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Power Rankings: The Top-Heavy NFL
Cold, Hard Football Facts for November 6, 2007

By Jonathan Comey
Cold, Hard Football Facts powerade drinker

http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com...heavy_NFL.html

New England, with its ridiculous numbers and perfect record, is seven good games away from breaking many of the NFL’s most significant records. The Patriots are are on a bye this week, about the only way to keep them from demolishing another NFL opponent.

Their pursuit of excellence is well-traveled territory, but let’s reiterate some of the goals they are chasing (other than a fourth Super Bowl title in seven years).

• The Patriots need to score 202 points to break the single-season record set by the 1998 Vikings (556). New England scored 355 points in its first nine games.
• The Patriots need to score 38.1 PPG to break the per-game record set by the 1950 Rams (38.83). New England averaged 39.4 PPG in its first nine games.
• The Patriots need to score 25 TDs (3.6 per game) to break the single-season record set by the 1984 Dolphins (70). New England scored 46 TDs (5.1 per game) in its first nine games.
• The Patriots need 3,217 yards of offense (459.6 YPG) to break the record set by the 2000 Rams (7,075). New England averaged 428.7 YPG in its first nine games.
• The Patriots must beat their final seven opponents by an average of exactly 14.0 PPG to break the modern (post-1950) scoring-differential record set by the 1962 Packers (+19.07 PPG). New England outscored its first nine opponents by 23.1 PPG.
• The Patriots must win six games to tie for the single-season record of 15 wins set by several teams. If New England wins its final seven, it will set a new regular-season record of 16 wins and join a short list of teams, highlighted in the modern era by the 1972 Dolphins, that won all of their regular-season games.
• Tom Brady must throw 17 touchdowns (2.4 per game) to break Peyton Manning’s record of 49. He threw 33 TDs (3.7 per game) through the first nine games.
• Randy Moss needs 11 TD receptions to break Jerry Rice’s single-season record of 22 (no one else has even caught more than 18). Moss has caught 12 TDs in his first nine games.

On to the rankings.

THE DOMINANT DOZEN

1. NEW ENGLAND (9-0, previous rank: 1)
Record vs. Quality Teams: 4-0, +21.7 PPG scoring margin
Last week: In a game watched only by Archie Manning and 59-year-old contest winner Alice Vincellette of Lansing, MI, the underhyped Patriots beat the anonymous Colts, 24-20.
Cold, Hard Football Facts: New England is good.
Next: Bye. Belichick will spend time off trying to run up the score on that “Guitar Hero 2” video game he just rented from Blockbuster.

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The End of the Chad Ochostinko Era!