2015 NFL Power Rankings Week 5
by Robert Ferringo - 10/8/2015

We have a month's worth of data in the NFL and now we're starting to see the ripples and the contours to how this season will shape itself. Statistical handicappers, like myself, need at least four games' worth of stats before we can make any reliable projections, predictions, or maneuvers. But no matter what your statistic of choice when it comes to NFL handicapping the one number that you should ignore at this point of the season is simple: wins.

2015 NFL Power Rankings Week 4
by Robert Ferringo - 9/30/2015

So many McCowns. So little time. Quarterback injuries have completely altered the landscape in the NFL. Add in the usual first-month freakouts associated with unpredictably and good/bad starts by certain teams, and the National Football League betting landscape seems as chaotic as ever.

2015 NFL Power Rankings Week 3
by Robert Ferringo - 9/23/2015

It takes absolutely everything in my power each Sunday to keep from putting my fist through my television by the time I've watched my 250th Draft Kings or Fan Duel commercial. Daily fantasy sports are gambling. They just are. I know that the Supreme Court pulled a semantic tap dance to carve out a niche for them when they outlawed online gaming. But these daily fantasy leagues are obviously gambling.

2015 NFL Power Rankings Week 2
by Robert Ferringo - 9/16/2015

Overreaction Week is one of my favorite weeks of the NFL season. Those few days after Week 1 games come to a close is unlike anything else during the regular season. Because there are only 16 regular-season football games, compared to 162 baseball games and 82 games apiece to an NBA and NHL season, every win and loss is magnified.

2015 NFL Power Rankings Week 1
by Robert Ferringo - 9/9/2015

The National Football League is a monolith. It is an all-encompassing, all-enveloping, all-controlling pillar of our American sports and entertainment scene, and the league has become fundamental to our overall economy. It is Big Business. And over the last six months we've all borne witness to The Dark Side. Corruption, scandal, sexual violence, shady back-alley dealing and manufactured, hype-driven controversy have suffocated the national football scene.

NFL Power Rankings Week 17
by Robert Ferringo - 12/23/2014

Week 17 in the NFL is on par with betting on Week 4 of the NFL Preseason. It is nearly impossible to gauge motivation for more than half of the teams in the league since only a handful of clubs actually have something to play for this weekend. Even most of the good, playoff-bound teams are stuck in that awkward should-we-or-shouldn’t we stage of questioning how much work the starters should get.

NFL Power Rankings Week 16
by Robert Ferringo - 12/16/2014

Despite playoff pushes – both in fantasy football as well as real football – it was another rough week for the NFL. I have said it before this year and I will say it again: this year has been some of the worst football I’ve watched in the past 15 years, and right now the NFL is delivering a very shoddy product.

NFL Power Rankings Week 15
by Robert Ferringo - 12/9/2014

Rivalries are one of the most important handicapping factors in sports. Though difficult to quantify, the emotional impact of a rivalry game is palpable. And over the final three weeks of the NFL season it will be one of the underlying motivational factors as we bet down the stretch.

NFL Power Rankings Week 14
by Robert Ferringo - 12/2/2014

I know that the NFL is always touting its parity as a major league strength. But just take a look at these power rankings. Take a look at the top eight teams and the bottom eight teams and tell me that they are even close. Besides an obvious talent gap – particularly at the all-important quarterback position – there are also a host of teams (Jets, Giants, Raiders) that know their coaches are going to be fired. The inmates are running the asylum in those locker rooms, and with nothing to play for but draft positioning I expect little to no effort from those groups through this month.

NFL Power Rankings Week 13
by Robert Ferringo - 11/25/2014

The Thanksgiving week is the most difficult week for any professional handicapper. Between the truncated turnaround time between NFL weeks, the gravitational pull of familial obligations, and the convergence of multiple sports into one jam-packed seven-day session, this week can be a bear trap or a treasure trove for bettors. As such, this week’s Power Rankings are going to be a bit more free flowing and a little less meaty than normal.

