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 of this formula. *Week 2 Trench Counter in parenthesis 1. Philadelphia Eagles: 15.3 (4.8) As has become the norm in Andy Reid?s offense, Donovan McNabb connected with nine different Eagles in their 41-37 loss in Dallas. Without the severe penalties for the Cowboys, the Trench Counter would have been on the minus side for Philadelphia. Their lack of an effective pass rush allowed Tony Romo far too much comfort in the pocket. Even still, the Eagles had enough dominance leftover in the bank from their Week 1 win against the Rams to remain atop this list despite the loss. 2. Pittsburgh Steelers: 13.3 (15.0) On a messy night, in a low-scoring game, Mitch Berger and Jeff Reed were vital for the Steelers. Reed deserved four points for the 48-yarder while Berger averaged 45.5 yards on his six punts and pinned the Browns inside their own 20 four separate times. 3. Denver Broncos: 13.0 (0.8) Brandon Marshall?s 18 receptions puts him second in single-game history. With the emergence of Jay Cutler and his receiving weapons, the possibility of a Steelers/Broncos AFC Championship rematch from January 2006 looks like a distinct one. 4. Tennessee Titans: 12.4 (10.2) Chris Johnson is averaging twice as many yards per carry (5.9) than LenDale White (3.0) even though they have virtual identical attempts through the first two weeks. White, who has two touchdowns to none for Johnson, will likely continue to be a goalline vulture. 5. New York Giants: 11.0 (18.2) Justin Tuck had an improbable interception return and has easily been the Giants? best defensive player through the first two games of 2008. 6. Arizona Cardinals: 10.2 (19.2) The Cardinals are 7-3 in their previous 10 games and have scored at least 20 points in each of them. 7. Baltimore Ravens: 10.1 (PPD) Their game against the Texans was postponed due to Hurricane Ike. 8. Buffalo Bills: 9.2 (7.0) The Bills are 2-0 for the first time since 2003 and they did it largely on the steady arm of Trent Edwards, who was 20-for-25 with a QB rating of 119.8 and FIC of 49. Fred Jackson caught seven balls for 83 yards and three first downs. 9. Washington Redskins: 8.8 (21.4) Jason Campbell looked like a different quarterback against a depleted Saints? defense, taking shorter drops and finishing the game with 321 yards and had a 104.1 QB rating. 10. Minnesota Vikings: 6.2 (9.6) Could two teams that begin the season 0-2 face each other in the Super Bowl? It?s doubtful but I expect the Vikings and Chargers to at least reach the playoffs. Minnesota limited the Colts to just 25 yards, picked off Peyton Manning twice and still lost. That is the price that is paid when a team has scored just two touchdowns even though they have a running back on pace for 2,152 yards. 11. New England Patriots: 5.6 (8.9) LaMont Jordan was New England?s workhorse down the stretch, carrying the ball 11 times for 62 yards with his first carry not coming until late in the 3rd quarter. 12. Dallas Cowboys: 5.1 (-4.8) Tony Romo completed 21 of his 30 passes for 312 yards (10.4 per pass), but turned the ball over twice, Barber and Jones couldn?t get much against Philadelphia?s run defense and the Cowboys had more than double the penalty yards. It was an exciting and hard fought game, but that McNabb fumble in the 4th really setup Dallas. This ranking is clearly one that is especially hard on the Cowboys and there is little doubt they will finish the season in the top-five. 13. San Francisco 49ers: 4.6 (10.3) Isaac Bruce caught four balls for 153 yards, all of which were first downs. 14. Green Bay Packers: 3.8 (10.2) Aaron Rodgers went 24-for-38 for 328 yards and three touchdowns while finding seven different receivers. 