NFL Power Rankings: Week 1
By Keith Myers
Week 1 is finally here. Rosters are set, and teams are preparing to play meaningful football games for the first time in seven months. That means it is time for our Week 1 NFL power rankings.
There has actually been very little change since our pre-training camp rankings. There were very few surprises in the preseason, other than the fact that the NFL’s worst team was even more of a mess than everyone expected.
Lets jump straight into the rankings.
53. Just when I start to think that Cleveland might be starting to improve, they go and remind everyone that that they’re still the Browns. Those fans deserve better. . (0-0). Previous: 29th. Cleveland Browns. 31. team
Tennessee Titans. 30. team. 35. Mariota looks like he’s progressing as a rookie QB, but they have no talent at RB and little on the outside. That’s a good way to get your young QB killed. . (0-0). Previous: 31st
48. Tampa’s defense is a mess. Jameis Winston looks about as bad at QB as you’d expect from a rookie. This is going to be a long season for the Bucs.. (0-0). Previous: 30th. Tampa Bay Bucs. 29. team
(0-0). Previous: 28th. Oakland Raiders. 28. team. 28. The Raiders are young, but that roster is still awful. At least Khalil Mack is really fun to watch.
Previous: 19th. San Francisco 49ers. 27. team. 42. Just when you thought the 49ers’ offseason couldn’t get any worse, Aldon Smith and Ahmed Brooks happen. This is a team that looks like it is going to struggle on both sides of the ball. . (0-0)
The Bears began putting the first few pieces of a rebuild in place. McPhee makes the defense better, but losing Kevin White for the year hurts the offense. . (0-0). Previous: 27th. Chicago Bears. 26. team. 57
30. The defense should be good, but losing Geno Smith to friendly fire in the locker room doesn’t help. The Jets just can’t seem to get out of their own way.. (0-0). Previous: 26th. New York Jets. 25. team
15. The Saints defense looks like it could be downright awful. Will a commitment to the running game offset losing so many of the team’s passing weapons?. (0-0). Previous: 25th. New Orleans Saints. 24. team
St. Louis Rams. 23. team. 51. The Rams will be hoping to win a lot of 9-6 games with that putrid looking offense. Good thing the defensive line will keep them in games. . (0-0). Previous: 24th
22. team. 31. Getting JPP back for week 1 should help, but it doesn’t change the fact that Eli has regressed and the Giants lack talent all over the roster. . (0-0). Previous: 22nd. New York Giants
team. 52. The Jags are secretly much improved from a talent perspective. They’re also very young, and hoping for the Blake Bortles to figure out how to play quarterback. . (0-0). Previous: 21st. Jacksonville Jaguars. 21
Next: Teams 11 though 20