2011 NFL Power Rankings Season Review
I know I’ve already posted a final edition of the power rankings. Furthermore, I think we all realize that most people wouldn’t have much interest in a breakdown of how each NFL team faired in my rankings throughout the season. However, I know that just the opposite is true for you imaginary readers. I wasn’t about to put the NFL season to bed without providing my fans with a superfluous end of the year review of my power rankings.
Ranking the Teams One More Time
Listed below are the 32 NFL teams, ranked by their average position in my 2011 rankings. This year there were 19 editions of my power rankings (preseason; the 17 weeks of the regular season; and a final post-playoffs edition). Each team’s mean average is listed in parenthesis.
1. Green Bay (1.53)
2. New Orleans (3.26)
3. New England (3.89)
4. Pittsburgh (5.00)
5. Baltimore (5.74)
6. San Francisco (8.00)
7. Houston (9.21)
8. New York Jets (10.16)
9. New York Giants (10.47)
10. Detroit (10.53)
11. San Diego (11.26)
12. Dallas (12.11)
13. Philadelphia (12.16)
14. Atlanta (12.89)
15. Chicago (14.21)
16. Oakland (18.26)
17. Tennessee (18.63)
(T)18. Buffalo (19.32)
(T)18. Cincinnati (19.32)
20. Tampa (19.47)
21. Carolina (20.89)
22. Miami (21.37)
23. Kansas City (21.42)
24. Arizona (21.47)
25. Denver (24.58)
26. Washington (25.05)
27. Seattle (25.32)
28. Cleveland (25.84)
29. Minnesota (26.89)
30. Jacksonville (27.47)
31. Indianapolis (28.74)
32. St. Louis (29.21)
Notes: In case anyone’s wondering, yes, the Bills and Bengals did have the exact same mean average position this season; the tie is not a result of rounding up. These numbers are interesting (at least to me) but they are probably not quite as useful as they would be if I excluded some of the early rankings. Preseason rankings are always going to help some teams and hurt others.
San Diego’s #11 ranking is higher than you might expect. This is due to the fact that they were my #2 team in the preseason power rankings. Their 4-1 start over the first 6 weeks (their bye was week 6) ensured that they would stay near the top of my rankings for a good portion of the season. They ended up having a very disappointing season but that isn’t really reflected here.
The Bucs are a similar case, as they were #17 in my preseason rankings and started out 4-2. They are 20th based on mean average and that’s not at all reflective of how their season went. Arizona was hurt by their preseason ranking (#32) and their subsequent 1-6 start. Thus they are #24 in terms of mean average despite going 7-2 in their last 9 games to finish 8-8.
The #1 Spot
Only 3 different teams held the top spot in my rankings for at least 1 of the 19 editions. New England was the #1 team in my preseason power rankings and held the top spot through the first 2 weeks of the season. The Packers took over the #1 ranking in week 3 and maintained the top position for the remainder of the regular season, holding down the #1 spot for 15 straight weeks. The Giants finished with the #1 ranking in my final power rankings.
The #32 Spot
There was more variety in the bottom spot than there was in the top spot. 5 different teams were ranked #32 in at least 1 of the 19 editions of my power rankings. The Cards were the #32 team in my preseason rankings; Denver took the lowest spot after week 1; and the Seahawks were in the bottom position after week 2.
The Rams hit bottom in week 3 and they maintained the #32 ranking for 4 straight weeks. In total, St. Louis was the #32 team in 8 of 19 editions. The Colts were also ranked #32 in 8 of 19 editions. In fact, Indy held the bottom spot for 8 straight weeks from week 8 through week 15. St. Louis moved back down to #32 in week 16 and they remained in the bottom spot for the final 3 editions. STL and Indy tied for the most weeks spent at #32 with 8 apiece.
