NFL Power Rankings

1)      Pittsburgh Steelers – Willie Parker and the offensive line both struggled in the win over the Tennessee Titans, but Ben Roethlisberger proved why this team is the best time in the NFL. The Troy Polamalu injury will hurt the defense, but James Harrison will make sure the defense doesn’t take a step back.

2)      Philadelphia Eagles – If Donovan McNabb is healthy, this team is ranked number one on this list. Even without McNabb, this offense looks like it can compete with any offense in the NFL. This defense made the late Jim Johnson proud in last week’s win.

3)      New York Giants – Osi Umenyior and Justin Tuck played like the best defensive duo in the NFL last week and I was very impressed with how Eli Manning managed the passing game. This team would be the best team in the NFL if they had a big-name receiver.

4)      Green Bay Packers – You think Jay Cutler is regretting getting traded to the NFC North? Cutler threw four interceptions against the Packers in Lambeau Field and Aaron Rodgers was very impressive in the win over the Bears. Don’t be surprised if Rogers battles Drew Brees for the best quarterback in the NFC.

5)      Minnesota Vikings – Adrian Peterson, Adrian Peterson, Adrian Peterson. The way he ran on Sunday proves that this team can dominate without Brett Favre having a great game. All the Vikings need from Favre is for him to manage the game. The problem is Favre will take too many chances at some point this season.

6)      Atlanta Falcons – Tony Gonzalez makes this offense one of the best in the NFL and Matt Ryan looks like he is ready to take that step to be a top-five quarterback. The Falcons’ pass rush looked improved and John Abraham looks in Pro Bowl form.

7)      San Diego Chargers – We are still confident that this team will make a long playoff run, but this team needed a late touchdown by Darren Sproles to beat the Oakland Raiders. Chargers fans should be concerned that Shawne Merriman looks a step slow and the defense needs him to get back to his old form.

8)      New Orleans Saints – Why is this team ranked this low after how great their offense looked? The answer is this defense did not look improved and until we see otherwise, the Saints will stay out of the top-five. Drew Brees did a great job of getting all of his receivers involved, even Robert Meachem.

9)      Dallas Cowboys – Roy Williams looked like a completely different receiver than he played last season and Tony Romo looks like he is on pace for a career year. Keep in mind that the Cowboys played the horrible Tampa Bay Buccaneers. When will the Jessica Simpson curse kick in?

10)   New England Patriots – This team should have lost the game against the Buffalo Bills on Monday, but Tom Brady showed us why there is only one Tom Brady. This offense looked improved from last season, but Brady’s timing was off early in the game and this defense will struggle without Richard Seymour.

11)   New York Jets – Mark Sanchez was very impressive in his first ever NFL game and the defense looked very strong under Rex Ryan. Keep in mind that Ryan will find a way to screw up this team and the Jets played what looks to be a very overrated Houston Texans team.

12)   Buffalo Bills – A win over the Patriots would have been huge for these Bills, but this team still looked improved in the loss. A healthy Aaron Schobel makes this defensive line very strong and Bills fans need to realize that Leodis McKelvin will score three total touchdowns this season. T.O. and Lee Evans should have big games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

13)   Baltimore Ravens – The running games looked explosive against the Kansas City Chiefs. The problem is that this defense gave up 24 points to the Chiefs and it looks like this defense may end up missing Rex Ryan. This team will go as far as the two Rays (Rice and Lewis) take this team.

14)   Tennessee Titans – Why is this team so low? They played well in the overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the run game didn’t impress and the defense let the Steelers pass all over them late in the game. The pass rush was impressive, even without Albert Haynesworth.

15)   Seattle Seahawks – We picked this team to win the NFC West and it looks like we were correct. Julius Jones found the fountain of youth and this offense will surprise many NFL defenses. Remember that Jim Mora had early success when he was the coach of the Atlanta Falcons and he will do the same in Seattle.

16)   San Francisco 49ers – Mike Singletary is a quarterback away from coaching a very dangerous football team. The receivers on this team are below average, but this running game will carry this team. Don’t be surprised if Shaun Hill starts every game this season and this team comes close to making the playoffs.

