The Not So Scientific Team Rankings, Week 7

Here are the Week 7 rankings. This week, I figured I’d include a notable statistic about every team’s starting quarterback.

As a reminder, the rankings utilized for the Not So Scientific Rankings are:

* Pro Football Focus power rankings

* Pro Football Reference Simple Ranking System

* Football Outsiders DVOA Rating

* Five-Thirty-Eight ELO Playoff Probability Rankings

* Andrew Mason’s power rankings

Please visit each site to look at what they use to determine rankings.

1. New England 1 1 1 1 1 – 1

Tom Brady is currently on pace for 42 passing touchdowns, so he may fall short of his 50 TD mark in 2007. But his 68.9 percent completion percentage through six games matches his 2007 season mark.

2. Green Bay 2 5 3 2 3 – 3

Aaron Rodgers has completed 68.1 percent of his passes through six games. That’s his highest percentage since 2011, when he finished with a 68.3 completion percentage.

3. Cincinnati 4 4 4 4 2 – 3.6

Andy Dalton is on pace for 37 passing touchdowns, which would be a career best. He threw 33 TDs in 2013 but just 19 last season.

4. Arizona 7 2 2 7 4 – 4.4

If Carson Palmer keeps up his current pace, he’ll have 42 passing touchdowns this season. The most he’s had in a single season is 32, back in 2005.

5. Carolina 3 8 7 6 5 – 5.8

Cam Newton is on pace to tie his season-best mark of 24 passing touchdowns, which he accomplished in 2013. He’s also on pace for 11 rushing scores, which would be the most he’s had in a single season since his rookie year.

6. Denver 5 11 11 3 6 – 7.2

Peyton Manning needs 13 passing touchdowns for 550 in his career. At his current pace, he’ll reach 556 by season’s end.

7. Seattle 13 10 6 5 9 – 8.6

Russell Wilson is on pace for 21 passing touchdowns. That would give him 93 passing touchdowns in his first four NFL seasons.

8. New York Jets 14 3 5 16 7 – 9

Ryan Fitzpatrick could be on his way to one of his best seasons yet. At his current pace, he’ll finish with 29 passing touchdowns, which would be a season best.

9. Pittsburgh 9 6 9 8 14 – 9.2

Once Ben Roethlisberger returns to action, he’ll be set to reach a statistical milestone of 40,000 career passing yards. He needs just 31 to reach it.

10. Atlanta 6 9 17 11 8 – 10.2

All Matt Ryan needs is 10 more passing touchdowns and he’ll have 200 for his career.

11. Philadelphia 11 7 8 10 15 – 10.2

Sam Bradford could post his first 4,000-yard passing season of his career. He’s on pace for 4,037.

12. New York Giants 15 13 12 12 10 – 12.4

Eli Manning’s current pace would put him at 36 passing touchdowns. That would leave him just five touchdowns shy of 300 for his career.

13. Minnesota 8 15 28 9 12 – 14.4

The biggest improvement Teddy Bridgewater has made in his completion percentage. He is currently completing 65.7 percent of his passes, after completing 64.4 percent as a rookie.

14. Buffalo 17 14 10 19 18 – 15.6

Tyrod Taylor is on pace to finish with 27 passing touchdowns and 12 interceptions, assuming he does not miss any more starts.

15. St. Louis 19 12 16 21 11 – 15.8

Nick Foles’ current pace would give him 2,984 passing yards for the season. That would better his 2013 tally of 2,891.

16. Oakland 10 22 13 26 13 – 16.8

Derek Carr’s improvement is evident. He’s completed 65.8 percent of his passes in six games and, at his current pace, he’ll finish with 29 passing touchdowns and just eight interceptions.

17. Miami 18 16 14 20 16 – 16.8

Ryan Tannehill is on pace to set season bests in passing yards with 4,341 and passing touchdowns with 35.

18. Kansas City 20 19 15 13 17 – 16.8

If Alex Smith keeps up his current pace, he will have thrown for 4,169 yards passing. He has never had a 4,000-yard passing season in his 11-year career.

19. New Orleans 12 20 20 17 20 – 17.8

If Drew Brees doesn’t miss another start and keeps his current pace going, he’ll surpass 60,000 career passing yards this season. He needs 2,096 to get there.

20. Dallas 16 21 26 14 19 – 19.2

When Tony Romo returns to the lineup, he’ll need just five passing touchdowns for 250 in his career and 1,179 passing yards for 35,000 in his career.

21. Baltimore 23 17 18 18 22 – 19.6

Joe Flacco is on pace for the first 4,000-yard passing season of his eight-year career. At his current pace, he’ll finish with 4,245 yards.

22. Indianapolis 22 24 21 16 24 – 21.4

All Andrew Luck needs is three touchdown passes for his 100th career passing touchdown. At his current pace, he’ll have 119 in his four-year career.

23. Washington 27 18 19 29 26 – 23.8

Kirk Cousins has completed 68.7 percent of his passes through seven games. It’s his best percentage when attempting more than 200 passes. He completed 68.8 percent as a rookie, but that was in just three games in which he attempted 48 passes.

24. Cleveland 21 25 23 28 23 – 24

Assuming Josh McCown starts for the remainder of season and keeps up his current pace, he’ll finish with 4,215 passing yards.

25. Tennessee 25 26 22 32 21 – 25.2

If Marcus Mariota is cleared to play this week and does not miss another start, he would be on pace to finish with 27 passing touchdowns and 16 interceptions, a solid ratio for his rookie season.

26. San Diego 31 23 24 23 27 – 25.6

Phillip Rivers is nearing 40,000 passing yards for his career. He needs 893 yards and, at his current pace, would hit that mark in Week 11 against Kansas City.

27. Chicago 26 28 30 27 28 – 27.8

Jay Cutler needs 1,020 passing yards to reach 30,000 for his career. At his current pace, he’ll surpass that mark in Week 12 against Green Bay.

28. Jacksonville 24 31 25 31 31 – 28.4

Blake Bortles has shown improvement in his second season. His current pace would give him 34 passing touchdowns and 18 interceptions, compared to 11 TD and 17 picks as a rookie.

29. Tampa Bay 28 32 27 30 25 – 28.4

At his current pace, Jameis Winston will finish with 3,923 passing yards, just a few yards shy of 4,000 for his rookie season.

30. San Francisco 32 27 32 22 29 – 28.4

Colin Kaepernick has completed 61.4 percent of his passes in seven games. If he stays at that mark, it would be his best mark in starting all 16 games. He completed 62.4 percent in 2012, but that was in 13 games with seven starts.

31. Houston 29 30 31 24 30 – 28.8

Brian Hoyer will likely finish the season as the starter. If so, and he stays on his current pace, he’ll finish with 32 passing touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

32. Detroit 30 29 29 25 32 – 29

Matthew Stafford needs just seven more touchdown passes for 150 in his career.

Published by

Bob Morris

I'm a sports writer in real life, though I've always focused on smaller communities, but that hasn't stopped me from learning more about some of the ins and outs of the NFL. You can follow me on Twitter @BobMorrisSports if you can put up with updates on the high school sports teams I cover.