Mail
PrintEach week throughout the NFL regular season, we’ll be providing our public perception rankings, a 1-through-32 look at the teams that might be overvalued or undervalued by Joe Public bettors.
Despite an upset loss to Arizona last weekend, the New England Patriots still top our rankings, meaning we think the majority of the public would take them in pick ‘em on a neutral field against any other team in the league.
But there’s a new team in the basement: The Cleveland Browns. The public is staying away from the Browns, evidenced by roughly two-thirds of bettors taking the Bills—a team that ranks only 21st—as 3-point road favorites at Cleveland this weekend.
* * *
On the Rise: San Diego Chargers (16th to 12th). The Chargers have beat up on some pretty weak opponents (Oakland & Tennessee) in the first two weeks, and they’ve looked impressive doing it. Now, they’re 3-point favorites at home over the red-hot Atlanta Falcons.
Free Falling: Oakland Raiders (26th to 30th). The Raiders were 22nd in these rankings before the season began, but they’ve shown nothing in the first two weeks, and now only 15 percent of bettors are taking them as 4-point home underdogs to the Steelers this weekend. Defenses are lining the box to stop Darren McFadden, and Oakland hasn’t really adjusted.
With another win … The Arizona Cardinals will really start turning some bettors’ heads. They have two outright wins as underdogs to open the year, and now they’re 3.5-point home underdogs to the Eagles in Week 3. The public is split at right about 50-50, but more bettors will hop on the Arizona bandwagon with another upset victory.
With another loss … The New Orleans Saints will be flushed down the toilet. Despite an 0-2 start, bettors are still backing them as 8-point favorites over Kansas City this weekend, but another loss there—this time at home—would probably be enough for the public to realize this team just might not be that good without Sean Payton.
* * *
For people who like these rankings in plain-old text form, here ya go.
1. Patriots (Last week: 1)
2. 49ers (3)
3. Texans (5)
4. Ravens (2)
5. Packers (4)
6. Falcons (6)
7. Steelers (9)
8. Eagles (11)
9. Cowboys (8)
10. Giants (13)
11. Broncos (7)
12. Chargers (16)
13. Bears (12)
14. Lions (10)
15. Saints (14)
16. Seahawks (20)
17. Jets (15)
18. Redskins (17)
19. Panthers (18)
20. Bengals (19)
21. Bills (21)
22. Buccaneers (23)
23. Cardinals (28)
24. Chiefs (22)
25. Vikings (24)
26. Colts (27)
27. Rams (30)
28. Titans (25)
29. Dolphins (32)
30. Raiders (26)
31. Jaguars (29)
32. Browns (31)
