Dolphin Ratings - National Football League

Explanation: Each team is listed with its record, overall score differential, and its ratings. Brief explanations of the ratings follow.

Schedule The number in this column is the effective opponent strength of a team. In other words, they would be expected to have the same record had they played all games against an opponent of this predictive rating at a neutral site. Because this calculation depends on the strength of the team in question, it is not possible to rank schedules using these values.
Expected Losses For college teams, this number is the number of losses an average ranked (top 15 hockey; otherwise top 25) team would be expected to have against the team's schedule. For pro teams, this is the number of losses an average team would be expected to have against the team's schedule. Unlike the schedule ranking, this value can be used to rank schedules.
Standard Ranks teams in an order such that a team is "probably better" than all teams ranked lower than it. This calculation uses margin of victory only for computing a team's opponents strengths; the team's rating itself is computed using only wins, losses, and ties relative to its schedule
Median Likelihood Determines the likely ratings for each team, based on its wins, losses, and ties relative to its schedule. This generally produces the same or similar ratings as the standard ranking.
Predictive Both schedule strength and rating vs. schedule strength are determined considering both the wins and losses and the score differentials. This rating contains none of the biases in the standard rating, but does weight recent games slightly more than past games since those are a better indication of the team's current strength. This rating is the best of the first three for seeing how good teams are, and thus is the best for predicting future results.
Improved RPI Rating The improved RPI formula is similar to the standard RPI, except that the schedule strength is carried out to infinite depth instead of ending with opponents' opponents, thus allows for a better comparison of isolated groups of teams than is given by the standard RPI calculation. It is similar to the simple rating, except that all games are given equal weight.
Scoring. This value indicates how many points a team would be expected to score if it played an identical team.
Offense. This combines the predictive and scoring ratings to measure how many points a team scores. The number is the predictive rating of an opponent against whom the team would be expected to score the league average number of points. This does not necessarily rate a team's offensive abilities, as a fast pace in basketball or big-play defense in football can make a team score more points.
Defense. This combines the predictive and scoring ratings to measure how many points a team allows. The number is the predictive rating of an opponent against whom the team would be expected to allow the league average number of points. The same caveat in the predictive-offense rating applies here.

In order to increase early-season stability, the three main rankings, the improved RPI, and the college pseudopoll include priors based on the previous season final predictive ratings and occasionally incorporating preseason predictions of various major publications. The other rankings for college sports do not include priors, and thus can be wildly unstable early in the year. A team whose rankings are affected by this prior is noted with a P following its rankings.

