NFL Week One Power Rankings

NFL Power Rankings Week 1

1.     Pittsburgh Steelers – Took care of business against a VERY good Titans team. Big Ben showed poise in the pocket and the ability to make the big play when needed. Santonio Holmes is the real deal as well, matching his Super Bowl stats to a t. Cause for concern: Lack of running game

2.     New England Patriots – Gritted out a tough win against the Bills at home. Tom Brady looked good in the second half but was still no the Tom Brady of old. All receivers played well. Cause for concern: The defense gave up a lot of yards to a team whose coordinator was replaced 10 days ago. Also the offensive line was very porous.

3.     Philadelphia Eagles – Their defense continued where Arizona’s left off. Intercepting a total of five passes on the day and shutting down Steve Smith. Westbrook looked good after coming off surgery. Cause for concern: McNabb’s broken ribs.

4.     Minnesota Vikings – Adrian Peterson looked unstoppable. Brett Favre played WITHIN the game plan and Percy Harvin had a nice outing in his first career game. Cause for concern: Allowing the Browns so many points

5.     San Diego Chargers – Didn’t play well against an improved Raiders team. Sproles looked excellent but LT didn’t play much. The defense needs to work on run defense. Cause for concern: Lots offensive linemen got hurt and Rivers was under pressure all night.

6.     New York Giants – Their defensive pass rush was unstoppable. The secondary was active. The one two punch of Jacobs and Bradshaw worked well again and the Giants receivers showed they can play despite the experience. Cause for concern: Allowing the Redskins to creep back into the game.

7.     Tennessee Titans – A GREAT showing despite a loss to the defending champions. Lendale White looked excellent, the Titan defense looked excellent (except in two minute situations) and they got some effective pass rush throughout the game. Cause for concern: Two minute defense, lack of running game

8.     Atlanta Falcons – Took care of business against a much weaker foe, but they looked dominating in doing so. Tony Gonzales looked to fit in nicely to the offensive scheme. Cause for concern: Turner only getting 65 yards rushing, and averaging under three yards a carry.

9.     Dallas Cowboys – Also took care of business against a much weaker foe. Romo looked excellent as did the entire offense, shelling out 34 points. Cause for concern: Allowing a team with a back up QB starting 21 points.

10. Green Bay Packers – Could be higher than 10 with a big win over the Bears (who I think will win the division). Aaron Rodgers looked great, and his last drive was great.The defense also dominated for most of the game. Cause for concern: Winning the turnover margin by 4 and still only winning on a last minute drive.

11. Indianapolis Colts – Looked less than impressive against the Jaguars. Still this team has too much talent. As the season progresses look for things to start clicking. Cause for concern: Only scoring 14 points at home.

12. Baltimore Ravens – Didn’t look that impressive against the Chiefs. Scoring 38 points is nice but the Chiefs defense is terrible. Cause for concern: Allowing 24 points to the Chiefs without Matt Cassel.

13. New York Jets – Tearing out the heart of every Houston Texan fan, Mark Sanchez looked better than advertised. Their defense looked even better holding the explosive Texans to 7 points, in Houston. Cause for concern: They play the Patriots next.

14. New Orleans Saints – Toasted the Lions defense for 45 points and Drew Brees looked excellent. Their offense caught rhythm quick and often. Cause for Concern: 27 points to the Lions and Reggie Bush not being effective.

15. Chicago Bears – Despite playing very poor the Bears almost had a win against the Packers in Green Bay. The defense played excellent and Devin Hester looked great. Cause for Concern: Jay Cutler four picks, Brian Urlacher out for the season.

16. San Francisco 49ers – Dethroning the NFC champs with great defense. Vernon Davis looked good and so did Patrick Willis and the 49ers pass rush. Cause for Concern: The lack of running game against a iffy Cards front.

