NFL Power Rankings 9/11/12

Are they pointless? Of course. Meaningless? Sure! But people love reading and arguing about them, so let’s give the people what they want! Power rankings? Power rankings!

Power Rankings
1) San Francisco (1-0)- To look that great on both offense and defense against Green Bay and not get the top spot? T’would be a crime!
2) New England (1-0)- The young defensive pair of Chandler Jones and Dont’a Hightower is going to be around for a long time.
3) Baltimore (1-0)- Did you see that no-huddle Joe Flacco offense? That was fun and exciting to watch, unless you’re the rest of the AFC North.
4) Houston (1-0)- The defense looked really good, albeit against Miami, and they locked up Matt Schaub. Pretty good few days for the Texans.
5) Denver (1-0)- To put on that offensive display against a team like Pittsburgh is super impressive.
6) Green Bay (0-1)- The defense is still a concern, but their offense didn’t look too terrible against the league’s top defense.
7) Atlanta (1-0)- Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter now has Julio Jones as the deep threat he should have been last year.
8) Dallas (1-0)- Tony Romo showed tremendous poise and the cornerbacks made all the difference in winning against the Giants.
9) Chicago (1-0)- There were some Jay Cutler troubles early on, but that connection with Brandon Marshall is still special.
10) Pittsburgh (0-1)- The offensive line is definitely a concern, but the Jets should provide an easier time for the defense on Sunday.
11) NY Giants (0-1)- The offensive line and secondary also has to improve here, but the Giants also dropped its first game last year. They turned out okay.
12) Washington (1-0)- It’s amazing how high a transcendent performance can take a team. He needs to keep that pace for the Redskins to remain this high.
13) New Orleans (0-1)- The sputtering offense has to be fine-tuned and the defense has to make plays on its own under Steve Spagnuolo.
14) NY Jets (1-0)- The defense was tremendous and Mark Sanchez and the offensive line played with poise and confidence. Where were they hiding this?
15) Philadelphia (1-0)- The talent is there, but the offensive line is abysmal and will cost this team games.
16) Detroit (1-0)- Without some late Matthew Stafford heroics and a clock error, the Lions may be several spots lower.
17) San Diego (1-0)- Another fortunate winner, the Bolts won this game with a patchwork offensive line and three muffed punts because of the Raiders long snapper.
18) Tampa Bay (1-0)- The Bucs defense showed a lot of toughness in limiting the Carolina run game, but an angry Giants team is up next.
19) Arizona (1-0)- That was a gutsy win despite an injured QB and the overlooked Cardinals play really hard for Ken Whisenhunt.
20) Carolina (0-1)- I just don’t get running so infrequently against a team that was so terrible defending the run last season. They’re better than this.
21) Cincinnati (0-1)- It’s not that the Bengals are bad, the Ravens were just that good on Monday night.
22) Tennessee (0-1)- This ranking is going to sink even further if Chris Johnson doesn’t start producing quickly.
23) Minnesota (1-0)- This ranking would be a lot lower if Adrian Peterson didn’t produce on Sunday. Christian Ponder showed a lot of poise at the end of that game, though.
24) Buffalo (0-1)- The pass rush was nonexistent, the QB was awful and their top offensive player got hurt. That’s a pretty bad week if you ask me.
25) Seattle (0-1)- They hung around, but Russell Wilson isn’t anything more than a game manager right now.
26) Oakland (0-1)- Darren McFadden and the defense were very good, but Carson Palmer still needs to adjust for this team to win consistently this season.
27) Kansas City (0-1)- The defense was supposed to be tough. Jamaal Charles and Peyton Hillis were supposed to be a great combo. We’re still waiting…
28) St. Louis (0-1)- The Rams corners were very good against Detroit and this team is actually going to win games this season.
29) Jacksonville (0-1)- Blaine Gabbert was actually decent against Minnesota, but a halfway decent team would have taken that game.
30) Indianapolis (0-1)- Andrew Luck still has some growing up to do, but taking on Chicago in game one is rough.
31) Cleveland (0-1)- The defense played well, but there’s no offense to speak of anywhere.
32) Miami (0-1)- If this team doesn’t show something, anything, soon, GM Jeff Ireland is as good as gone.