2010 NFL Week 1 Power Rankings: New Orleans Saints Feel Baltimore Ravens Coming

The first week of football began with a replay of the NFC Championship game.

Sunday, two game winning touchdowns were called back.  One reversal was legit.  The other, not so much.

The Patriots either have God on their side or they are on steroids as Wes Welker scored twice after returning early from a torn ACL and Tom Brady wasn’t scratched after a car crash.

The Texans beat the Colts, and no, it is not April first.  Something equally as hard to believe, Adrian Peterson didn’t fumble this week.

Here are the updated week one power rankings:

Warning: Your team may be made fun of.  If you can't take it, tough.

1. New Orleans Saints 1-0 (Last Week: 1) — The Saints defended their Super Bowl title against a top contender in Thursday’s opener.  They didn’t claim victory in typical flashy New Orleans fashion, but got the job done.  Speaking of job’s being done; Garrett Hartley’s Super Bowl heroics may be the only reason he has a job right now.

2. Baltimore Ravens 1-0 (Last Week: 4) — The Ravens held the Jets out of the end zone in a 10-9 win.  In his Ravens debut, Anquan Boldin had seven catches for 110 yards.  Ray Rice averaged just over two yards a carry for the game. 

3. New England Patriots 1-0 (Last Week: 8) — Two things: 1. Wes Welker is Super Man.  2. For those who thought this was the year the Patriots dynasty would begin to crumble, guess 2011 will have to do.  New England beat a hyped up Bengals team pretty handily.

 4. Minnesota Vikings 0-1 (Last Week: 3) — The Vikings defense held the Saints high-powered offense to only 14 points, but they couldn’t stop Pierre Thomas and the ground game come crunch time.  Brett Favre’s 20^th season in the NFL could have started better.  His performance Thursday didn’t resemble 2009-Favre at all.

5. Green Bay Packers 1-0 (Last Week: 6) — The Packers triumph over the Eagles Sunday turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory as the squad was blasted with major injuries.  Ryan Grant is out with an ankle sprain, Justin Harrell is out for the season, Cullen Jenkins broke his hand, and Nick Collins has bruised ribs.

6. Indianapolis Colts 0-1 (Last Week: 2) — Just by looking at Peyton Manning’s stats, you would think the Colts demolished the Texans.  Manning’s career day included going 40 for 53 for 433 yards and three touchdowns through the air.  The one-dimensional offense may have cost Indianapolis as they lost after running the ball only ten times.

7. Houston Texans 1-0 (Last Week: 10) — The Texans managed to defeat the Indianapolis Colts for only the second time in franchise history.  Arian Foster led Houston to a convincing two-score victory as he rushed for a franchise record 231 yards and three touchdowns.  At first glance they look like wild-card favorites, at least.

8. Dallas Cowboys 0-1 (Last Week: 7) — The Cowboys dream season hit a surprising speed bump Sunday against the Redskins.  The three-headed rushing attack of Felix Jones, Marion Barber, and Tashard Choice only accounted for 95 yards on the ground.  A pass Roy Williams actually caught as time expired would have been the game winner if right tackle Alex Barron didn’t put Brian Orakpo in a choke hold.

 9. New York Jets 0-1 (Last Week: 5) — Mark Sanchez played horrible going 10 for 21 for just 74 yards.  After Shonn Greene was expected to break out, he rushed for 18 yards and fumbled twice.  The Jets defense played great, but a team as hyped up as New York is, they should be more balanced.

10. New York Giants 1-0 (Last Week: 12) — Despite Eli Manning throwing three interceptions, the Giants managed to beat the Panthers by two scores.  Manning also threw three touchdowns, all to Hakeem Nicks.  A supposedly shaky New York secondary also forced three interceptions.

 11. Tennessee Titans 1-0 (Last Week: 14) — Chris Johnson reminded the nation, and Adrian Peterson, again why is he is the best running back and most explosive player in the league by breaking off a 76 yard run in a blowout over the Raiders.  Vince Young looked outstanding completing two touchdown passes; one a pretty touch pass to Bo Scaife at the goal line, and the other hitting Nate Washington in stride for 56 yards

12. Pittsburgh Steelers 1-0 (Last Week: 13) — Rashard Mendenhall wasn’t part of the Pittsburgh-Atlanta tie a few years ago, but he didn’t want a reenactment as he broke off a 50 yard run in overtime.  In the return of Troy Polomalu, the Steelers vicious defense held Atlanta’s powerful running game to only 58 yards.  No Big Ben, no problem, so far. 

13. San Diego Chargers (Last Week: 9) — The heavily favored Chargers suffered a brutal loss to division rival Kansas City.  Despite Philip Rivers throwing for 298 yards and two scores, the Bolts couldn’t defeat the explosive Chiefs.  Letting up big plays cost them the game.

 14. Philadelphia Eagles 0-1 (Last Week: 11) — In relief of a concussed Kevin Kolb, Michael Vick outplayed Aaron Rogers throwing for 175 yards and a score along with rushing for 103 yards. The late surge proved to be too little too late as the Eagles fell to the Packers.  Fullback Leonard Weaver tore his ACL and center Jamaal Jackson tore his tricep as they are both out for the year.

