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Week Eight 2005 Power Rankings
Cold, Hard Football Facts for October 26, 2005
The Cold, Hard Football Facts Power Rankings are compiled by Steve Hatch and Chuck Robinson, two barely functioning members of society who are even bigger football geeks than you are.
Chuck likes to talk like a pirate and fondle naked data. He also chronicles sports and music on www.stucksports.com. This week's song selection is Cool Cody by Rose Hill Drive, a power trio out of Colorado you're sure to hear about in the coming months. Hatch, meanwhile, holds no such artistic pretentions. In fact, he represents just the second generation of his family to walk erect and has yet to develop a full command of fire and primitive stone-chiseling tools.
New England did not play last weekend, but still fell from our Top 10 ( the Patriots chimed in at No. 9 last week). This means that Week Eight of 2005 marks the first time since the launch of Cold, Hard Football Facts.com in September 2004 that perennial power New England does not appear on our NFL Top 10.
Unlike other ranking systems, the Cold, Hard Football Facts put a premium on quality wins, the single most accurate indicator of teams' relative strength. The Cold, Hard Football Facts define a quality win as any victory against a team that currently possesses a winning record.
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I
Indianapolis (7-0; previous, 1) – We're a little disappointed that the Colts failed to schedule Temple and Rutgers this season. Still, when you outscore NFL opponents by 16 points per game (27.0 PF, 11.0 PA), you're a team to contend with. The Indy D has been impressive pressuring the QB (league-leading 26 sacks) and forcing turnovers (16 takeaways, tied for fourth), but has struggled against the run. The Colts surrender 4.5 yards per carry, 27th in the league. |
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II
Jacksonville (4-2; previous, 3) – After their big Week Six win in Pittsburgh, the Jags follow their Week Seven bye with the soft spot in their schedule, including two games each against Houston and Tennesse, along with meetings against St. Louis, Baltimore, Arizona and Cleveland. Jacksonville plays well against tough competition despite a paltry passing attack. In 35 career games, Byron Leftwich has never thrown more than two touchdowns and has cracked the 300-yard mark just four times.
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III
Pittsburgh (4-2; previous, 5) – Look up "Old School Football" in Webster's and you'll find a picture of the 2005 Steelers. The Steelers run the ball on 61.6 percent of their offensive plays, while the league average is 46.1 percent. The Steelers are successful when they do pass (first in league with 8.6 yards per attempt). The old-school strategy, however, routinely backfires in the postseason.
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IV
Denver (5-2; previous, 2) – The Broncos home page on NFL.com read "Heartbreaker" after the 24-23 loss to the Giants last weekend. Despite a 5-2 record this season, "Heartbreaker" could become Denver's theme song this season, at least if its fourth-quarter performances are any indication. In the last three weeks, the Broncos have been outscored 37-3 in the fourth quarter, allowing Washington, New England and, of course, the Giants, to climb back from big deficits in the final session. |
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V
Atlanta (4-2; previous, 8) – The Atlanta defense is second in the league in sacks (24) and fourth in takeaways (16). Add a running attack that averages a league-best 188.1 yards per game and the Falcons appear to possess enough firepower to go deep into the playoffs. Atlanta could help its cause by getting the ball to its wideouts more often. Falcons receivers have caught a total of just 41 passes this season. Even the wide receivers on the lowly 0-6 Houston offense have caught 50 passes.
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VI
Washington (4-2; previous, unranked) – At the start of the season, QB Mark Brunell was another overpriced, over-the-hill backup mistakenly signed by the Redskins. Six games into the season, Brunell is one of the most productive passers in the league. In 11 games last year, he passed for an anemic 1,194 yards, 7 TDs and 6 INTs. In five-plus games this season under the tutelage of Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs, Brunell has exploded for 1,492 yards, 12 TDs and 2 INTs. It puts him on pace for a Pro Bowl-worthy 3,979 yards, 32 TDs and 5 INTs.
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VII
Philadelphia (4-2; previous, 10) – The Eagles spend more time in the air than the Goodyear Blimp. McNabb is on pace to pass for 4,669 yards (794 more than his career best in 2004) and 38 TDs (seven more than his career best, also last year). He's also on pace for 677 pass attempts, which would be the second most all time and threaten the NFL record of 691, set by Drew Bledsoe in 1994. McNabb tossed the ball 54 times last week in the win over San Diego, one shy of the career-high 55 he threw against Pittsburgh in 2000.
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VIII
Tampa Bay (5-1; previous, 6) – The Buccaneers are the only team in our Top 10 that's yet to play a quality opponent. With injuries mounting, Tampa has the luxury in Week Eight of playing yet another NFL punching bag: 1-5 San Fran. Coach Jon Gruden is 6-1 in his career coming off a bye week. We'll get a good bead on the Bucs in November, when they play consecutive games against Carolina, Washington and Atlanta.
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IX
Seattle (5-2; previous, unranked) – The Seahawks join Dallas and Washington as the only NFC teams with two quality wins and boast the most productive offense in football. Seattle leads the league with averages of 390.3 yards per game, 6.0 yards per play and 24.4 first downs per game.
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X
Cincinnati (5-2; previous, 4) – After a quick 4-0 start, the Bengals hit a road bump with a 1-2 mark in their last three games (and an enlightening 0-2 record against quality opponents). The source of the problem is a piss-poor run defense. The Bengals have surrendered a terrible 173.3 yards per game against their last three opponents. But a return to the run on offense could be a solution. RB Rudi Johnson averaged 23 carries in Cincy's first four games, but just 16 carries per game over the last three weeks. |
* The Cold, Hard Football Facts define quality wins as any victory against a team that currently possesses a winning record.
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