Moving
The average number of teams moving up or down at least one spot in my rankings each week this season was 21.72 out of 32. Not surprisingly, the final edition was the one with the least changes, as most of the teams had not played since the last set of rankings. Only 12 of 32 teams moved up or down at least 1 spot in my final rankings. Outside of the final edition, the calmest week was week 6 when only 15 of 32 teams experienced change. The wildest week was week 3 when 29 of 32 teams changed places.
Week 3 may have been the most chaotic week of the season in my rankings, but week 5 was also crazy due to a few teams making major moves. The biggest 1 week rise in the rankings for a team this season was +8. The Bills, Raiders, and Niners each accomplished the feat once this season and all 3 teams made the jump in week 5. The biggest 1 week drop in the rankings by a team this season was -16 for Kansas City in week 2, as they dropped from #12 all the way to #28.
Team Overviews
The following is a breakdown of each team’s experience in my 2011 power rankings. Teams are listed in order of their mean average position in the rankings (given in parenthesis). Beneath each team’s name the following data is listed: preseason ranking; final ranking; mode ranking (most frequent ranking during the season); peak ranking; nadir (opposite of peak) ranking; biggest 1-week rise; and biggest 1-week drop.
Green Bay (1.53)
Preseason: 5
Final: 2
Mode: 1 (x15)
Peak: 1 (x15)
Nadir: 5
Biggest Rise: +2
Biggest Drop: -1
New Orleans (3.26)
Preseason: 8
Final: 4
Mode: 2 (x10)
Peak: 2 (x10)
Nadir: 8
Biggest Rise: +4
Biggest Drop: -3
New England (3.89)
Preseason: 1
Final: 5
Mode: 5 (x7)
Peak: 1 (x3)
Nadir: 7
Biggest Rise: +2
Biggest Drop: -3
Pittsburgh (5.00)
Preseason: 3
Final: 7
Mode: 4 (x7)
Peak: 2
Nadir: 8 (x2)
Biggest Rise: +2 (x3)
Biggest Drop: -5
Baltimore (5.74)
Preseason: 7
Final: 6
Mode: 6 (x8)
Peak: 2
Nadir: 9
Biggest Rise: +5
Biggest Drop: -4
San Francisco (8.00)
Preseason: 23
Final: 3
Mode: 3 (x7)
Peak: 2 (x3)
Nadir: 23
Biggest Rise: +8
Biggest Drop: -2
Houston (9.21)
Preseason: 14
Final: 8
Mode: 8 (x4)
Peak: 6 (x3)
Nadir: 14
Biggest Rise: +4
Biggest Drop: -5
New York Jets (10.16)
Preseason: 6
Final: 19
Mode: 7 (x3); 10 (x3); 13 (x3)
Peak: 5 (x2)
Nadir: 19
Biggest Rise: +2 (x2)
Biggest Drop: -9
New York Giants (10.47)
Preseason: 11
Final: 1
Mode: 8 (x4); 17 (x4)
Peak: 1
Nadir: 17 (x4)
Biggest Rise: +6 (x2)
Biggest Drop: -8
Detroit (10.53)
Preseason: 19
Final: 11
Mode: 8 (x5)
Peak: 7 (x2)
Nadir: 19
Biggest Rise: +4
Biggest Drop: -2 (x3)
San Diego (11.26)
Preseason: 2
Final: 16
