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Power Rankings are a staple of Tuesdays during the NFL season, but the problem with early season rankings is we don't have enough data to support where we place teams, which is why we here at Stampede Blue haven't done an official Power Ranking yet for the 2012 season. After four weeks though, I think there's enough to make some sense of the NFL, and the results look good enough that there won't be many "WTF" outbursts when you read them.
Each week I'll present the rankings for both unadjusted and adjusted data, but will only talk about the adjusted columns, as it is a much more accurate account of what is going on in the league. I like having both, however, so you can see how most of the talking heads come to their conclusions, without factoring in opponents at all.
Winning Stats Power Rankings for Week 4 (heading into Week 5) (click on headers to sort):
| Team | Power Rankings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Adjusted | Adjusted | |||||
| Offense | Defense | Total | Offense | Defense | Total | |
| 49ers | 7 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| Texans | 8 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 2 |
| Patriots | 3 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
| Broncos | 5 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 4 |
| Ravens | 6 | 17 | 7 | 1 | 16 | 5 |
| Packers | 11 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 14 | 6 |
| Eagles | 23 | 2 | 9 | 18 | 2 | 7 |
| Falcons | 2 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 8 |
| Bears | 20 | 3 | 6 | 27 | 1 | 9 |
| Cardinals | 30 | 4 | 16 | 19 | 4 | 10 |
| Vikings | 13 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 11 |
| Seahawks | 24 | 9 | 20 | 23 | 10 | 12 |
| Giants | 4 | 22 | 8 | 3 | 25 | 13 |
| Dolphins | 25 | 5 | 15 | 26 | 8 | 14 |
| Cowboys | 17 | 19 | 19 | 10 | 23 | 15 |
| Lions | 14 | 21 | 17 | 16 | 19 | 16 |
| Redskins | 9 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 22 | 17 |
| Steelers | 1 | 28 | 10 | 7 | 27 | 18 |
| Colts | 19 | 20 | 22 | 13 | 24 | 19 |
| Bengals | 10 | 26 | 18 | 12 | 26 | 20 |
| Chargers | 16 | 7 | 11 | 28 | 11 | 21 |
| Rams | 26 | 11 | 23 | 24 | 17 | 22 |
| Buccaneers | 29 | 13 | 26 | 31 | 7 | 23 |
| Bills | 18 | 24 | 21 | 14 | 29 | 24 |
| Chiefs | 21 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 21 | 25 |
| Panthers | 12 | 29 | 24 | 17 | 28 | 26 |
| Jaguars | 31 | 27 | 30 | 29 | 18 | 27 |
| Browns | 32 | 16 | 29 | 32 | 12 | 28 |
| Saints | 15 | 30 | 27 | 20 | 30 | 29 |
| Jets | 27 | 25 | 28 | 30 | 20 | 30 |
| Titans | 28 | 32 | 32 | 21 | 31 | 31 |
| Raiders | 22 | 31 | 31 | 22 | 32 | 32 |
Couple thoughts:
- The Colts are right in the middle of the pack, which is where I was hoping they would be after their bye week. There is a marked improvement on Offense (wonder why that is...), and the Defense is slightly better than last year, even with the transition to a new scheme. All in all, couldn't really ask for much else.
- All those years we wondered what Peyton Manning could do if he had a defense to help him out? We might get to see it in 2012, as the Broncos are 4th overall, with both units in the top 10. They also have the easiest schedule in the NFL going forward. Might as well cash their playoff ticket now.
- If you had the Ravens as the early season Best Offense, you're lying. In fact, their defense has been very average this season. We'll see if this evens out as the season goes along.