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Power Rankings: Week 11 2007
Cold, Hard Football Facts for November 13, 2007
 By Jonathan ComeyCold, Hard Football Facts power source
Unless they start mass-producing foam fingers with two extended digits, “We’re No. 2” isn’t likely to become football’s next war chant.
But "Who's No. 2?" seems to be the question everyone’s asking this week, as the NFL’s Big Five continues to stay far ahead of the pack, with New England in a class by itself.
In the humble non-opinion of the Cold, Hard Football Facts, the Packers can lay claim to "We're No. 2!" for three simple reasons.
1. They’re 8-1. This record gives them a leg up on the 7-2 Steelers and Colts, because no stat is valued more than the one in the "W" column.
2. They’re excellent on both sides of the ball, which gives them a leg up on the Cowboys. The Packers take some heat for their poor running game, but the bottom line is overall effectiveness. Green Bay is sixth in scoring offense and second in scoring defense, while equally 8-1 Dallas is tied for 21st in scoring defense.
3. They're 3-0 vs. Quality Teams. While the Cowboys handled the Giants twice with ease, they lost by three TDs to New England and needed near miracles to beat Buffalo. But the Packers took care of business against their three Quality Opponents, outscoring them by an historically impressive average of 10.7 PPG.
We’ve had the Packers ahead of the Cowboys for most of the season, and while Dallas impressed with their road win over the Giants Sunday, Green Bay more than kept pace by shutting out a decent Minnesota team.
The two teams will battle it out in Week 13 at Dallas, with both the Packers (host Carolina Sunday, then at Detroit) and Cowboys (host Washington and Jets) fairs bet to both be 10-1 heading into the NFC's Game of the Year.
Colts-Patriots was the “Greatest Battle of the Holocene Epoch,” but Packers-Cowboys should be pretty close.
On to the rankings.
THE DOMINANT DOZEN
1. NEW ENGLAND (9-0, previous rank: 1)
- Record vs. Quality Teams: 6-0, +23.7 PPG.
- Last week: Bye. Patriots spent their time off drawing straws to see who would be on next SI cover.
- Cold, Hard Football Facts: The Patriots have registered 33 touchdown passes on the season and are on pace for the all-time record. The 15 other AFC teams average 11 touchdown passes, exactly one-third of New England’s output.
- Next: at Buffalo. The "give Bill Belichick two weeks to prepare" mantra has no weight. As a head coach, Belichick is a mere 7-5 after a bye, though he has won four in a row.
2. GREEN BAY (8-1, previous rank: 3)
- Record vs. Quality Teams: 3-0, +10.7 PPG
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Last week: The Packers turned in their most decisive win of the year, trouncing visiting Minnesota 34-0 –Green Bay's first shutout over Minnesota in the long series history (94 meetings since 1961).
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Cold, Hard Football Facts: QB Brett Favre has passed for 320 yards or more in six of the last seven games, with five 100+ passer rating performances. Favre also wears No. 4, if you are new to the planet.
- Next: vs. Carolina. The Panthers have scored 27 points over their three-game losing skid.
3. DALLAS (8-1, previous rank: 4)
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Record vs. Quality Teams: 3-1, +0.2 PPG
- Last week: Tony Romo flashed that irritating/endearing grin 29.5 times in Dallas’ impressive 31-20 road win over the Giants.
- Cold, Hard Football Facts: Despite a career 4.6 yard-per-carry average and 28 total touchdowns in 38 career games, RB Marion Barber has started only three games in his career (last start: Oct. 23, 2006 vs. Giants).
- Next: vs. Washington. The first of three straight home games for the Cowboys.
4. PITTSBURGH (7-2, previous rank: 5)
- Record vs. Quality Teams: 4-0, +18.5 PPG
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Last week: Willie Parker ran for 105 yards in a 31-28 win over Cleveland; Parker is on pace to carry the ball 377 times, which would be tied for 19th most all time.
- Cold, Hard Football Facts: In Dick Lebeau’s five full seasons as Pittsburgh's defensive coordinator (1995-96, 2004-06), the Steelers ranked on average 6.6 in scoring defense (No. 1 in 2007) and won eight playoff games. In seven years without him (1997-2003), they ranked an average of 10th in scoring defense with three playoff wins.
