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: 17.6 The Saints are +9 in the takeaway/giveaway category this season, which is a testament to their improved defense. Darren Sharper alone has five interceptions, two of which became TDs and 275 in interception return yards. 2. Indianapolis Colts: 11.4 The Colts again are excellent against the pass, giving up just 4.6 yards per attempt and have improved to the middle of the back against the run with a 4.1 net average. 3. Denver Broncos: 11.0 Correll Buckhalter is still leading the NFL in yards per carry with a mark of 6.7, which is a full two yards better than his career average. 4. New England Patriots: 9.8 The Patriots have only allowed one touchdown to be scored against them on the ground. 5. New York Giants: 9.2 Opposing teams have only attempted three field goals giants the Giants. 6. Minnesota Vikings: 7.8 While Percy Harvin gets a ton of deserved press for his abilities on kickoff returns, Darius Reynaud is averaging 17.3 yards per return. 7. Green Bay Packers: 6.7 The Packers have been very effective defending the pass, allowing a passer rating of 70.1. 8. Pittsburgh Steelers: 6.3 Ben Roethlisberger threw for 417 yards on Sunday, as the Steelers become almost unrecognizable from their traditional offensive selves. 9. Philadelphia Eagles: 5.7 Penalties have hurt the Eagles' defense, as they have allowed 11 to 1st downs to come via the penalty. 10. Baltimore Ravens: 2.9 Ray Rice leads the NFL in total yards from scrimmage with 766, over 200 more than fellow second-year man Steve Slaton. 11. Houston Texans: 2.9 The Texans have struggled mightily to sack opposing quarterbacks, with only seven of them occurring through their first six games. 12. Dallas Cowboys: 2.4 If only they could all stay healthy.. Dallas running backs Marion Barber, Tashard Choice and Felix Jones each have yards per carry averages over 5.0, while the latter is at 10.1 in his 21 attempts. 13. San Francisco 49ers: 1.9 The 49ers intend to use Michael Crabtree on the field at the same time as Isaac Bruce and Josh Morgan during Sunday's game at Houston. 14. Chicago Bears: 0.7 Injuries to the Chicago defense continue to pile, with Pisa Tinoisamoa now down for the season. 15. Atlanta Falcons: 0.6 The Atlanta defense has come along this season and impressively denied the Bears from scoring during three of their four red zone opportunities. 16. Seattle Seahawks: 0.6 Seattle trails the 3-2 49ers and Cardinals in the NFC West, but their +9 season point differential is only five and 11 points behind those two teams respectively. 17. Arizona Cardinals: 0.3 Larry Fitzgerald leads the NFL in receiving touchdowns with five, but is a co-leader due to the presence of Minnesota's Visanthe Shiancoe. 18. New York Jets: -0.1 The rise and fall of Mark Sanchez was swift; he now has a 56.7 passer rating, which puts him only above JaMarcus Russell and Derek Anderson. Rex Ryan will need to have a short hook with Sanchez if his play continues to be costing his team as it did against Buffalo. Kellen Clemens is one of the NFL's better backup QBs. 19. Jacksonville Jaguars: -0.1 Mike Sims-Walker is second in receiving yards per game with an average of 99.5. 20. Buffalo Bills: -0.7 The concussion to Trent Edwards creates even further uncertainty in an uncertain situation for Dick Jauron. 21. Cincinnati Bengals: -1.1 The Bengals have had very little success in getting to the quarterback if it hasn't been Antwan Odom, who is now out for the remainder of the 2009 season. Jonathan Fanene will be expected to be more successful, but they will need to get creative with their linebackers. 22. Washington Redskins: -1.3 Sherman Lewis' system isn't too complicated and I wouldn't be floored if they somehow got it together well enough to knock off an Eagles' team that just loss to the Raiders. 23. San Diego Chargers: -3.1 Once a great strength of the Chargers, the team is averaging just 2.9 yards per rush and 57.6 yards per game, both of which are last in the NFL. 24. Miami Dolphins: -3.1 Given the Saints propensity to score in bunches, the Dolphins will likely have to abandon their bone-crushing running game and give Chad Henne's arm another big test. 25. Kansas City Chiefs: -5.6 Dwayne Bowe has gotten back into shape and the tough love from the new regime seemed to pay off in Washington when he had his first 100-yard game of the season. 26. Carolina Panthers: -6.8 The Panthers have an unmanageable interception perception of 7.3%. 27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: -7.9 Josh Johnson will make his fourth NFL start on Sunday and gets to do so at Wembley Stadium against a New England team that just destroyed the Titans. 28. Detroit Lions: -8.7 In terms of net yards allowed per defensive play, Detroit is last with an average of 6.2. 29. Tennessee Titans: -11.5 The Vince Young calls will continue for as long the Titans remain inept and winless. It really wouldn't hurt at this point and it will make their offseason decision on him far less complicated. 30. Cleveland Browns: -13.3 The Browns draw the Packers this Sunday, which may trigger their floundering pass rush. 31. St. Louis Rams: -13.8 Steve Spagnuolo had to answer questions about his time management this week, which is a good problem to have when you're winless. 32. Oakland Raiders: -15.0 JaMarcus Russell was an efficient 17-for-28 for 224 yards, despite the two interceptions in Oakland's 13-9 win over the Eagles. They were 4-for-14 on 3rd down compared to Philadelphia's 2-for-16.