 15. Cincinnati Bengals 0-1 (Last Week: 15) — The Bengals won’t be able to win many games when Cedric Benson rushes for 43 yards.  The receivers came to play though as Chad Ochocinco blew up for 12 catches, 159 yards, and a touchdown while rookie Jordan Shipley impressed with five catches for 82 yards.

16. Miami Dolphins 1-0 (Last Week: 18) — A win against the lowly Bills probably should have come easier, but the Dolphins got the job done in week one.  Karlos Dansby and the Miami defense held the Bills to an embarrassing 50 yards on the ground.

17. Jacksonville Jaguars 1-0 (Last Week: 21) — David Garrard silenced any doubters, at least for the moment, after throwing three touchdown passes in a Jaguars victory.  Offseason addition Aaron Kampman recorded 1.5 sacks in his Jags debut. 

18. Washington Redskins 1-0 (Last Week: 20) — The Redskins, dare I say, shocked the Dallas Cowboys in Donovan McNabb and Mike Shanahan’s debuts.  They didn’t do anything special at all on offense, but their defense, and a little luck, carried them to victory.

19. Atlanta Falcons 0-1 (Last Week: 19) — The Falcons couldn’t take advantage of a Ben-less Steelers team losing the field goal shootout in overtime despite getting the ball first in the extra period.  The return of Michael Turner could have gone better as he only averaged a little over two yards a carry.

 20. Carolina Panthers 0-1 (Last Week: 17) — Three interceptions by Matt Moore leaves the door open for Jimmie Clausen to take the reins if Moore’s struggles continue.  Carolina’s smash and dash duo of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart had trouble as well rushing for 74 yards between the two.

21. San Francisco 49ers 0-1 (Last Week: 16) — The 49ers were embarrassed by the Seattle Seahawks losing by 25 points.  The combination of Alex Smith throwing two picks and no scores, and Frank Gore carrying the ball for just over two yards a pop led to their demise.  The AFC West was just blown wide open.

22. Kansas City Chiefs 1-0 (Last Week: 27) — The Chiefs pull the upset of the week by defeating the Chargers 21-14.  They couldn’t put together consistent drives, but they didn’t need to.  Jamal Charles scored on a 56 yard touchdown run and Dexter McCluster returned a punt 94 yards for a score.

23. Arizona Cardinals 1-0 (Last Week: 22) — The Cardinals could only defeat the Rams who only won one game last season by a measly four points.  Safety Adrian Wilson picked of Sam Bradford twice including what would have been the game winning touchdown in the end zone.

24. Chicago Bears 1-0 (Last Week: 24) — Three Bears were resurrected Sunday.  Brian Urlacher recorded eight tackles including three for a loss and a sack in his return from a dislocated wrist.  Matt Forte looked like his former self recording 201 yards from scrimmage along with two touchdowns.  Jay Cutler forgot all about his 26 picks last year throwing for 372 yards in a Bears “win”. 

25. Seattle Seahawks 1-0 (Last Week: 28) — The Seahawks scored 31 straight points dismantling the 49ers in Pete Carroll’s first game at head coach.  Mike Williams, yes, that Mike Williams of all people led Seattle in receiving yards.

26. Denver Broncos 0-1 (Last Week: 25) — The Broncos had two receivers in Brandon Lloyd and Eddie Royal go for more yards on Sunday than ex-Bronco Brandon Marshall had in his Dolphin debut.  Tim Tebow carried the ball twice for only two yards as Denver lost for the eighth time in their past eleven games.

27. Oakland Raiders 0-1 (Last Week: 23) — Jason Campbell failed to impress in his first game as a Raider throwing 37 times for only 180 yards along with one touchdown and one interception.  Darren McFadden did impress showing his true potential as he recorded 140 from scrimmage and a touchdown.

28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1-0 (Last Week: 29) — Josh Freeman threw for two touchdowns in a win over the Browns.  An opening game win will really help the morale of the young Bucs as it took them till week nine to win a game last season.

 29. Detroit Lions 0-1 (Last Week: 26) — Shawn Hill stepped in and lead the Lions to victory after Matt Stafford again injured his shoulder after a hit again.  Well, it was a victory until Calvin Johnson “dropped” the game winning touchdown in the end zone.

30. St. Louis Rams 0-1 (Last Week: 30) — So much for hiding their rookie quarterback.  Sam Bradford threw 55 passes in his Rams debut.  Bradford seems to have also found a favorite target throwing to former Raven Mark Clayton for ten receptions and 119 yards.

31. Cleveland Browns 0-1 (Last Week: 31) — Jake Delhomme continues where he left off last season by throwing two interceptions.  The Browns blew it against one of the few teams in the NFL they could actually beat.

32. Buffalo Bills 0-1 (Last Week: 32) — The Bills tried to get the ball into rookie C.J. Spiller's hands, and they succeeded in doing so.  Spiller had seven carries for six yards, four catches for eight yards, and one kickoff return for eleven yards.  Chris Johnson version two?  Yeah, ok….