The NFL season has finally begun. Last week our rankers made their preseason predictions of how the teams stack up against each other. Week 1 had many surprises including two of the top 5 teams losing and another losing one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. How did all of this affect the rankings? How much did our rankings change after just one week of play?
Injuries rocked the NFL world this week as several big name players went down. Many teams lost their quarterbacks, their field generals, commonly considered the most important position on the field. Others just lost Pro Bowl caliber players. The Patriots lost NFL MVP quarterback Tom Brady, the Titans lost quarterback Vince Young, the Chiefs lost quarterback Brodie Croyle, the Chargers lost linebacker Shawn Merriman, and the Saints lost wide receiver Marques Colston just to name a few. It remains to be seen how these teams will rebound from such tremendous losses. For one, the rankers seem to have little faith that Matt Cassel can keep the Patriots flying high as a top team.
After each week of the NFL season, several active Cafe members get together and rank the 32 NFL teams from first to worst. The Barometer is an average of the rankings submitted by these members. To maintain consistency, the high and low scores have been removed.
| Rank | Change | TEAM | Avg Rank | L a m b s k i n | t r e a t | C o u g s | 4 P a c k | J o e l |
1 (3) | ![]() | Dallas | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Dallas unanimously takes over the number 1 spot after the Patriots lose Tom Brady for the season. | ||||||||
| 2 (4) | ![]() | Pittsburgh | 2.3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Willie Parker scored more touchdowns in week 1 than he did all last year. | ||||||||
| 3 (2) | ![]() | Indianapolis | 3.7 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| The Colts looked horrible this week, but our rankers still have faith. Everyone still ranks them in the top 5. | ||||||||
| 4 (6) | ![]() | Green Bay | 4.3 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
| Aaron Rodgers passed his first test. Now just a few hundred games started, a few records, and a Super Bowl win to go. | ||||||||
| 5 (8) | ![]() | San Diego | 5.7 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 6 |
| Shawn Merriman has hung up his cleats for the season, can the San Diego defense stay strong? | ||||||||
| 6 (11) | ![]() | NY Giants | 6.0 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 3 |
| The Giants looked every bit of the Championship team they were last year, or was Washington just that bad? | ||||||||
| 7 (1) | ![]() | New England | 6.7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 7 |
| A devastating loss leaves the former AFC Champs Superbowl hopes on a guy who hasn’t started a game in the pros. | ||||||||
| 8 (21) | ![]() | New Orleans | 7.0 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 8 |
| How much will the loss of Colston affect this top offense? | ||||||||
| 9 (20) | ![]() | Denver | 9.7 | 9 | 9 | 17 | 10 | 10 |
| Eddie Royal, the new Steve Smith. | ||||||||
| 10 (16) | ![]() | Philadelphia | 10.3 | 8 | 15 | 14 | 4 | 9 |
| “The smurf had a good first game, is he for real?” – m16a | ||||||||
| 11 (13) | ![]() | Minnesota | 12.0 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 15 | 12 |
| Tarvaris Jackson still has a lot of maturing to do. | ||||||||
| 12 (9) | ![]() | Jacksonville | 12.7 | 21 | 12 | 10 | 13 | 13 |
| Their vaunted running game never really got off the ground. | ||||||||
| 13 (27) | ![]() | Carolina | 13.7 | 18 | 8 | 21 | 12 | 11 |
| Who needs Steve Smith when you have a virtually unknown tight end to keep the offense going? | ||||||||
| 14 (12) | ![]() | Tennessee | 14.0 | 15 | 14 | 9 | 14 | 14 |
| Some of us have been hyping CJ4.24 for months. He is the real deal. Believe it. On another note, best wishes Vince. I hope you get whatever help you need. | ||||||||
| 15 (30) | ![]() | NY Jets | 15.7 | 11 | 13 | 19 | 19 | 15 |
| The Favre era has begun in New York and Jets fans like what they see. | ||||||||
| 16 (10) | ![]() | Cleveland | 16.3 | 16 | 18 | 13 | 16 | 17 |
