2009 Week three Rankings

For more information about the table contents and what they mean, see last week's rankings. I've added an "AvgComb" column which is just the AvgOff and AvgDef added together.

AverageRank	Team	Wins	Losses	AvgOff	AvgDef	AvgComb
1.7	Saints	3	0	14.4	5.4	19.9
5.3	Giants	3	0	4.3	2.6	6.9
7.3	Jets	3	0	-1.7	9.3	7.7
7.3	Patriots	2	1	2.4	3.9	6.3
7.7	Bengals	2	1	6.0	2.4	8.4
7.7	49ers	2	1	3.1	4.8	7.9
8.3	Ravens	3	0	7.2	-1.0	6.2
8.3	Broncos	3	0	-2.4	8.7	6.2
9.0	Colts	3	0	1.1	2.8	3.9
10.7	Vikings	3	0	3.3	-1.8	1.6
11.0	Bears	2	1	1.1	2.6	3.7
11.7	Chargers	2	1	4.4	-1.1	3.3
12.3	Eagles	2	1	6.0	-1.2	4.8
15.7	Lions	1	2	1.7	-1.1	0.6
15.7	Packers	2	1	6.7	-5.2	1.4
15.7	Cowboys	2	1	3.6	-2.8	0.8
16.7	Cardinals	1	2	0.4	-0.6	-0.1
17.0	Bills	1	2	-0.6	0.6	0.0
17.7	Seahawks	1	2	-1.0	0.4	-0.6
18.7	Steelers	1	2	-4.4	2.9	-1.6
20.0	Raiders	1	2	-6.3	1.3	-5.0
20.0	Jaguars	1	2	-2.1	-1.4	-3.6
21.0	Falcons	2	1	-3.9	-2.1	-6.0
21.7	Redskins	1	2	-9.7	1.8	-7.9
21.7	Dolphins	0	3	-3.7	-0.6	-4.2
22.0	Texans	1	2	2.4	-8.4	-6.0
24.0	Titans	0	3	0.6	-4.1	-3.6
25.3	Browns	0	3	-4.3	-3.6	-7.9
25.7	Chiefs	0	3	-4.2	-2.4	-6.7
27.7	Panthers	0	3	-8.3	-2.7	-11.0
29.0	Buccaneers	0	3	-6.4	-4.8	-11.2
31.0	Rams	0	3	-9.8	-4.6	-14.3

Ok, so what can we gather from this? First of all you'll see that the AverageRank is very much lining up with the team's record so far, with a few slight exceptions. Usually as more games are played the numbers show much more variation.

The Saints are clearly on top, with a dominating offense and a solid defense. The top defensive teams are pretty surprising, being the Jets, Broncos, Saints, Niners, and Patriots, but again, there's not too much data yet this year.

Despite the Ravens reputation, they're winning this year with the second best offensive rating and a slightly below average defense.

Last year at this time, the top five teams were the Cowboys, Redskins, Cardinals, Eagles, and Bills. The bottom five were the Jets, Colts, Lions, Chiefs, and Rams.

The Steelers are ranked right where they are playing, which is bottom-middle-of-the-pack, with a weak offense and a defense that plays well for 45 minutes per game. Last year at this time the Steelers were 2-1 with an AverageRank of 15.7, not much better than they are this year. For all the panicking, the Steelers could easily be 3-0 (and also just as easily be 0-3!), I'm not ready to write anything off yet.

For the record, the Steelers have, since 1970, started 1-2 nine times, and made the playoffs in five of those years. They made it in 76, 89, 93, 97, and 02, and missed the playoffs in 81, 88, 90, and in 2006 after the last Superbowl win.