Our NFL Team Rankings are based solely 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.

- Playoff teams in bold.

Final 2012 Trench Counter Rankings

1. San Francisco 49ers: 8.7
2. New England Patriots: 8.6
3. Denver Broncos: 8.6
4. Seattle Seahawks: 7.2
5. Houston Texans: 5.2
6. Green Bay Packers: 4.3
7. Washington Redskins: 4.2
8. Chicago Bears: 3.3
9. Atlanta Falcons: 3.3
10. New York Giants: 3.2
11. Carolina Panthers: 1.9
12. Pittsburgh Steelers: 1.1
13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 0.7
14. Minnesota Vikings: 0.5
15. Baltimore Ravens: 0.2
16. Cincinnati Bengals: 0.2
17. San Diego Chargers: -0.6
18. Miami Dolphins: -1.1
19. Indianapolis Colts: -1.2
20. Detroit Lions: -1.4
21. St. Louis Rams: -2.6
22. Cleveland Browns: -2.7
23. Oakland Raiders: -2.8
24. Dallas Cowboys: -3.3
25. New Orleans Saints: -3.8
26. New York Jets: -4.0
27. Philadelphia Eagles: -4.3
28. Buffalo Bills: -4.6
29. Tennessee Titans: -5.6
30. Arizona Cardinals: -7.6
31. Jacksonville Jaguars: -7.7
32. Kansas City Chiefs: -8.8

Final 2012 Total Rushes/Completions (TRC) Rankings

1. Houston Texans: 10.3
2. Denver Broncos: 9.9
3. Seattle Seahawks: 6.3
4. New England Patriots: 5.3
5. Green Bay Packers: 4.8
6. Pittsburgh Steelers: 4.8
7. Detroit Lions: 4.3
8. Washington Redskins: 4.1
9. Cincinnati Bengals: 3.7
10. Atlanta Falcons: 2.9
11. San Francisco 49ers: 2.3
12. Chicago Bears: 1.1
13. Indianapolis Colts: 1.1
14. Dallas Cowboys: 0.9
15. Kansas City Chiefs: 0.8
16. Philadelphia Eagles: 0.6
17. San Diego Chargers: 0.4
18. New York Jets: 0.4
19. Buffalo Bills: -1.4
20. Oakland Raiders: -1.9
21. New Orleans Saints: -2.3
22. Carolina Panthers: -3.1
23. Minnesota Vikings: -3.3
24. Miami Dolphins: -3.3
25. New York Giants: -3.6
26. St. Louis Rams: -3.9
27. Arizona Cardinals: -4.4
28. Cleveland Browns: -4.7
29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: -6.1
30. Baltimore Ravens: -7.3
31. Tennessee Titans: -10.0
32. Jacksonville Jaguars: -12.6