NFL Power Rankings for Aug. 18, 2008

UPDATED 2008 NFL POWER RANKINGS

1) San Diego Chargers - Most balanced team in NFL

2) New England Patriots - Possible too high ranking, weak secondary

3) New York Giants - Champs until proven otherwise

4) Dallas Cowboys - Lots of talent on both sides of the ball

5) Indianapolis Colts - Payton Manning, of course. 2007 defense played well

6) Pittsburgh Steelers - Good offense, great defense

7) New Orleans Saints - Good team got better with offseason moves

8) New York Jets - Great offseason. Filled holes, especially the biggest, QB

9) Cleveland Browns - Breakout year for the Browns. Good offseason moves

10) Seattle Seahawks - NFC West makes everyone better. Solid QB, good defense

11) Jacksonville Jaguars - Jones-Drew and company should have another good year

12) Minnesota Vikings - Probably NFL's best defense. Only lacking good QB

13) Tennessee Titans - Jeff Fischer always has a good team

14) Tamba Bay Buccaneers - Should post their usual 9-7 record

15) Buffalo Bills - Young team, but still has far to go

16) Philadelphia Eagles - Lots of question marks. How will McNabb play?

17) Green Bay Packers - Packers will see how important a good QB is this year

18) Cincinnati Bengals - Offensively, great team. Defense is horrible

19) Denver Broncos - 19th? Not if Cutler has a great year. No playoffs, though

20) Carolina Panthers - Delhomme sucks. Defense is solid

21) Arizona Cardinals - Always shaky team

22) Houston Texans - Great DL, but other areas need improvement

23) Washington Redskins - Money doesn't buy championships in the NFL

24) Detroit Lions - Yeah... the Lions

25) St. Louis Rams - Bulger looks terrible so far

26) Miami Dolphins - Pennington brings them up five places, more if not in AFC

27) Chicago Bears - Great special teams. Not much else

28) Baltimore Ravens - Maybe someone should explain importance of QB to Billick & co.

29) Oakland Raiders - Moving on....

30) San Francisco 49ers - Need lots of help, especially at QB

31) Kansas City Chiefs - Great coach. Team sucks

32) Atlanta Falcons - This happens when you build team around one guy. Woof, woof!

Most improved in 2008: New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings

Biggest decline in 2008: Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers, and, hopefully, the New England Patriots