All 32 NFL Franchises Ranked by Statistical Formula

The list that started it all – The NFL Franchise Rankings (THE INAUGURAL RANKING), following the 2013 Season:

↑ = Moved up in ranking; ↓ = Moved down in ranking; as a result of the 2014 NFL season. The “X points gained” refers to how many points each franchise added from the previous season.

1. Green Bay Packers: 714 Points
2. New York Giants: 646 Points
3. Pittsburgh Steelers: 622 Points
4. Chicago Bears: 602 Points
5. Dallas Cowboys: 568 Points
6. San Francisco 49ers: 540 Points
7. Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts: 484 Points
8. Washington “Redskins”: 482 Points
9. Cleveland/Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams: 450 Points
10. Cleveland Browns: 430 Points

11. (TIE) Minnesota Vikings: 396 Points
11. (TIE) Oakland/Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders: 396 Points
13. Miami Dolphins: 350 Points
14. New England Patriots: 346 Points
15. Denver Broncos: 334 Points
16. Philadelphia Eagles: 330 Points
17. Detroit Lions: 290 Points
18. Buffalo Bills: 238 Points
19. Kansas City Chiefs: 212 Points
20. Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans: 200 Points

21. Chicago/St. Louis/Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals: 198 Points
22. San Diego Chargers: 192 Points
23. Seattle Seahawks: 182 Points
24. Baltimore Ravens: 148 Points
25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 142 Points
26. Cincinnati Bengals: 140 Points
27. New Orleans Saints: 136 Points
28. New York Jets: 110 Points
29. Atlanta Falcons: 104 Points
30. Carolina Panthers: 58 Points
31. Jacksonville Jaguars: 36 Points
32. Houston Texans: 24 Points

Reactions:

Clearly age of franchise doesn’t exactly equal greatness with this system (a common but misguided critique of this list). Check out the Cardinals, Eagles, and Lions. They’ve all been around for a very long time, yet aren’t ranked impressively high. On the flip-side, the Cowboys are a relatively young franchise that is ranked in the top 5.

The Ravens are one of the youngest teams in the NFL and they’re ahead of several older teams. The Packers have a big lead, but it’s hard to argue against the top 6 of this list. Do franchises get any more iconic than those six? No. Therefore, being iconic must equal greatness.

To see how the rankings changed following the 2014 season, go to the Page 3.