2009-10 NFL Opening Day: Power Rankings

1.) Pittsburgh Steelers—A team that still manages to baffle the mind. This is an improved team from last year. An improved team from a team that won the Super Bowl? Is that possible? This Steelers team has 19 of the 22 starters on last year's Super Bowl returning.

Their concern is on Ben Roethlisberger's health. This is a Steelers defense that is one of the most feared in the league, but with an offense ranked at 26. Their offensive line is shaky at best.

If the Steelers can't get the combination of Mendenhall-Parker-Moore going, Roethlisberger is gonna have to use his arm to get him out of trouble. Then the pressure is on the defense, which is pretty much perfect. Defense wins championships as they say.

2.) New England Patriots—This was an 11-5 team last year, without it's key player. Could you imagine if the Colts finished 11-5 with Jim Sorgi as their quarterback; how many headlines we'd see. The facts are simple, Tom Brady is the man in charge in New England and it is simply possible for him to throw another 50 touchdowns this season.

However, this is a team with clear and obvious defensive flaws. A once solid defense, the Patriots were ranked 29th in yards allowed last season. This season they gave away their star defenseman Richard Seymour.

Can you imagine how bad this defense can be? As I said before. Defense wins Championships. But offense can easily win the AFC East Division Title.

3.) Indianapolis Colts—One fact. When Peyton Manning is healthy, the Colts score points. And lots of them. With the addition of rookie Donald Brown, he adds another threat in Manning's passing game.

Joseph Addai when healthy is a decent running back, but Donald Brown adds much needed depth and help to the Colts offensive game, which struggled in the first part of last season.

Some people believe the Colts have been ranked too high in a bunch of Power Rankings that I have read. But how can you argue with their success. They've made the playoffs seven straight seasons and have been to the playoffs in nine of the last 10 seasons, all at least 12 win seasons. Peyton Manning = Success.

4.) Minnesota Vikings—Vikings too high for you? I am not a Vikings fan but lets lay the facts straight first. They have the best running back in football with Adrian Peterson. They have the best statistical quarterback in NFL history with Brett Favre. There is absolute zero pressure on Brett Favre.

The Vikings made the playoffs last season, and let me tell you, it wasn't because Tavaris Jackson was an unbelievable quarterback. Favre just needs to understand his role on the team and not try to be the superstar. In games last season where Adrian Peterson ran for 100 or more yards the Vikings were 7-3.

In those games he averaged 25 runs a game. So in order to win, Peterson has to get around 25 rushes a game. In games where Brett Favre had 30 or less passing attempts the Jets were 5-1. He still throws a lot of interceptions, but he also throws a lot of touchdowns. He threw 22 and 22 last season. Expect his numbers to slide a little bit. I predict 18 and 17 this season. Unless his ego kicks in. 

5.) Baltimore Ravens—The Baltimore Ravens football team is a team still improving. Joe Flacco is on the rise, and still not fully proven, it seems the Ravens are letting him fly. Flacco is looking to improve his touchdown/interception ratio as he threw 14 Touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 2008.

The signing of Matt Birk might help take some pressure off of Flacco, and help Ray Rice finally take the reigns as the running back in charge in Baltimore. Willis McGahee is a solid running back, but the Ravens are crazy not to let Ray Rice take control of the running game (in my opinion of course).

6.) Tennessee Titans—The loss of Albert Haynesworth is the biggest story on the Titans this year. He was a valuable asset to the Titans defense. It's hard to believe that this team is led by Kerry Collins.

Collins will most likely do what he did last year, throw few interceptions and hand the ball off to his running backs. You can't argue with that success. It worked, it was simple, and teams couldn't stop it.

What may be the matchup of the season in week six, the Tennessee Titans defense vs the New England Patriots offense, should be awesome to watch.

7.) New Orleans Saints—Drew Brees to Lance Moore Touchdown. Get used to it people. They will be the top passing team in the NFL again, even over the Patriots.

And Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas will get their fair share of carries and get yards because the simple fact is, everyone thinks the Saints are gonna pass the ball.

The Saints demise is their pathetic defense. The Saints had the best pass offense and the worst pass defense. So if the Saints can stop the pass on defense, expect the Saints to make a run in the playoffs. If not, Atlanta will top the Saints once again in the NFC South.

8.) New York Giants—I really dislike this Giants team and I think they are gonna be a bust this season, but as of now, I'm putting them at No. 8 on this list. They have many things to prove this season.