17)   Indianapolis Colts – Peyton Manning looked as strong as ever and Reggie Wayne dominated in the win over the Jaguars. This team will go as far as Donald Brown and the running game  carries this offense. If Bob Sanders ever gets healthy, Manning will make another long playoff run.

18)   Jacksonville Jaguars – One of the most surprising teams in Week One as the Indianapolis Colts needed a two-point conversion to beat the Jaguars. Maurice Jones-Drew played very well, but he needs more weapons on offense.

19)   Chicago Bears – Jay Cutler threw four interceptions in the loss to the Packers and the Bears lost linebacker Brian Urlacher for the season with a wrist injury. The loss of Urlacher clinches this team not making the playoffs. Lovie Smith will now get fired after this season.

20)   Houston Texans – This was everybody’s sexy pick to make a surprise playoff run and the team looked embarrassing in the loss to the New York Jets. Matt Schaub is injured once again and this team needs to find a way to improve soon or this team could have a very bad season. Gary Kubiak will be another coach looking for a job if this team misses the playoffs again.

21)   Miami Dolphins – This is a team that we though would be on the decline and the team looked overmatched against the Atlanta Falcons. The offense only scored seven points in the loss and Chad Pennington will get benched before the season is over.

22)   Arizona Cardinals – This great offense only scored 16 points and this Super Bowl loser could be the third best team in the NFC West. Kurt Warner needs to start playing better if this team is going to go anywhere. Anquan Boldin is once again hurt and this offense is mediocre without him.

23)   Oakland Raiders – Richard Seymour makes this defense very dangerous. Why did this team cut Jeff Garcia? The running game will improve as the season goes on, but JaMarcus Russell is a pathetic quarterback for this offense.

24)   Washington Redskins – Jim Zorn is ruining this team by not playing Clinton Portis in key situations. This offense was no match for the New York Giants defense and this team will not even come close to finishing third in the NFC East.

25)   Denver Broncos – This team should be lower on this list, but they found a way to beat the Bengals, thanks to a Brandon Stokley miracle catch. The defense looks improved, but Broncos fans should be concerned with how the offense looks under Josh McDaniels. The Broncos will not have many more wins this eason.

26)   Cincinnati Bengals – This offense was non-existent against an average Denver Broncos’ defense. Now that Keith Rivers is healthy, this is one of the best groups of linebackers in the AFC.

27)   Kansas City Chiefs – Todd Haley’s team lost 38-24 and that was with only 29 yards rushing. Brodie Croyle did a great job as Matt Cassel’s fill-in quarterback and this team needs Larry Johnson to start acting like his old self soon.

28)   Cleveland Browns – Brady Quinn did a decent job against a good Minnesota Vikings defense. The running game needs help and the receivers on this team are embarrassing. This team could use Dez Bryant in next year’s NFL Draft.

29)   Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Remember when this defense was near the top of the NFL? Those days are long gone and the curse of Chucky (John Gruden) will last all season as Byron Leftwich has mediocre games. The return of Cadillac Williams is one of the best stories in the NFL. This team is in trouble now that center Jeff Faine and wide receiver Antonio Bryant are hurt.

30)   Detroit Lions – Celebrate Lions fans! You are not the worst team in the NFL! This team still hasn’t won a game since 1852 2007, but the offense scored 27 points against the New Orleans Saints. Matthew Stafford will throw a lot of yards to Calvin Johnson, but he will also throw a lot of yards to the opposing team.

31)   Carolina Panthers – Can you believe this team was a playoff team last season? Imagine if Terrell Owens ripped his quarterback like Steve Smith ripped Jake Delhomme on the sidelines during Sunday’s loss. This team will get annihilated by the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday and John Fox will be another coach looking for a job in the off season.

32)   St. Louis Rams – If this team doesn’t beat the Washington Redskins on Sunday, this team could start the season 0-7 and might be the first team that the Detroit Lions beat in Week Eight. This looks like the worst offense in the NFL and teams will stack the box against Steven Jackson all season.