The Sports Mac: 2010 Regular Season NFL Power Rankings: Week 1

1.         New Orleans Saints (LW: 1): The win over the Vikings gives them a good stepping stone to defending their championship.

2.        Green Bay Packers (LW: 3): A good road win over the Eagles lets the Packers move up in this week’s rankings.

3.        Baltimore Ravens (LW: 5): They have established themselves as the favorite in the AFC after their Monday Night win over the Jets.

4.        Indianapolis Colts (LW: 2): The Colts have to show some kind of running game, or Peyton Manning might set a record for attempts this year.

5.        New England Patriots (LW: 10): You can’t ask for a much better start against a team that was a playoff pick by a lot of prognosticators.

6.        Dallas Cowboys (LW: 4): Cut out the dumb mistakes at the end of each half, and they probably win that game on Sunday night.

7.        Atlanta Falcons (LW: 9): Lost a tough hard-fought overtime game on the road at a place that teams rarely win; would like to see more offense, though.

8.        Minnesota Vikings (LW: 7): A close loss to the defending champions is not the start they wanted, but they were in the game the entire way.

9.        Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 13): Got an important win that should give them some momentum for the rest of the month.

10.      New York Giants (LW: 14): Did what they were supposed to do by beating a weaker team, and exorcised some demons from last year as well.

11.      Houston Texans (LW: 15): Finally got a big win in Week 1, but have to guard against playing flat in Week 2 coming off that high.

12.      Tennessee Titans (LW: 16): It seems they picked up where they left off last year, and that could be bad news for the rest of the AFC.

13.      Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 8): They were looking for a big statement win, but all they got was run out of town by the Patriots.

14.      Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 18): A big division win over the Chargers is what this young team needed, but they need more than 68 yards from their QB.

15.      New York Jets (LW: 6): You get this bad feeling that Mark Sanchez is going to seriously regress this year, despite the talent around him.

16.      San Diego Chargers (LW: 11): For a team that gets off to bad starts, the loss to the Chiefs wasn’t needed as they will have to play catch-up again.

17.      Miami Dolphins (LW: 19): A solid win at a place that they have trouble doing so, but they are going to have to find some offense somewhere.

18.      San Francisco 49ers (LW: 12): Definitely not how to start the season; play a clunker of a game and then start finger pointing afterward.

19.      Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 17): A tough loss, losing a starter on each side of the ball and now a QB controversy may be brewing.

20.      Washington Redskins (LW: 22): Got away with one on Sunday night, but it is a chance to build some early confidence this season.

21.      Seattle Seahawks (LW: 25): Couldn’t ask for a much better start; a convincing win over what is supposed to be the best team in the division.

22.      Arizona Cardinals (LW: 20): I know a win is a win, but it seems like the Cardinals offense has taken three or four steps back from last year.

23.      Detroit Lions (LW: 24): It seems like they got robbed of a big road win, but you can see that this team is ready to put the 0-16 season behind them.

24.      Chicago Bears (LW: 21): Yeah, it was a win, but do Bears fans really feel comfortable with the way the new offense looked in Week 1?

25.      Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 29): A much needed win to start off the season for a team that doesn’t look to get too many more this year.

26.      Oakland Raiders (LW: 23): The QB position looks better now that Jason Campbell is there, the rest of the team looks like it needs more work.

27.      Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 31): A good opening week win for a young team, and a young coach looking to take the next step this season.

28.      Buffalo Bills (LW: 26): 166 yards of total offense is not a great portend of things to come this year on Lake Erie.

29.      Denver Broncos (LW: 27): How bad does the start of the season have to be before Tim Tebow is the new starter at Mile High?

30.      Carolina Panthers (LW: 28): John Fox might have taken the lead in the first firing of the season after the Panthers’ performance in New York on Sunday.

31.      Cleveland Browns: (LW: 30): One of the few winnable games this season for Cleveland ends in disappointment again.

32.      St. Louis Rams (LW: 32): Wonder how much sympathy Sam Bradford gets for not having enough talent around him regardless of his numbers this year.