Seattle Seahawks open season atop NFL Power Rankings
The Seattle Seahawks are fresh off a Super Bowl championship and are expected to compete for another one this season.
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They have a tricky schedule ahead of them but ESPN still believes they are the team to beat.
The sports network unveiled their Week 1 NFL Power Rankings on Tuesday and the Seahawks are on top of the football world with all team both winless and undefeated.
ESPN’s Power Panel votes on the each team’s ranking every week. The Panel, according to ESPN, consists of “a group of more than 80 writers, editors and TV personalities.”
They commented that “the past eight Super Bowl champions before Seattle failed to win a playoff game in the next year” and “a Fail Mary rematch is the Seahawks’ first step to avoid that.”
Seattle’s biggest competition in the NFC West will be the San Francisco 49ers, but if they can clinch the No. 1 seed in the postseason, like they did last year, there is no reason they can’t get back to the Super Bowl.
If they get to Glendale, Ariz., the home of Super Bowl XLIX, they could play the Denver Broncos again, whom ESPN ranked No. 2 on their Power Rankings list. They could also face the New England Patriots, who came in at No. 3.
The 49ers took the No. 4 spot and the Seahawks’ other NFC West rivals, the Arizona Cardinals (No. 14) and St. Louis Rams (No. 24) were ranked a little lower than I expected.
Winning the NFC West will be more difficult than these rankings give credit.
In case you are wondering, the Oakland Raiders took the bottom spot, No. 32, on the weekly Power Rankings. The Minnesota Vikings, at No. 26, were the lowest ranked NFC team.
The Green Bay Packers, whom the Seahawks will battle in Thursday’s season opener sit at No. 6 on the Power Rankings. They are expected to win the NFC North this season.