Power Rankings - Week 1

Posted 9/9 by Mike Brown, Exclusive for Footballguys.com

These are just my opinion. If you disagree, feel free to let me know at brown@footballguys.com

The comments will expand as the season goes along. For now, get a brief division-by-division rundown of how I see the races shaking out over the course of the season at the bottom of this article. Oh, and the Chargers are totally winning the Super Bowl.

Rankings

Pittsburgh Steelers
New England Patriots
Minnesota Vikings
San Diego Chargers
Philadelphia Eagles
New York Giants
Atlanta Falcons
Indianapolis Colts
Baltimore Ravens
Arizona Cardinals
Tennessee Titans
Carolina Panthers
Miami Dolphins
Houston Texans
Chicago Bears
Washington Redskins
Jacksonville Jaguars
Green Bay Packers
New York Jets
Dallas Cowboys
Cincinnati Bengals
New Orleans Saints
San Francisco 49ers
Tampa Bay Bucs
Seattle Seahawks
Oakland Raiders
Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs
Buffalo Bills
Detroit Lions
Cleveland Browns
Saint Louis Rams

AFC Predictions (Playoff teams in bold)

EAST
1. New England Patriots
2. Miami Dolphins
3. New York Jets
4. Buffalo Bills

New England gets Brady back, blah blah blah. The offense will be enough to carry them through the regular season without much of an issue. But I would be very worried if I took this defense into the postseason. They are definitely beatable, to say the least. Miami will see a renaissance season from Ronnie Brown, and a top-5 fantasy finish is not out of the question. But an overall slight step back has to be expected. The Jets will be the best team that doesn't make the playoffs. Their lack of a top downfield option coupled with a rookie QB will doom them eventually, but they're strong in all other areas. The Bills were on the road to putridity, with or without T.O.

NORTH
1. Pittsburgh Steelers
2. Cincinnati Bengals
3. Baltimore Ravens
4. Cleveland Browns

Pittsburgh has won a few Super Bowls lately, so I'm not about to put any of these other fools ahead of them. I like Baltimore, but I'm concerned about their defensive losses. The Bengals, meanwhile, are back on the upswing and actually have a defense for a change! They could be a solid .500 team with upside for much more. The Browns are hopeless.

SOUTH
1. Houston Texans
2. Indianapolis Colts
3. Jacksonville Jaguars
4. Tennessee Titans

It seems like the Texans are everyone's bandwagon playoff team this year. Well, that's because it's so obvious. They've got everything they need to make a nice run this year, and anything short of a playoff appearance would have to be a disappointment. The Colts will hang around once again, although I wouldn't be shocked to see them flip-flopped with Jacksonville in the standings. Tennessee is due for a significant fall. I'm not a believer in Kerry Collins whatsoever, and the loss of Albert Haynesworth will be much more significant than the press it has gotten so far.

WEST
1. San Diego Chargers
2. Oakland Raiders
3. Denver Broncos
4. Kansas City Chiefs

The Chargers can probably sleepwalk to a division title, and if recent history is any indication that's exactly what they'll do. If Shawne Merriman can get his act together, this team is scary good. Oakland will be better than people think. And if they're not, no one will remember that I said that anyway. The Broncos and Chiefs will be "battling" all season long to stay out of the basement, and they'll probably end up tied at 4-12 each.

NFC Predictions (Playoff teams in bold)

EAST
1. Philadelphia Eagles
2. Washington Redskins
3. New York Giants
4. Dallas Cowboys

The Eagles are no surprise at the top of a division prediction; there is just so much talent and so many options offensively that it would take a truly moronic head coach to not...play...to his players'...strength - ok so anyway they should be fine. The Redskins will benefit as much as Tennessee will falter after the Haynesworth pickup. The offense isn't half-bad either. New York will overcome the lack of a receiver by having a dynamite running game and defense. Dallas just bores me. They won't be awful, but I don't see strides made from last season to this. Not to mention, you just know that Jerry Jones is secretly hoping for an 8-8 season so he can easily justify firing Wade Phillips and bringing in Mike Shanahan.

NORTH
1. Minnesota Vikings
2. Chicago Bears
3. Green Bay Packers
4. Detroit Lions

Brett Favre, for all of his faults, brings the Vikings from "nice" team to Super Bowl contender. Go ahead, pile on the hate mail. But there is no denying how much his presence will help Peterson's running room. Jay Cutler will help the Bears obviously, at least until he starts playing like 38-year-old Brett Favre. Wait, didn't I just contradict myself? Moving on...Green Bay makes some nice strides, but they're just in a brutal division and a tough conference to boot. The Lions will improve their win total in 2009.

SOUTH
1. Atlanta Falcons
2. Carolina Panthers
3. Tampa Bay Bucs
4. New Orleans Saints

Atlanta does the rare "NFC South team to repeat as a success the following year", a trend that hasn't been happening lately. Usually the team at the bottom simply rises up to win the division. That wouldn't shock me because of how topsy-turvy this division has become, but I actually now like what Atlanta is doing. Carolina will be in the mix because of their stellar run game, but I just can't get behind Delhomme with so many other good teams in the conference. The Bucs will be better than a lot of people think, though the quality of the defense will not be what we've grown accustomed to over the years. The Saints are going to score a lot of points, and Drew Brees will be a top fantasy performer. But I have to ask...Brees seems like a good guy and all, but when does he move from "fantasy god" to "NFL winner"?

WEST
1. San Francisco 49ers
2. Arizona Cardinals
3. Seattle Seahawks
4. Saint Louis Rams

The Niners are the best of a sorry bunch. Frank Gore is in line for an epic season and Mike Singletary will get this bunch playing the game the right way. Arizona takes a slight step back and maybe finishes around .500, still well ahead of sorry Seattle and Saint Louis (arguably the least talented team in NFL history).

Playoffs

AFC
1. San Diego Chargers
2. New England Patriots
3. Pittsburgh Steelers
4. Houston Texans
5. Indianapolis Colts
6. Jacksonville Jaguars

Championship Game - San Diego over New England

NFC
1. Minnesota Vikings
2. Philadelphia Eagles
3. Atlanta Falcons
4. San Francisco 49ers
5. Washington Redskins
6. New York Giants

Championship Game - Philadelphia over Minnesota

Super Bowl - San Diego over Philadelphia (I'm gonna keep picking the Chargers until they do it, by the way)