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. * Number in parenthesis is team's rank in yards per attempt offensively and defensively differential. 1. New Orleans Saints: 11.3 (1st) Watching an offense average 16.0 yards per attempted pass against a Bill Belichick defense, albeit depleted, is a lot like watching the 04-05 Suns during Steve Nash's first season when they still had Joe Johnson and before Amare Stoudemire's microfracture surgery, but on a night when they shot 75% on their way to over 120 points as they did nine different times. After seeing the precision in which Drew Brees worked on Monday night, it is shocking that he went through a streak in which he threw seven interceptions in four games. 2. Indianapolis Colts: 9.9 (2nd) All of the Colts' 4th quarter comebacks are exciting, but seem to be more of a deodorant than a sign that they are supremely destined. But the road to the Super Bowl is assured to go through Indianapolis and they are certainly talented enough to win it all without Bob Sanders. 3. Minnesota Vikings: 8.4 (7th) The Vikings looked indestructible in Sunday's win against Chicago despite Adrian Peterson looking very human with his third and fourth fumbles in three weeks and a pedestrian 3.4 yards per carry average. Minnesota won't have to play a playoff game anywhere but a dome stadium, so their most important task is keeping Peterson and Brett Favre healthy for the playoffs over these final five games. 4. Green Bay Packers: 7.9 (5th) The Packers lead the NFL in total yards allowed with just 281.3, but we still must see how the losses of Al Harris and Aaron Kampman affect that productivity. 5. New England Patriots: 6.6 (13th) I don't believe it is any larger indicator of a problem other than a difficult road schedule, but the Patriots are 0-4 in road games on American soil. If they lose at Land Shark Stadium this Sunday against Miami, then it will be time to push the panic button. The Patriots remaining five games are all 1:00 PM EST starts, which I expect to help this team. New England's rather average +0.4 yards per play average is a bit surprising and the Trench Counter likely is fond of them because of their NFL-best 263 1st downs and only 190 allowed. 6. Pittsburgh Steelers: 5.9 (6th) The Steelers have now played three overtime games, including one in each of the past two weeks. They should have no struggles in each of the next two weeks against Oakland at Heinz Field and Cleveland on the Lake, so giving Ben Roethlisberger another two weeks rest would be a wise move even though it appears Mike Tomlin will start him. Dennis Dixon's completion percentage of 46.2% and the overtime interception doesn't look impressive, but he did more than enough to give the Steelers a legitimate shot to win a road night game on the road against a division rival and he could be relied upon to go 2-0 in these next two. Pittsburgh just needs to worry about reaching the playoffs and getting Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu healthy because this team is significantly better than their 6-5 record, as four of their losses have come after leading in the fourth quarter. 7. San Diego Chargers: 5.5 (8th) The Chargers are now 5-0 since falling to 2-3 in the Week 6 loss at home against Denver. 8. Dallas Cowboys: 5.0 (3rd) The Cowboys enjoy a one game lead in the NFC East, but have a very difficult final five games, even a road game at Washington. After a two-week lull in their rushing game at Philadelphia and Green Bay, they have rebounded with 153 yards against the Redskins and 195 against Oakland. 9. Cincinnati Bengals: 3.7 (17th) In his second game with the Bengals, Larry Johnson rushed for 107 yards on 22 carries. Johnson, along with Cedric Benson, gives Marvin Lewis a supremely talented pair of NFL castoffs at running back. 10. Philadelphia Eagles: 3.5 (4th) Similar to Indianapolis at a slightly lesser level, the Eagles' second consecutive 4th quarter victory masks some of their underlying problems, including an inability to score touchdowns in the red zone that has been lingering for weeks. 11. New York Giants: 2.8 (9th) The Giants' running game has helped hide Eli Manning over the past few seasons, but they were held to 57 this week by Denver, their lowest output since 2006. New York is 3-5 over the past two seasons when they rush for fewer than 100 total yards on the ground. 