By Christopher Reina 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 2009 season, our weekly team rankings will be based solely off this formula. 1. New Orleans Saints: 20.8 The Saints rank first in passer rating for (132.9), as well as against (53.4), which goes a long ways in placing them atop our rankings. 2. Denver Broncos: 12.9 Denver is somewhat flukishly ranked second after Week 2, but they have only allowed 27 first downs and opposing offenses are 8-for-29 on 3rd down. The defense has been shockingly effective with just 13 total point allowed. 3. Minnesota Vikings: 9.4 Adrian Peterson is averaging 13.9 yards per rush during the 4th quarter. 4. New York Jets: 8.8 The Jets have allowed just 4.8 yards per pass and are the only team to have not allowed a touchdown. Rex Ryan has also protected his rookie quarterback by running the ball in 57% of their plays. 5. Baltimore Ravens: 8.3 Willis McGahee is one of three players (Frank Gore and Peterson are the others) with four touchdowns. 6. Indianapolis Colts: 8.0 Dallas Clark is the NFL's early leader in receiving yards with 222. 7. Buffalo Bills: 7.2 The Bills have allowed just 65 yards per game on the ground. 8. San Francisco 49ers: 6.5 Shaun Hill's 87.8 passer rating is plenty acceptable so long as the defense continues its stinginess, though he has the lowest rating amongst undefeated quarterbacks. He is one of five QBs (including Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers) to not have an interception on the books yet. 9. New York Giants: 5.4 The running game hasn't gotten off the ground yet for the Giants, who are averaging just 3.5 yards per carry. Mario Manningham is averaging 16.0 yards per reception. 10. Green Bay Packers: 3.3 Aaron Rodgers cannot become an MVP quarterback when he is so frequently horizontal. Antwan Odom recorded five sacks in Cincinnati's 34-24 upset at Green Bay. He has already been sacked 10 times this season, compared to 34 all of 2008. Rodgers also hasn't been helped by the eight drops from his receivers. 11. Tennessee Titans: 3.3 Despite the Tennessee loss, Chris Johnson had 284 total yards on Sunday, which was 52 yards shy of Flipper Anderson's record. The Titans are 0-2, yet had a positive Trench Counter in each game. 12. Atlanta Falcons: 2.7 Michael Turner's yards per carry average has dipped from 4.5 to 3.4, though he did rush for fewer than 4.0 yards per carry in nine 2008 games. 13. Arizona Cardinals: 2.1 Betrand Berry has two sacks and two fumble recoveries. 14. Seattle Seahawks: 2.0 Justin Forsett has proved to be an excellent secondary running back, rushing for 52 yards on eight attempts, while also catching six balls for 57 yards. 15. Philadelphia Eagles: 0.9 Even though Correll Buckhalter has been largely successful in Denver (7.2 yards per carry), the Eagles haven't had trouble running the ball effectively, with a team average of 5.1. 16. Washington Redskins: 0.8 There have been some rumbling complaints on Clinton Portis, but his 4.0 yards per carry isn't dreadful, though Ladell Betts appears done as a viable alternative. 17. New England Patriots: -0.4 Julian Edelman filled in nicely in the Wes Welker role, with eight receptions for 98 yards against the Jets. 18. Pittsburgh Steelers: -0.9 With Willie Parker averaging 2.4 yards per carry in his 27 carries, it might seem wise to give more carries to Rashard Mendenhall (6.4 average). But 39 of his 45 carries were on one carry. 19. Kansas City Chiefs: -1.4 The Chiefs are just 7-for-25 on third down, but they are a surprisingly prolific 3-for-5 on 4th down. 20. Dallas Cowboys: -1.7 The Cowboys have recorded 11 rushes of over 10 yards and easily lead the league in yards per rush with 7.0. 21. Oakland Raiders: -2.5 While many are ready to write-off one Oakland first rounder (JaMarcus Russell), his predecessor in 2006, Michael Huff, has recorded two interceptions in each of the first two games and also made the game-clinching breakup on 4th down. 22. Chicago Bears: -3.2 Matt Forte has struggled badly through the first two weeks with a yards per rush average of 2.2. 23. San Diego Chargers: -4.5 Darren Sproles has logged 183 yards after the catch, contributing heavily to Philip Rivers' total of 357. Rivers has thrown for more YAC than seven teams have thrown for total yards, including the Vikings. 24. Cincinnati Bengals: -4.5 Carson Palmer has an NFL-best 131.8 passer rating while in the red zone. 25. Jacksonville Jaguars: -4.9 With Troy Williamson out for the season, the Jaguars will rely on rookie receivers Jarett Dillard and Mike Thomas to round out their receiver corps. 26. Carolina Panthers: -6.7 Thomas Davis is the current leader in tackles with 28. Jake Delhomme also leads in interceptions. 27. Houston Texans: -7.3 Steve Slaton is fully engrossed in the sophomore slump and the Texans have averaged just 50.5 yards per carry, though they have played two good run defenses. 28. St. Louis Rams: -9.6 The Rams are 0-2, but the offensive line has improved substantially. 29. Miami Dolphins: -10.4 The Dolphins had 13 more first downs and 178 more rushing yards, but giving up 12.3 yards per pass eventually made the Colts the victor on the scoreboard and with the Trench Counter. 30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: -10.9 Raheem Morris has been riding Gaines Adams hard, who has yet to come close to living up to the billing when he was a top pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. 31. Cleveland Browns: -15.3 Braylon Edwards isn't officially back yet, but the drop blues have seemed to fade through the first two weeks. 32. Detroit Lions: -18.2 Maybe it's because they played each other in Week 1, but the Lions are the bizarro Saints, with a passer rating of 40.5, while their defense has allowed a passer rating of 134.9, both of which rank last.