NFL Power Rankings 2016: How League Stacks Up Heading into Week 3 of Preseason

The preseason is an interesting time for NFL fans. People finally get to watch their their favorite teams for the first time in several months, but it’s sometimes hard to tell what they can actually take away. It’s not right to make sweeping conclusions, but it’s also not good to ignore everything that happens.

With Week 3 of the preseason mostly ahead of us, let’s take a stab at ranking all 32 teams in the league. We’ll focus specifically on three teams that seem most poised to take big leaps from the 2015 season.

Rank	Team
1	Carolina Panthers
2	Arizona Cardinals
3	Cincinnati Bengals
4	New England Patriots
5	Seattle Seahawks
6	Green Bay Packers
7	Pittsburgh Steelers
8	Denver Broncos
9	Kansas City Chiefs
10	Oakland Raiders
11	Minnesota Vikings
12	New York Jets
13	Indianapolis Colts
14	Buffalo Bills
15	Dallas Cowboys
16	Houston Texans
17	Washington Redskins
18	New York Giants
19	Jacksonville Jaguars
20	Atlanta Falcons
21	Chicago Bears
22	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
23	Baltimore Ravens
24	Tennessee Titans
25	New Orleans Saints
26	Detroit Lions
27	Philadelphia Eagles
28	Los Angeles Rams
29	Miami Dolphins
30	San Diego Chargers
31	Cleveland Browns
32	San Francisco 49ers

Notable Team Rankings

Oakland Raiders (No. 10)

Since losing Super Bowl XXXVII to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13 seasons ago, the Raiders have gone 63-145, never once achieving a winning record. That should change this season.

Derek Carr is the best quarterback the team has had since Rich Gannon in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and he’s got the weapons around him to flourish. Running back Latavius Murray and wide receiver Amari Cooper are a budding young skill-position combination, and the offensive line is stacked with quality talent.

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

On defense, the squad is good and balanced. It’s hard not to mention Khalil Mack and "one-man wrecking crew" in the same sentence (see, I couldn’t do it), as the 25-year-old defensive end emerged as one of the league’s game-changing defensive players last season. The team’s climb up the league is becoming more apparent by its ability to sign key defensive free agents, as they did with cornerback Sean Smith and outside linebacker Bruce Irvin.

The Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs are more battle-tested. But don’t be surprised if the Raiders give them a serious run for their money in the AFC West and maybe even end up winning the division.

Dallas Cowboys (No. 15)

That sound you hear is Cowboys nation collectively letting out a deep breath. 

Quarterback Tony Romo left Thursday's preseason contest against the Seattle Seahawks with a back injury, but the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Clarence Hill said head coach Jason Garrett doesn’t think it’s "a serious thing." ESPN noted just how important Romo’s presence is to the team:

A healthy season from the franchise quarterback would obviously be the biggest difference from the squad’s disappointing 4-12 campaign in 2015, but there are other factors to consider.

Rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott is the smart choice for Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.  The former Ohio State standout is a complete player who will be running behind an amazing offensive line and feeding off the skill of one of the game’s elite signal-callers. A return to health from wide receiver Dez Bryant should work wonders as well. 

Defensively, the team didn’t do much to improve itself in the offseason, but there’s still some potential if the unit can get and stay healthy and play up to its potential. It’s unreasonable to predict that the Cowboys will be one of the league’s better point-preventing units in 2016, but they should be good enough to keep the team competitive.

Tennessee Titans (No. 24)

Being the 24th-best team in the league isn't usually anything to write home about, but it is when you were 3-13 the previous year while playing in the NFL's weakest division.

Quarterback Marcus Mariota is the biggest reason Tennessee should be respectable this season. In limited preseason action, the sophomore sensation has been sharp (14-of-15 passing for 149 yards). However, natural second-year progression and a more respectable running game should easily lift him into the upper half of the NFL's starting quarterback pecking order at just 22 years old.

James Kenney/Associated Press

And if you have a top-16 quarterback in today's NFL, you probably aren't going to be terrible.

Keep in mind that the Titans were 3-8 in games Mariota started and finished last season and averaged 21 points per game. When the rookie played and didn't end the game injured, Tennessee was 0-5 and put up just 11.8 points per contest.

An awful secondary and mediocre units pretty much everywhere besides quarterback won't lift the Titans to playoff contention, but they should finish with six wins or so.