- Next: at N.Y. Jets. Lifetime franchise marks don’t mean much, but this one’s a doozy – the Steelers are 16-2 all time against the Jets, including a victory in the 2004 playoffs.
5. INDIANAPOLIS (7-2, previous rank: 2)
- Record vs. Quality Teams: 3-2, +7.4 PPG
- Last week: We said it before Indy’s 23-21 defeat at San Diego – under Tony Dungy, Indianapolis has been most vulnerable after a loss. They now have four sets of back-to-back defeats since the start of the 2004 season, accounting for eight of their 12 losses (regular season).
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Cold, Hard Football Facts: The Colts have started 34 different players so far this year; they actually started 35 different players (regular season) in their Super Bowl run in 2006.
- Next: vs. Kansas City. Probably not a good week to be the Chiefs.
6. JACKSONVILLE (6-3, previous rank: 9)
- Record vs. Quality Teams: 2-2, -2.2 PPG
- Last week: Jaggyl and Hyde put up a surprising 28 points on the road to beat stingy Tennessee.
- Cold, Hard Football Facts: Veteran S Sammy Knight, picked up off the street well into training camp, leads the Jaguars with 56 solo tackles.
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Next: vs. San Diego. Jaguars will most likely be in the playoffs just by holding serve at home; after San Diego, they host Buffalo, Carolina and Oakland.
7. TENNESSEE (6-3, previous rank: 6)
- Record vs. Quality Teams: 1-3, -4.3 PPG
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Last week: With DT Albert Haynesworth out with an injury, Tennessee gave up a season-high 166 yards rushing and registered just one sack in a 28-13 home loss to Jacksonville.
- Cold, Hard Football Facts: Titans have allowed 24.0 PPG in their four games against AFC South foes, 11.2 PPG against everyone else.
- Next: at Denver, Monday night. The Titans have only two current Quality Opponents left on the schedule (host San Diego in Week 14 and Indy in Week 17).
8. NEW YORK GIANTS (6-3, previous rank: 8)
- Record vs. Quality Teams: 1-3, -9.0 PPG
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Last week: Despite having the ball for almost 35 minutes, the Giants lost 31-20 to Dallas in New Jersey.
- Cold, Hard Football Facts: Since returning from injury in Week 5, RB Brandon Jacobs averages 103.8 YPG and 5.5 YPA.
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Next: at Detroit. In preseason, this might have made one of those "Worst Games of the Year" lists; instead it looms large in the NFC wild-card race.
9. DETROIT (6-3, previous rank: 7)
- Record vs. Quality Teams: 1-1, -12.0 PPG
- Last week: The Lions’ road to legitimacy took a hard left with a 31-21 loss in Arizona that featured three lost Lions fumbles and -18 yards rushing (really) despite the stadium-mandated lack of weather.
- Cold, Hard Football Facts: Jon Kitna has been sacked an even 100 times in 25 games as Detroit's starter.
- Next: vs. New York Giants. The gauntlet starts Sunday; Detroit’s seven remaining opponents are a combined 42-21. We hope you didn't bet the over on Kitna's pledge of 10 wins.
10. TAMPA BAY (5-4, previous rank: 10)
- Record vs. Quality Teams: 1-4, -7.6 PPG
- Last week: The Bucs made up a half-game on the competition while enjoying the bye as the Panthers and Saints both suffered upset losses.
- Cold, Hard Football Facts: Tampa made the playoffs six times from 1997-2006, tied for the most trips in the NFC over that 10-year span with Green Bay and Philadelphia.
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Next: at Atlanta. NFC South fever, catch it!
11. SAN DIEGO (5-4, previous rank: 14)
- Record vs. Quality Teams: 1-2, -9.7 PPG
- Last week: The Chargers forced six turnovers and scored twice on returns, at home … and needed a missed chip-shot FG by normally sure-footed Adam Vinatieri to hold on to a 23-21 win over Indy.
- Cold, Hard Football Facts: Chargers need to go 5-2 or better the rest of the way to become the first San Diego team to win 10 straight in consecutive seasons since Air Coryell’s boys did it in 1981.
- Next: at Jacksonville. Chargers-Jaguars history is not rich. In fact, it's not even lower-middle class. They’ve met only twice since the Jaguars entered the league in 1995.
