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: 9.5 The Giants are easily leading the NFL in yard differential per game with a mark of 109.9. Second on this list are the Redskins, who average a differential of 33.7 fewer yards. 2. Philadelphia Eagles: 7.3 It is extremely easy to find fault in the late game running calls by Andy Reid. 3. Atlanta Falcons: 6.1 I highly doubt the Falcons would be the third best team in the NFL if we ran a simulator on 100 games, but any team will improve dramatically in one offseason when an All-Pro quarterback and running back are added. 4. Pittsburgh Steelers: 6.1 The Steelers have accumulated 34 sacks this season and got to Peyton Manning twice on Sunday. Offensively, though, they have also given up 31 sacks. 5. Washington Redskins: 6.0 The Redskins are a troublesome 23rd in third down conversion and will have an even tougher time converting against the Cowboys this week if they are without a healthy Clinton Portis. 6. Baltimore Ravens: 5.3 The Ravens absolutely needed to beat Houston on Sunday, as they must play all four NFC East teams, plus Pittsburgh and Jacksonville over their final seven games. Rex Ryan believes Ray Lewis is playing the best football of his career, and it's difficult to disagree with that assessment. 7. Tennessee Titans: 5.1 Kerry Collins and the Tennessee offensive line have given up just five sacks all season long. 8. Miami Dolphins: 5.0 The Dolphins are +10 in the takeaway department this season. 9. New York Jets: 4.4 Thomas Jones is one touchdown away from matching his career high in touchdowns that he set back in 2005 with Chicago. 10. Arizona Cardinals: 4.4 The Cardinals grossly outplayed San Francisco on Monday, but they were still just one or two more Frank Gore yards away from a loss. 11. Minnesota Vikings: 3.9 The Vikings are rushing for 1.4 more yards per carry than they are allowing on defense. 12. Carolina Panthers: 3.9 Wins are infrequent for a team with a quarterback who has a 12.3 rating as Jake Delhomme had at Oakland. 13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 2.6 The Buccaneers could possibly get a talent boost in their backfield if Cadillac Williams is able to return from his knee injury. 14. Chicago Bears: 2.3 The Bears proved they could stop Tennessee's running game, but their corners were unable to stop Justin Gage and Brandon Jones. 15. New England Patriots: 1.9 How will the loss of Adalius Thomas hurt a Patriots' defense that has given up fewer than 13 points per game over the past four weeks? 16. Dallas Cowboys: 0.4 The lack of discipline of the Cowboys shows in the fact that they lead the NFL in penalties with 71. Is this something Wade Phillips corrected during a bye week that had to be about more than just getting healthy? 17. San Diego Chargers: 0.2 The Chargers are perhaps the most mysterious team in the NFL, and one answer to their inconsistency is that they are 24 in average yard differential per game. 18. Green Bay Packers: -0.8 Will Blackmon's punt return for a TD against the Vikings was one of the most spectacular in recent memory, but it will now be lost beyond the Adrian Peterson fueled comeback. 19. Indianapolis Colts: -0.9 The Colts are still last in the NFL in rushing yards per game with 69.2. 20. New Orleans Saints: -0.9 The Saints have alternated wins and losses during their past seven games, and with Kansas City this week, the trend is likely to continue. 21. Buffalo Bills: -1.5 The Bills are now 29th in the NFL in rushing yards per game and yards per rush. 22. Jacksonville Jaguars: -1.9 Maurice Jones-Drew accomplished the rare feat of scoring three TD's in the same quarter during their win at the winless Lions. 23. Houston Texans: -2.3 Andre Johnson caught only seven balls for 66 yards against Baltimore after he had four straight 100-yard games during the month of October. 24. Denver Broncos: -2.7 Denver's injuries in the backfield has led them back to Tatum Bell. 25. San Francisco 49ers: -3.6 Even the 49ers are getting in on the 'Wildcat' formation, as they tried it twice against Arizona. 26. Cleveland Browns: -5.6 With Brady Quinn throwing nothing deep, Braylon Edwards might be the guy Cleveland should look to deal this offeseaon, not Kellen Winslow. 27. Kansas City Chiefs: -5.9 The Chiefs' defense has allowed a first down in third down opportunities better than 50% of the time. 28. Seattle Seahawks: -5.9 The Seahawks are one of four teams (Kansas City, Detroit, and St. Louis being the others) that allow more than 100 yards per game than they accumulate. 29. Cincinnati Bengals: -8.7 After the bye, will Ryan Fitzpatrick improve upon a decent showing versus Jacksonville in the Bengals' first win of the season? 30. Detroit Lions: -10.1 More snaps for Drew Stanton should be on the docket for Detroit as they still search for a win. 31. Oakland Raiders: -10.1 The Raiders have converted a mere 22.4% of their third down opportunities and were 2-17 on Sunday against Carolina. 32. St. Louis Rams: -13.3 After beating the Redskins and Cowboys in consecutive weeks, the Rams now have a three-game losing streak in which they have been outscored 104-32.