They made zero improvements this season and cut their top two receivers, and their Super Bowl star David Tyree. Okay, he wasn't a top receiver but he was depth.

Eli Manning is getting paid $100 million dollars...to hand the ball off to Brandon Jacobs. And trust me, when teams start getting that simple game plan, the Giants offense will be stopped once and for all. Who are they gonna throw the ball to, Kevin Boss?

The defense is one of the top 10 in the league especially with a healthy Osi Umenyiora. The defense will have to carry the team this season.

9.) Atlanta Falcons—I really like this Falcons team. It seemed last year they were missing one piece. I think Tony Gonzalez is that piece. Gonzalez has led all tight ends in every category in the past half century, and Matt Ryan now has another talented player to throw the ball to. And someone who takes some pressure off of Michael Turner.

The Falcons offense improves much more then people can see on paper, and once the regular season starts, people can truly understand how good the Falcons are.

10.) Green Bay Packers—The Pack haven't proven much. They were a 6-10 team last season. Why are they so high this season? Dom Capers. He isn't a genius but he plans on utilizing the Packers linebackers and transform them into a 3-4 team.

A.J. Hawk is one of my favorite players to watch and he is one of the names leading the Packers D. Hopefully the defense can help the Packers turn from one of the bottom 10 defenses in the league and turn them into a top five defense

11.) San Diego Chargers—Mark my words. The Chargers will win the AFC West. Why you ask? Because they have a lock for a quarterback and the Raiders, Chiefs, and Broncos don't.

The Chargers offense is phenomenal but with the injury to Shawn Merriman last season the defense sunk a little bit causing their value to slip. With Merriman back this is easily a top 10 defense in the league.

There are only three ways that the Chargers do not win the AFC West Title:

1.) Phillip Rivers is out for the season.

2.) LaDainian Tomlinson stays injured all season.

3.) The world explodes.

12.) Philadelphia Eagles—They went to the NFC Championship last season. A place they are used too. They have been there six times in the past 10 seasons, only to make the Super Bowl once.

They have the depth to make it to the playoffs once again. This may be one of the most purely talented and athletic offenses in the NFL, which will make them a fun team to watch this season.

With the loss of Stewart Bradley and Brian Dawkins through injury and free-agency respectively, how good is this Eagles defense and can they keep Vick-Nabb into the game?

13.) Arizona Cardinals—This is the same Super Bowl team from last season. Still highly underrated. Yet still overrated. This is the same exact team that rose to the occasion as of late last season in the playoffs. But went 3-7 in non-division games last season.

Beanie Wells is a good running back but in his rookie season can he take control of the Cardinals running game? Their offense is still amazing, but their defense is less then amazing. Don't get fooled by their showing in the playoffs against the Panthers.

14.) Washington Redskins—In a run-first division the Redskins made an impact move by signing the All-Pro run stopper Albert Haynesworth. This Redskins team could be a sleeper team going into the season and easily could sneak into the playoffs and maybe even the NFC East title.

They have a cupcake schedule against Detroit, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Tampa Bay in the first six weeks of the season. Three of those four games are at home.

So say they win those four games. They go 3-3 in the tough division. That leaves the Redskins at 7-3. Their other games are against Carolina, Atlanta, Oakland, and San Diego on the road and Denver and New Orleans at home.

Oakland is another cupcake victory making it 8-3. The Redskins schedule easily makes them a sleeper team for the year.

15.) Carolina Panthers—This is easily a team on the downfall. They have the same exact game plan as last season. Their defense actually has gotten worse, even with Julius Peppers.

Don't expect the Panthers to make the playoffs.

It is possible for them to reach nine wins, but the Panthers have a lot of work to do on the defensive side of the football to show the NFL that the Cardiac Cats are back in the chase for a Super Bowl Title.

16.) Dallas Cowboys—This Cowboys team is another team whose value went down despite the value of their stadium. Tony Romo's stock slid after they released Terrell Owens.

The Cowboys do have Barber and Jones in the backfield. But they lack a big offensive threat. However, the Cowboys are still easily a nine win team, and only a few division games from being a 12 win team.

In fact, I believe the Cowboys can win 10 games, and still finish last this season in the NFC East. I have booked the Cowboys to win nine.

With minor changes like adding a backup quarterback and a backup linebacker this offseason, and getting rid of five starters it will be a tough year. They won nine games last season with a solid team. Take that for what it's worth.

