2023 through Monday, Week 17

Power Ratings

According to Bud Goode's computer-aided analysis of pro football a good power rating system is determined by simply dividing points scored on offense by points allowed on defense.

The average team earns one point on offense for each point given up on defense and has a ratio of 1.00. Divisional champs earn 1.5 points for each point given up and cellar dwellers earn about 1 point for each 2 points allowed. An average team should be close to an 8-8 record.

Here are the power ratings for last year's playoff teams:

2022 Playoff Teams
1 Denver Broncos 0.00 7 Houston Texans 0.00
2 Miami Dolphins 0.00 8 New York Jets 0.00
3 Atlanta Falcons 0.00 9 Baltimore Ravens 0.00
4 Las Vegas Raiders 0.00 10 Kansas City Chiefs 0.00
5 Seattle Seahawks 0.00 11 Cleveland Browns 0.00
6 L. A. Rams 0.00 12 New York Giants 0.00
2022: Super Bowl average = 0.00 Playoff average = 0.00

The ultimate playoff teams for this year will be the ones with the best balance. After week number 17 the computer power ratings are:

2023
1 Baltimore Ravens 1.84 17 Pittsburgh Steelers 1.00
2 San Francisco 49ers 1.63 18 Minnesota Vikings 0.97
3 Buffalo Bills 1.53 19 Chicago Bears 0.97
4 Dallas Cowboys 1.36 20 Seattle Seahawks 0.97
5 Miami Dolphins 1.36 21 Las Vegas Raiders 0.97
6 Kansas City Chiefs 1.33 22 L. A. Chargers 0.90
7 Houston Texans 1.22 23 Cincinnati Bengals 0.90
8 Detroit Lions 1.21 24 Atlanta Falcons 0.89
9 Philadelphia Eagles 1.11 25 Denver Broncos 0.84
10 Cleveland Browns 1.09 26 Tennessee Titans 0.77
11 New Orleans Saints 1.07 27 Arizona Cardinals 0.71
12 L. A. Rams 1.05 28 Washington Commanders 0.64
13 Indianapolis Colts 1.05 29 New York Giants 0.64
14 Green Bay Packers 1.03 30 New England Patriots 0.63
15 Jacksonville Jaguars 1.03 31 Carolina Panthers 0.62
16 Tampa Bay Bucs 1.02 32 New York Jets 0.60

At the end of the season the strongest team will earn about 2 points on offense for each point allowd. Divisional leaders will be near 1.5 points for each D point given up. And cellar-dwellers will earn only one point for each two points on D (a ratio of 0.5-to-1). The average team will score as many points as their D allows, earning a ratio of 1-to-1. This spells a won/lost recored near 8-8. In 2006 this balance-of-power stat corellated 97% with the scoring differential (winning margin) and in 2005, 98%. This offensive-defensive scoring balance of power is a most reliable Killer Stat.