NFL WEEK 1: POWER RANKINGS

BY ADAM GREENE

With the first week’s games upon us, it’s time to rank each team by the arbitrary standards I made up just a few minutes before I put this together.

Since the Preseason Power Rankings, we’ve had plenty of movement in the middle of the rankings, as teams either looked more impressive than expected, or significantly worse. The top and bottom remain the same, because the good teams have to settle this whole thing out on the field and the bad teams struggle to even find the stadium in the first place.

1. LOS ANGELES RAMS

As Ric Flair always said, “To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man.” And until the season officially kicks off, no one’s had a chance to “beat the man.” I always leave last year’s Super Bowl participants atop the rankings. In the Rams’ case, there’s plenty of reasons to leave them in the one spot. While they lost Von Miller, they added Bobby Wagner. They traded away Robert Woods, but signed Allen Robinson II and while Andrew Whitworth’s retirement leaves a leadership hole, Joseph Noteboom was the heir apparent and ready to play. Los Angeles will be tested from Week 1 on, but they should be playing a long while this season.

Preseason: No. 1

2. CINCINNATI BENGALS

The Bengals had more roster work to do this offseason than the Rams, but they took care of it early by signing three new starting offensive linemen — Ted Karras, Alex Cappa and La’el Collins. They turned their one weakness into a strength to go with one of the most underrated defenses in football and what is arguably the best offensive skill group in the NFL.

Preseason: No. 2

3. BUFFALO BILLS

The Bills are the current favorites across every book on the planet to not only win the AFC, but Super Bowl LVII. There’s plenty of reasons to get behind that, specifically the MVP frontrunner Josh Allen under center. Or, you know, in shotgun. They added Von Miller to the pass rush and dumped plague rat wide receiver Cole Beasley. That second one is addition by subtraction from where I sit.

Preseason: No. 3

4. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

Tom Brady unretiring immediately put the Buccaneers back into contention. Not only that, they top the NFC odds on most books. Brady’s absence for a good chunk of the preseason was concerning, but I don’t think it’ll affect his play. What it could mean is that this will be, for sure, his final season in the NFL. Enjoy it (or, if you’re like me, hate every minute of it) while you can.

Preseason: No. 4

5. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

While the Chiefs losing most of their wide receiver room, including All-Universe wideout Tyreek Hill, delivered a blow to the franchise, as long as Patrick Mahomes is healthy, they have a puncher’s chance against any team. The wheels haven’t fallen off this year, but they are low on air.

Preseason: No. 5

6. LOS ANGELES CHARGERS

Our first non playoff participant shows up in the rankings with the Chargers. I like what they’ve done this offseason a lot, especially bringing in Khalil Mack to a Brandon Staley defense. Justin Herbert has set records in his first two seasons, but has yet to reach the playoffs. I think that changes this year, but I don’t expect a lengthy run. The AFC is too tough.

Preseason: No. 7

7. GREEN BAY PACKERS

The self inflicted loss of Devante Adams will loom large on the team early, but I like Christian Watson and still like Amari Rodgers, so maybe Aaron Rodgers can get them all up to speed by the second half of the season. The Pack still fields a championship level defense and only got better with its extra draft picks.

Preseason: No. 11

8. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

The Eagles didn’t go trade crazy like the Rams did a year ago, but they did use their draft capital to add star players to their team. AJ Brown was nicked from the Tennessee Titans on Draft Day and CJ Gardner-Johnson was brought in from the New Orleans Saints just a week or so ago. Their biggest obstacle remains the three NFC teams ahead them. They’re just all significantly better.

Preseason: No. 14

9. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS

The Raiders were the beneficiaries of the Packers’ desire to not pay Devante Adams what he’s worth. Now, he’s reunited with his best bud and former college quarterback Derek Carr. More than that, he’s going to play in a Josh McDaniels offense. This is a team that made the playoffs a year ago in spite of every single type of implosion, from players getting arrested to a coach getting fired. I don’t expect a drop off in 2022.

Preseason: No. 10

10. DENVER BRONCOS

Russell Wilson will finally get his chance to cook with an offense designed to his strengths and not one that sees him hand the ball off to a running back twice in a row on every drive. The Broncos were built to win now and just needed a QB. Wilson solves that problem for good.

Preseason: No. 8

11. DALLAS COWBOYS

The Mike McCarthy farewell tour begins and the Cowboys should be just as excited to go through it as the Packers were back in 2018. Good things await, mainly Sean Payton and a legitimate chance a Super Bowl championship in the future.

Preseason: No. 13

12. BALTIMORE RAVENS

Lamar Jackson has given the Ravens a Friday deadline on his new contract, but will apparently play anyway. He obviously hasn’t thought this through as the team will happily pay him his fifth year option while offensive coordinator Greg Roman calls 25 QB runs a game to rupture his spleen.

Preseason: No. 16

13. TENNESSEE TITANS

The Titans blew the No. 1 seed in the playoffs a year ago and might have let the rest of the AFC pass by them this offseason. Ryan Tannehill is an NFL QB, but he fell back to Earth in 2021 and a lot of that probably had to do with Derrick Henry getting injured. How well Henry will play bouncing back is anyone’s guess. Running backs have had a tough time staying on the field with their second contracts.

