With so many questions about playoff teams and seedings, we can’t just trust our algorithm to rank games this week. Dallas and the New York Giants play for the NFC East, a game that rightfully ends up 3rd in the rankings anyway. In the AFC, Baltimore and Pittsburgh are vying for the North title while Oakland and Denver’s fighting Tebows can both win the West. The four games involving these teams should get high priority this week, even if Pittsburgh is predicted to beat Cleveland by a touchdown on the road. And seriously, is anyone going to watch Seattle at Arizona, no matter how close the outcome? We should move that game from 2nd to 15th, just ahead of the other NFC West game between San Francisco and St. Louis, the worst team in The Power Rank.
1. Baltimore versus Cincinnati. (0.50)
Baltimore (5) will beat Cincinnati (14) by 2.8 on the road. Cincinnati has a 41% chance of beating Baltimore.
2. Seattle versus Arizona. (0.47)
Arizona (21) will beat Seattle (15) by 0.4 at home. Seattle has a 49% chance of beating Arizona.
3. Dallas versus New York Giants. (0.46)
New York Giants (12) will beat Dallas (13) by 2.2 at home. Dallas has a 43% chance of beating New York Giants.
4. San Diego versus Oakland. (0.42)
San Diego (16) will beat Oakland (26) by 1.2 on the road. Oakland has a 46% chance of beating San Diego.
5. New York Jets versus Miami. (0.41)
Miami (20) will beat New York Jets (19) by 2.1 at home. New York Jets has a 44% chance of beating Miami.
6. Detroit versus Green Bay. (0.38)
Green Bay (1) will beat Detroit (8) by 10.9 at home. Detroit has a 20% chance of beating Green Bay.
7. Tennessee versus Houston. (0.38)
Houston (7) will beat Tennessee (17) by 5.4 at home. Tennessee has a 34% chance of beating Houston.
8. Kansas City versus Denver. (0.37)
Denver (25) will beat Kansas City (23) by 1.6 at home. Kansas City has a 45% chance of beating Denver.
9. Carolina versus New Orleans. (0.32)
New Orleans (2) will beat Carolina (18) by 10.5 at home. Carolina has a 21% chance of beating New Orleans.
10. Chicago versus Minnesota. (0.30)
Chicago (10) will beat Minnesota (30) by 4.3 on the road. Minnesota has a 37% chance of beating Chicago.
11. Washington versus Philadelphia. (0.29)
Philadelphia (9) will beat Washington (24) by 6.2 at home. Washington has a 31% chance of beating Philadelphia.
12. Pittsburgh versus Cleveland. (0.28)
Pittsburgh (6) will beat Cleveland (28) by 7.0 on the road. Cleveland has a 29% chance of beating Pittsburgh.
13. Buffalo versus New England. (0.27)
New England (4) will beat Buffalo (22) by 10.9 at home. Buffalo has a 20% chance of beating New England.
14. Tampa Bay versus Atlanta. (0.20)
Atlanta (11) will beat Tampa Bay (29) by 8.1 at home. Tampa Bay has a 26% chance of beating Atlanta.
15. Indianapolis versus Jacksonville. (0.19)
Jacksonville (27) will beat Indianapolis (31) by 4.8 at home. Indianapolis has a 35% chance of beating Jacksonville.
16. San Francisco versus St. Louis. (0.16)
San Francisco (3) will beat St. Louis (32) by 12.2 on the road. St. Louis has a 18% chance of beating San Francisco.
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—Ranking college football bowl games: a viewer’s guide.
—College football’s incredibly slow progress towards a playoff.
—3 types of college football coaches that got fired.
—The Power Rank featured on KALX Spectrum, the science and technology show on UC Berkeley student radio.
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