The scoreboard is where games are officially won and lost, but they are largely decided by the team that wins the battles of yards per pass, yards per carry, penalty yards lost, first downs, and turnovers. For this reason, I created the following formula called the ?Trench Counter? to look at which team truly controls the game: (2x Yards per pass) + (2x Yards per carry) + (.5 First downs) - (Penalty yards/10) - (2.5 Turnovers) - (Opposing Team's Trench Counter) Click here for more information on the Trench Counter For the 2008 season, our weekly team rankings will be based solely off this formula. In parenthesis is the Trench Counter average and rank over the past four games. 1. New York Giants: 7.9 (4.1, 10th) The Giants lead the league in rushing but are just 17th in passing yards. When they won the Super Bowl a season ago, the Giants were 23rd in passer rating. 2. Baltimore Ravens: 6.4 (8.8, 1st) The Ravens are 5-0 when Joe Flacco has a passer rating of 95 or better. 3. Pittsburgh Steelers: 6.2 (6.5, 3rd) Ben Roethlisberger is 23rd in passer rating with a mark of 80.1, a drop of 24 points when he was second behind Tom Brady in 2007. 4. Tennessee Titans: 6.0 (8.0, 2nd) I'm not sure how, but LenDale White has the longest rush of 2008 with an 80-yard run. 5. Philadelphia Eagles: 4.8 (-0.9, 19th) Donovan McNabb's receivers have had 28 drops this season, most in the NFC. 6. Carolina Panthers: 4.7 (6.5, 4th) DeAngelo Williams leads the NFL with yards per rush with 5.4 and also TD's with 15. 7. Miami Dolphins: 4.6 (3.7, 11th) The Dolphins are fourth in passer rating this season (93.1) and were 30th (67.4) a season ago. 8. Minnesota Vikings: 4.5 (5.7, 5th) Five of Adrian Peterson's nine touchdowns have been in the fourth quarter. 9. Atlanta Falcons: 4.3 (0.2, 16th) The Falcons have had 56 runs of 10 or more yards, second in the NFL. Both Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood are capable of a big run on any down. 10. Washington Redskins: 3.7 (-1.5, 21st) Without Clinton Portis, as the Redskins were on Sunday at Baltimore, makes winning nearly impossible for Jim Zorn's squad. The Redskins are 6-1 when Portis rushes for at least 90 yards. 11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 3.3 (4.9, 8th) Jeff Garcia has thrown an interception in just 1% of his attempts. 12. Arizona Cardinals: 3.1 (0.2, 17th) The Cardinals are dead last in rushing yards. 13. New York Jets: 2.7 (-1.4, 20th) Brett Favre has had 15 passes intercepted, which ties him for Gus Frerotte for the NFL lead. 14. New England Patriots: 2.0 (2.2, 15th) Wes Welker leads the NFL in receptions with 96. If he finishes the season with the lead, he will be the first player since Sterling Sharpe in 92 and 93 to lead the NFL two consecutive seasons. Kellen Winslow, in 80 and 81, is the only other receiver to accomplish this since the merger. 15. San Diego Chargers: 1.6 (4.6, 9th) The Chargers are 30th against the pass this season. 16. Dallas Cowboys: 1.0 (2.5, 13th) The Cowboys have been erratic and sloppy all season, and the laid back attitude of Wade Phillips doesn't work when Jerry Jones keep bringing in the kind of players that undermine that mentality. 17. Chicago Bears: 1.0 (-1.8, 22nd) Matt Forte is averaging 5.1 yards per carry on third down. 18. New Orleans Saints: 1.0 (5.4, 6th) Drew Brees has thrown for 15 more yards per game than Brady did in 2007 and 38.9 more than he did in 2006 when he led the NFL. 19. Indianapolis Colts: 0.1 (2.4, 14th) The Colts have been completely inept on the ground (78,1 yards per game, (only Arizona has been worse), but they have an NFL-best 49.1% success rate on third down. 20. Houston Texans: 0.1 (5.4, 7th) The Texans have had four balls intercepted within their opponents' 20. 21. Green Bay Packers: -1.3 (-2.5, 24th) Nick Collins has returned three interceptions for touchdowns. 22. San Francisco 49ers: -1.7 (2.6, 12th) While many teams are going with a dual-back system, the only other member of the 49ers other than Frank Gore with at least 100 yards rushing on the season is J.T. O'Sullivan. 23. Buffalo Bills: -1.7 (-2.3, 23rd) Since scoring 54 points against Kansas City, the Bills have scored 3 in each of their losses to the 49ers and Dolphins. 24. Denver Broncos: -1.9 (0.0, 18th) The Broncos are the lowest ranked division leader in our rankings. 25. Jacksonville Jaguars: -3.8 (-8.1, 28th) David Garrard had a passer rating of 0.0 with just nine seconds left in the first half against Chicago. 26. Cleveland Browns: -4.7 (-2.6, 25th) D'Qwell Jackson leads the NFL in tackles with 130. He had 101 last season. 27. Kansas City Chiefs: -5.0 (-2.9, 26th) The Chiefs, along with the Lions, have yielded 6.2 yards per play on defense. 28. Seattle Seahawks: -7.0 (-9.4, 29th) Deion Branch's first and only two TD's this season came in their loss against New England. 29. Oakland Raiders: -9.2 (-7.1, 27th) The Raiders are surprisingly not the worst offenders in offensive penalty yards, but they are second behind the Packers with 739. 30. Cincinnati Bengals: -9.2 (-10.4, 30th) The Bengals have been outscored 96-16 since they tied the Eagles. 31. Detroit Lions: -10.8 (-12.4, 32nd) Detroit had their best chance of winning on Sunday against the Vikings but were outscored 10-3 in the fourth period. 32. St. Louis Rams: -12.5 (-10.5, 31st) Stephen Jackson's two fumbles against Arizona gave the Rams an almost impossible hill to climb.