NFL Football - Power Rankings

Team Rank Last Week Change Power Schedule Adjusted Power
Baltimore11-+39.570.51+20.18
Dallas22-+45.590.44+19.95
San Francisco33-+37.230.48+17.79
New Orleans48+4+22.750.48+10.87
Buffalo55-+21.020.47+9.88
Green Bay69+3+20.760.47+9.76
Detroit710+3+18.130.53+9.52
Miami84-4+18.860.46+8.59
Cleveland96-3+9.110.54+4.92
Tampa Bay1012+2+8.690.49+4.25
Kansas City117-4+6.500.50+3.25
Las Vegas1215+3+6.600.48+3.16
LA Rams1316+3+4.380.54+2.37
Pittsburgh1422+8+3.480.50+1.74
Houston1514-1+3.270.48+1.56
Chicago1611-5+2.700.44+1.20
Denver1713-4-0.510.51-0.25
Cincinnati1821+3-4.960.60-1.98
Jacksonville1919--5.290.56-2.35
Indianapolis2020--4.830.44-2.70
Minnesota2118-3-8.160.55-3.67
Atlanta2217-5-9.760.41-5.75
LA Chargers2324+1-17.640.56-7.84
Arizona2427+3-20.930.59-8.58
New England2525--17.750.46-9.58
Philadelphia2623-3-18.400.48-9.66
Tennessee2728+1-21.550.50-10.77
Seattle2826-2-23.870.52-11.40
NY Jets2929--21.190.44-11.77
NY Giants3031+1-23.640.48-12.35
Carolina3130-1-34.550.52-16.51
Washington3232--47.130.50-23.56

NFL Power Rankings Notes After Week 17

Our model has made its picks after Week 17, and there were more than a few surprises. Let's dive into what the model did well, and where it erred in our Week 17 NFL Power Rankings.

Cleveland Browns

Somehow, the Cleveland Browns have won four straight games behind the elite skills of 38-year-old Joe Flacco.

The Browns have scored 30-plus points in three of their past four and will be a tough out in the AFC playoffs. Cleveland's defense sits second in DVOA, and first in yards per game allowed (266), points per play (4.5), and third-down conversions allowed (29.36%). With Flacco under center, and Jim Schartz' defense playing lights out, Cleveland is poised to disrupt the hierarchy in the AFC.

Miami Dolphins

Mike McDaniels' Dolphins were walloped by the Baltimore Ravens 56-19 on Sunday. Miami looked out of sorts from the jump, and sorely missed the services of Jaylen Waddle. A banged-up Tyreek Hill was frequently double-teamed and unable to escape for any of the explosive plays the Dolphins are known for.

Miami has won just one game against teams over .500 on the season, and even that was a last-second field goal against the Cowboys. Yet, the Dolphins remain in the top four of our NFL power rankings. The Dolphins are now just 2-2 in their last four games with a harrowing loss to the Tennessee Titans and the aforementioned demolition at the hands of the Ravens. Surely those losses will push Miami a few further spots down in the power rankings.

Houston Texans

Houston, we have lift-off! After languishing in the bottom half of our power rankings for most of the season, the Houston Texans have made a massive leap.

A dominant 26-3 victory over the Tennessee Titans has propelled the Texans all the way up to 14th in the NFL power rankings. Houston deservedly sits 14th and could shake up the AFC playoffs in Week 18. A victory over the Indianapolis Colts, combined with a Jacksonville Jaguars loss to the Tennessee Titans would see the Texans take home the AFC South crown. Quarterback CJ Stroud has changed the narrative for this young Texans team.

How Are NFL Football Power Rankings Compiled?

* Power Rankings for the NFL are updated at the conclusion of each week’s play. Ranks are based on a rolling 10-game range; early in the season, this date range reaches back to regular-season games of the previous year.

NFL Power Rankings Explained

Standings only tell part of the story for fans who like to bet on the NFL. A first-place team may have a lousy defense, but lucked into a 3-0 record by playing three teams even worse than themselves. However, beating the point spread requires the whole story – what are the stat strengths and weaknesses of each team and how can you exploit that data to find edges for your NFL bets?

Check out the NFL Football Power Rankings here at Odds Shark to get the REAL standings as you handicap the NFL football odds. See below the ratings chart for details on how we create the power ranks.

If you are a regular Odds Shark visitor, you know how many different types of NFL betting stats and comparative numbers are crunched on a daily basis to help you make sense of the NFL stats and betting odds. There are sortable stats for team offense, time of possession, most ATS wins, points per game, how each National Football League team ranks in home and road scoring and more.

We include home and road rushing and passing yards data, along with important indicators of offensive success like how many yards they generate per play. We weave in turnover ratio, penalties per game and more stats to calculate an overall NFL offensive power number.

We run the same math on the relevant defensive stats: yards per play allowed, each team’s rank against the run and defending the passing game. This helps create an overall power number, which we then calibrate against a strength-of-schedule multiplier. If Buffalo has played four 0-4 teams with below-average quarterbacks, their NFL power rank is unlikely to be as high as the 0-4 Chiefs who have played four stronger teams, like New England for example.

Of note, the NFL football rankings will be different from other power ranking systems because we weigh the data over a rolling 10-game date range. We don’t start from scratch in Week 1, we look back at 10 regular-season games to give a bigger sample of data. And we feel it is a more accurate reflection of true power if we consider only the past 10 games, not a full 16-game schedule.

As the games continue, the value of NFL power rankings here at Odds Shark will emerge and you will find yourself checking in weekly before making your football bets. The goal is to find legitimate comparisons between teams and then to find line value associated with the stat edges you discover. And we focus on a smaller batch of games as a team’s quality of play over the past few weeks is more important than something they did way back in Week 1.

Good luck with your NFL handicapping!

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