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.

We are also including the Bill Parcells/Michael Lombardi stat that we modified called Total Rushes/Completions, which is listed as the second set of rankings below.

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.

The Philadelphia Eagles again rose in our rankings with a +27.9 in the Trench Counter against the Detroit Lions.

The Seattle Seahawks had a negative Trench Counter against the San Francisco 49ers in their loss, while the New Orleans Saints had a less impressive Trench Counter (+7.8) than the final scorewould suggest.

Trench Counter (TC) Rankings

1. Seattle Seahawks: 7.7
2. Philadelphia Eagles: 6.8
3. Carolina Panthers: 5.7
4. San Francisco 49ers: 4.4
5. Denver Broncos: 4.2
6. New Orleans Saints: 4.2
7. New England Patriots: 4.1
8. Kansas City Chiefs: 3.6
9. Cincinnati Bengals: 1.6
10. Arizona Cardinals: 0.8
11. Chicago Bears: 0.6
12. Indianapolis Colts: 0.4
13. Miami Dolphins: 0.4
14. Green Bay Packers: 0.4
15. San Diego Chargers: -0.2
16. Baltimore Ravens: -0.9
17. Cleveland Browns: -1.1
18. Pittsburgh Steelers: -1.3
19. Detroit Lions: -1.5
20. St. Louis Rams: -1.5
21. Buffalo Bills: -1.7
22. Atlanta Falcons: -1.7
23. Dallas Cowboys: -2.5
24. Minnesota Vikings: -2.5
25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: -2.7
26. Tennessee Titans: -2.7
27. Houston Texans: -2.9
28. New York Giants: -3.2
29. Washington Redskins: -3.2
30. Oakland Raiders: -3.6
31. New York Jets: -4.0
32. Jacksonville Jaguars: -8.0

Total Rushes/Completions (TRC) Rankings

1. Denver Broncos: 9.0
2. New Orleans Saints: 7.0
3. San Diego Chargers: 6.7
4. Detroit Lions: 5.7
5. Carolina Panthers: 5.5
6. Houston Texans: 5.3
7. Cincinnati Bengals: 4.8
8. Kansas City Chiefs: 3.7
9. Baltimore Ravens: 3.2
10. Seattle Seahawks: 3.2
11. Green Bay Packers: 2.3
12. Buffalo Bills: 2.2
13. Arizona Cardinals: 2.0
14. Washington Redskins: 2.0
15. New England Patriots: 1.8
16. Chicago Bears: 0.6
17. Pittsburgh Steelers: 0.1
18. San Francisco 49ers: -0.2
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: -1.5
20. Tennessee Titans: -1.7
21. New York Jets: -2.8
22. Philadelphia Eagles: -3.2
23. Indianapolis Colts: -3.2
24. Oakland Raiders: -3.8
25. Atlanta Falcons: -4.4
26. Cleveland Browns: -4.7
27. St. Louis Rams: -4.7
28. Miami Dolphins: -5.2
29. New York Giants: -6.1
30. Minnesota Vikings: -7.2
31. Jacksonville Jaguars: -7.7
32. Dallas Cowboys: -8.6