Talisman Red's NFL Computer Ratings
Welcome to 2025! This is my rough attempt at a computer rating that can, among other things, come somewhat close to predicting final game scores. Predictions for upcoming games are given below. To determine a hypothetical margin for any two teams, use the Points column (just subtract) and add in home field advantage (consistently about 2.5 points).
New in 2025: a slightly revised prediction formula that, I hope, will be slightly better. Let's see if it slightly works.
The Rating describes team performance based on games played to date. The BCS column describes a rating like the old college football system that only accounted for wins, losses, and strength of schedule. It's pretty meaningless in the NFL, but still a part of my output since I use this code in lots of places.
I wouldn't rely too much on early-season results, which are based almost entirely on last year's games and preseason games. Wait until 3-4 weeks into the season, at least.
Ratings last updated 19-Jan-2026 14:04 EST Rank Team W L T Rating Points BCS 1 Seattle 15 3 0 3.74 60.61 1 2 LA Rams 14 5 0 3.14 59.12 4 3 Houston 13 6 0 3.01 58.45 5 4 New England 16 3 0 2.83 56.53 2 5 Denver 15 3 0 2.58 55.24 3 6 Jacksonville 13 5 0 2.12 55.94 6 7 Buffalo 13 6 0 1.46 53.05 8 8 San Francisco 12 7 0 1.38 52.16 7 9 Chicago 12 7 0 1.08 52.39 9 10 LA Chargers 11 7 0 0.95 52.82 11 Rank Team W L T Rating Points BCS 11 Baltimore 8 9 0 0.88 53.88 14 12 Pittsburgh 10 8 0 0.65 50.83 10 13 Detroit 10 7 0 0.61 53.13 15 14 Indianapolis 8 9 0 0.51 54.62 20 15 Philadelphia 11 7 0 0.46 51.21 12 16 Minnesota 9 8 0 0.29 50.51 13 17 Tampa Bay 8 9 0 -0.21 49.10 16 18 Green Bay 8 9 1 -0.34 49.30 19 19 Miami 7 10 0 -0.73 46.54 17 20 Kansas City 6 11 0 -0.90 51.35 28 Rank Team W L T Rating Points BCS 21 Carolina 9 9 0 -1.00 45.30 18 22 NY Giants 4 13 0 -1.05 49.54 26 23 Cleveland 5 12 0 -1.25 46.30 23 24 Atlanta 8 9 0 -1.29 45.11 21 25 Dallas 7 9 1 -1.37 46.48 24 26 New Orleans 6 11 0 -1.46 44.98 22 27 Cincinnati 6 11 0 -1.60 45.45 25 28 Arizona 3 14 0 -2.42 44.44 29 29 Tennessee 3 14 0 -2.55 42.24 27 30 Washington 5 12 0 -2.86 42.04 30 31 Las Vegas 3 14 0 -3.28 41.39 32 32 NY Jets 3 14 0 -3.36 39.94 31
Teams are sorted by computer ranking (in parentheses), not necessarily by division record. Playoff games between division teams end up getting counted here, too.
NFL Computer Ratings (Last updated 19-Jan-2026 14:04 EST) --- AFC East CW CL W L Rating Rank Points NCWNCL Non-Conf Sched 1 New England 5 1 16 3 2.83 ( 4) 56.53 11 2 -0.63 ( 31) 2 Buffalo 4 2 13 6 1.46 ( 7) 53.05 9 4 0.15 ( 14) 3 Miami 3 3 7 10 -0.73 ( 19) 46.54 4 7 -0.61 ( 30) 4 NY Jets 0 6 3 14 -3.36 ( 32) 39.94 3 8 -0.18 ( 21) --- AFC North CW CL W L Rating Rank Points NCWNCL Non-Conf Sched 1 Baltimore 3 3 8 9 0.88 ( 11) 53.88 5 6 0.64 ( 5) 2 Pittsburgh 4 2 10 8 0.65 ( 12) 50.83 6 6 0.84 ( 2) 3 Cleveland 2 4 5 12 -1.25 ( 23) 46.30 3 8 -0.24 ( 22) 4 Cincinnati 3 3 6 11 -1.60 ( 27) 45.45 3 8 0.37 ( 8) --- AFC South CW CL W L Rating Rank Points NCWNCL Non-Conf Sched 1 Houston 5 1 13 6 3.01 ( 3) 58.45 8 5 0.83 ( 3) 2 Jacksonville 5 1 13 5 2.12 ( 6) 55.94 8 4 0.06 ( 19) 3 Indianapolis 2 4 8 9 0.51 ( 14) 54.62 6 5 0.35 ( 10) 4 Tennessee 0 6 3 14 -2.55 ( 29) 42.24 3 8 0.48 ( 7) --- AFC West CW CL W L Rating Rank Points NCWNCL Non-Conf Sched 1 Denver 5 1 15 3 2.58 ( 5) 55.24 10 2 -0.46 ( 27) 2 LA Chargers 5 1 11 7 0.95 ( 10) 52.82 6 6 0.11 ( 16) 3 Kansas City 1 5 6 11 -0.90 ( 20) 51.35 5 6 0.11 ( 15) 4 Las Vegas 1 5 3 14 -3.28 ( 31) 41.39 2 9 0.08 ( 18) --- NFC East CW CL W L Rating Rank Points NCWNCL Non-Conf Sched 1 Philadelphia 3 3 11 7 0.46 ( 15) 51.21 8 4 0.56 ( 6) 2 NY Giants 2 4 4 13 -1.05 ( 22) 49.54 2 9 0.34 ( 11) 3 Dallas 4 2 7 9 -1.37 ( 25) 46.48 3 7 -0.53 ( 28) 4 