Post by Cincinnati Bengals (Chris) on Oct 31, 2017 21:44:00 GMT -5
Week 8 was reaffirming to the teams’ rankings, as now, nearly every team is within a few spots of their points ranking based on their result this weekend. Potentially 7 AFC teams can reach 8 wins, so Pittsburgh has clinched at least a 7-seed, the earliest a team has clinched in a season since Buffalo nabbed a playoff bid at 8-0 back in 2015. Garrett has also nearly locked up his division, unless he loses all 4 remaining games, or loses 3 remaining games, including to CIN, who must also go undefeated.
In the NFC, it’s even more hectic; as potentially 10 teams can reach 7 wins, and as such, no one has clinched yet, though SEA and MIN will each clinch a playoff spot with 1 more win. As far as playoff eliminations go, no team has been eliminated. In the NFC, Atlanta and Tampa Bay are still mathematically alive, as only 6 teams are guaranteed 5 wins, and 7 can reach 5 wins this week. Regardless, one loss for either team eliminates them. As for the AFC, 7 teams are guaranteed 6 wins, making the field much harder to crack. Baltimore is the only AFC team in danger of elimination this week, as they are officially eliminated with a loss.
The top-10 was vastly unchanged, as no team from last week’s PRs ranked in the top-10 fell out, they simply rearranged. The middle tier is starting to develop into a quagmire, as 13 teams are within one game of one another. As far as anomalies, New England stayed 10th on points, ranking higher at 4-4 then all but two 5-win teams. By comparison, Chicago, at 5-3, ranked below every 4-win team due to points. Washington is also the only 2-win team ahead of 3-win teams for that same reason.
Things, as always, are starting to stabilize as the season goes on, as the largest riser was Indianapolis with +4, and the largest faller was Denver with -6.
If you still don’t like where you are right now, well, there are only 4 weeks left, and if you don’t have at least a .500 record 2/3 of the way in, the chances of you making the playoffs are slim…but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. In 2015, Jacksonville (Jake) was 3-5 at the two-thirds pole, and went on to win 3 of his final 4 regular season games, entering the playoffs as the #7 seed, and then winning four-straight in dominant fashion to clinch the championship. It certainly is the outlier, but it can happen. As always, these rankings were based on the previous week’s PRs, as well as the point totals/results of this week’s games (Which includes teams intentionally or unintentionally throwing games by not setting their lineups).
1. Pittsburgh 8-0 0
2. Seattle 7-1 0
3. Minnesota 7-1 0
4. Carolina 6-2 +1
5. Oakland 6-2 +3
6. Houston 6-2 +1
7. Los Angeles Chargers 6-2 -3
8. Philadelphia 5-3 +1
9. Cincinnati 5-3 -3
10. New England 4-4 0
11. Tennessee 5-3 +3
12. Buffalo 4-4 +4
13. Jacksonville 4-4 -1
14. Indianapolis 5-3 +4
15. Arizona 4-4 -4
16. New York Jets 4-4 -1
17. Kansas City 4-4 -4
18. Cleveland 4-4 +3
19. Dallas 4-4 0
20. New Orleans 4-4 +2
21. Chicago 5-3 +2
22. Detroit 3-5 -2
23. Denver 3-5 -6
24 Washington 2-6 0
25. Los Angeles Rams 3-5 0
26. San Francisco 3-5 0
27. Miami 2-6 +2
28. Green Bay 2-6 0
29. New York Giants 2-6 -2
30. Baltimore 1-7 0
32. Tampa Bay 0-8 0
32. Atlanta 0-8 0
In the NFC, it’s even more hectic; as potentially 10 teams can reach 7 wins, and as such, no one has clinched yet, though SEA and MIN will each clinch a playoff spot with 1 more win. As far as playoff eliminations go, no team has been eliminated. In the NFC, Atlanta and Tampa Bay are still mathematically alive, as only 6 teams are guaranteed 5 wins, and 7 can reach 5 wins this week. Regardless, one loss for either team eliminates them. As for the AFC, 7 teams are guaranteed 6 wins, making the field much harder to crack. Baltimore is the only AFC team in danger of elimination this week, as they are officially eliminated with a loss.
The top-10 was vastly unchanged, as no team from last week’s PRs ranked in the top-10 fell out, they simply rearranged. The middle tier is starting to develop into a quagmire, as 13 teams are within one game of one another. As far as anomalies, New England stayed 10th on points, ranking higher at 4-4 then all but two 5-win teams. By comparison, Chicago, at 5-3, ranked below every 4-win team due to points. Washington is also the only 2-win team ahead of 3-win teams for that same reason.
Things, as always, are starting to stabilize as the season goes on, as the largest riser was Indianapolis with +4, and the largest faller was Denver with -6.
If you still don’t like where you are right now, well, there are only 4 weeks left, and if you don’t have at least a .500 record 2/3 of the way in, the chances of you making the playoffs are slim…but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. In 2015, Jacksonville (Jake) was 3-5 at the two-thirds pole, and went on to win 3 of his final 4 regular season games, entering the playoffs as the #7 seed, and then winning four-straight in dominant fashion to clinch the championship. It certainly is the outlier, but it can happen. As always, these rankings were based on the previous week’s PRs, as well as the point totals/results of this week’s games (Which includes teams intentionally or unintentionally throwing games by not setting their lineups).
1. Pittsburgh 8-0 0
2. Seattle 7-1 0
3. Minnesota 7-1 0
4. Carolina 6-2 +1
5. Oakland 6-2 +3
6. Houston 6-2 +1
7. Los Angeles Chargers 6-2 -3
8. Philadelphia 5-3 +1
9. Cincinnati 5-3 -3
10. New England 4-4 0
11. Tennessee 5-3 +3
12. Buffalo 4-4 +4
13. Jacksonville 4-4 -1
14. Indianapolis 5-3 +4
15. Arizona 4-4 -4
16. New York Jets 4-4 -1
17. Kansas City 4-4 -4
18. Cleveland 4-4 +3
19. Dallas 4-4 0
20. New Orleans 4-4 +2
21. Chicago 5-3 +2
22. Detroit 3-5 -2
23. Denver 3-5 -6
24 Washington 2-6 0
25. Los Angeles Rams 3-5 0
26. San Francisco 3-5 0
27. Miami 2-6 +2
28. Green Bay 2-6 0
29. New York Giants 2-6 -2
30. Baltimore 1-7 0
32. Tampa Bay 0-8 0
32. Atlanta 0-8 0