AIKMAN RATINGS COMMENTARY thru Week 6
The Packers, the undefeated defending Super Bowl champions, have regained the top spot in the Aikman Combined Ratings through Week 6 – a result that most observers would feel is justified based on Green Bay’s body of work this year.
In fact, the top five teams in the Aikman Combined – Green Bay, Detroit, Baltimore, San Francisco and New England – are the same top five teams in most polls by media experts.
Yet, the NFL continues to measure offensive and defensive performance based on a standard of yards alone. A blending of the offensive and defensive yards rankings yields a top five of San Diego, Oakland, Dallas, Philadelphia and Baltimore – with the Ravens the only team in the top five in both.
Troy Aikman founded the Aikman Ratings based on the belief that there had to be a better way than just yards to measure offense and defense, a way that better measured all the qualities that lead to victory.
This year, as in each year monitored, better than 80% of the teams with higher Aikman Game Ratings (the measure of one team’s offense against their opponents defense) have won their contests while teams gaining more yards are usually victorious about two-thirds of the time.
Often teams gaining fewer yards build a lead and then allow their opponents some yards, but not points, in the second half.
For example, last week the Rams outgained the Packers, 424 to 399, but were defeated 24-3, while the Dolphins outgained the Jets, 308 to 296, but were defeated 24-6. In both contests, the victorious teams, the Packers and Jets, had substantially better Aikman Game Ratings.
The Rams, for example, scored just three points but saw their official NFL offense ranking rise from 31st to 25th. They remained last in the Aikman Offense.
Aikman Combined Ratings Through Week 6, 2011
--------- Aikman -------- ------- NFL --------
Rank Record Team Combined Off Def Off Def Combined
1 6-0 Packers 171.8 94.0 77.8 4 23 27
2 5-1 Lions 167.8 87.7 80.0 13 12 25
3 4-1 Ravens 166.1 77.4 88.7 14 3 17
4 5-1 49ers 165.8 81.3 84.5 28 13 41
5 5-1 Patriots 164.1 97.0 67.1 1 32 33
6 4-2 Bills 159.3 95.4 63.8 9 31 40
7 4-2 Giants 158.2 83.6 74.6 12 20 32
8 3-3 Texans 155.9 80.5 75.5 8 10 18
9 3-3 Falcons 155.8 85.4 70.4 20 22 42
10 3-3 Jets 154.1 74.6 79.5 29 11 40
11 4-2 Bengals 153.5 77.4 76.1 22 2 24
12 1-5 Vikings 152.0 79.2 72.8 23 15 38
13 2-3 Browns 151.8 80.8 71.0 24 7 31
14 4-1 Chargers 151.7 83.9 67.8 6 4 10
15 3-2 Redskins 151.4 70.6 80.8 17 6 23
16 4-2 Raiders 151.2 89.9 61.3 11 28 39
17 4-2 Steelers 150.1 79.1 71.0 10 1 11
18 3-2 Titans 149.1 79.6 69.5 19 9 28
19 3-3 Bears 147.5 79.5 68.0 21 29 50
20 2-3 Cowboys 146.7 72.8 73.9 7 5 12
21 4-2 Saints 146.2 87.6 58.5 2 17 19
22 4-2 Buccaneers 145.8 74.9 70.9 15 25 40
23 2-4 Eagles 145.1 80.8 64.3 3 14 17
24 1-5 Panthers 144.8 83.0 61.8 5 16 21
25 2-3 Seahawks 142.8 70.9 71.9 30 18 48
26 1-4 Broncos 138.4 75.4 63.0 26.5 24 50.5
27 1-5 Jaguars 137.8 68.3 69.5 32 8 40
28 1-4 Cardinals 136.4 68.4 68.0 18 21 39
29 0-6 Colts 134.7 71.1 63.6 31 27 58
30 0-5 Dolphins 131.2 66.4 64.8 16 26 42
31 2-3 Chiefs 127.8 71.0 56.8 26.5 19 45.5
32 0-5 Rams 126.2 62.8 63.4 25 30 55
Aikman Offense Ratings Through Week 6, 2011
Aik NFL Team AER
1 1 Patriots 97.0
2 9 Bills 95.4
3 4 Packers 94.0
4 11 Raiders 89.9
5 13 Lions 87.7
6 2 Saints 87.6
7 20 Falcons 85.4
8 6 Chargers 83.9
9 12 Giants 83.6
10 5 Panthers 83.0
11 28 49ers 81.3
12 3 Eagles 80.8
13 24 Browns 80.8
14 8 Texans 80.5
15 19 Titans 79.6
16 21 Bears 79.5
17 23 Vikings 79.2
18 10 Steelers 79.1
19 22 Bengals 77.4
20 14 Ravens 77.4
21 26.5 Broncos 75.4
22 15 Buccaneers 74.9
23 29 Jets 74.6
24 7 Cowboys 72.8
25 31 Colts 71.1
26 26.5 Chiefs 71.0
27 30 Seahawks 70.9
28 17 Redskins 70.6
29 18 Cardinals 68.4
30 32 Jaguars 68.3
31 16 Dolphins 66.4
32 25 Rams 62.8
NFL Average 79.5
Aikman Defense Ratings Through Week 6, 2011
Aik NFL Team AER
1 3 Ravens 88.7
2 13 49ers 84.5
3 6 Redskins 80.8
4 12 Lions 80.0
5 11 Jets 79.5
6 23 Packers 77.8
7 2 Bengals 76.1
8 10 Texans 75.5
9 20 Giants 74.6
10 5 Cowboys 73.9
11 15 Vikings 72.8
12 18 Seahawks 71.9
13 1 Steelers 71.0
14 7 Browns 71.0
15 25 Buccaneers 70.9
16 22 Falcons 70.4
17 8 Jaguars 69.5
18 9 Titans 69.5
19 29 Bears 68.0
20 21 Cardinals 68.0
21 4 Chargers 67.8
22 32 Patriots 67.1
23 26 Dolphins 64.8
24 14 Eagles 64.3
25 31 Bills 63.8
26 27 Colts 63.6
27 30 Rams 63.4
28 24 Broncos 63.0
29 16 Panthers 61.8
30 28 Raiders 61.3
31 17 Saints 58.5
32 19 Chiefs 56.8
NFL Average 70.5
Ratings Courtesy of STATS LLC