These power rankings are unique in that I have devised a system to help me determine the contenders from pretenders. Below you will find the gold, silver, bronze, and then all the rest of the teams (no color). The point is that the medal teams all are capable of making the playoffs while the teams that have no color need a lot of work to become playoff caliber.
This list is dynamic and will be updated every Tuesday throughout the season. There is no set number of teams allocated to any particular level. It is possible for there to be 32 gold teams or 32 colorless teams. The tiered ranking is completely based on my discretionary view of the league at that moment. It is my belief that on the day of posting, any team ranking higher would likely beat the team ranked lower if they met on a neutral field. Feel free to leave your feedback.
| T1 | 1. |  |
New England Patriots (1-0) |
| 2. |  |
Baltimore Ravens (1-0) | |
| 3. |  |
New York Jets (1-0) | |
| 4. |  |
Green Bay Packers (1-0) | |
| T2 | 5. |  |
Pittsburgh Steelers (0-1) |
| 6. |  |
New Orleans Saints (0-1) | |
| 7. |  |
Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) | |
| 8. |  |
San Diego Chargers (1-0) | |
| T3 | 9. |  |
Chicago Bears (1-0) |
| 10. |  |
Atlanta Falcons (0-1) | |
| 11. |  |
Houston Texans (1-0) | |
| 12. |  |
Detroit Lions (1-0) | |
| 13. |  |
Dallas Cowboys (0-1) | |
| T4 | 14. |  |
Oakland Raiders (1-0) |
| 15. |  |
Washington Redskins (1-0) | |
| 16. |  |
Minnesota Vikings (0-1) | |
| 17. |  |
New York Giants (0-1) | |
| 18. |  |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-1) | |
| 19. |  |
Denver Broncos (0-1) | |
| T5 | 20. |  |
Miami Dolphins (0-1) |
| 21. |  |
Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0) | |
| 22. |  |
Cleveland Browns (0-1) | |
| 23. |  |
Buffalo Bills (1-0) | |
| 24. |  |
Arizona Cardinals (1-0) | |
| 25. |  |
Kansas City Chiefs (0-1) | |
| 26. |  |
St. Louis Rams (0-1) | |
| T6 | 27. |  |
Carolina Panthers (0-1) |
| 28. |  |
San Francisco 49ers (1-0) | |
| 29. |  |
Indianapolis Colts (0-1) | |
| 30. |  |
Tennessee Titans (0-1) | |
| 31. |  |
Cincinnati Bengals (1-0) | |
| 32. |  |
Seattle Seahawks (0-1) |
The Cowboys go into hostile territory and lose by a FG (gambling home field is usually worth 3 pts) – and you have Jets two tiers above them? If Dallas blocks NY FG and runs it back, everyone is all over Jets case. Dallas played 29 great minutes in each half. jets luckily score in final minute of each half – they don’t deserve the accolades. Penalties: Dallas 7, Jets 0 (illegal uncalled hits NY1-0).
I guess the difference is the Jets ability to get the Job done. Had I done the power rankings at the halfway point of the chargers game they’d have no medal as it would be ‘last years chargers rinsed and repeated’, but they turned it around and by the end of the game looked like they might be more focused etc. At the end of the cowboys game I guess people were thinking ‘same old cowboys’ maybe? I’m probably more with David than Jeff on that one but I could flop between the two stances easily.
I think the Saints are overrated, and I’m always scared of the Steelers (yet I’m not sure why…).
Biggest surprises for me are Pittsburgh and Oakland. Pittsburgh is getting way too much respect for last season – their performance week 1 should have them quite low on a power ranking chart.
The Raiders should be in the 30th spot. I’m sure you guys saw that game… it really wasn’t pretty.
The Bills go on the road and drop a 41-7 beating on KC and are ranked 23rd? How can teams like Miami, Cleveland or Denver be ranked better? Why?
These the 1st week power rankings or the first week and last years?
so my bears are not so bad after all? ;-)
so why did cincy end up so low after beating Cleveland? And it shows them as 0-1
I was about to ask the same question, they just did not beat them at a neutral site, but beat them in Cleveland, by 10 points at that. I would like to know why everyone thinks the Bengals will not succeed this year. My guess to the 0-1 is that they have already wrote off Cincy. And as a Bengals fan that makes me happy, because that just makes the Bengals play with a chip on their shoulder.
I agree that the Jets need to be ranked higher than the Cowboys; I was very impressed with the Cowboys in that game (as an Eagles fan that’s hard to admit) but the Cowboys have too many weak areas either hit by injury or not addressed during the draft. Romo is a great QB who can move and throw well but he makes a lot of mistakes.
I’m loving on the Redskins at the moment though; I think the combination of Moss, Grossman and Hightower definitely make this a T4 team at the minimum (though time will tell if Grossman is consistent), London Fletcher aint bad either!
According to the RnR guys we’re psychotic, needing of professional help, for thinking the Skins are anything but “bottom feeders” in the NFC East.
I want to see Steve eat that Cam Newton crow with a side of potato Skins :)
I’m a Redskins fan since 1981, but the performance in week one is no reason to start thinking this team is going anywhere. I think there is potential, and if things break the Skins way and we do have a better than expected season, I’ll be calling for the hosts to show the Skins some respect, but a win, at home, over a team with 8 defensive starters out does not give us any reason to think the Skins won’t end up last in the division. I think we’ll know a lot more about this team and it’s chances to have a successful season after the week 3 MNF game in Dallas.
Good Job Jeff! I like these better then ESPNS mainly because the packers are lower
Hey Jeff,
Thanks for doing a power ranking. I disagree with some choices, and agree with others. Most people only makes comments when they disagree. But, you’re putting yourself out there. Steven can’t do one of these, being a Cowboys homer. I can’t imagine him putting the Packers, the Steelers, the Saints, the Patriots, the Eagles, etc ahead of his team. You’re objective and level headed with your opinions, and the rankings are a cool addition to the site.
There’s some love, Jeff!
Agreed! I like the Power Rankings; keep doing them. It’s just more fun to discuss the disagreements!