17. Seattle Seahawks – Not sold on them at all, but took care of business against a terrible Rams team.  It’ll be a better test when they play AT Washington next week. Cause for concern: Hasselbeck throwing two INT’s.

18. Buffalo Bills – Buffalo looked excellent on the road, without Marshawn Lynch and a new Offensive coordinator. Owens made an impact, the defense just fell apart at the end of the game. Cause for concern: Their cover two was vulnerable over the middle, and they still made too many mental errors (penalties, fumbles, etc.).

19. Washington Redskins – Despite for being outplayed for most of the game in the Meadowlands, they made it close at  the end. If it wasn’t for a ridiculous interception by Corey Webster they might have won.  Jason Campbell looked good and so did Randle El. Cause for Concern: Only giving the ball to Portis sixteen times.

20. Houston Texans – A very disappointing performance against the Jets, and a reality light bulb of another season of mediocrity. Nothing went right except for Andre Johnson looking like a beast. Cause for concern: Lack of pass rush and allowing a rookie QB toast their defense.21. Arizona Cardinals – Perhaps the most disappointing team of Week 1, getting manhandled by a less talented 49er team. The Cards looked terrible on offense, but Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower were quite impressive. Cause for Concern: Kurt Warners health and 2 INT’s.

22. Miami Dolphins – Offense struggled mightily against the Falcons and Pat White didn’t look impressive in the Wildcat. Running game was effective between Brown and Williams. Should’ve had more than 17 combined carries.  Cause for concern: Lack of effectiveness of Wildcat and Ted Ginn.

23. Oakland Raiders – They played an excellent game, Russell didn’t play terrible, the running game was excellent, and the defense was active. Seymour is a huge pickup for them. Cause for concern: Can’t finish drives with touchdowns.

24. Cleveland Browns – Offense looked solid against a pretty good Vikings defense. Quinn looked impressive in his first start, needs to go deep more often though. Jamal Lewis averaged 5.7 yards per carry. Cause for Concern: Lack of tackling.

25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – For all the QB talk surrounding the Bucs they did put up 21 points against a pretty good Cowboys defense. Leftwich looked excellent and so did Cadillac Williams. Cause for Concern: Defense allowing big play after big play after big play.

26. Jacksonville Jaguars – Defense was solid against a good Colts team. Could have won the game but lacked offensive spark. Jones Drew looked excellent and perhaps needs the ball more. Cause for Concern: David Gerrard’s play. 14-28 for 122 yards. That’s only 4.4 yards per attempt. OUCH!

27. Denver Broncos – Look pretty bad in a race to the bottom against the Bengals. Defense held a pretty good Cincinnati offense to only seven points though. Cause for Concern: Kyle Orton

28. Carolina Panthers – I was tempted to put them lower, but I couldn’t find a way to do it. They looked awful against the Eagles. They need a new quarterback quickly. Steve Smith and Deangelo can’t do it all. Cause for concern: Williams’ 2.6 yards per rush and of course their QB’s five interceptions.

29. Kansas City Chiefs – Offense played extremely well against an excellent Ravens defense. Getting 24 points without their starting quarterback.  Cause for concern: Allowing 38 points to a lackluster offense and only getting 29 rushing yards.

30. Cincinnati Bengals – This could only happen to the Bengals, a poorly thrown pass ending up as a touchdown. Boy Oh Boy. Their offense played decent despite the lack of points, Palmers 2 INT’s didn’t help. Cause for Concern: Just watch the last play.
31. Detroit Lions – Scored 27 points against a porus Saints defense. Calvin Johnson looked great and Stafford didn’t look awful. Cause for concern: Averaging 1.7 yards per rush… against the Saints.

32. St. Louis Rams – Didn’t score a point, or pose a threat, or anything really. They picked off two Hasselbeck passes but couldn’t make them into points. And allowed Julius Jones to rush for over 100 yards. They should just hand it off to Steven Jackson more often. Cause for Concern: Marc Bulger only completing 47.2% of his passes