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: 11.6 The Saints continue to defend the pass better than anybody in football, allowing a passer rating of 55.8, which means they are essentially facing Matthew Stafford each week. 2. Indianapolis Colts: 11.4 As excellent as the Colts have been, especially while compensating for injuries, they have allowed 3rd down conversions in 44.1% of the opportunities from opponents, which will be something the Patriots can potentially kill them on this Sunday. 3. New England Patriots: 9.8 The Patriots are +8 in the giveaway/takeaway category, first in the AFC ahead of the Colts. The 147 yards from Randy Moss against Miami has to frighten the NFL, especially because the location of New England's remaining games are almost exclusively conducive to the passing game. 4. Green Bay Packers: 8.1 The Trench Counter is unquestionably making me look bad when it comes to the Packers and Vikings current slotting. I would eagerly flip these two NFC North teams if this were a subjective rankings, which would make me feel better and also stop dozens of angry people from Minnesota and North Dakota from derisively pumping their fist at me. The Packers benefit from those big Trench Counter days against Cleveland, St. Louis and Detroit, while they somehow had positive totals in their loss to the Bengals and Week 8 loss to Minnesota. In defense of the Trench Counter, 99 times out of a 100 it forecasts accurately due to how it removes the flukish elements of football. 5. Pittsburgh Steelers: 7.9 Rashard Mendenhall had his second 150+ yard night of the season in Monday's 28-10 win over Denver. He is averaging 5.7 yards per game and is on pace for over 1,100 yards despite his six yards in Week 1 and DNP in Week 3. 6. Denver Broncos: 5.7 Eddie Royal was supposed to become Denver's version of Wes Welker, but other than his 10 catches for 90 yards against New England, he hasn't been that guy whatsoever. He did catch five balls for 74 yards in Monday's loss, but he has yet to reach the end zone and projects to finish the season with less than 50% of his total yards from his rookie campaign. 7. Philadelphia Eagles: 5.1 The Eagles were almost entirely reliant on rookies in their Sunday night loss to Dallas, with LeSean McCoy having 115 total yards and Jeremy Maclin catching three balls for 44 yards. 8. Dallas Cowboys: 4.9 Tony Romo now has a 95.8 passer rating, has three relatively healthy and capable running backs, plus he's beginning to connect with Roy Williams, who struggled just long enough to allow Miles Austin to crystalize as a respected threat. 9. Cincinnati Bengals: 4.7 Cedric Benson has been absolute workhorse for the Bengals, with 208 touches, far more than Steven Jackson (189) and Adrian Peterson (182). 10. New York Giants: 4.6 They did win a Super Bowl, but the Eli Manning for Philip Rivers, Shawne Merriman and Nate Kaeding trade didn't look too good on Sunday at the Meadowlands as Rivers threw a game-tying TD to Vincent Jackson with 21 seconds remaining, following by Kaeding's go-ahead extra point and Merriman's walk-off sack of Manning. 11. Minnesota Vikings: 4.6 Whether it is because of the luxury his defense and running game provides him, Brett Favre has been shockingly protective of the ball, throwing an interception in an NFL-leading 1.2% of his attempts. One potential cause for concern for Minnesota, however, is their inability to defend the pass well. They are allowing a 93.3 passer rating, which ranks them 27th and puts them in the territory of some of the NFL's worst teams. Whether it is at the Metrodome, Superdome or Landshark Stadium, the Vikings will likely exclusively play playoff games indoors or in good weather where the passing game can thrive both for and against them. 12. Houston Texans: 2.3 The Texans could make the playoff without beating the Colts, but I don't believe they'll even consider themselves legitimate contenders until they get over that immovable hump. 13. San Diego Chargers: 2.2 The Chargers are now just one game behind the Broncos and one point ahead of them in season point differential. They also have the easier schedule, though that margin is fairly narrow. 14. New York Jets: 1.1 Losing a player of Leon Washington's exceptional capabilities unquestionably hurts the Jets, but Shonn Greene does have a very good 5.6 yards per carry average even if he hasn't caught a single ball out of the backfield. 15. Seattle Seahawks: 1.0 The Seahawks, like the 49ers, are two games behind the Cardinals and have a dead even point differential of +0. 16. Baltimore Ravens: 0.9 Ray Rice trails only Chris Johnson in yards from scrimmage with 1,009 through his first eight games of 2009. 17. Arizona Cardinals: 0.6 Not only did Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald look like their 2008 playoffs selves, they also got more than five yards per carry from Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells. 18. Atlanta Falcons: 0.6 Matt Ryan's 135 yards with one touchdown and one interception isn't going to ingratiate himself to his fantasy owners, but a 17-for-24 day will be more than enough when Atlanta has Michael Turner rushing 18 times for 166 yards and Tye Hill gets a 62 yard pick six. 19. Jacksonville Jaguars: 0.2 The Jaguars are quite easily the least talented 4-4 team in the NFL and can only cite the road win in Week 3 as a legitimately impressive outing. 20. San Francisco 49ers: -0.4 Alex Smith was a -23.1 in the passer rating department in comparison to his counterpart Vince Young in Sunday's loss to Tennessee. The 49ers have lost four in a row and don't have another easy game on the schedule until they host the Lions in Week 16. 21. Miami Dolphins: -1.4 Vontae Davis' first quarter interception on a long ball thrown by Tom Brady to Randy Moss in single coverage was easily the best pick I've seen this season. 22. Buffalo Bills: -1.8 For all of their problems offensively, Buffalo has excelled against the pass, allowing a passer rating of 59.7. 23. Chicago Bears: -2.1 The Bears must travel to San Francisco on a short week after a porously bad outing by their defense against Arizona. Fortunately for Lovie Smith's defense, the 49ers average just 184.3 passing yards per game compared to 262.4 from the Cardinals. The Chicago linebackers can't force Danieal Manning to make 12 tackles again on Thursday. 24. Washington Redskins: -2.5 The Jason Campbell in Washington era will likely end this season, but I could see him becoming a productive quarterback elsewhere before his career is done, not dissimilar to Rich Gannon. He is accurate and mobile and though he needs a few tweaks, the Redskins' line and his main offensive weapons have done him no favors. 25. Carolina Panthers: -3.5 DeAngelo Williams has rushed for at least 149 yards in three of the past four weeks. 26. Kansas City Chiefs: -7.0 The Chiefs, who released Larry Johnson this week, are still waiting to score their first rushing touchdown of the season. Their Missouri neighbors, St. Louis, have only scored one despite being seventh in yards per rush attempt with a 4.6 average. 27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: -7.8 The 14-for-31, 45.2% pass completion isn't going to make Josh Freeman the next great young QB, but the three-for-one touchdown to interception ratio and 205 yards is an excellent first start. 28. Tennessee Titans: -7.9 Justin Gage just missed his first 100-yard game of the season on Sunday, catching four balls for 97 yards. 29. Detroit Lions: -9.9 The Lions don't get to play the Redskins or Rams again, but have a very winnable game in Week 11 against Cleveland at home. 30. St. Louis Rams: -11.2 The Rams are 11-9 when Steven Jackson rushes for at least 100 yards during his career, but are 1-0 this season when he scores a TD. 31. Oakland Raiders: -15.8 Looking back at it in hindsight, I'm still not sure how the Raiders beat Kansas City in Week 2 despite allowing 243 more yards than they gained offensively. 32. Cleveland Browns: -16.5 The bad news for Cleveland coming out of their bye is that their spectacle of a season will be on national display at home against the Ravens.