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The Packers “shocked the world” by becoming the most recent Wild Card team to run the table in the playoffs and take home the Lombardi trophy. While an offseason of game-less Sundays may have built the champions up as being better than they actually were, remember that Green Bay barely made the playoffs, winning a tiebreaker ahead of the Giants and Buccaneers for the last spot. I bring this up to say that the Packers clearly had some luck along the way to winning a title, as they finished the regular season in a three-way tie for sixth place in their conference. That being said, the champs looked pretty unstoppable on Thursday night. James Starks is primed to balance the offense a bit with a quality rushing attack, while Randall Cobb gives Aaron Rodgers yet another playmaker to use to carve up defenses. After putting up 42 points on what should be a quality Saints defense this year, it’s hard to rank the Green Bay Packers anywhere but No. 1 in our first 2011 edition of the NFL Rankings. So I won’t. Simply put, this team looks far better than the 2010 group that won the championship. Until someone beats them, the Packers should have no problem being designated the top team in the NFL.
Below you’ll find my initial power rankings for the NFL, from 1 to 32. These are opinions of mine and make virtually no sense if you try to analyze them based on statistics. You’ll see two playoff teams in the bottom five, 5-11 teams over 10-6 teams. However, I’m reasonably certain that your Super Bowl winner will come from the top six teams in our rankings, with teams 7-12 representing darkhorse Super Bowl participants. Feel free to slam the rankings in the comments section; I have thick skin.
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous | Week 1 |
| 1 | Green Bay Packers | 1-0 | 10-6 | W, NO 42-34 |
| How do you stop Aaron Rodgers? Could this be the new Patriots of the 2010s? | ||||
| 2 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 0-0 | 12-4 | at BAL |
| The Steelers seem unflappable, and Big Ben looks better than ever. Championship. | ||||
| 3 | New England Patriots | 0-0 | 14-2 | at MIA |
| Last year’s best team according to the win column may have improved, which is a scary thought. | ||||
| 4 | Philadelphia Eagles | 0-0 | 10-6 | at STL |
| The Eagles won the offseason, but will it translate to on-field success? It’s up to the O-Line to decide. | ||||
| 5 | Atlanta Falcons | 0-0 | 13-3 | at CHI |
| The Falcons were one offensive piece and one pass rusher away from competing, so they plugged the holes. | ||||
| 6 | New Orleans Saints | 0-1 | 11-5 | L, GB 34-42 |
| Green Bay has an excellent defense, and they couldn’t stop Drew Brees. He could be in for a monster fantasy year. | ||||
| 7 | San Diego Chargers | 0-0 | 10-6 | vs. MIN |
| Can the Chargers avoid an early-season swoon? I’ll have to see it to believe it. | ||||
| 8 | Houston Texans | 0-0 | 6-10 | vs. IND |
| Houston is primed to take over the AFC South with a revitalized defense headed by Wade Phillips. | ||||
| 9 | New York Jets | 0-0 | 11-5 | vs. DAL |
| I’m not sure this is a championship-caliber team; two straight trips to the AFC title game seems like their peak. | ||||
| 10 | Baltimore Ravens | 0-0 | 12-4 | vs. PIT |
| The defense lost talent and has a questionable secondary; I think that outweighs any offensive gains. | ||||
| 11 | St. Louis Rams | 0-0 | 7-9 | vs. PHI |
| Josh McDaniels = great offense. Steve Spagnuolo = great defense. Am I crazy, or is this team a legit contender? | ||||
| 12 | Dallas Cowboys | 0-0 | 6-10 | at NYJ |
| Everything went wrong for the Cowboys last year, but a healthy Tony Romo should lead them back to the playoffs. | ||||
| 13 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 0-0 | 10-6 | vs. DET |
| The Bucs are on the cusp of joining the NFC elite, but they need to marinate and find a few more playmakers. | ||||
| 14 | Detroit Lions | 0-0 | 6-10 | at TB |
