I’m finally back writing the Power Rankings post and to mark my triumphant return (stop laughing) we have something that has never happened before in the Power Rankings, a tie! To make that tie even more interesting, it’s in the top five! I know, thrilling stuff.
But that’s down lower in the post, first check out our top three.
The Top Three:
1) Seahawks: The Seahawks lost to the 49ers this week, but they still managed to just barely squeak by the Broncos for the top spot in our rankings. They can lock up the NFC West this weekend with a win and a 49ers loss.
2) Broncos: Peyton Manning can’t play in the cold? Try telling him that. It was close for a while but eventually the Broncos pulled away, but up 50+ in their 51-28 win. Manning threw for nearly 400 yards and had 4 touchdowns. That’s pretty good for someone who “can’t play in the cold.”
3) Saints: The Saints looked pretty angry about that loss in Seattle, returning home to their dome to trounce the Panthers 31-13 on Sunday night. The win kept them in the race for the NFC No. 1 seed with the Seahawks.
Notice the tie at No. 4, something I don’t believe we’ve ever ran into before. Maybe if Brett M. was smarter – he ranked the 49ers No. 6 – then we wouldn’t have this tie. So I guess thank Miller.
Ranking | Team (Record) | Δ* |
1 | Seahawks | – |
2 | Broncos | – |
3 | Saints | +1 |
4 | 49ers | +1 |
4 | Panthers | -1 |
6 | Patriots | – |
7 | Chiefs | +1 |
8 | Bengals | -1 |
9 | Cardinals | – |
10 | Colts | +2 |
11 | Eagles | -1 |
12 | Cowboys | -1 |
13 | Lions | – |
14 | Dolphins | – |
15 | Chargers | – |
16 | Bears | – |
17 | Rams | +1 |
18 | Ravens | -1 |
19 | Titans | +1 |
20 | Buccaneers | +2 |
21 | Steelers | -2 |
22 | Packers | -1 |
23 | Giants | – |
24 | Bills | – |
25 | Falcons | – |
26 | Jets | +3 |
27 | Raiders | -1 |
28 | Browns | -1 |
29 | Vikings | +1 |
30 | Jaguars | +2 |
31 | Redskins | -3 |
32 | Texans | -1 |
*Δ, or Delta, indicates movement up or down from the week prior.
Biggest Movers:
Biggest Move Up: We had 11 teams make no movement and 21 others that barely moved. That makes the Jets (+3) move from 29 to 26 the biggest jump up the board this week. Congrats?
Biggest Fall Down: Our biggest fall was only three slots as well, with the Redskins (-3) dropping from 28 t0 31. The Redskins are horrible and will probably be firing their coach soon. It’s been a rough season in the capitol.
Ranking The NFC West:
Seahawks (1): The Seahawks are good, but they still lost to the 49ers. That’s all I’m going to say this week. Just remember that the Seahawks just lost to the 49ers.
49ers (4): Miller made the comment that the 49ers dropped two spots in DVOA after beating the Seahawks. Too bad we use Weighted DVOA in our formula, which had the 49ers staying steady at No. 6. The Niners didn’t look impressive in their win, but they badly needed it and managed to snag one from the Hawks. With the win the 49ers closed out NFC West play in Candlestick with a 14-0-1 run and haven’t lost to a division team at home since Obama has been in office. Impressive!
That’s a nice run RT @Christian_Gin: The #49ers finished Candlestick Park with a 14-0-1 record against NFC West opponents since 2009.
— Niners Nation (@NinersNation) December 9, 2013
Cardinals (9): The Cardinals just wont go away. They have the second best defense in DVOA this year, behind the Seahawks, and aren’t entirely out of the race for a wild card spot. Pretty incredible the NFC West has three teams in the top 10.
Rams (17): The Rams aren’t as good as we expected they would be, but that’s doesn’t mean they’re terrible. A good QB in St. Louis and the Rams are in contention for the playoffs next year.
How They Voted:
Now that we know the rankings the formula spit out, how about we find out how each individual writer voted? We’re doing this for two reasons; 1) So you can spot potential writer biases and 2) so you know who to direct your hate-filled comments at. Remember, this rankings system is essentially a standard average system, but not entirely. Read the opener to this post again for clarification.
Team | Brett G. | Jordon | Brett M. | Dan | Steven |
49ers | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 |
Seahawks | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Rams | 20 | 12 | 19 | 11 | 15 |
Cardinals | 10 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 |
Bucs | 24 | 18 | 16 | 19 | 22 |
Saints | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
Panthers | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
Falcons | 30 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 26 |
Vikings | 29 | 26 | 29 | 27 | 27 |
Packers | 18 | 24 | 20 | 22 | 21 |
Lions | 14 | 15 | 12 | 16 | 16 |
Bears | 13 | 19 | 10 | 18 | 17 |
Redskins | 31 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 31 |
Eagles | 8 | 20 | 11 | 14 | 11 |
Giants | 22 | 23 | 26 | 25 | 19 |
Cowboys | 12 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 12 |
Chargers | 17 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 14 |
Raiders | 26 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 |
Chiefs | 11 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
Broncos | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Titans | 23 | 16 | 23 | 17 | 20 |
Jaguars | 25 | 30 | 30 | 32 | 24 |
Colts | 9 | 10 | 15 | 10 | 10 |
Texans | 32 | 32 | 32 | 29 | 32 |
Steelers | 21 | 21 | 18 | 21 | 23 |
Browns | 28 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 30 |
Bengals | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
Ravens | 16 | 17 | 21 | 20 | 18 |
Jets | 19 | 29 | 25 | 30 | 25 |
Patriots | 7 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 |
Dolphins | 15 | 13 | 17 | 12 | 13 |
Bills | 27 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 29 |
Ranking The Divisons:
Ranking | Division | Avg. Team Ranking |
1 | NFC West | 7.75 |
2 | AFC West | 12.75 |
3 | NFC South | 13 |
4 | AFC East | 17.5 |
5 | AFC North | 18.75 |
6 | NFC East | 19.25 |
7 | NFC North | 20 |
8 | AFC South | 22.75 |