17-tie.) Seattle Seahawks—Along with the Washington Redskins, the Seattle Seahawks are up for the award of possible sleeper team of the year. They signed Edgerrin James, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and Ken Lucas.

They had the worst passing defense and Ken Lucas can show a slight improvement to that category. The Seahawks will go to the playoffs if Matt Hasselbeck can remain healthy and show he can be an all-pro quarterback.

But ultimately the offensive line could be the demise of Matt Hasselbeck. They need to keep him and Edgerrin James healthy.

17-tie) Cincinnati Bengals—Yes its true. Carson Palmer is the starter of the Bengals in 2009. But what exactly does that change? This is a team that made no changes to the offensive line; that ultimately led to the demise of Carson Palmer last year.

If you haven't been watching Hard Knocks, which you should be, you can see the talent level of the Bengals defense. Any Bengals fans can be proud of a defense with talent. Sure they aren't the best, but they are talented.

Ultimately, the Bengals season is on their offensive line, and tight end problems. It isn't even week one and they are down to their third tight end on the depth chart. Good luck this season Chase Coffman.

Great when healthy, atrocious when injured. One guarantee: J.T. O'Sullivan will start at least one game in 2009. Oh, how I don't envy Marvin Lewis' job.

19.) Houston Texans—They have one of, if not the greatest defensive lineman in football with Mario Williams. One of, if not the greatest wide receiver in football with Andre Johnson. The problem with the Texans is they can't connect all of the pieces.

In a very tough division with two teams winning 12 plus games last season, the Texans let too many games get away from them last year. The Texans have a solid team, and a fun team to watch, but they just don't have all of the pieces to be a solid playoff team.

Unless they win their four games against the Titans and Colts, then maybe the Texans can at least snag a Wildcard spot. I'm rooting for you Houston.

20.) Chicago Bears—Easily what may be the most overrated football team in the NFL as of right now. Jay Cutler moves from an offense with many deep threats to throw to, to a team with one talented wide receiver in Devin Hester.

While Hester is the lead man in Chicago, their offense reminds me of Carolina. They are a blatant run-first team and Hester, much like Steve Smith, is an offensive threat that's highly underused.

Nothing changes in Chicago. Much like last season their defense will fall apart. They are an eight win team at most. 

21.) Buffalo Bills—There are two things we know. Trent Edwards is the quarterback in Buffalo. Terrell Owens is the star receiver. This offense is in a rut right now, and they fired their offensive coordinator because of this.

If Marshawn Lynch can stay healthy and out of suspension long enough to play, expect the Bills to play competitive down the road against Carolina, Jacksonville, and Tennessee. If the injury bug bites, expect the Jets to pass them and the Bills to dwell on the bottom of the AFC East.

22.) Jacksonville Jaguars—The only reason this team can win a game is because of Maurice Jones-Drew. David Garrard is not an impact football player in the NFL.

It's kind of pathetic looking at the Jacksonville Jaguars starting lineup and noticing that half of them are has-been players whose better years were with other teams (Tra Thomas, Troy Williamson, Torry Holt) and the other half are a list of players you know nothing about because you are not a Jacksonville fan.

It's hard to understand a team you do not know. They have the schedule and the talent to win eight games this season, maybe even slip into the playoffs.

23.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers—This is a disappointing story. The Buccaneers don't make much sense to me. Jeff Garcia has proven to be a star pretty much anywhere he goes, and he is always thrown under the rug and forgotten about.

I have always liked Byron Leftwich and the fact that he is getting a second chance to start in the NFL is enjoyable to me. But the fact that he is only playing because the Buccaneers don't have any other talent at quarterback kind of ruins it for me.

The Bucs will run the ball. If Cadillac Williams can stay healthy the Buccaneers might win eight. If not, they will dwell in the bottom of the NFC South.

24.) San Francisco 49ers—First off, Shaun Hill is the starting quarterback of this team. When I think of a leader, I don't think of Shaun Hill. The leader of this team is easily Frank Gore. If Gore goes down early, this team is done for. The only good news about this division is anybody can win it.

25.) New York Jets—First question. How will Mark Sanchez play this season? Second question. When will he win his first game?

Mark Sanchez is going to be bad in his first four games.

They are immediately firing him to the wolves with road games against the Texans and Saints, and with home games against the Patriots and Titans. Not a good start for a rookie.

