Power rankings system devised and compiled weekly by Stemshul. “Expert” analysis by paradroid.

Let’s get these power rankings rolling! We are down to just one undefeated team, and probably not who you expected at the beginning of the year: the Arizona Cardinals. The question is, are they for realz, yo? a legitimate contender? Well, they can certainly move the football. The Cards rank 6th in the league in rushing with 136.5 YPG and 3rd in passing at 304.0 YPG, which adds up to first overall in total offense (440.5 YPG, if you don’t want to do math). They’ve also proven adept at turning those yards into points, scoring 35.0 per game, also best in the NFL. But we were expecting that from Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury; what about the defense? So far, so…umm, decent, I guess? Arizona is conceding 357.3 YPG (15th), but surprisingly only 21.3 PPG, which is 9th best. Probably helping is ranking 3rd best in the league with 9 turnovers and +5 turnover differential. There has been some luck involved, because the Cardinals have a fumble recovery rate of 69.23%. This is 6th in the league (Dallas is 1st at 85.71%), but tends to regress to the mean over the course of a season. Last years leader was Carolina at 65.71%, so we’ll see if Arizona keeps this pace up. The defense in playing above itself so far thanks to all those turnovers, but with the offense dominating, they don’t need to be a top 5 defense to win, just a decent one.

We always joke about the Lions finding new and inventive ways to lose. I just wish we had a little less fodder for those jokes sometimes. Last week was an uninspiring 24-14 loss to the also uninspiring Bears, another game where the Lions were good for about 20 of the 60 minutes. Against the 49ers, it was the 1st half that was a disaster, followed by an exciting comeback that had the Lions driving for the tie before falling short in the end. Just to switch it up, against the Packers Detroit led 17-14 at the half and then were outscored 21-0. But the real kick in the nuts was losing to Ravens (tied for 5th in our rankings). This game featured a missed delay of game call near the end and an NFL record 66 yard field goal with no time on the clock for the Ravens’ win. Oof. Up next is the Vikings. I don’t have high expectations for team this year, but I think they need a win or two in the first half of the year just to keep the team’s spirit up. Campbell has the team playing hard and not quitting (as promised), but it’s hard to keep that up if you lose every week. Next up is Minnesota (#19), who might be their best chance for a little while with the Rams (#2) and the Bengals (#13) coming up next.

[table id=155 /]