12. SEATTLE (5-4, previous rank: 13)
- Record vs. Quality Teams: 1-2, -3.3 PPG
- Last week: Seattle took advantage of the inept 49ers for a 24-0 home victory watched by hundreds on Monday Night Football; the Seahawkshave outscored NFC West punching bags St. Louis and San Francisco 80-9 in three games.
- Cold, Hard Football Facts: Matt Hasselbeck has thrown 165 passes in Seattle's last four games, the most of any four-game span in his career (162 in four games late in 2002).
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Next: vs. Chicago. Super Bowl loser, meet Super Bowl loser. And speaking of losers, the Seahawks don’t have a single Quality Opponent left on the schedule.
THE TEPID TWENTY
13. CLEVELAND (5-4, previous rank: 11) – Browns failed in their bid to go three games over .500 for the first time since being reborn in 1999. Derek Anderson will in all likelihood be Cleveland's sixth different leading passer in six years (Couch, Holcomb, Garcia, Dilfer, Frye).
14. PHILADELPHIA (4-5, previous rank: 19) – Eagles unofficially lead the league in “wins after the local media spends the week calling for major heads to roll.”
15. WASHINGTON (5-4, previous rank: 12) – Ageless London Fletcher (actually only 32) leads the NFL in solo tackles with 64.
16. BUFFALO (5-4, previous rank: 18) – Bills are 5-4 despite the fact that their leading sackers boasts just two QB takedowns each (Chris Kelsay and Aaron Schobel).
17. ARIZONA (4-5, previous rank: 23) – After a promising start, RB Edgerrin James is grinding toward another so-so season in the desert (on pace for 1,205 yards, 3.73 YPA).
18. MINNESOTA (3-6, previous rank: 16) – Before Sunday, the Vikings hadn’t been shutout since their embarrassing 41-0 loss to the Giants in the 2000 NFC title game. The Vikings have a league-high 50 runs of 10+ yards, almost as many as the rest of the NFC North combined (52).
19. HOUSTON (4-5, previous rank: 20) – Team nickname is “Texans.”
20. NEW ORLEANS (4-5, previous rank: 15) – TE Eric Johnson leads all non-RBs in percentage of balls caught; he’s snagged 82.2 percent of the 45 passes thrown to him (37 catches).
21. DENVER (4-5, previous rank: 24) – Mike Shanahan’s longest losing streak in 12˝ years coaching the Broncos is four games. He's witnessed two-game and three-game losing streaks this year.
22. ATLANTA (3-6 previous rank: 25) – Falcons may have the best-named personnel group of all time: their four tight ends are Alge Crumpler, Dwayne Blakley, Martrez Milner and Boone Stutz.
23. CHICAGO (4-5, previous rank: 26) – In addition to averaging 3.04 YPA, highly-loathed Bears RB Cedric Benson has five dropped passes (and only 16 receptions).
24. CINCINNATI (3-6, previous rank: 28) – Carson Palmer’s passer rating is 134.3 from a two-WR set, 81.5 from a three-WR set.
25. KANSAS CITY (4-5, previous rank: 17) – The grind-it-out Chiefs are next-to-last in the NFL with 32 rushing first downs this season (Green Bay, 31); a full 15 percent of KC runs result in negative yardage, worst in the NFL.
26. BALTIMORE (4-5, previous rank: 21) – QB Steve McNair has lost seven fumbles despite being sacked just 11 times all season.
27. CAROLINA (4-5, previous rank: 22) – Panthers have five Quality Teams left on the schedule; they have to be excited about the Week 13 home game vs. San Francisco.
28. OAKLAND (2-7, previous rank: 27) – Raiders’ offense is in the tank; 25.5 PPG before the Week 5 bye, 11.2 PPG since.
29. NEW YORK JETS (1-8, previous rank: 30) – Jets still have to play Steelers, Cowboys, Browns, Patriots and Titans.
30. ST. LOUIS (1-8, previous rank: 32) – The playoff push is on.
31. SAN FRANCISCO (2-7, previous rank: 29) – The Niners might have two wins, but those were a long time ago. At least the winless Dolphins are competitive. The Niners, who have remained mostly healthy, have lost seven in a row, five by 18 points or more; the Dolphins have suffered five losses by a single field goal.
32. MIAMI (0-9, previous rank: 31) – Despite the record, the running game keeps clicking along (Jesse Chatman 124 yards vs. Buffalo).
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