Preseason: No. 15

14. ARIZONA CARDINALS

No team had a dumber offseason than the Cardinals. DeAndre Hopkins got suspended six games for violating the league’s PED rules and then Kyler Murray got outed as a guy who doesn’t watch enough game film by his own contract.

Preseason: No. 18

15. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

The new offensive brain trust of Joe Judge and Matt Patricia is about to ruin Mac Jones’ short career and force everyone to question their ingrained opinions about Bill Belichick as a head coach without Tom Brady as his QB.

Preseason: No. 20

16. PITTSBURGH STEELERS

The post Ben Roethlisberger era officially begins. While the Steelers made their fans wait for the official word, it was obvious Mitchell Trubisky would get the call at QB and unless he’s a complete disaster or gets injured, he’ll go all 17 games.

Preseason: No. 21

17. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

The idea that this team, with a first year starting QB that came out of the FCS, will be as good as the one Jimmy Garoppolo took the NFC Championship is laughable on its face. San Francisco has too strong a roster to post a losing season, but this is not a playoff team.

Preseason: No. 22

18. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

The Colts, however, are one with Matt Ryan at quarterback. Indianapolis has been all but ignored for the Bills and Chiefs in the AFC prognostications, but it wouldn’t shock me at all to see them taking the field in Arizona in Super Bowl LVII.

Preseason: No. 6

19. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

The only reason the Saints didn’t make the postseason a year ago is that Jameis Winston got hurt. If he stays healthy, they are, at worst, a Wild Card team.

Preseason: No. 17

20. MINNESOTA VIKINGS

Speaking of potential Wild Card teams, the upgrade of new head coach Kevin O’Connell over Mike Zimmer will be felt immediately in Minnesota and could end up with Justin Jefferson leading the league in receiving.

Preseason: No. 19

21. MIAMI DOLPHINS

Mike McDaniel’s offense can allow Tua Tagovailoa to thrive while keeping the Dolphins competitive throughout the year. Their problem is every mid-level AFC team’s problem. The good AFC teams are TOO good.

Preseason: No. 12

22. CLEVELAND BROWNS

Jacoby Brissett will keep the ship afloat for most of the season, but I don’t expect a big change when Deshaun Watson takes the field in Week 13. It will be nearly two full calendar years since he last played a down of football. And the stitch in his back has to be killing him at this point.

Preseason: No. 9

23. ATLANTA FALCONS

Marcus Mariota will be a good fit for Arthur Smith’s offense, but this team will be counting on too many young players on offense to compete in the same division as the Bucs and Saints.

Preseason: No. 23

24. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

Doug Pederson’s hire has probably saved Trevor Lawrence’s career. What it can’t do is make the math work where the Jaguars contend for anything other than a sub .500 record this season.

Preseason: No. 25

25. WASHINGTON COMMANDERS

If Carson Wentz is the answer, the question had to be, “who do you want your team not to trade for at QB?” It looks like the Commanders got the big red buzzer on that one.

Preseason: No. 26

26. CHICAGO BEARS

Like Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields gets a rookie season do-over with some real coaches. It’s hard to gauge where this Bears team will end up. They made the playoffs back in 2020 with one of the worst head coaches in the league. Everything is on the table this season.

Preseason: No. 27

27. DETROIT LIONS

For what might be the first time in the show’s history, HBO’s Hard Knocks made me feel better about a bad team’s head coach. Dan Campbell was the star of the show and looked the part. The Lions probably won’t finish with a winning record, but they’ll be way better and a tough out for all their opponents.

Preseason: No. 28

28. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

If not for what Pete Carroll has accomplished in his time as a head coach, I would pick the Seahawks to finish 2-15 with this roster. It’s bad and the rebuild is on. I don’t think Pete will be the one calling the shots next season when the hard work really begins.

Preseason: No. 24

29. NEW YORK GIANTS

Like the Jags, the Giants made the right coaching hire with Brian Daboll. Unlike the Jags, Daboll has significantly less to work with. The good news is, losing this year can pay dividends in the draft next year.

Preseason: No. 29

30. CAROLINA PANTHERS

I read when the Panthers acquired Baker Mayfield that some people were predicting they’d make the playoffs. Which surprised me, because I didn’t realize recreational marijuana was that available in the US.

Preseason: No. 30

31. NEW YORK JETS

Zach Wilson will be out at least a month while his knee heals, so Joe Flacco gets the call. In one of those games, he’ll remind everyone that he was a Super Bowl winning QB. In the other three, Flacco will make it clear why he’s the back up quarterback for the Jets.

Preseason: No. 31

32. HOUSTON TEXANS

Another year, another last place ranking for a Texans team with little or no hope. They should have gone 0-17 last year and should this year too. The fact that they won’t is a testament to how difficult such a feat actually is when you fill your roster with professional football players.

Preseason: No. 32

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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