To kick off this year’s NFL Power Rankings, Week 1 will come with the help of Elliot Harrison and NFL.com. After this week, I’ll evolve my Power Rankings after each edition of Monday Night Football on ESPN.
Don’t forget to check out our NFL Playoffs and Superbowl XLIX Predictions!
Let the Power Rankings commence!
1) Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks are still the best team in football. There is no arguing that. We are also seeing a faster thinking Russell Wilson. Once again, this team is scary.
2) Denver Broncos
The number one team in the AFC has everything except a proven running game. Knowshon Moreno is now with the Dolphins and the load now carries over to Montee Ball. He was a decent back-up but we are yet to see him as a full-time starter. No worries when you have Peyton Manning, though.
3) New Orleans Saints
Brandin Cooks is a very popular guy, especially for a guy that hasn’t played in a regular season game. If he does work out, it just adds another weapon into Drew Brees’ arsenal. Having Jairus Byrd on defense now also makes this team much more potent.
4) Green Bay Packers
Great offense under Aaron Rodgers but not sold on the defense just yet. If the defense is good and healthy, expect them to roll past the NFC North.
5) New England Patriots
A revamped defense may do the trick this year. The Pats may still have trouble with Rob Gronkowski and the loss of Logan Mankins doesn’t help, but the offense should be fine.
6) Philadelphia Eagles
Nick Foles may regress from a 27:2 TD to INT ratio but don’t expect him to slow down. The question marks are all over the defense.
7) San Francisco 49ers
They’d be much higher if it weren’t for the suspensions. There’s a lot of talent on this team but now is the time to see how this team will fare without several key pieces.
8) Indianapolis Colts
Trent Richardson has played up to expectations but he may receive some help from Andrew Luck opening up the field, keeping the defenses honest.
9) San Diego Chargers
Improved defense and Philip Rivers looks very good. A tough opener as they visit the Cardinals on Monday Night Football will show us what this team may bring.
10) Cincinnati Bengals
Andy Dalton is going into his 4th season and has improved despite the heavy criticisms for his playoff failures. The defense is also still in tact.
11) Carolina Panthers
Kelvin Benjamin has shined and may be a key piece after losing Ted Ginn Jr. and Steve Smith.
12) Arizona Cardinals
The Rams are far below and the 49ers are slowly deteriorating. WR Michael Floyd and RB Andre Ellington are rising. Things are looking good for the Cardinals.
13) Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs will have some trouble on the o-line for the first 4 weeks as Donald Stephenson received a suspension. The defense will need to keep the Chiefs in this, especially after losing Pro Bowl CB Brandon Flowers to the Chargers.
14) Chicago Bears
The Bears aren’t too far behind the Packers when it comes to talent. It’s all whether or not Jay Cutler will play all 16 games.
15) Baltimore Ravens
Running the ball is just about out of the question with Ray Rice’s suspension. Flacco will need to step up more than ever.
16) Pittsburgh Steelers
Ben Roethlisberger staying healthy will define the Steelers can make a run for the playoffs or not. Their offense though, does not seem to be in sync like it has other years.
17) New York Jets
A little high for the Jets but the offense under Geno Smith will be fine with the additions of Chris Johnson and Eric Decker.
18) Miami Dolphins
No more drama for this team. All business. Knowshon Moreno will relieve some pressure off of Ryan Tannehill, giving the Dolphins a more balanced attack.
19) Atlanta Falcons
Julio Jones is healthy and don’t expect the Falcons to pull off what they did last season. 4-12 won’t be repeated this time around.
20) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Josh McCown had a 74.1 completion percentage this preseason, giving some hope to Bucs fans everywhere. But don’t let preseason deceive you.
21) Detroit Lions
A pretty looking team on paper but you have to double-take when you see Jim Caldwell is the coach. A lot of talent but have to hope that the coaching staff will help bring the talent out.
22) Dallas Cowboys
This team would be much higher if they had a defense to help the offense. Losing DeMarcus Ware helped quite a bit with that.
23) St. Louis Rams
Once again, the Rams will be without Sam Bradford in what could have been his career saving year. Shaun Hill has gone 13-13 in games he has started. Maybe there’s hope.
24) New York Giants
Eli Manning has had it rough. Horrible season last year and a horrid pre-season. The Giants live or die by Eli.
25) Tennessee Titans
All the team needs to do is keep Jake Locker healthy. They have proved to play well against great teams but lose themselves once the injury bug comes along.
26) Minnesota Vikings
Matt Cassel in probably at the end of the line if he doesn’t create success in Minnesota. With Adrian Peterson expected to run out of his mind, Kyle Rudolph and Cordarelle Patterson will need to step up.
27) Washington Redskins
New head coach Jay Gruden will have pressure put on him when it comes to RGIII’s play and health. This team will rely a lot on Alfred Morris to relieve the pressure off of the young QB.
28) Jacksonville Jaguars
The addition of Toby Gerhart can help Chad Henne open up the offense. The question is whether it will happen or not.
29) Buffalo Bills
Sammy Watkins is good to go for week 1, which is great for Buffalo, but there wasn’t much promise for the offense during this preseason.
30) Cleveland Browns
Good looking defense but the offense doesn’t look disciplined. Potential is there but they need to get into mental shape.
31) Houston Texans
With the Ryan Fitzpatirck starting and not knowing how he’ll turn out, Arian Foster may be the life line for the offense. Bill O’Brien has quite a bit of work to do.
32) Oakland Raiders
If it already weren’t bad enough that the Raiders were in the AFC West and have the hardest schedule of all 32 teams, they named rookie QB Derek Carr the starter for week 1. Good luck, Oakland.
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