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.

You would be hard-pressed to find anyone outside of Kansas City who believes the Chiefs may end the season as the best team in football, which is a clear issue of a ranking system without a subjective override. The same goes for the New York Jets, who outplayed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers even greater than what the final score suggested. 

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 top-seven teams in the Trench Counter rankings last season (49ers, Patriots, Broncos, Seahawks, Texans, Packers and Redskins) made the playoffs, while the Falcons (9th), Vikings (14th), Ravens (15th), Bengals (16th) and Colts (19th) were the other five playoff teams.

Trench Counter (TC) Rankings

1. Kansas City Chiefs: 15.7
2. New York Jets: 10.7
3. Seattle Seahawks: 9.8
4. Denver Broncos: 9.6
5. Philadelphia Eagles: 8.4
6. Tennessee Titans: 8.4
7. New England Patriots: 7.3
8. Houston Texans: 6.8
9. Detroit Lions: 5.2
10. Indianapolis Colts: 4.4
11. Chicago Bears: 4.2
12. Dallas Cowboys: 4.2
13. New Orleans Saints: 3.3
14. San Francisco 49ers: 2.9
15. Arizona Cardinals: 2
16. Miami Dolphins: 0.8
17. Cleveland Browns: -0.8
18. St. Louis Rams: -2
19. Green Bay Packers: -2.9
20. Atlanta Falcons: -3.3
21. Cincinnati Bengals: -4.2
22. New York Giants: -4.2
23. Oakland Raiders: -4.4
24. Minnesota Vikings: -5.2
25. San Diego Chargers: -6.8
26. Buffalo Bills: -7.3
27. Pittsburgh Steelers: -8.4
28. Washington Redskins: -8.4
29. Baltimore Ravens: -9.6
30. Carolina Panthers: -9.8
31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: -10.7
32. Jacksonville Jaguars: -15.7

Total Rushes/Completions (TRC) Rankings

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