NFL Power Rankings Are Meaningless

I've been writing NFL power rankings pieces for Associated Content and Yahoo Sports for a couple of years now. I do so for the following reasons:

I'm paid to do so.

NFL power rankings pieces always get a ton of views

The reactions from geeks who disagree with my NFL power rankings are always priceless

Friends of mine that read my work often ask me where the AC Devil/heel turn gimmick came from. The idea came to me last year, when, after a brief discussion with a buddy, I decided to write my NFL power rankings differently than others you'll find online. I wanted to focus on overall record first en route to having somewhat awkward and questionable rankings, just to see how NFL geeks would react.

The comments I received were even better than anticipated. People were shocked, SHOCKED I say, that my power rankings were not close to those written by football "experts." At the risk of ruining the joy I get each time a reader gets upset at my rankings, I feel the need to ask one very important question.

Why do NFL power rankings matter at all? Why do you care so much about some fictitious ranking system set up by some dude(s). Think about it. It doesn't matter if the NFL power rankings you're reading are featured on NFL.com, ESPN, Yahoo Sports, Associated Content, Examiner, Fox Sports, CBS Sportsline or Big Business Journal. One guy or a few football nerds came together and voted/picked/selected from a hat an order of football teams from 32 to 1. Big whoop.

Now I admit that some NFL power rankings can be just plain wrong. If, heading into week 6 of the 2010 NFL regular season, you have the Buffalo Bills or Cleveland Browns anywhere near the top of your NFL power rankings, it's time to give it up and go back to your online poker room. For the most part, though, any NFL power rankings you'll find online could be called correct.

I'll use week 6 of the 2010 NFL season as an example once more. I've listed the Bills as the worst team in football. The Carolina Panthers are also winless. If you have Carolina at 32 and Buffalo at 31, it's not a big deal in the slightest; or so the rational person would think. NFL viewers and fans, however, would respond with "the Panthers are better than the Bills in this stat, this stat and that one, and the Panthers would DESTROY!!11 the Bills if they played. What do you have to say to that?"

Nobody cares. That's what I have to say. Now go to a bar, or for a run or to singles' spaghetti night at your local church. Go do something else, as you apparently have way too much time on your hands. You may think I'm overstating the matter, but the fact is NFL power rankings readers do this all the time.

One final example using week 6 from this current season. In the past two weeks, I've flipped the Steelers and Ravens at the top two spots in my rankings, mostly just for funsies. You would be stunned at the amount of people that actually argue over which team should be ranked first and which second, as if this set of NFL power rankings actually determines home field advantage in the playoffs. One team is ranked number one. The other ranked two. Does it really matter which one is at the top?

Nope. Not at all.

Since I started the AC Devil series months ago, I've received mostly positive feedback from readers and comrades. Some, however, have insisted that I write these pieces solely for my own amusement. Bingo. That's exactly what this is. Same goes for my NFL picks and power rankings pieces. For the most part, a small inner circle of buddies are amused far too easily by discussing sports topics, and then seeing the reactions of other sports fans. Are all of my NFL power rankings a joke? Of course not.

Maybe.

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