15. Atlanta Falcons: 3.0 (-5.4) The Falcons? defense wasn?t nearly as bad at the scoreboard appeared as 10 of the Buccaneers points came off turnovers when they began the series already in the red zone. 16. Carolina Panthers: 1.6 (5.0) Jonathan Stewart was brilliant for the Panthers against Chicago, averaging 5.5 yards per carry with two TDs. 17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 0.6 (5.4) The Buccaneers? running game was tremendous against the Falcons, averaging 5.9 yards per carry. Earnest Graham carried the ball 15 times for 116 yards and a TD, while Warrick Dunn had 49 yards and his first one with Tampa Bay since 2001. 18. San Diego Chargers: 0.5 (-0.8) Even though they were a Jay Cutler fumble away from coming out of Denver with a win, there are a couple serious problems for the Chargers. LaDainian Tomlinson?s injury and 2.6 yards per carry. Antonio Cromartie getting routinely burned by Brandon Marshall. 19. New York Jets: -0.7 (-8.9) Cornerback Darrelle Revis did an excellent job limiting Randy Moss to two catches for 22 yards. 20. Chicago Bears: -1.0 (-5.0) Greg Olsen?s two fumbles were terribly costly for the Bears; the first one cost them at least a field goal, while the second one was deep in their own territory and setup Jonathan Stewart?s first touchdown. 21. Kansas City Chiefs: -3.7 (-5.2) The Chiefs managed 190 yards against a Raiders? defense that allowed 441 six days earlier. 22. Indianapolis Colts: -6.4 (-9.6) The Colts really had very little business winning this game, but Ryan Longwell saw far too much time on the turf and at least some credit must go to the defense even though they yielded 5.1 yards per carry. 23. New Orleans Saints: -8.6 (-21.4) Reggie Bush touched the ball 18 times and had 146 yards and a TD (on the punt return), but only 28 of those yards came on his 10 carries. While the Saints are having major difficulties establishing their own running game, their defense is allowing 5.8 yards per carry. 24. Oakland Raiders: -10.0 (5.2) Six days after the Raiders secondary was torched by Denver, they held the trio of Thigpen, Huard and Hagans to just 3.6 yards per pass while picking off two balls. JaMarcus Russell?s 55 yards on 6-for-17 passing was offset by 300 total yards rushing by Darren McFadden (164), Michael Bush (90) and Justin Fargas (43). 25. Cincinnati Bengals: -10.2 (-10.2) Carson Palmer has a 37.1 QB rating and they only have 19 first downs through the first two games, which is dead last in the NFL and even behind the Ravens and Texans. They have been in the top-10 in each of the past three seasons. 26. Detroit Lions: -10.8 (-10.2) Detroit?s secondary was utterly dreadful against Greg Jennings and company, yielding a very easy 8.5 yards per pass. 27. Jacksonville Jaguars: -10.8 (-7.0) The Jaguars averaged 4.6 yards per carry in 2007 (3rd in NFL) and through two games have only averaged 3.0 (29th). 28. Seattle Seahawks: -10.8 (-10.3) Jim Mora and the Seahawks stopped the Niners? ground game, sacked J.T. O?Sullivan eight times, but O?Sullivan threw for 321 yards. 29. Houston Texans: -11.5 (PPD) Their game against the Ravens was postponed due to Hurricane Ike. 30. Miami Dolphins: -13.4 (-19.2) The Dolphins did an admirable job stopping the run (2.6 yards per carry), but let?s not look at the kind of day had by Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald. The silver lining for Miami is how healthy Ronnie Brown looks, but that offensive line hasn?t done him or Ricky Williams many favors with their inept run blocking. 31. Cleveland Browns: -15.2 (-15.0) The countdown on Derek Anderson is clearly underway. He strung together four nice games last season, but he hasn?t had a 100.0+ QB rating in 11 consecutive games. New free agent Shaun Rogers, however, looked very good for the Browns up front. 32. St. Louis Rams: -22.0 (-18.2) The Rams are giving up 481.5 yards per game, which is unsurprisingly last in the NFL. Meanwhile, their offense is averaging 183.5 yards, also last in the NFL. It is a truly rare feat for a team to be equally matched on both sides of the ball at this degree.