The Colts 35-34 victory over the Patriots last week made some movement at the top of our rankings, as both teams moved up a spot in the Adjusted Rankings. The Colts moved up to #3, and the Patriots now take the top spot, with the 2nd best Offense, and 8th best Defense.
As in previous weeks, I have both the Adjusted and Raw rankings, as well as the Adjusted Strength of Schedule and Future Schedule. Let's get to the rankings:
Here are the rankings for Week 11 (click on headers to sort):| Team | Power Rankings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Adjusted | Adjusted | |||||
| Offense | Defense | Total | Offense | Defense | Total | |
| Patriots | 1 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| Saints | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Colts | 2 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 3 |
| Bengals | 12 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 1 | 4 |
| Steelers | 4 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 13 | 5 |
| Ravens | 5 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 6 |
| Packers | 10 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 7 |
| Giants | 11 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 8 |
| Vikings | 7 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 9 |
| Cowboys | 6 | 19 | 12 | 6 | 22 | 10 |
| Dolphins | 15 | 18 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 11 |
| Cardinals | 19 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 5 | 12 |
| Texans | 14 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 13 |
| Eagles | 16 | 2 | 10 | 16 | 9 | 14 |
| Jets | 22 | 3 | 15 | 21 | 2 | 15 |
| Broncos | 17 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 11 | 16 |
| Falcons | 9 | 30 | 19 | 5 | 28 | 17 |
| Chargers | 8 | 27 | 18 | 8 | 31 | 18 |
| 49ers | 27 | 9 | 23 | 27 | 3 | 19 |
| Redskins | 18 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Bears | 20 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 24 | 21 |
| Seahawks | 21 | 17 | 22 | 23 | 15 | 22 |
| Panthers | 23 | 22 | 24 | 22 | 19 | 23 |
| Jaguars | 13 | 29 | 20 | 15 | 30 | 24 |
| Titans | 25 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 17 | 25 |
| Bills | 30 | 20 | 26 | 28 | 21 | 26 |
| Lions | 26 | 31 | 28 | 26 | 29 | 27 |
| Buccaneers | 28 | 26 | 29 | 29 | 26 | 28 |
| Chiefs | 29 | 23 | 27 | 30 | 23 | 29 |
| Rams | 24 | 32 | 30 | 24 | 32 | 30 |
| Browns | 32 | 28 | 32 | 31 | 25 | 31 |
| Raiders | 31 | 25 | 31 | 32 | 27 | 32 |
Some thoughts:
- The Colts are pretty even between Raw and Adjusted numbers, which means they've played pretty close to a league-average schedule. It's great to see the defensively numbers up as high as they are.
- The Bengals are just as good on paper as they are on TV. Look for them to continue winning, as they have the easiest schedule going forward.
- Five of the top 6 teams are in the AFC, including 3 teams in the AFC North. The team who makes it out of there should be favored against any team in the Super Bowl.
Here's the schedule strengths:
| Team | Strength of Schedule |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past | Future | |||||
| Offense | Defense | Total | Offense | Defense | Total | |
| Browns | 1 | 1 | 1 | 32 | 26 | 30 |
| Bengals | 4 | 2 | 2 | 31 | 32 | 32 |
| Broncos | 20 | 3 | 3 | 29 | 22 | 27 |
| Dolphins | 8 | 4 | 4 | 25 | 13 | 15 |
| Buccaneers | 7 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Lions | 15 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 25 | 10 |
| Falcons | 9 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 21 | 19 |
| Titans | 10 | 6 | 8 | 28 | 16 | 18 |
| Ravens | 6 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 8 | 4 |
| Bears | 3 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 6 |
| Rams | 11 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 30 | 25 |
| Patriots | 12 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 12 |
| Jets | 21 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 6 | 8 |
| Bills | 5 | 18 | 14 | 17 | 4 | 7 |
| Steelers | 16 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 23 | 21 |
| Panthers | 27 | 8 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 49ers | 25 | 11 | 17 | 19 | 29 | 28 |
| Chargers | 18 | 23 | 18 | 26 | 27 | 29 |
| Vikings | 22 | 28 | 19 | 4 | 20 | 16 |
| Colts | 13 | 24 | 20 | 13 | 19 | 23 |
| Seahawks | 24 | 19 | 21 | 12 | 28 | 26 |
| Cardinals | 17 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 31 | 31 |
| Texans | 2 | 31 | 23 | 27 | 14 | 20 |
| Packers | 29 | 20 | 24 | 6 | 24 | 17 |
| Raiders | 23 | 21 | 25 | 9 | 7 | 3 |
| Cowboys | 19 | 24 | 26 | 21 | 10 | 13 |
| Saints | 26 | 26 | 27 | 30 | 12 | 22 |
| Giants | 28 | 29 | 28 | 16 | 5 | 9 |
| Chiefs | 32 | 17 | 29 | 22 | 18 | 24 |
| Jaguars | 14 | 32 | 30 | 9 | 17 | 11 |
| Eagles | 30 | 27 | 31 | 15 | 9 | 14 |
| Redskins | 31 | 30 | 32 | 24 | 1 | 2 |
A couple things here:
- The Colts have played slightly tougher-than-average defenses, and some mediocre offenses, New England notwithstanding. It will be more of the same for the rest of the season, making the Colts' schedule very manageable.
- The Titans play a very easy offensive schedule the rest of the season. I fully expect them to keep Vince Young next year, as long as he continues his current play. I'm ok with that.
- A couple weeks ago I thought the Ravens would be a cinch to get to the playoffs. Now? Not so much. They'll have to win at least once against either the Colts or Steelers, and still have to go to Lambeau Field. I'm thinking they'll be on the outside looking in.