What does this graph even mean, why did we pick weird colors, and why aren't the bars even labeled?? All good questions (we admit, this is a weird one) but hear us out:

 

If you're on the top of the above chart in that orange color, it means your offensive rank is better than your defensive rank.  For example, The Malones are the 3rd best offense in the League and the 40th best defense, so their combined score is +37. Sausage McMuffins on the other end of the spectrum is the 39th best offense in the League and the absolute best defense, so their combined score is -38 (shown in purple).  These two teams represent the biggest extremes in the League right now, and everyone else falls somewhere in between.  Anyone in orange leans towards offensive strengths, anyone in purple leans towards defensive strengths (those dashed boxes on the chart are just there to call out the biggest discrepancies where one rank exceeds the other by a lot in one direction).

 

So why did we pick orange and purple as the colors?  We usually use green and red for our graphics, but green typically implies "good" and red typically implies "bad", and this graph isn't about "good or bad" -- it's just about which side of the ball each team seems to be strongest.  The best example of the point we're trying to make is right in the middle of the graph, where you'll see TMA and Freeballers are virtually tied at -2 and -1 respectively (almost perfectly balanced, SLIGHT lean towards offense as their stronger side).  On the surface they could not be more different teams: TMA are 0-8 (offensive rank: 42nd, defensive rank: 44th) and Freeballers are 5-2 (offensive rank: 5th, defensive rank: 6th).  But both teams are about equally balanced in terms of their offense vs their defense... it just so happens that Freeballers are great on both sides, and TMA are NOT great on both sides.  That's why we didn't label each bar on the graph - the +1 itself is kind of meaningless when you're describing either TMA or Freeballers -- the important thing is where your team falls on the graph relative to the OTHER teams shown.

 

Why do we like this graph?  Well, it helps you point fingers if you're trying to blame someone on your team for your failures, AND it helps to give credit to someone on your team if you're having success!  In other words, if your team is deep in the orange category above, MAYBE consider laying off your QB next time he makes a bad throw, because your offense has been carrying your team all season.  Or if you're deep in the purple, it probably IS your quarterback's fault you're not doing better, so feel free to bench him and try someone else at the position.