The Jets moved up in our Performance Rankings not only because they won their game against the Titans but because of how they won the game. The Jets also earned our Top Dog of the Week Spot in our weekly newsletter (Available for free on our site). Conversely, this one loss forced the Titans to tumble from number 4 on our charts all the way down to number 11. This tumble proves that win-loss records are not, as many football experts would have you believe, the only criteria in ranking football teams. In fact, PossessionPoints has never put the Titans as number 1 in our rankings because we include only mathematical factors from our in-game statistic and no emotional or subjective criteria. Although they were always highly ranked, the Titans did not warrant the number 1 spot according to the math. In the other matchups between top-performing teams, the Giants beat the Cardinals, but the Cardinals played well in this game. Because of their performance in this close contest, the Cardinals dropped only one position from number 2 to number 3. The Giants’ win allows them to continue to hold the number 1 spot which they have owned for most of the season.
This week, moving up the chart are teams that have hit some road bumps, but appear now to have found their stride. The Patriots moved from 13 to 10 and the Steelers jumped from number 9 to number 4. New England’s Matt Cassel has learned his Offense quickly and continues to improve each week. The Steelers have had Running Back injury issues, but with the return of Willie Parker, the Steelers look like the Steelers of Old.
We are aware that due to the Colts’ 7-4 record, many experts would like to place Indianapolis a lot higher in Rankings than they fall on our charts. In PossessionPoints, the Colts do not appear higher because of their early season performances which included a few miraculous wins as well as their four losses. As their game performance improves, so will their placement on our charts, but they have a way to go to get into the positive zone in PossessionPoints.
The Colts have climbed out of the bottom five, so now this group consists of teams with poor records none of which have any chance of making the playoffs. Worst among this group are the 2-9 Rams who sit at 32; the 1-9 Bengals who come in at 31; the 2-9Seahawks who own the 30th spot; the Chiefs who sit at number 29 with a 1-10 record; and the Lions, who despite being 0-11, are at 28. The Lions have shown some signs of life in the last few weeks. They have built early leads but mistakes have caused them to give up those leads. These early game performances account for their being the best of the worst in the bottom five. Maybe Thanksgiving will allow the Lions to redeem themselves with a win. Although playing the Titans, this may seem like a tall order.
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