| Cleveland’s offense didn’t look like the powerhouse it was last year, but they were playing the Cowboys. | ||||||||
| 17 (5) | ![]() | Tampa Bay | 16.7 | 12 | 19 | 15 | 17 | 18 |
| Reggie Bush got back to his old ways and destroyed the Gruden’s boys in the fourth quarter. Garcia throwing a pick while driving for a win didn’t help. | ||||||||
| 18 (15) | ![]() | Arizona | 16.7 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 22 |
| Kurt Warner continues his dominance over the 49ers. He is now 8-1 lifetime against them. | ||||||||
| 19 (19) | ![]() | Buffalo | 18.0 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 24 | 19 |
| The Bills absolutely mopped the floor with the Seahawks. Don’t look now, but the AFC East is wide open. | ||||||||
| 20 (22) | ![]() | Chicago | 18.3 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 11 | 16 |
| The Bears looked great Sunday night in week 1’s most watched game. I’m not a believer yet. | ||||||||
| 21 (7) | ![]() | Seattle | 21.0 | 22 | 28 | 12 | 20 | 21 |
| Seattle drops over ten spots this week. I might travel to Seattle to try out for the Seahawks at wide receiver. The NFL minimum is just fine with me. | ||||||||
| 22 (23) | ![]() | Baltimore | 21.7 | 25 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 20 |
| Joe Flacco wins his first career start and aims to hang onto the job even after Troy Smith gets healthy. | ||||||||
| 23 (17) | ![]() | Houston | 23.0 | 24 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 23 |
| Two touchdowns in the fourth quarter made this game look a lot closer than it was. | ||||||||
| 24 (18) | ![]() | Washington | 23.3 | 20 | 26 | 24 | 21 | 25 |
| Washington is in a very tough division. They will not win many games playing like they did in the season opener. | ||||||||
| 25 (31) | ![]() | Atlanta | 25.0 | 23 | 23 | 26 | 27 | 26 |
| Michael Turner carried the Falcons on Sunday and up the rankings a few spots. Let’s see him do it against a team that isn’t the Lions. | ||||||||
| 26 (25) | ![]() | Cincinnati | 25.3 | 26 | 25 | 28 | 25 | 24 |
| Cincinnati gave up seventeen points to the Ravens. Joe Flacco ran a touchdown in from thirty-seven yards out. This should be a sign as to just how bad the Bengals defense is. | ||||||||
| 27 (14) | ![]() | Detroit | 26.7 | 32 | 27 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| The Lions were steamrolled this week by Michael Turner. That defense needs to learn how to tackle otherwise they will be drafting Michael Crabtree with their top ten pick next April. | ||||||||
| 28 (32) | ![]() | Miami | 28.3 | 28 | 24 | 30 | 29 | 28 |
| Chad Pennington had a chance to drive and win over his former team, in the end an interception sealed his team’s fate. | ||||||||
| 29 (24) | ![]() | Kansas City | 29.3 | 29 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 31 |
| After Tom Brady’s injury, the Chiefs managed to keep the game close, but our rankers aren’t putting much stock into that. | ||||||||
| 30 (28) | ![]() | San Francisco | 29.3 | 27 | 29 | 32 | 30 | 29 |
| Gore went for over one-hundred and fifty total yards, but it isn’t enough against a surprising Cardinals team. | ||||||||
| 31 (29) | ![]() | Oakland | 30.7 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 30 |
| “I was wrong, McFadden did look like AD last night, he looked like AD in weeks 10 and 11 of last season.” – deerayfan072 | ||||||||
| 32 (26) | ![]() | St. Louis | 31.7 | 31 | 32 | 27 | 32 | 32 |
| The Rams were annihilated by the Eagles passing game. You don’t see three one-hundred yard recievers and over four-hundred yards passing often on the same team in a single game. | ||||||||
| Legend:
Dan Lambskin = Lambskin |
Thanks to everyone that helped make these rankings happen!
Scott is a hardcore fantasy football addict and lives at the Cafe. Seriously, he has a cot in back. He is credited with giving Tennessee running back Chris Johnson his nickname of CJ4.24. You can find Scott posting in the Cafe forums as treat24.
|
Questions or comments for Scott? Post them in the Cafe Forums! Want to see your own fantasy wisdom published? Check out the Cafe's Pencil & Paper section! |

Cafe Home
Fantasy Baseball
Fantasy Basketball
Fantasy Hockey
Fantasy Cafe Wiki




(12 votes, average: 4.08 out of 5)