Sanchez will get his first win in week five against the Miami Dolphins. This team is not like the Baltimore Ravens or Atlanta Falcons from last season. The Ravens had a stellar defense to protect Joe Flacco's lack luster offense.

The Falcons had the best running game in the NFL to protect Matt Ryan's lackluster offense. The Jets have an improving defense yes, and a solid running game. But everybody knows that the Jets are gonna run the football now.

The question is, how is Mark Sanchez gonna pass?

26.) Miami Dolphins—Okay. Yes I have the Dolphins at 23rd. But this is still a very young team. They are an improving team.

But with a healthy Tom Brady, and an absolute schedule that would hurt any team, don't expect the Dolphins to make the playoffs this season.

There is a slim chance this Dolphins team can win 10 games with a schedule that has them facing only two teams that were under .500 last season and that is the 7-9 Buffalo Bills and the 5-11 Jacksonville Jaguars.

They end the season facing the Steelers at home, and have home games that have them facing the Panthers at home, Falcons, Chargers, and Titans. Not to mention games against the Colts, Patriots, and Bills. The Dolphins may be an 8-8 team, and I would applaud them if so. But I see them with a 6-10 season. Sorry Dolphins fans.

27.) Denver Broncos—It's kind of pathetic when, at No. 27, the Denver Broncos are booked to finish SECOND in the AFC West. You could argue and make jabs that McDaniels got rid of Jay Cutler. You could argue that he suspended Brandon Marshall. But you can't blame him for how children act.

The Denver Broncos demise is on the Denver Broncos, not Josh McDaniels.

With that being said.

Denver needs to get their offensive game going, a problem that Kyle Orton had with his tenure in Chicago. Knowshon Moreno could take a lot of the pressure off of Orton. Well then again, Matt Forte ran the ball well and Orton still didn't do so well.

Well, at least the Broncos don't have to start their fullback as their running back. That is a good start Denver.

28.) Cleveland Browns—The first game of the season officially starts today. The Browns haven't even named a starting quarterback yet. I'll give this team one tip. Bench Jamal Lewis, start James Davis.

In a league that pushes the start of Mark Sanchez and Matt Stafford, we all know James Davis is eventually gonna be the starter in Cleveland. While he may be second or third on the depth chart in Cleveland, he is easily the most talented running back on the team.

While Eric Mangini is the man in charge, he is not in charge of signing the players. With the amount of talent his team currently has, his team is still gonna finish fourth in the AFC North due to this.

29.) Oakland Raiders—The Raiders are still a possible sleeper team in the AFC. Not a 10 win team, but a possibility to win the AFC West title.

I mean, the Chargers won the division with eight wins last season. The Raiders had Satan decide their fate this year as their schedule is Hell.

They got talent behind center, but will McFadden and Russell finally show us why they were first round draft picks or will they continue to let their stock slide and continue the demise of the Oakland Raiders franchise?

30.) Kansas City Chiefs—This season is gonna show plain and simple that just because you're a star quarterback does not mean you can be a star anywhere. Kansas City decided to snag Matt Cassel from the Patriots. They have zero stars on the offensive side of the ball.

Tony Gonzalez was the biggest lock in Kansas City and he now plays football in Atlanta. How in the world do the Chiefs plan on showing Cassel is a star with next to zero offensive talent?

Larry Johnson continues to slump more and more every year so the running game should slide more. The good news on the defensive side: HEY you got Mike Vrabel. The Bad news: you got rid of Donnie Edwards. If they win six games, I would consider the season a success.

31.) Detroit Lions—The Lions will start the season 0-7 unless a miracle happens. Whoever made the NFL schedule this season was definitely going for a record for most consecutive losses in NFL history.

The record is 26 losses in a row by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976-1977. The Lions currently have 17 straight losses. Lets look at their schedule.

Week one at New Orleans. 18.

Week two vs Minnesota. 19.

Week three vs Washington. 20.

Week four at Chicago. 21.

Week five vs Pittsburgh 22.

Week six at Green Bay. 23.

The streak will end after their week seven bye when they face the St. Louis Rams in Detroit. They are an improving team, but they aren't even a dream team. They still are a nightmare.

32.) St.Louis Rams—They did cleanup in the offense and on the field. They cut loose all the loose ties and tightened them up with a whole new crew of players. However, they do not have the right mindset to be a winning team yet.

They play in one of the weakest divisions in football and this team will still find a way to lose 12 or more games in 2009-2010.