Mode: 2 (x3); 4 (x3); 16 (x3)
Peak: 2 (x3)
Nadir: 22
Biggest Rise: +3 (x2)
Biggest Drop: -4 (x2)
Dallas (12.11)
Preseason: 16
Final: 12
Mode: 14 (x4)
Peak: 7
Nadir: 17
Biggest Rise: +5
Biggest Drop: -4
Philadelphia (12.16)
Preseason: 4
Final: 9
Mode: 15 (x5)
Peak: 3
Nadir: 19
Biggest Rise: +4
Biggest Drop: -5 (x2)
Atlanta (12.89)
Preseason: 9
Final: 10
Mode: 11 (x4)
Peak: 9 (x2)
Nadir: 18 (x2)
Biggest Rise: +3
Biggest Drop: -4
Chicago (14.21)
Preseason: 12
Final: 24
Mode: 12 (x5)
Peak: 6
Nadir: 26 (x2)
Biggest Rise: +3 (x2)
Biggest Drop: -10
Oakland (18.26)
Preseason: 25
Final: 22
Mode: 11 (x2); 14 (x2); 18 (x2); 19 (x2); 20 (x2); 21 (x2); 22 (x2)
Peak: 11 (x2)
Nadir: 25
Biggest Rise: +8
Biggest Drop: -7
Tennessee (18.63)
Preseason: 21
Final: 21
Mode: 21 (x6)
Peak: 13
Nadir: 22
Biggest Rise: +5
Biggest Drop: -8
Buffalo (19.32)
Preseason: 31
Final: 26
Mode: 26 (x3)
Peak: 7
Nadir: 31
Biggest Rise: +8
Biggest Drop: -6
Cincinnati (19.32)
Preseason: 28
Final: 17
Mode: 17 (x4)
Peak: 14 (x3)
Nadir: 28
Biggest Rise: +5
Biggest Drop: -3 (x2)
Tampa Bay (19.47)
Preseason: 17
Final: 31
Mode: 18 (x3); 31 (x3)
Peak: 11
Nadir: 31 (x3)
Biggest Rise: +2 (x3)
Biggest Drop: -5
Carolina (20.89)
Preseason: 20
Final: 23
Mode: 20 (x6); 22 (x6)
Peak: 19
Nadir: 28
Biggest Rise: +4
Biggest Drop: -3 (x3)
Miami (21.37)
Preseason: 15
Final: 14
Mode: 15 (x4)
Peak: 14 (x2)
Nadir: 31 (x2)
Biggest Rise: +5
Biggest Drop: -9
Kansas City (21.42)
Preseason: 10
Final: 20
Mode: 23 (x5)
Peak: 10
Nadir: 28
Biggest Rise: +4
Biggest Drop: -16
Arizona (21.47)
Preseason: 32
Final: 13
Mode: 24 (x5)
Peak: 13 (x2)
Nadir: 32
Biggest Rise: +5
Biggest Drop: -3
Denver (24.58)
Preseason: 27
Final: 18
Mode: 30 (x4)
Peak: 14
Nadir: 32
Biggest Rise: +5
Biggest Drop: -6
Washington (25.05)
Preseason: 30
Final: 27
Mode: 27 (x4)
Peak: 19
Nadir: 31
Biggest Rise: +7
Biggest Drop: -4
Seattle (25.32)
Preseason: 26
Final: 15
Mode: 26 (x4)
Peak: 15 (x2)
Nadir: 32
Biggest Rise: +4 (x3)
Biggest Drop: -5
Cleveland (25.84)
Preseason: 22
Final: 25
Mode: 25 (x7)
Peak: 22 (x2)
Nadir: 30
Biggest Rise: +4 (x3)
Biggest Drop: -8
Minnesota (26.89)
Preseason: 24
Final: 30
Mode: 30 (x6)
Peak: 23
Nadir: 31 (x3)
Biggest Rise: +4 (x2)
Biggest Drop: -8
Jacksonville (27.47)
Preseason: 29
Final: 28
Mode: 28 (x7)
Peak: 23 (x2)
Nadir: 31
Biggest Rise: +3 (x2)
Biggest Drop: -3
Indianapolis (28.74)
Preseason: 13
Final: 29
Mode: 32 (x8)
Peak: 13
Nadir: 32 (x8)
Biggest Rise: +2 (x2)
Biggest Drop: -10
St. Louis (29.21)
Preseason: 18
Final: 32
Mode: 32 (x8)
Peak: 18 (x2)
Nadir: 32 (x8)
Biggest Rise: +4
Biggest Drop: -7 (x2)
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