As we enter the second half of the NFL season, one thing has become clear: the Pittsburgh Steelers are good at football. They retain the top spot in our Unbiased Power Rankings and enjoy a comfortable margin over the second place team, their Week 1 opponent, the Atlanta Falcons. It's looking more and more like the game played in Pittsburgh on Sept. 12 was a potential Super Bowl preview as the Steelers and Falcons lead their conferences in the latest release of the Unbiased Power Rankings.
The AFC is still home to five of the six best teams in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots all following the second-place Falcons. The bottom three remains the same with the Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys bringing up the rear. The biggest movers this week were the Houston Texans who dropped eight spots after their loss to the Chargers. The Philadelphia Eagles made the most positive noise, rising seven spots after beating the Colts on Sunday.
The Chicago Bears are shown the most skepticism in our rankings. They are tied for ninth in the NFL with a 5-3 record but they come in at number 23 behind teams like the Cleveland Browns (20), Arizona Cardinals (18) and San Diego Chargers (15). Those same Chargers are shown mad love with a ranking of 15 despite having a record of 4-5. They are the biggest "surprise" when comparing our rankings to the NFL standings.
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The Best of the Best
The bye weeks jostle the ratings some but with only one more week to go before the NFL returns to its full schedule, these rankings get a lot clearer. The Steelers are heads and shoulders above every one else. They've been nothing but impressive and should be the number one overall seed in the AFC playoffs. The Falcons are the Steelers of the NFC. All they do is win, win, win. They are the class of the NFC and should be hosting a couple playoff games in the Georgia Dome. The Ravens, Colts and Titans are all on the same tier and will provide a challenge to the Steelers coronation.
The next group of teams haven't reached Tier I status yet but things change fast in the NFL. The Patriots, Eagles and Saints are all teams with February aspirations. The Raiders (what?!?), Jets, Giants, Packers, Texans, Redskins and Chargers all could be in the mix for a playoff spot and even perhaps a division title but they'll need to keep winning to join the top tier of teams.
NFC Contenders
The Falcons are the best team in the NFC. I know, Falcons head coach Mike Smith won't say it, so I have to. They are the best team in the NFC. They have only two losses, on the road, both times in Pennsylvania. Which brings us to the second-best team in the NFC, the Eagles. The Saints, Giants and Packers join the Falcons and Eagles among the top tier of NFC challengers. No other team jumps out as a true contender at this point.
I would be much more comfortable if the Falcons gain homefield advantage since road games in Philly, N'awlins, New Jersey or Green Bay do not sound very favorable. With several teams bunched up near the top of the standings, it's hard to find the favorite and if you listen to the national media, the Falcons aren't even in the discussion. Thankfully, you have the Unbiased Power Rankings to show you the Buccaneers Falcons are the best team in the NFC.
NFC South
Since we know they're the best in the conference, it's easy to surmise the Falcons are the best in the NFC South. The Saints have shown they are not going to fade away in their post-Super Bowl haze and the Buccaneers hung tough in a difficult place to play on Sunday. The Panthers - and I don't want to make any rash statements - are not good at football. Look for the race to come down to the Falcons and Saints with their Monday night Week 16 meeting the deciding factor for the division title.
Unbiased Playoff Picture
Regardless of a team's current record, this is how we see the playoffs shaping up as of Week 9.
| Team | Team | ||
| Pittsburgh Steelers | Atlanta Falcons | ||
| Indianapolis Colts |
Philadelphia Eagles | ||
| New England Patriots |
Green Bay Packers | ||
| Oakland Raiders | Arizona Cardinals | ||
| Baltimore Ravens |
New Orleans Saints | ||
| Tennesee Titans |
New York Giants | ||
Schedule Note: Three huge games this week that could shuffle these power rankings starting with the Ravens at the Falcons on Thursday night. The Patriots play the Steelers on Sunday night and then the Eagles play the Redskins on Monday Night Football. All three games feature teams in the top 14 of the power rankings.
AFC Breakdown
Wild Card Weekend:
Titans @ Patriots: The Randy Moss Game.
Ravens @ Raiders: Ravens have won six of seven.
Divisional Playoffs:
Titans @ Steelers: The Terrible Towels would be in full force.
Ravens @ Colts: Peyton Manning vs. Ray Lewis. Again.
Championship Game:
Ravens @ Steelers: Needs no introduction.
NFC Breakdown
Wild Card Weekend:
Giants @ Packers: The two NFC favorite meeting on the first playoff weekend.
Saints @ Cardinals: The Super Bowl champion taking the long road back.
Divisional Playoffs:
Giants @ Falcons: Everybody's choice vs. Constantly overloooked.
Saints @ Eagles: Should be a shoot-out.
Championship Game:
Eagles @ Falcons: Rematch of a Rematch of a Rematch, etc. Hatred ensues.
Super Bowl:
Steelers vs. Falcons: One team expected, one team not. Words cannot express how badly I would love to see this game again.
Methodology: The Unbiased Power Rankings are exactly that, unbiased. We take into account a team's wins, losses and a strength of schedule component to arrive at a truly unbiased rating. We have no preseason polls, no preset baselines. Only the performance on the field - this season - matters. Emotion is not welcome here. Still interested? Here's the ingredients we use to make this delicious stew of math-based power rankings.
Each team is awarded five points for a win and five points for every game a defeated opponent wins. To measure a loss, the total number of opponent wins is divided by the number of the ranked team's losses.
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