| I’m not buying everyone’s favorite sleeper, but it’s hard to rank them much lower with their D-Line and passing offense. | ||||
| 15 | Chicago Bears | 0-0 | 11-5 | vs. ATL |
| Expect a free fall for the Bears this year; they have exactly one quality player on offense and an aging D. | ||||
| 16 | Tennessee Titans | 0-0 | 6-10 | at JAC |
| Here’s my favorite AFC sleeper. Great running game, improved QB, solid defense. Could win AFC South. | ||||
| 17 | Cleveland Browns | 0-0 | 5-11 | vs. CIN |
| Here’s another great sleeper, with an emerging young QB and an excellent running back. | ||||
| 18 | Oakland Raiders | 0-0 | 8-8 | at DEN |
| It’s hard to get a bead on the Raiders, but we know the loss of Nnamdi Asomugha is going to hurt. | ||||
| 19 | Arizona Cardinals | 0-0 | 5-11 | vs. CAR |
| Kevin Kolb could be the savior, or he could be Derek Anderson 2.0. Playoffs or bust for the Cardinals. | ||||
| 20 | New York Giants | 0-0 | 10-6 | at WAS |
| The Giants would have ranked much higher if not for having to start third-stringers on defense this year. | ||||
| 21 | Kansas City Chiefs | 0-0 | 10-6 | vs. BUF |
| With the hardest schedule in the NFL, the Chiefs should see the biggest plunge. Losing Charlie Weis hurts big time. | ||||
| 22 | Miami Dolphins | 0-0 | 7-9 | vs. NE |
| Is Chad Henne bad? I’m not quite sure as of yet, but this is a team with some talent at key positions. | ||||
| 23 | Minnesota Vikings | 0-0 | 6-10 | at SD |
| It’s hard to get much worse QB play than the Vikings got last year, so McNabb could turn them around. | ||||
| 24 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 0-0 | 8-8 | vs. TEN |
| Blaine Gabbert, I hope you’ve taken notes this offseason. Prepare to be cut in late August 2014. | ||||
| 25 | Washington Redskins | 0-0 | 6-10 | vs. NYG |
| Despite having no talent at QB, I like this team a little bit as a sleeper. Ryan Kerrigan should make a quick impact. | ||||
| 26 | San Francisco 49ers | 0-0 | 6-10 | vs. SEA |
| Frankly, they should be lower, but I have a feeling Garrard ends up here and saves the offense. | ||||
| 27 | Denver Broncos | 0-0 | 4-12 | vs. OAK |
| They should be better to a degree, but don’t expect miracles in John Fox’s first year. | ||||
| 28 | Seattle Seahawks | 0-0 | 7-9 | at SF |
| With Tarvaris Jackson, this feels about four spots too high, but the defense is credible. | ||||
| 29 | Indianapolis Colts | 0-0 | 10-6 | at HOU |
| It promises to be a long year for a team with a journeyman QB and a terrible defense. | ||||
| 30 | Carolina Panthers | 0-0 | 2-14 | at ARI |
| Cam Newton will definitely take his lumps, and a tough division limits the Panthers’ upside to six wins. | ||||
| 31 | Buffalo Bills | 0-0 | 4-12 | at KC |
| Buffalo always seems to be a team treading water, which is good for playoff contenders but bad for four-win teams. | ||||
| 32 | Cincinnati Bengals | 0-0 | 4-12 | at CLE |
| Can you get much worse on offense with a second-round QB leading the way? Losing Jonathan Joseph is the capper. | ||||
R.J. White is the head editor at the Cafe, writes for FanDuel and Razzball and has previously written for FanHouse. Catch up with him in the forums under the name daullaz. Follow him on Twitter; don't follow him in real life.
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My Super Bowl prediction: Falcons beat the Ravens
You NAILED that Kerrigan prediction! His penultimate go-ahead INT returned for a TD vs the G-Men qualifies as a “quick impact” for sure, and while I haven’t checked, I’ve gotta believe that Ryan’s jersey is now atop all Redskins jersey sales heh heh heh. He looks like THE perfect bookend to Orakpo in the pass-rush game.
Just a great call R.J., the Skins are STILL flying relatively low under the “radar” as we call it, and they are still my sleeper team to make a lil noise in the NFC, with WC potential IF-IF they can stay relatively healthy on both sides of the ball into Thanksgiving were Washington’s schedule turns into a “murderer’s row” of sorts…
Keep the good stuff a comin’ Mr. White!