Full Ranking

                                         STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM       W L T  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
COWBOYS    2 3 1 178 184 -0.119  2.729   22 -0.058   22 -0.049   22 -0.036   23 0.4400    1  1.708    1  0.595   32 -0.668
RAVENS     1 5 0 144 194 -0.024  3.293   29 -0.124   29 -0.122   29 -0.117   31 0.3514    2  1.649    4  0.419   31 -0.654
BUCCANEERS 5 1 0 165 151  0.256  3.404    1  0.160    1  0.175    5  0.077    1 0.6120    3  1.617    2  0.564   30 -0.409
LIONS      4 2 0 191 142 -0.199  2.307   14  0.036   13  0.031   14  0.032   14 0.5028    4  1.533    5  0.388   29 -0.325
COLTS      5 1 0 194 116  0.098  2.697    2  0.125    3  0.128    1  0.160    6 0.5482    5  1.505    3  0.475   24 -0.156
BEARS      2 2 0 101 117 -0.199  1.709   20 -0.035   20 -0.021   24 -0.052   19 0.4701    6  1.448    8  0.178   27 -0.282 P
BILLS      4 1 0 153 113 -0.374  1.563   10  0.064   11  0.055   13  0.033   18 0.4741    7  1.440    6  0.253   25 -0.186 P
DOLPHINS   1 5 0 134 174 -0.029  3.128   30 -0.130   30 -0.130   25 -0.073   30 0.3596    8  1.417   11  0.113   26 -0.260
COMMANDERS 3 2 0 134 101 -0.016  2.265   15  0.032   15  0.025    9  0.066   11 0.5176    9  1.413    7  0.246   22 -0.114 P
BENGALS    2 4 0 103 183 -0.149  3.090   26 -0.074   26 -0.064   31 -0.180   22 0.4458   10  1.365   22 -0.068   28 -0.291
TEAM       W L T  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
EAGLES     4 2 0 142 143  0.210  3.436    4  0.101    4  0.103   15  0.029    4 0.5582   11  1.351   10  0.121   21 -0.063
STEELERS   4 1 0 119 107 -0.104  2.209    7  0.092    7  0.090   16  0.013    5 0.5501   12  1.328   13  0.073   19 -0.048 P
SEAHAWKS   4 2 0 166 117  0.270  3.323    5  0.096    5  0.098    2  0.144    3 0.5715   13  1.301    9  0.167   10  0.120
JAGUARS    4 2 0 139 120  0.182  3.238    8  0.086    8  0.086    8  0.071    7 0.5477   14  1.297   12  0.090   14  0.052
JETS       0 6 0 123 170 -0.077  3.017   32 -0.193   32 -0.205   28 -0.103   32 0.3222   15  1.297   23 -0.084   23 -0.122
PATRIOTS   4 2 0 150 120 -0.144  2.503   12  0.050   12  0.039   11  0.034   16 0.4992   16  1.270   15  0.016   15  0.051
SAINTS     1 5 0 111 160  0.024  3.259   28 -0.123   28 -0.121   26 -0.078   28 0.3774   17  1.267   24 -0.099   20 -0.057
PANTHERS   3 3 0 132 146 -0.035  2.925   16  0.006   17 -0.002   19 -0.025   20 0.4659   18  1.266   17 -0.048   17 -0.003
VIKINGS    3 2 0 123  97 -0.436  1.593   19 -0.013   19 -0.019   20 -0.029   15 0.5009   19  1.264   18 -0.055   18 -0.003 P
PACKERS    3 1 1 131 102 -0.247  1.863   13  0.042   14  0.030   17  0.012   10 0.5188   20  1.251   16 -0.030   13  0.055 P
TEAM       W L T  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
CHIEFS     3 3 0 155 124  0.039  2.878   18 -0.003   18 -0.003    6  0.077   17 0.4799   21  1.250   14  0.032    9  0.121
CHARGERS   4 2 0 127 125  0.029  3.011    9  0.077    9  0.073   18 -0.000   13 0.5159   22  1.235   20 -0.064   12  0.064
CARDINALS  2 4 0 130 127  0.144  3.224   23 -0.067   23 -0.057   12  0.034   25 0.4316   23  1.211   19 -0.061    8  0.129
TITANS     1 5 0  83 161  0.256  3.957   27 -0.091   27 -0.081   30 -0.119   27 0.3846   24  1.181   27 -0.253   16  0.014
GIANTS     2 4 0 121 144 -0.006  3.076   25 -0.073   24 -0.063   23 -0.050   26 0.4259   25  1.163   26 -0.206   11  0.106
49ERS      4 2 0 125 128  0.376  3.782    3  0.123    2  0.130   10  0.059    2 0.5759   26  1.153   25 -0.109    6  0.228
RAMS       4 2 0 140 110  0.253  3.308    6  0.095    6  0.097    4  0.123    8 0.5353   27  1.137   21 -0.066    3  0.311
RAIDERS    2 4 0 103 149 -0.063  3.107   24 -0.070   25 -0.063   27 -0.092   24 0.4336   28  1.081   29 -0.349    7  0.166
FALCONS    2 2 0  76  86  0.074  2.153   17  0.004   16  0.008   21 -0.032   12 0.5169   29  1.070   28 -0.304    5  0.239 P
BRONCOS    4 2 0 130  95  0.015  2.694   11  0.064   10  0.057    7  0.073    9 0.5220   30  0.937   30 -0.352    2  0.498
TEAM       W L T  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
BROWNS     1 5 0  82 146 -0.358  2.591   31 -0.165   31 -0.172   32 -0.183   29 0.3708   31  0.882   32 -0.669    4  0.303
TEXANS     2 3 0 108  61  0.247  2.636   21 -0.038   21 -0.022    3  0.131   21 0.4590   32  0.708   31 -0.533    1  0.796 P

