Four weeks in the books, and this past week got some real key results – the Steelers no longer being unbeaten and the Bears being undressed in New York in maybe the worst football game of the season so far. Add in the Patriots well rounded demolition of Miami, and we get a lot of change. As always, 50% of the rating is average margin of victory with adjustments for home field and diminishing marginal returns (so running up the score has less value) and the other half is the average margin of victory of a team’s opponents in all the other games those opponents play. (i.e. a team’s 3 opponent rating is 50% based on the team’s effort, and 50% on the average margin of the 3 opponents in their other games against the other teams on their schedule to date)
| Rank | Team | W | L | T | Margin | Sched Rtg | SOS Rank | Last Wk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steelers | 3 | 1 | 0 | 20.708 | 10.021 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Jets | 3 | 1 | 0 | 14.604 | 1.604 | 16 | 5 |
| 3 | Chiefs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14.278 | 3.111 | 9 | 8 |
| 4 | Ravens | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13.021 | 8.896 | 2 | 11 |
| 5 | Chargers | 2 | 2 | 0 | 12.042 | 0.167 | 22 | 10 |
| 6 | Patriots | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11.479 | 1.292 | 20 | 14 |
| 7 | Titans | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11.271 | 2.896 | 11 | 4 |
| 8 | Packers | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8.854 | -1.146 | 28 | 3 |
| 9 | Colts | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8.417 | -0.458 | 24 | 7 |
| 10 | Falcons | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8.354 | -0.896 | 25 | 2 |
| 11 | Eagles | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5.688 | 0 | 23 | 9 |
| 12 | Redskins | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5.625 | 5.375 | 4 | 23 |
| 13 | Broncos | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4.958 | 2.708 | 12 | 21 |
| 14 | Cowboys | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4.833 | 2.167 | 14 | 13 |
| 15 | Texans | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4.479 | 1.229 | 21 | 12 |
| 16 | Bengals | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4.438 | 1.563 | 17 | 20 |
| 17 | Seahawks | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4.208 | 2.958 | 10 | 15 |
| 18 | Bears | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3.958 | 1.958 | 15 | 6 |
| 19 | Browns | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3.646 | 4.146 | 5 | 19 |
| 20 | Rams | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2.813 | -4.313 | 31 | 24 |
| 21 | Lions | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0.708 | 4.083 | 6 | 22 |
| 22 | Saints | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0.333 | -2.292 | 29 | 16 |
| 23 | Vikings | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.167 | -2.667 | 30 | 16 |
| 24 | Giants | 2 | 2 | 0 | -1.75 | 1.375 | 19 | 28 |
| 25 | Bucs | 2 | 1 | 0 | -2.833 | -1 | 27 | 25 |
| 26 | Dolphins | 2 | 2 | 0 | -3.188 | 1.563 | 17 | 18 |
| 27 | Jaguars | 2 | 2 | 0 | -3.75 | 5.375 | 3 | 31 |
| 28 | Raiders | 1 | 3 | 0 | -6.938 | -0.938 | 26 | 26 |
| 29 | 49ers | 0 | 4 | 0 | -6.979 | 3.146 | 8 | 30 |
| 30 | Cardinals | 2 | 2 | 0 | -9.563 | 2.5 | 13 | 27 |
| 31 | Bills | 0 | 4 | 0 | -10.688 | 3.563 | 7 | 29 |
| 32 | Panthers | 0 | 4 | 0 | -13.083 | -4.583 | 32 | 32 |
Some observations:
- The Chiefs are the last unbeaten – amazing. They bubble up to #3 based on positive results by teams they’ve beaten, the Chargers and Browns specifically.
- The Redskins probably are not this good. But their win at Philadelphia paired with the Rams and Texans victories elevated them the most this week. The Patriots did not have that sort of schedule jump, but their battering of Miami was big.
- The plunge of the week thusly goes to Chicago after that disgrace in New York. Add meh performances by Green Bay get you spiraling downward.
- Despite the close loss to the Ravens, the Steelers hold the top for another week. No team has played better against a better slate – for now.