12. Denver Broncos: 2.8 (12th) Denver is 6-0 when winning the turnover differential, something they weren't doing during their four-game losing streak. In three of those losses, the Broncos didn't force a single takeaway. 13. Baltimore Ravens: 2.6 (11th) Ray Rice is second behind Chris Johnson in total yards from scrimmage with 1,403, but his have come with greater consistency and fewer big plays. 14. Arizona Cardinals: 0.7 (15th) While Darnell Dockett sacked Vince Young three times to extend his streak to four consecutive games, the Cardinals have dropped to 10th in points per game. They were ranked third in this category last season. 15. Jacksonville Jaguars: 0.6 (20th) The Jaguars were only a -0.8 in the Trench Counter during their 20-3 loss at San Francisco, but they were a -2 in turnovers, 0-for-4 in the red zone, while Josh Scobee missed two easy field goals. Those factors, along with a -55 yards in the penalties column, offset a +1.6 in yards per pass and +2.5 in yards per rush. 16. Houston Texans: 0.2 (16th) Matt Schaub has a 114.4 passer rating in the 2nd quarter, 106.7 in the 3rd, but just 83.1 in the 4th this season. 17. New York Jets: 0.2 (10th) Mark Sanchez only threw 17 total passes, but he was efficient in those attempts, completing 13 for a 9.1 average. 18. San Francisco 49ers: 0.1 (23rd) Alex Smith is creatively making plays in the red zone, while taking care of the ball with five TDs to one INT over his past two games. 19. Atlanta Falcons: -0.3 (25th) Filling in for the injured Matt Ryan, Chris Redman went 23-for-41 for 243 yards and two touchdowns. He had a 90.4 passer rating when he was filling in for Michael Vick during the 2007 season, so the Falcons really aren't losing much not having Ryan, especially with how he has been suffering from a sophomore slump. 20. Buffalo Bills: -0.7 (22nd) The Bills scored 24 unanswered points to lead Perry Fewell to his first win as head coach. 21. Washington Redskins: -0.9 (14th) If not for Asante Samuel, Jason Campbell would have had an excellent road win in Philadelphia. I fully expect Campbell to have a Rich Gannon-like second half of his career once he becomes the starting QB for a new team. Campbell is talented enough to have a season similar to Favre if he were in Minnesota. 22. Miami Dolphins: -1.6 (26th) Let's leave Ricky Williams to only worry about the carries, as the Dolphins left points on the field when he threw an interception on a first-and-goal in the first quarter. 23. Seattle Seahawks: -2.1 (24th) Justin Forsett has scored touchdowns in three consecutive games, including two at St. Louis. With Marshawn Lynch struggling in Buffalo, he has become the best Cal running back in football. 24. Tennessee Titans: -3.6 (19th) The Titans are ranked 31st in passer rating allowed with a 99.2 mark, but most of the damage came in the first six games. 25. Carolina Panthers: -3.6 (21st) Eliminating DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, as the Jets did, is the clear recipe for success against Jake Delhomme and the Panthers. Delhomme now has games with passer ratings below 15.0 in three separate starts over the past two seasons, which is actually an extremely difficult feat to accomplish. 26. Chicago Bears: -4.3 (18th) Two of Brett Favre's top-four passing days have come at the expense of the Bears, with the most recent being Sunday's 392 yards. Favre's career high remains the 402 he posted at old Soldier Field back in 1993. 27. Kansas City Chiefs: -6.3 (30th) With 5.0 yards per carry in Sunday's blowout loss at San Diego, the Chiefs aren't exactly missing Larry Johnson regardless of how many yards he gains with the Bengals. 28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: -8.0 (28th) Josh Freeman continues to improve, throwing a career-high 250 yards at Atlanta, good for a 118.5 passer rating. 29. St. Louis Rams: -8.6 (27th) Kyle Boller, filling in for Marc Bulger, has lost nine straight starts. 30. Detroit Lions: -9.1 (31st) The Lions close out the decade with a 2-8 record on Thanksgiving Day, but I'm a firm believer in leaving them in the slot, especially with a third game being played on the NFL Network. 31. Oakland Raiders: -14.2 (29th) Darrius Heyward-Bey caught his first career touchdown pass on Sunday, but finished the game with just two catches for 21 yards. 32. Cleveland Browns: -14.2 (32nd) Cleveland has scored fewer than 10 points seven separate times this season, including Sunday's loss at Cincinnati. '; document.write(str); }