via i37.tinypic.com

Submitted for your approval, here is this week's venture into the Twilight Zone of floating, spinning football numbers.  Enjoy!

RATINGS COMPUTATION (must-read for newbies):

          At its heart, this is a VERY simple method of calculating ratings, using only two stats.  The results aren't meant to be a perfect reflection of the real world; don't focus too narrowly on exactly where each team's totals are ranked.  The two components (O and D ratings) are often more revealing than the totals, don't overlook those.

          Here's how the ratings are calculated.  The first step is to calculate two simple stats:  Points For per Game, and Points Against per Game, for each team.  These two leaguewide data sets for offense & defense both conform to a "Bell Curve", or Normal Distribution, that can be graphed.  Depending on where each team lies on that graph, they have a value between 0 and 1.  (This isn't something pulled from thin air.  It's a very common, standardized statistical analysis technique.  The purpose is to more accurately measure each team's position within the ‘population' of all league teams.)  You now have every team rated from 0 to 1, on offense and on defense.  Add those two numbers and you've got a total rating for each team.  Last, multiply by 50 to convert the ratings onto a 0-to-100 scale, making them more readable and intuitive.  There you go.  Simple, right?

          The Saints' impressive victory over the Pats just missed elevating them to 3rd place here, one more TD would have done it.  Falcons were unchanged, ranking-wise.

          The only team rising or falling more than 3 places was the 49ers, up from 18th to 14th.  Packers, Bengals, Bills were up 3; Ravens, Texans, Giants down 3.

          There's your week 12 numbers, spreadsheet download is here.  Skaal!