Power Rankings After Week 1
1. New England 1-0 (1st)
2. San Diego 1-0 (2nd)
3. Philadelphia 1-0 (4th)
4. Green Bay 1-0 (5th)
5. New York Jets 1-0 (6th)
6. Baltimore 1-0 (7th)
7. New Orleans 0-1 (8th)
8. Pittsburgh 0-1 (3rd)
9. Chicago 1-0 (12th)
10. Houston 1-0 (14th)
11. Atlanta 0-1 (9th)
12. Kansas City 0-1 (10th)
13. New York Giants 0-1 (11th)
14. Dallas 0-1 (16th)
15. Miami 0-1 (15th)
16. Detroit 1-0 (19th)
17. Tampa Bay 0-1 (17th)
18. St. Louis 0-1 (18th)
19. Indianapolis 0-1 (13th)
20. Carolina 0-1 (20th)
21. Tennessee 0-1 (21st)
22. San Francisco 1-0 (23rd)
23. Minnesota 0-1 (24th)
24. Oakland 1-0 (25th)
25. Cincinnati 1-0 (28th)
26. Washington 1-0 (30th)
27. Buffalo 1-0 (31st)
28. Arizona 1-0 (32nd)
29. Jacksonville 1-0 (29th)
30. Cleveland 0-1 (22nd)
31. Seattle 0-1 (26th)
32. Denver 0-1 (27th)
-Previous week’s rankings in parenthesis;
First Off Let Me Contradict Myself. As anyone who is familiar with my rankings is aware (and really, what are the odds that such a person actually exists? Maybe a thousand to one?), my NFL power rankings change more often and more dramatically from week to week than my college football rankings. The NFL season is a grind and it’s really an up and down 17 weeks for most teams. With this in mind, my rankings fluctuate just as teams grow hot and cold or go up and down in momentum.
However, early on in the year I’m a bit more cautious in judgment than I will be in week 10. This is primarily because I don’t have a good feel for the teams yet (or rather, I haven’t yet fooled myself into thinking I know which teams are better than others). I have an idea of what teams are going to be like going into the season, but then you get your first real evidence in week 1. You have to try and caution yourself against making hasty judgments based on week 1.
Some of that is unavoidable, but I at least try to put the opening week’s results in proper perspective. I don’t automatically give up on my idea of how good or bad one team will be just because it didn’t ring true in week 1 (whether that’s patience or denial I neither know nor care). Next week we’ll have double the evidence and we can start coming to more hasty conclusions.
Top 2 Intact Heading into Week 2 Showdown. The top 2 teams in my rankings remained the same this week, as the Patriots went on the road and beat traditional bugaboo Miami on Monday night, and the Chargers got by the Vikings at home. Nobody schedules like the NFL. We had several possible conference championship matchups in week 1, and in week 2 perhaps the top 2 teams in the NFL will go at it, as my #1 team (New England) hosts my #2 team (San Diego).
Moving Up. 16 teams moved up at least 1 spot in my rankings this week, including 7 teams who rose at least 3 spots. The biggest jump in the rankings was 4 spots, something 4 different teams pulled off in week 1 (Houston, Washington, Buffalo, Arizona).
Equal or Lesser Value. Half of the teams in the NFL rose at least 1 spot in my rankings last week. The other half either slipped 1 spot or stayed in place. Actually, 8 teams fell at least 1 spot in the rankings, while the other 8 teams remained in the same spot. 5 different teams dropped at least 5 spots in my rankings.
The Colts plummeted 6 spots from 13th to 19th. With Peyton Manning gone perhaps forever and the Colts getting absolutely throttled by division rival Houston on Sunday, a precipitous drop was expected. However, Indy’s was not the greatest freefall in my post-week 1 rankings.
The Cleveland Browns have become damn near synonymous with failure in recent years, and they were at the center of it again in week 1, falling at home to the lowly Cincinnati Bengals, 27-17. They lost by 10 points at home to a team coming off of a 4-12 season that had gone 1-7 on the road in 2010, and had their QB retire, their best WR leave for NE, and their RB sentenced to jail time over the offseason. The Browns fell 8 places in my rankings this week from 22nd to 30th; the biggest fall for any team in my week 1 rankings.
A New Low. The final five spots in my preseason rankings were occupied by the Bengals (28th), Jags (29th), Skins (30th), Bills (31st), and Cardinals (32nd). These 5 teams collectively told me to shut the fuck up last week, as they combined to go 5-0. They ended up rising a combined 15 spots in my rankings this week.
This of course helped make room for a new bottom 3. As already mentioned, the Browns took the biggest tumble in the week 1 rankings, dropping from #22 to #30. However, the Seahawks and Broncos each dropped 5 spots in the rankings, taking their places at #31 and #32 respectively.
Seattle got blown away by the Niners and blown down my rankings from 26th to 31st. The Broncos lost to the Raiders at home and their fans started chanting for a guy who admits—nay, proclaims—that while he has never had sex with a female, he has handled the penises of dozens of young boys on spring break. The Denver Broncos are my new #32 team.
Is It Moral Victory or Moral Defeat? Strangely, all 8 teams who dropped in my rankings this week fell by at least 2 places. Even weirder, 3 teams that lost in week 1 actually climbed in my week 1 power rankings. The Saints (lost at GB by 8) moved up a spot from 8th to 7th; the Cowboys (lost at NYJ by 3) moved up 2 spots from 16th to 14th; and the Vikings (lost by 7 at SD) moved up a spot from 24th to 23rd. It’s not hard to see what these 3 teams have in common: they each lost a competitive game on the road to one of the better teams in the NFL.
Other Notes. The Falcons and Giants fell out of the top 10, while the Bears and Texans moved into the top 10…Baltimore almost certainly had the most impressive opening week performance, as they demolished AFC North rival Pittsburgh, 35-7. However, the Ravens only moved up 1 spot in my rankings, as they were ranked 7th in the preseason power rankings, and the only team ranked ahead of them to lose in week 1 was the Steelers…Perhaps the part of my power rankings that I would have the hardest time defending is the 6 teams that stayed in place other than the top 2 teams in the rankings. I kept the Titans ranked 21st and the Jaguars ranked 29th, despite the fact that Jacksonville defeated Tennessee in week 1. This is just one example. The reason behind it all is that still don’t know what to make of those teams (Dolphins, Bucs, Rams, Panthers, Titans, Jags). I also don’t want to make too much of a big deal out of close victories at home in week 1.
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