NFL Quality Rankings--Week 11 Edition

by Steelin on Nov 17, 2010 3:41 AM EST

Bumped again. One of my favorite 'level-headed' BTSC'ers updates this post for the second consecutive week. Hey, looks like I might need to be dropping my weekly defense comparison post, so this serves as a nice interim substitute for at least this week. - Michael Bean -

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Did I jinx my favorite NFL team by ranking them #1 last week? Oops. Won't make that mistake again. This week's rankings are extended to include all 7-2 and 6-3 teams in the NFL--and there are a lot of them. Like last time, I have solely considered a team's record against quality opponents--teams that currently have a winning record for the year. This time, I have ranked the teams strictly in order of winning percentage against quality opponents, breaking ties by number of quality wins and number of quality road wins. And the best team in the NFL is...

	Overall Record	Quality Wins	Quality Losses	Quality Record
1) Patriots	7-2	at MIA (5-4), BAL (6-3), at PIT (6-3)	at NYJ (7-2)	3-1
2) Saints	6-3	at TB (6-3), PIT (6-3)	ATL (7-2)	2-1
3) Ravens	6-3	at NYJ (7-2), at PIT (6-3), MIA (5-4)	at NE (7-2), at ATL (7-2)	3-2
4) Falcons	7-2	at NO (6-3), TB (6-3), BAL (6-3)	at PIT (6-3), at PHI (6-3)	3-2
5) Eagles	6-3	at JAX (5-4), ATL (7-2), IND (6-3)	GB (6-3), at TEN (5-4)	3-2
6) Steelers	6-3	ATL (7-2), at TEN (5-4), at TB (6-3), at MIA (5-4)	BAL (6-3), at NO (6-3), NE (7-2)	4-3
7) Packers	6-3	at PHI (6-3), at NYJ (6-3)	at CHI (6-3), MIA (5-4)	2-2
8) Giants	6-3	CHI (6-3), at SEA (5-4)	at IND (6-3), TEN (5-4)	2-2
9) Jets	7-2	NE (7-2), at MIA (5-4)	BAL (6-3), GB (6-3)	2-2
10) Colts	6-3	NYG (6-3), KC (5-4)	at JAX (5-4), PHL (6-3)	2-2
11) Bears	6-3	GB (6-3)	at NYG (6-3), SEA (5-4)	1-2
??) Bucs	6-3	None	PIT (6-3), NO (6-3), at ATL (7-2)	0-3

With their impressive beatdown of the Steelers, the Patriots take the top spot with a 3-1 record against quality opponents. Surprisingly, the Saints rank as the best team in the NFC with a 2-1 quality record. The fact that the Saints have played just three quality opponents in nine games (and two of those three were at home) make this lofty ranking somewhat suspicious, however. Of three 3-2 teams, the Ravens get the nod for playing four of their five quality opponents on the road and still winning three of those games. After edging the Ravens on Thursday night, the Falcons edge into the #4 ranking, followed closely by the Eagles.

The Steelers have still faced more quality opponents than any other team and have another one coming on Sunday: the 5-4 Raiders. The team still has an impressive quality record, but the trend is not positive, as the Steelers have most recently sandwiched three quality losses around a fortuitous win over 5-4 Miami. The next four teams are just 2-2 against quality opponents, including the Jets, which have five wins over weak teams. I reported last week that the Giants are a fraud, and I stand by that, but these rankings uncover two more fraudulent teams: the Bears and the Buccaneers. These two are a combined 1-5 against quality teams.

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People don't ever seem to realize that doing what's right is no guarantee against misfortune.
- William McFee

by stillergorillar on Nov 17, 2010 8:45 AM EST reply actions

Good stuff. I was thinking about the Steelers troubles against playoff teams this year.

But I was thinking back to the ‘05 season and I believe their record against playoff teams was 2-3 and we all know how that season turned out. Good thing the team rankings in the NFL aren’t all official and stuff like in college football.

by Anthony Defeo on Nov 17, 2010 10:03 AM EST reply actions

2-6 in wrong order.

good info though!

by B. M on Nov 17, 2010 11:55 AM EST reply actions

It's by win percentage

So unless you are doing some funky kind of math…

"I'm from Maryland, and no one can beat me!"

by John Stephens on Nov 17, 2010 1:40 PM EST up reply actions

The Steelers have still faced more quality opponents than any other team

@Tampa Bay
Kansas City
@Batltimore
Cincinnati
Atlanta
@Pittsburgh
@New Orleans
New England
New York (jets)

I would say that the Browns have faced the most quality opponents.

"I understand this is a violent game. It's the only place you can hit somebody and not go to jail. So you understand that it's a privilege to play this game." Danny Clark

by cscmember on Nov 17, 2010 3:37 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

You are correct

I was only counting the teams listed above. The Browns have an even harder schedule than the Steelers because they have to play the Steelers and the Steelers don’t, if that makes any sense.

by Steelin on Nov 18, 2010 12:06 AM EST up reply actions

Cinci

is not a quality team per the requirements

People don't ever seem to realize that doing what's right is no guarantee against misfortune.
- William McFee

by stillergorillar on Nov 18, 2010 9:42 AM EST up reply actions

per a lot of other reasons too..

"I wore my purple camo to the practice, but they wouldn’t let me into the autograph zone. No clue why."- Mr MaLoR

by kick him in the head on Nov 19, 2010 4:23 PM EST up reply actions

non quality losses?

i wonder if it makes sense to penalize teams who lose to non-quality teams (i.e. the patriots’ big loss to cleveland last week)? or does that seem unnecessary since no one’s going to play a non-quality opponent in the playoffs?

by cassidy77 on Nov 17, 2010 5:18 PM EST reply actions

They might

Remember the Jets last year?

One of the great disappointments of a football game is that the cheerleaders never seem to get injured.

by samliam on Nov 17, 2010 5:57 PM EST up reply actions

I forgot to mention

The only three teams to beat the Steelers are the top three teams in these rankings. Most teams in the NFL haven’t played any of those three teams, much less all of them. If the Steelers were in the AFC West, or even the AFC South, they might still be undefeated.

by Steelin on Nov 18, 2010 12:12 AM EST reply actions