NFL Power Rankings Week 12
by Robert Ferringo - 11/18/2014

We are facing record-low temperatures across the country this November, and that will be a significant X-Factor down the stretch. There are still roughly 22 teams jostling for 12 playoff spots, and now is the time that momentum and execution mean everything on the gridiron. But adverse weather conditions – whether the cold is slowing down the breakneck offenses of the league’s top teams or whether a rain-soaked field results in a fluke turnover that costs a team a game – are looming as a critical handicapping factor over the final two months of the season.

NFL Power Rankings Week 11
by Robert Ferringo - 11/11/2014

The Cover-2 is dead. Chicago, Carolina and Tampa Bay are the last three teams that still exclusively use the defensive system that was all the rage in the NFL throughout the 2000s. Those three combined to give up a humiliating 127 points on Sunday, with the Bears (55) and the Panthers (45) getting embarrassed on prime time.

NFL Power Rankings Week 10
by Robert Ferringo - 11/4/2014

Last week’s action triggered a massive massive shakeup in the power rankings, and right now there’s no telling who the Super Bowl favorite is. In fact, as we trudge our way through November and there is one thing becoming more important than talent and coaching: momentum. The stakes continue to rise as we head toward the stretch run. And right now the overriding factor in determining where to go with your money is which teams are getting hotter as the weather is getting colder.

NFL Power Rankings Week 9
by Robert Ferringo - 10/28/2014

The Lions-Falcons and Seahawks-Panthers games were as disgusting of displays of football as I can remember this season; the winner in each game was simply the least incompetent team. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for everyone in attendance for the Vikings-Bucs game (it was 3-0 at halftime) or the Raiders-Browns (9-6 after three quarters). Most of the rest of the games were blowouts. Pittsburgh, New England, Kansas City and Houston each won going away. And at the end of the weekend it could be said that only two games (Eagles-Cardinals and Ravens-Bengals) were actually somewhat enjoyable to watch.

NFL Power Rankings Week 8
by Robert Ferringo - 10/21/2014

Prior to the 2011 season, in an attempt make the public think it actually cared about the Concussion Crisis, the NFL decided to move the kickoff from the 30-yard-line up to the 35. The idea is that this would lead to less kickoff returns and thus less potential concussion-causing coverage hits. The ruse was a success, as the percentage of kickoffs resulting in a touchback increased from just 11 percent from 1994 to 2010 to a whopping 46 percent from 2011 to this year.

NFL Power Rankings Week 7
by Robert Ferringo - 10/15/2014

I think that Week 6 of the NFL season was, without a doubt, the strangest week that we’ve seen thus far. There were surprising upsets (Dallas) and near-upsets (Oakland), thrilling last-second wins (Green Bay) and last-second losses (Houston), some blowouts (Philadelphia and Baltimore), and a tie for good measure.

NFL Power Rankings Week 6
by Robert Ferringo - 10/7/2014

One of the things I enjoy about hitting the meat of the NFL season is that now we’re starting to have enough information to identify macro-trends in the sport while still having enough time left in the season to capitalize them. It’s one thing to project paths prior to the season and another to assess results at the end of the year. But the middle of the season provides the opportunity to cash in on our hard-earned analysis.

NFL Power Rankings Week 5
by Robert Ferringo - 9/30/2014

Of 12 spreads on the board in Week 4, only three of them were posted at a touchdown or higher. Two others were posted at 5.5 and 4.5. But the remaining seven spreads were at a field goal or less, which is generally an indicator that even the sportsbooks are unsure of who is going to win.

NFL Power Rankings Week 4
by Robert Ferringo - 9/23/2014

A cluster of bye weeks sucks the life out of the NFL Week 4 card and offers an early-season challenge for bettors that are just starting to get into a groove. I also suspect that the teams that have been granted the week off aren’t all that happy about it as last week was the first time that, league-wide, it looked like things were clicking for most groups.

NFL Power Rankings Week 3
by Robert Ferringo - 9/16/2014

Since we last spoke the NFL has provided us all with a hellacious week of self-realization. You don’t need me to recap it for you. But I didn’t feel right starting off this week’s Power Rankings with some snappy intro or witty, humorous analysis.