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 this formula. 1. New York Giants: 9.1 The Giants got lucky against Cincinnati and that Ohio luck ran out in Cleveland largely due to Eli Manning?s three interceptions. 2. Philadelphia Eagles: 8.8 The Eagles were 6-for-12 on 3rd down, compared to just 2-for-12 for the 49ers. The Eagles were down 17-26 to start the 4th quarter, but a L.J. Smith TD, three David Akers' field goals, and a cherry on top Juqua Parker interception for a touchdown gave the Eagles a 40-26 victory that probably looks a little better on Monday than it did on Sunday. 3. Pittsburgh Steelers: 8.0 The Steelers needed that bye week to get healthy and should get a nice tune up against the Bengals before an extremely difficult run against the Giants, Redskins, Colts, and Chargers. 4. Washington Redskins: 7.4 The Redskins finally turned the ball over against the Rams, and it ended with a loss in a game they should have won with tremendous ease. 5. Atlanta Falcons: 5.0 Mike Mularkey?s offense was just good enough to get Jason Elam into range for five field goals and one miss. Matt Ryan and the Falcons are 4-2 and could once again be the NFC South's worst to first team. 6. Tennessee Titans: 4.8 Coming out of the bye week, the Titans need to improve their 3.6 yards per carry average, which is 28th in the NFL. 7. Dallas Cowboys: 4.8 Would Terrell Owens complain about his touches if pundits talked about his TD-creating blocks as his TD-creating passes? I?m not sure Owens will get many looks from Brad Johnson on those short crossing routes if he still can?t get off the line of scrimmage bumps. 8. Minnesota Vikings: 4.6 Adrian Peterson rushed for over 100 yards for the first time since Week 2 against the Colts on Sunday. 9. Miami Dolphins: 3.9 Patrick Cobbs won?t score two long touchdowns every week, so the Dolphins missed a great opportunity to steal another road win. 10. San Diego Chargers: 3.9 Philip Rivers averaged a very good 11.3 yards per pass against the Patriots. Without a truly reliable running game, the Chargers are leaning on Rivers more than ever. 11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 3.9 The shocking Warrick Dunn resurgence continues, as he had 115 yards on 22 carries and three receptions for 18 yards against the Panthers. 12. Carolina Panthers: 3.0 DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart were held to 2.5 and 2.0 yards per carry apiece. 13. Baltimore Ravens: 2.2 Teams with rookie quarterbacks won?t win many games when they have to throw the ball 38 times even if they do complete 28 of those passes. Playing from behind doesn?t suit Joe Flacco or the Ravens. 14. Arizona Cardinals: 1.9 Steve Breaston is averaging 100.3 receiving yards per game over the past three weeks. 15. Buffalo Bills: 1.4 Buffalo?s -3 takeaway/giveaway differential is 13th in the AFC and will catch up with them against teams other than the Rams and Raiders. 16. Chicago Bears: 1.2 The Bears held Michael Turner to just 2.2 yards per carry, but the secondary yielded 301 yards to Matt Ryan without forcing an interception (White: 112, Douglas: 96, Jenkins: 58). 17. Denver Broncos: 1.2 The Broncos have been outplayed in each of their past four games (five if you count the Chargers) and haven?t been nearly as good as advertised, especially on defense. 18. New York Jets: 0.6 Thomas Jones had two rushing TD's and one reception for a TD to give him three for the day. 19. New Orleans Saints: 0.4 Drew Brees? 26-for-30 for 320 yards and three TD's is about as efficient of a performance from a quarterback as you will ever see. 20. San Francisco 49ers: -0.6 Since his two impressive performances in wins against Seattle and Detroit, J.T. O?Sullivan has had passer ratings of 59.6, 55.9, and 49.2 in the last three weeks. 21. Indianapolis Colts: -0.8 Is Peyton Manning finally back? He was 19-for-28 for three TDs against a very good Ravens' defense. But even more promising is Marvin Harrison?s day and his two TD's. 22. Green Bay Packers: -2.2 Greg Jennings had more yards receiving (84) than the entire Seahawks (83). 23. Jacksonville Jaguars: -2.8 The Jaguars are 2-0 when Maurice Jones-Drew rushes for over 100 yards in 2008. 24. Houston Texans: -2.9 The Texans had 11 more first downs and 115 more total yards but nearly gave the game away to the Dolphins with a -3 turnover differential. 25. New England Patriots: -4.2 Staying in California all week or not, the Patriots were terribly outplayed by the Chargers. 26. Cleveland Browns: -5.4 This was truly the break-out game that Braylon Edwards needed, with five catches for 154 yards. 27. Cincinnati Bengals: -7.8 Ryan Fitzpatrick had a 71.8 passer rating against the Jets. 28. Seattle Seahawks: -8.2 Charlie Frye had a 53.4 passer rating against Green Bay, and Matt Hasselbeck won?t be available for the Tampa Bay game. 29. Kansas City Chiefs: -9.5 The Chiefs have just 71 first downs but a halfway respectable 3rd down success rate of 38.7. 30. Oakland Raiders: -10.5 The Raiders were able to neutralize Reggie Bush as a punt returner, but he scored from 3-yards out and also on a 15-yard pass from Drew Brees. 31. Detroit Lions: -12.6 I thought Peter King was being especially hard on the Dan Orlovsky end zone gaffe, but there was no denying that it looked like a Pop Warner play that a 12-year-old would be embarrassed about. 32. St. Louis Rams: -15.0 How does a team get their first win despite recording only eight first downs and getting outrushed 2-to-1 and recording only 4.8 yards per pass? Chip away enough for three field goals and convert a 75-yard TD on a fumble recovery.