Washington 3 3 5 12 -2.86 ( 30) 42.04 2 9 0.25 ( 13) --- NFC North CW CL W L Rating Rank Points NCWNCL Non-Conf Sched 1 Chicago 3 4 12 7 1.08 ( 9) 52.39 9 3 -0.53 ( 29) 2 Detroit 3 3 10 7 0.61 ( 13) 53.13 7 4 -0.37 ( 25) 3 Minnesota 4 2 9 8 0.29 ( 16) 50.51 5 6 -0.25 ( 23) 4 Green Bay 3 4 8 9 -0.34 ( 18) 49.30 5 5 -0.64 ( 32) --- NFC South CW CL W L Rating Rank Points NCWNCL Non-Conf Sched 1 Tampa Bay 3 3 8 9 -0.21 ( 17) 49.10 5 6 0.92 ( 1) 2 Carolina 3 3 9 9 -1.00 ( 21) 45.30 6 6 0.80 ( 4) 3 Atlanta 3 3 8 9 -1.29 ( 24) 45.11 5 6 0.36 ( 9) 4 New Orleans 3 3 6 11 -1.46 ( 26) 44.98 3 8 0.32 ( 12) --- NFC West CW CL W L Rating Rank Points NCWNCL Non-Conf Sched 1 Seattle 5 2 15 3 3.74 ( 1) 60.61 10 1 -0.25 ( 24) 2 LA Rams 4 2 14 5 3.14 ( 2) 59.12 10 3 0.09 ( 17) 3 San Francisco 4 3 12 7 1.38 ( 8) 52.16 8 4 -0.14 ( 20) 4 Arizona 0 6 3 14 -2.42 ( 28) 44.44 3 8 -0.38 ( 26)
The average computer rating of all teams in a division is shown here.
Rank Conference Mean Rating ---- ------------------------- ----------- 1 NFC West 1.46 2 AFC South 0.77 3 NFC North 0.41 4 AFC East 0.05 5 AFC West -0.17 6 AFC North -0.33 7 NFC South -0.99 8 NFC East -1.21
These predictions, where needed, already account for home advantage. Neutral site games (London, etc.) should be obvious, if I've programmed them correctly.
PREDICTIONS FOR UPCOMING GAMES Date Away Team Home Team Total Prediction ----------- -------------------- -------------------- ----- -------------- 25-Jan-2026 New England Denver 46.0 HOME by 0.64 25-Jan-2026 LA Rams Seattle 60.3 HOME by 3.42
Original Text Files
Feel free to download these; if you use them elsewhere, give credit to talismanred.com.
- Rankings
- Division Standings (but sorted by computer rating)
- Game Predictions
What is this about?
Computer ratings are the starting point for Vegas oddsmakers, and have traditionally done reasonably well at predicting game winners. On this page, I share my own formula, which I've been producing for one sport or another for about 20 years. If you're familiar with ratings you've probably heard of the others: Sagarin, Massey, and more.
So it's just a math formula?
Yep, that's all that computer ratings are. You can do it this way, or you can do like they do for college sports and do a human "poll" (coaches, writers, whoever).
The formula here is one that I developed quite a few years ago to try and "compete" with all the other folks who are doing it. That's where the predictions come from -- incorporating historical games and trying to use those to figure out what will happen next. It includes scores, dates, and locations, but no other information. No information about injuries, pace or speed of the game, penalties, etc. Those things *do* matter, but they aren't factored in here.
Are the predictions any good?
Great question, and the answer depends on the sport:
- In the NFL in 2023-24, my system predicted 62.8% of game winners correct. By comparison, the ESPN FPI (yep, they run it for pro too) got 64.4%. That is a difference, over an entire season, of just four more games correct.
- In college football in 2023, 71.5% correct
- In college basketball in 2023-24, 70.4% correct
Although the system is comparable to other computer systems (FPI, Sagarin, and several others), the midweek/updated Vegas line predicted 66.3% of last year's NFL winners correctly. You just cannot beat a human touch!
Who are you, anyway?
I have a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and am currently a faculty member at Indiana University in Bloomington. In addition to lots of teaching, I have research interests in the broad areas of thunderstorms and numerical weather prediction (forecasting using computers).
Contact me using this email form if you have questions or non-hateful comments.