Our NFL Team Rankings are based entirely on the The Trench Counter, which is an objective formula measuring average yards per pass and run on both offense and defense, along with first downs registered and given up, turnovers for and against, and total penalty yards.

Over time, The Trench Counter rankings begin to closely resemble the standings but goes even further to determine which teams are truly the best when on the line of scrimmage.

The chief aim of the Trench Counter is to take the subjective out of the equation and even the somewhat fluky nature of teams actually scoring points, which is of course the whole point on a game-by-game basis.

- Playoff teams listed in bold below.

Final 2016 Rankings

1. New England Patriots: 7.4
2. Atlanta Falcons: 7.1
3. Arizona Cardinals: 5.7
4. Dallas Cowboys: 4.7
5. Tennessee Titans: 3.7
6. Green Bay Packers: 3.0
7. Cincinnati Bengals: 2.4
8. Seattle Seahawks: 2.2
9. Pittsburgh Steelers: 1.9
10. Washington: 1.6
11. Kansas City Chiefs: 1.3
12. San Diego Chargers: 0.8
13. Denver Broncos: 0.4
14. Minnesota Vikings: 0.4
15. New Orleans Saints: 0.4
16. Buffalo Bills: 0.2
17. Baltimore Ravens: 0.1
18. Indianapolis Colts: -0.1
19. Oakland Raiders: -0.2
20. New York Giants: -0.3
21. Philadelphia Eagles: -0.8
22. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: -1.1
23. Houston Texans: -1.4
24. Carolina Panthers: -1.7
25. Detroit Lions: -1.7
26. Chicago Bears: -1.9
27. Miami Dolphins: -2.8
28. Jacksonville Jaguars: -3.5
29. New York Jets: -5.8
30. Cleveland Browns: -6.6
31. San Francisco 49ers: -6.9
32. Los Angeles Rams: -8.5