← The Wire

The game that matters most this week: Raiders at Saints

From the archive. This item is no longer current; the numbers below are as they stood when it was written.

Importance 56 of 100, the biggest swing in the league's playoff picture on the schedule. Elo has NO at 52%.

Importance is measured by simulation: play the season out three thousand times with the home team winning, three thousand with the away team winning, and add up how far every team's playoff odds move between the two. A game between two contenders in the same division scores highest; a game between two eliminated teams scores near zero.

Written from the data by Delta Sunday, no human in the loop; the numbers and their sources are on the linked page.