AFC WEST
                                         STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM       W L T  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
CHIEFS     3 3 0 155 124  0.039  2.878   18 -0.003   18 -0.003    6  0.077   17 0.4799   21  1.250   14  0.032    9  0.121
CHARGERS   4 2 0 127 125  0.029  3.011    9  0.077    9  0.073   18 -0.000   13 0.5159   22  1.235   20 -0.064   12  0.064
RAIDERS    2 4 0 103 149 -0.063  3.107   24 -0.070   25 -0.063   27 -0.092   24 0.4336   28  1.081   29 -0.349    7  0.166
BRONCOS    4 2 0 130  95  0.015  2.694   11  0.064   10  0.057    7  0.073    9 0.5220   30  0.937   30 -0.352    2  0.498

AFC SOUTH
                                         STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM       W L T  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
COLTS      5 1 0 194 116  0.098  2.697    2  0.125    3  0.128    1  0.160    6 0.5482    5  1.505    3  0.475   24 -0.156
JAGUARS    4 2 0 139 120  0.182  3.238    8  0.086    8  0.086    8  0.071    7 0.5477   14  1.297   12  0.090   14  0.052
TITANS     1 5 0  83 161  0.256  3.957   27 -0.091   27 -0.081   30 -0.119   27 0.3846   24  1.181   27 -0.253   16  0.014
TEXANS     2 3 0 108  61  0.247  2.636   21 -0.038   21 -0.022    3  0.131   21 0.4590   32  0.708   31 -0.533    1  0.796 P

AFC NORTH
                                         STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM       W L T  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
RAVENS     1 5 0 144 194 -0.024  3.293   29 -0.124   29 -0.122   29 -0.117   31 0.3514    2  1.649    4  0.419   31 -0.654
BENGALS    2 4 0 103 183 -0.149  3.090   26 -0.074   26 -0.064   31 -0.180   22 0.4458   10  1.365   22 -0.068   28 -0.291
STEELERS   4 1 0 119 107 -0.104  2.209    7  0.092    7  0.090   16  0.013    5 0.5501   12  1.328   13  0.073   19 -0.048 P
BROWNS     1 5 0  82 146 -0.358  2.591   31 -0.165   31 -0.172   32 -0.183   29 0.3708   31  0.882   32 -0.669    4  0.303

AFC EAST
                                         STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM       W L T  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
BILLS      4 1 0 153 113 -0.374  1.563   10  0.064   11  0.055   13  0.033   18 0.4741    7  1.440    6  0.253   25 -0.186 P
DOLPHINS   1 5 0 134 174 -0.029  3.128   30 -0.130   30 -0.130   25 -0.073   30 0.3596    8  1.417   11  0.113   26 -0.260
JETS       0 6 0 123 170 -0.077  3.017   32 -0.193   32 -0.205   28 -0.103   32 0.3222   15  1.297   23 -0.084   23 -0.122
PATRIOTS   4 2 0 150 120 -0.144  2.503   12  0.050   12  0.039   11  0.034   16 0.4992   16  1.270   15  0.016   15  0.051

