0001 points) and if they lose this week they will drop even further. Their performances the past two weeks have hurt their SOV so bad that it has essentially wiped out their 34-7 beatdown of the Steelers in week 1.

7. New England Patriots (5-2) (3) (.992) .980 - The Pats defense looked terrible again this week as Big Ben had a career day. The Pats are not as good as everyone thinks they are and that defense is going to hold them back on the field and in these rankings all season. Despite being ahead by .002 points over the Bengals their 4 decimal scores were (.9796 for the Pats and .9741 for the Bengals) much closer than the 3 decimal scores indicate.

8. Cincinnati Bengals (5-2) (9) (.952) .978 - The Bengals are playing exceptional football right now thanks to an awesome defense and a good offense. As long as they keep winning, they will maintain this spot. Their Division strength (1) helps them edge out the Giants.

9. New York Giants (5-2) (11) (.947) .976 - The Giants come in as the last place 2 loss team because they have 2 embarrassing losses to the Redskins and Seahawks. Those losses hurt their SOV so bad that they are going to struggle to rank higher than this, especially as the Redskins fall further into oblivion (This is the biggest flaw in my formula. One or two bad losses in a season can cap out a teams scoring potential. I have tried to find ways to fix this but I have not figured one out.)

10. New Orleans Saints (5-3) (4) (.983) .954 - The Saints come in as the highest 3 loss team because of that 62-7 victory. They also have a great SOS and their SOV is good, despite losing to the Rams (the Rams loss is essentially offset by the 62-7 win).

11. Houston Texans (5-3) (14) (.929) .950

12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-3) (12) (.932) .932

13. Atlanta Falcons (4-3) (13) (.931) .931

14. Kansas City Chiefs (4-3) (NR) (NR) .929

15. New York Jets (4-3) (15) (.923) .927

16. Tennessee Titans (4-3) (NR) (NR) .922

Dropouts: Oakland, San Diego

Bottom Five

28. Minnesota Vikings (2-6) (29) (.199) .199

29. Arizona Cardinals (1-6) (28) (.214) .139

30. St. Louis Rams (1-6) (31) (.101) .123

31. Miami Dolphins (0-7) (30) (.111) .099