Power rankings system devised and compiled weekly by Stemshul. “Expert” analysis by paradroid.
Week 12 is here; let’s do some quick observations about relative strength of record. We’ll start at the top. Philadelphia is the only nine win team, but we do have two eight win teams. I am not surprised that Kansas City has more power ranking points than Minnesota, but I am surprised by how close it is. The Chiefs haven’t exactly been setting the world on fire, but Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and the rest of that core has had a lot of success recently, so I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt. The inverse is true of the Vikings, and it wasn’t all that surprising when they were utterly demolished by the Cowboys.
Speaking of which, we have our seven win group. The Bills and the Cowboys lead the way, which feels about right. I’m still on the fence about the Ravens and Dolphins, but I was impressed by Tennessee’s performance last Thursday. The Giants are a team I haven’t liked all season, and they were beaten handily by the Lions, which I greatly enjoyed. There are six teams who currently have six wins, and none of them scream contender to me. If forced to choose, I’d favor the Patriots, but only because they have the best coach.
From here on down we have teams who, even if they sneak in to the postseason, don’t look like they have any chance of making a run. The Chargers have Herbert, and the Buccaneers have Brady, so maybe those guys will get it going (especially in Tampa, who plays in a very poor division). The 4-6 Lions are ranked higher than two of the five win teams (and are nipping at the heels of Tampa Bay). They are handily the best four win team. There are eight three win teams, who should all probably be asking themselves both, “what went wrong?” and, “should we even try to win any more games?”. Seeing the Rams down here is the biggest surprise, and although the Steelers looked weak on paper, Mike Tomlin has never had a losing record, so it’s surprising in that regard. The only team with only one win is Houston. At least they’ll get the number one pick in the draft. And at least they got rid of garbage human being Deshaun Watson. On a related note, Cleveland is one week away from being one of my least favorite teams. Yes, that probably makes the Browns the three win team with the best prospects moving forward, but it sure is depressing that talent is more important than character (and predatory behavior) in professional sports (stunning, I know).
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