THE OTHER 31: NFL Power Rankings, Week 1
You once knew them as Power Rankings. Henceforth, they shall be known as THE OTHER 31. They are slanted, they are biased, they are a completely unfiltered look into the Jaguars’ competition around the NFL. I hope you love them. I hope you hate them. Care to argue or join in the heckling, I direct you to the comments section below.
#1 Green Bay Packers (1-0): Aaron Rodgers still looks absolutely terrifying and seemingly has no shortage of weapons to throw to. Absurdly talented on both sides of the ball and lots of quality depth. They will be the guys to beat all year – regardless of injuries (to everyone but #12).
#2 New England Patriots (1-0): Brady just threw for a quarter of a ton of yards (that’s 500 for you folks out there that ain’t no good at math) and doesn’t even have a #1 receiver. Oldo Stinko had 1 catch for 14 yards. Any defense that makes Chad Henne look like Dan Marino could be a problem down the colder stretches of the season, though.
#3. Baltimore Ravens (1-0): The Ravens and the Steelers have an interesting relationship – it’s one of the last true rivalries in the NFL that is completely rife with hate and that makes for some damn good TV. Something tells me the Ravens are pissed off this year and will be fueled to top Pittsburgh even when they’re playing someone else. Flacco looks calm and dangerous.
#4 Chicago Bears (1-0): This was a scarier win than people realize – I mean the Falcons are supposed to be in the upper crust of the NFC. People seem to forget or dismiss that the Bears went to the NFC Championship last year, but this is a damn good team. Jay Cutler is gonna get his ass beat worse than one of the “Real Wives of Sunnyvale Trailer Park: Tweakers Edition” behind that o-line, but when he’s not sidelined to fight through the overwhelming pain and discomfort of a hangnail, he can tear a defense apart.
#5. Philadelphia Eagles (1-0): They’re electrifying alright, but something tells me not to buy the hype. Maybe it’s that everyone on the Eagles seems far more concerned with their Swagger Ratings than actually scoring/winning. If this was a power rankings of “most demonstrative teams in the NFL”, they’d have the #1 spot locked up for the year.
#6. Pittsburgh Steelers (0-1): There’s just no way you can count the Steelers out. Elite QB, powerful running game, plenty of receiving weapons, and top-flight defense/pass rush/coaching. The Ravens may end up on top of the AFC North, but this team is too good and too scrappy in the 4th quarters to make any bold declaration after one loss.
#7 New Orleans Saints (0-1): Can you really fault them for losing to the Pack? The Darren Sproles era has started with quite a bang (Punt Return TD, 75 yards receiving) and he’s just one more weapon in an incredibly deep collection of skill players. Seems like it doesn’t matter who Drew throws to or hands off to, the Saints are gonna put up big numbers all year.
#8. New York Jets (1-0): They’ve made it to two AFC Championships in two years under Rex Ryan, but I’m feeling a regression this year – something just doesn’t feel right. The O-line isn’t as strong as it once was and that bodes poorly for a running game that is over estimated and a QB that isn’t good enough to do it on his own.
#9. San Diego Chargers (1-0): A perennial slow starter, the Chargers kicked of 2011 with a decisive win over the Vikings and all 37 of Donovan McNabb’s passing yards. Any team that has the #1 offense and #1 defense and still manages to go 8-8, as the 2010 Chargers did, is highly dysfunctional and don’t try to tell me that shoddy special teams can make that much of a difference.
#10. Atlanta Falcons (0-1): So much talent on this team and the defense is supposed to be stout this year. They’ll get back in the mix, but is there really anyway Julio Jones lives up to what the Falcons gave away to get him? We’ve seen where the “one player away” thinking gets you and it ain’t pretty.
