NFL Power Rankings Week 14
by Robert Ferringo - 12/16/2010

It’s been a long, grueling NFL season and we’re heading down the home stretch. Some teams – like some gamblers – have strengthened their position and they are poised to make major moves through the final three weeks of the regular season. Other teams – like most gamblers – were dealt a harsh injection of Reality weeks ago and they are ready to cry “uncle” on this charade.

NFL Power Rankings Week 14
by Robert Ferringo - 12/8/2010

Last week the most obvious theme was that the most rugged, most physical and most brutal teams were the ones that took the cash. Jacksonville. Oakland. Minnesota. New England. Cleveland. Every one of those teams bludgeoned their opponents for 60 minutes and each and every one of them managed to take the ‘W’ and the cash, throw it over their shoulder, and walk away leaving a trail of blood and broken dreams behind them.

NFL Power Rankings Week 13
by Robert Ferringo - 12/1/2010

This week there are eight in-season revenge games on the card, featuring divisional rivals that have already met once this year. Sunday begins with Jacksonville at Tennessee (the Titans flattened the Jags by 27 in October) and Monday ends with New York at New England (the Jets rolled the Patriots 28-14 in September). And in between is a host of other situations where motivation should be high on both sides.

NFL Power Rankings Week 12
by Robert Ferringo - 11/24/2010

It’s Thanksgiving week and things are on overdrive – on the gridiron, at the sportsbooks, at the mall and at the dinner table. But we are also rounding the corner in the NFL season and headed into Money Time, as the cream continues to rise to the top at the window and on the field.

NFL Power Rankings Week 11
by Robert Ferringo - 11/17/2010

Philadelphia’s absurd 59-point outburst on Monday Night Football was the coup de grace for what was another record-setting weekend off offensive output in the NFL. The game, as we know it, has changed. Scoring is not optional in the NFL these days. Every team looks like it’s running a seven-on-seven drill each Sunday, and I don’t think I’ve seen a defense make a stand since Week 3.

NFL Power Rankings Week 10
by Robert Ferringo - 11/10/2010

Indianapolis dropped down to No. 10 and was the biggest mover of the week. However, that was as much a function of good wins by the Packers, Falcons and Saints as it was anything that the Colts have done. Other than that I flopped Houston down a bit, swapped Jacksonville and Dallas, and moved the Giants up to the No. 3 slot ahead of the Jets and Patriots.

NFL Power Rankings Week 9
by Robert Ferringo - 11/3/2010

While the entire football world is wasting time on the drama involving Randy Moss, Donovan McNabb, the Vikings, the Cowboys, and a bunch of other guys that haven’t produced much of anything this year, there are a lot of stories that are sliding under the radar. And if Joe Public wonders why he is a consistent loser when it comes to NFL handicapping he can partially thank the bobblehead media for force-feeding sensationalist stories instead of actually trading in fact and stat.

NFL Power Rankings Week 8
by Robert Ferringo - 10/27/2010

As we head into Week 8 of the 2010 NFL season Minnesota (1-5), Dallas (1-5) and San Diego (2-5) are three of the worst teams in the league. In the meantime, Kansas City (4-2), Tampa Bay (4-2) and Seattle (4-2) are three of the best. (At least in the stat category that counts most: wins.) What the hell is going on in this league?

NFL Power Rankings Week 7
by Robert Ferringo - 10/20/2010

Save the violence. The big buzz in the NFL this week is the “outrage” over the vicious and savage play that we witnessed on the field last week. It was as if members of the bobblehead media suddenly realized: wow, football is a violent, angry, masochistic sport full of pain and punishment. And naturally, they had to bitch about it.

NFL Power Rankings Week 6
by Robert Ferringo - 10/13/2010

1. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-1) – How is this for old school: Pittsburgh is No. 32 in the NFL in passing (136 yards per game) but they are arguably one of the best three teams in the league. Obviously, Big Ben is back this week. And I expect him to be pretty sharp. But he’s not going to be a cure-all for their offensive issues, which include its leaky offensive line. Pittsburgh has won 12 of 13 games against the Browns and is a solid 9-4 ATS in those games.

NFL Power Rankings Week 5
by Robert Ferringo - 10/6/2010

New England sent the enigmatic wide receiver to Minnesota this week in a trade that has truly shocked the pro football world. There were rumors as early as Monday night that the Patriots could be shopping Moss, but I think very few people had Minnesota targeted as a landing spot. The Vikings sent just a third-round pick to the Patriots for one of the NFL’s all-time great receivers.

NFL Power Rankings Week 4
by Robert Ferringo - 9/29/2010

On several occasions last year I wrote about the fact that, for one season at least, parity was dead in the NFL. The top-tier teams were at least three or four touchdowns better than the bottom feeders and the head-to-head and peripheral numbers backed that assessment up. Teams like Detroit and St. Louis were setting records for futility (consecutive losses, point differentials, number of blowouts, etc.) while teams like New Orleans and Indianapolis stayed undefeated until they started benching their starters. It made for a truly odd season in a league where we’ve come to expect the unexpected.

NFL Power Rankings Week 3
by Robert Ferringo - 9/23/2010

I’m not going to break down every single team’s NFL strength of schedule and how these records relate to one another. But if my rankings seem screwy, or off, or if they don’t match up with the bobblehead media’s “standard” power rankings then you will know that it is because I’m applying Ferringo’s Theory of Football Relativity.

NFL Power Rankings Week 1
by Robert Ferringo - 9/9/2010

The symphony of violence that is the National Football League is about to commence. The tribes have assembled and the war drums are banging. Warrior training, and the synchronization of pain, is over. And it is time again to for the national psyche to be engulfed by the ritualized violence that marks each weekend in this time of the Harvest.

NFL Power Rankings Training Camp Edition
by Robert Ferringo - 7/30/2010

Right now is the most hopeful time of the year in football circles and at the moment there are 32 organizations trying to convince themselves that this is their Year, their Time for success, riches, fame and immortality. But we have a long way to go before we can get into that kind of talk.

NFL Power Rankings Week 17
by Robert Ferringo - 12/31/2009

There is absolutely no betting experience in sports as Week 17 in the NFL. Basically, it’s a freak show. And even though there is a week in between games there is absolutely no certain way of knowing how coaches are going to handle this week’s game plans.

NFL Power Rankings Week 16
by Robert Ferringo - 12/23/2009

They’ve been on the ropes for weeks and the Cowboys finally delivered the knockout. The Saints have covered their last three games against Tampa Bay but they are just 2-6 ATS in their last eight games.

NFL Power Rankings Week 15
by Robert Ferringo - 12/16/2009

Don’t overlook the fact that this New Orleans-Dallas game is kind of a regional rivalry game. They don’t play often but when they do there is usually plenty of vitriol. And like any rivalry game the favorite has been a money burner, going 0-6 ATS in the last six meetings.

NFL Power Rankings Week 14
by Robert Ferringo - 12/9/2009

It's at the point now where you want to be looking for a couple things. First, look for teams that start to pick up steam, both against the number and against opponents over the next few weeks. They are usually strong bets early in the postseason. (Oh, and even losing teams can "get hot" ATS in the last month and build on that momentum for next year. Ask Cincinnati.)

NFL Power Rankings Week 13
by Robert Ferringo - 12/2/2009

December football is playoff football. Now, this isn't the playoffs in the winner-take-all, take-your-ball-and-go-home, you-better-bring-your-ass-to-the-store-with-that manner that January heralds. But the playoffs have begun in the NFL, with teams in both conferences playing for their postseason lives every week from here on out.