In America we call them ties, which is what England calls games (but they also call them matches?). In England, ties (not games, but tied matches) are called draws. One of the NFL's two (two!) draws (or ties ... stick with me) this season came in England this past weekend.
It was the third NFL game in England this season. The league has played more games at Wembley or Twickenham this year than it has in Los Angeles. And now it’s seen two games (matches) play five full quarters without a decisive winner, which hasn’t happened since 1997. If the NFL is seriously intent on endearing itself to the English fanbase, sending fans home without a winner is probably a comforting way to do it, no matter how much it makes American fans groan.
Anyway, here we are, having to type extra hyphens to the end of four NFL teams' records halfway through the season, which could potentially throw into chaos play-off tiebreakers in a few weeks. This is where the British have the Americans beat. The Premier League table is as straightforward as it gets: three points for a win, one point for a draw, tiebreakers based on goal differential, and eventually some trophies. The NFL tiebreakers, after basic win-loss records, can be a convoluted mess.
Since these Power Rankings are basically meaningless anyway, this week let’s pay homage to our English pals and the golden age of NFL ties (or draws ... let’s go with draws) by reimagining the standings as one, division-less table. Three points for a win, one for a draw, nothing for Cleveland. Then scoring differential to break those deadlocks.
Some stray observations: Every team in the AFC West has a positive scoring differential; every team in the AFC South has a negative scoring differential, including the eighth-place Texans who are absolute frauds; the tough-luck Eagles have the league's second-best scoring differential but are only 11th in the table; the Raiders would get the final Champions League spot right now despite losses to the Falcons and Chiefs, who are each right behind in points; the Browns are Sunderland. See last week's rankings here.
1 New England Patriots (7-1): 21 points, Plus-85 goal differential
2 Denver Broncos (6-2): 18 pts, 58 differential*
3 Dallas Cowboys (6-1) 18 pts, 58 differential*
* The third tiebreaker in the Premier League is goals scored. The Broncos have scored 194 to the Cowboys’ 188. Tough break for Dallas, but they still both qualify for the Champions League.
4 Oakland Raiders (6-2) 18 pts, 12
5 Minnesota Vikings (5-2) 15 pts, 35
6 Atlanta Falcons (5-3) 15 pts, 31
7 Kansas City Chiefs (5-2) 15 pts, 29
8 Houston Texans (5-3) 15 pts, -30
9 Seattle Seahawks (4-2-1) 13 pts, 22
10 Washington (4-3-1) 13 pts, -3
11 Philadelphia Eagles (4-3) 12 pts, 62
12 Buffalo Bills (4-4) 12 pts, 40
13 Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3) 12 pts, 20
14 Green Bay Packers (4-3) 12 pts, 16
15 New York Giants (4-3) 12 pts, -8
16 Tennessee Titans (4-4) 12 pts, -1
17 Detroit Lions (4-4) 12 pts, -7
18 Arizona Cardinals (3-4-1) 10 pts, 39
19 Cincinnati Bengals (3-4-1) 10 pts, -22
20 San Diego Chargers (3-5) 9 pts, 13
21 Baltimore Ravens (3-4) 9 pts, -6
22 Miami Dolphins (3-4) 9 pts, -13
23 New Orleans Saints (3-4) 9 pts, -14
24 Indianapolis Colts (3-5) 9 pts, -22
25 Los Angeles Rams (3-4) 9 pts, -34
26 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-4) 9, -37
27 New York Jets (3-5) 9 pts, -58
28 Carolina Panthers (2-5) 6 pts, -5
• Last year’s NFC Champions, this year’s Leicester City
29 Chicago Bears (2-6) 6 pts, -48
30 Jacksonville Jaguars (2-5) 6 pts, -57
31 San Francisco 49ers (1-6) 3 pts, -75
32 Cleveland Browns (0-8) 0 pts, -80
• So if the season ended today, Jacksonville, Chicago, San Francisco and Cleveland would be relegated while Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Washington would move up to the NFL. Roll Tide.
kjeffers@thenational.ae
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