As has been explained before, the rankings are 50% a team’s margin of victory – 50% the other team’s scoring margin against everybody else. After 28 points, additional points are only counted half up to 42. Thus, the best a team can do for a given game is 38.5 points (a 6 touchdown win on the road). So theoretically the best possible score is 77 (win all your games by 42 points against teams who beat their other opponents on the road by 42). With that sort of scale in mind, the week 3 rundown:
| Rank | Team | W | L | T | Margin | Sched Rtg | SOS Rank | Last Wk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steelers | 3 | 0 | 0 | 32.667 | 17.417 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Falcons | 2 | 1 | 0 | 21.625 | 9.958 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Packers | 2 | 1 | 0 | 19.458 | 6.792 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | Titans | 2 | 1 | 0 | 18.375 | 5.208 | 6 | 9 |
| 5 | Jets | 2 | 1 | 0 | 15.417 | 7.25 | 3 | 8 |
| 6 | Bears | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12.667 | 6.5 | 5 | 13 |
| 7 | Colts | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11.667 | 0 | 21 | 6 |
| 8 | Chiefs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10.167 | -1 | 27 | 5 |
| 9 | Eagles | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9.417 | 0.167 | 20 | 9 |
| 10 | Chargers | 1 | 2 | 0 | 9.333 | 3.333 | 11 | 7 |
| 11 | Ravens | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8.333 | 5 | 7 | 17 |
| 12 | Texans | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5.417 | 4.583 | 9 | 3 |
| 13 | Cowboys | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4.5 | 1.833 | 13 | 22 |
| 14 | Patriots | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4.417 | 0.583 | 16 | 16 |
| 15 | Seahawks | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.417 | -2.75 | 30 | 19 |
| 16 | Vikings | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.75 | -0.083 | 23 | 14 |
| 17 | Saints | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.75 | -0.083 | 23 | 26 |
| 18 | Dolphins | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2.25 | -0.417 | 25 | 23 |
| 19 | Browns | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2.083 | 3.75 | 10 | 11 |
| 20 | Bengals | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1.417 | -2.25 | 29 | 25 |
| 21 | Broncos | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.333 | 0.5 | 17 | 12 |
| 22 | Lions | 0 | 3 | 0 | -0.125 | 4.875 | 8 | 20 |
| 23 | Redskins | 1 | 2 | 0 | -1.833 | 0.667 | 15 | 18 |
| 24 | Rams | 1 | 2 | 0 | -3.542 | -7.375 | 31 | 32 |
| 25 | Bucs | 2 | 1 | 0 | -3.583 | -1.75 | 28 | 15 |
| 26 | Raiders | 1 | 2 | 0 | -5.208 | 0.458 | 18 | 29 |
| 27 | Cardinals | 2 | 1 | 0 | -6.917 | 0 | 21 | 27 |
| 28 | Giants | 1 | 2 | 0 | -8.5 | 0.333 | 19 | 28 |
| 29 | Bills | 0 | 3 | 0 | -8.667 | 2.333 | 12 | 24 |
| 30 | 49ers | 0 | 3 | 0 | -12.667 | 1.333 | 14 | 30 |
| 31 | Jaguars | 1 | 2 | 0 | -13.917 | -0.75 | 26 | 20 |
| 32 | Panthers | 0 | 3 | 0 | -23 | -11.167 | 32 | 31 |
Some observations for the week?
- The Steelers stay at the top with their win over TB. Their three opponents have not lost to anyone else. Right now the defense has carried them – I don’t think Tampa will be a good team for much longer, but the model does not know that.
- The big leaps of the week go to Dallas and New Orleans. The latter might be a surprise, but the Falcons become the best team they’ve played, by far – and that combined with the close result lifted the ship quite a bit.
- On the negative side, the Jaguars 11 spot drop is the worst of the week – a decisive loss combined with losses by previous opponents cause the double whammy. Bucs felt it also.
- The Panthers and 49ers remain lousy – though now the Jaguars join them.