NFC WEST
                                         STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM       W L T  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
SEAHAWKS   4 2 0 166 117  0.270  3.323    5  0.096    5  0.098    2  0.144    3 0.5715   13  1.301    9  0.167   10  0.120
CARDINALS  2 4 0 130 127  0.144  3.224   23 -0.067   23 -0.057   12  0.034   25 0.4316   23  1.211   19 -0.061    8  0.129
49ERS      4 2 0 125 128  0.376  3.782    3  0.123    2  0.130   10  0.059    2 0.5759   26  1.153   25 -0.109    6  0.228
RAMS       4 2 0 140 110  0.253  3.308    6  0.095    6  0.097    4  0.123    8 0.5353   27  1.137   21 -0.066    3  0.311

NFC SOUTH
                                         STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM       W L T  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
BUCCANEERS 5 1 0 165 151  0.256  3.404    1  0.160    1  0.175    5  0.077    1 0.6120    3  1.617    2  0.564   30 -0.409
SAINTS     1 5 0 111 160  0.024  3.259   28 -0.123   28 -0.121   26 -0.078   28 0.3774   17  1.267   24 -0.099   20 -0.057
PANTHERS   3 3 0 132 146 -0.035  2.925   16  0.006   17 -0.002   19 -0.025   20 0.4659   18  1.266   17 -0.048   17 -0.003
FALCONS    2 2 0  76  86  0.074  2.153   17  0.004   16  0.008   21 -0.032   12 0.5169   29  1.070   28 -0.304    5  0.239 P

NFC NORTH
                                         STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM       W L T  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
LIONS      4 2 0 191 142 -0.199  2.307   14  0.036   13  0.031   14  0.032   14 0.5028    4  1.533    5  0.388   29 -0.325
BEARS      2 2 0 101 117 -0.199  1.709   20 -0.035   20 -0.021   24 -0.052   19 0.4701    6  1.448    8  0.178   27 -0.282 P
VIKINGS    3 2 0 123  97 -0.436  1.593   19 -0.013   19 -0.019   20 -0.029   15 0.5009   19  1.264   18 -0.055   18 -0.003 P
PACKERS    3 1 1 131 102 -0.247  1.863   13  0.042   14  0.030   17  0.012   10 0.5188   20  1.251   16 -0.030   13  0.055 P

NFC EAST
                                         STANDARD   MED LIKELY  PREDICTIVE  IMPRVD RPI    SCORING     OFFENSE     DEFENSE 
TEAM       W L T  PF  PA  SCHED  ELOSS  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING  RNK RATING
COWBOYS    2 3 1 178 184 -0.119  2.729   22 -0.058   22 -0.049   22 -0.036   23 0.4400    1  1.708    1  0.595   32 -0.668
COMMANDERS 3 2 0 134 101 -0.016  2.265   15  0.032   15  0.025    9  0.066   11 0.5176    9  1.413    7  0.246   22 -0.114 P
EAGLES     4 2 0 142 143  0.210  3.436    4  0.101    4  0.103   15  0.029    4 0.5582   11  1.351   10  0.121   21 -0.063
GIANTS     2 4 0 121 144 -0.006  3.076   25 -0.073   24 -0.063   23 -0.050   26 0.4259   25  1.163   26 -0.206   11  0.106

DIVISION    W  L  T   PCT  RNK RATING
NFC WEST   14 10  0 0.583    1  0.479
AFC SOUTH  12 11  0 0.522    2  0.357
AFC WEST   13 11  0 0.542    3  0.091
NFC EAST   11 11  1 0.500    4  0.011
NFC NORTH  12  7  1 0.625    5 -0.052
NFC SOUTH  11 11  0 0.500    6 -0.081
AFC EAST    9 14  0 0.391    7 -0.168
AFC NORTH   8 15  0 0.348    8 -0.613

Home field advantage amounts to:
     0.198 points in main ratings (0.109 for semineutral)
     0.023 points in improved RPI (0.015 for semineutral)
Average of 6.20 points per score

Predict score:








Team Strength vs. Time Plot:






posted: Mon Oct 13 05:30:13 2025
games through: Sun Oct 12 2025

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