Week 1 Power Rankings: Steelers Triple Threat Tops the Charts

Week 1 of the NFL season has come to an end. It was an exciting week, to say the least. 11 games were decided by one score, five were decided by one point, and one went into overtime.

You can’t base a team’s entire season off of one game. However, after the first week, we have a rough understanding of what each team brings to the table. Without further ado here are your Week 1 Power Rankings:

1) Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0) – No Le’Veon Bell, no problem! DeAngelo Williams played like a starting running back. He picked up the most yards of any running back in Week 1 with 143 and two touchdowns. Big Ben tossed for 300-yard and three touchdown passes on Monday Night Football. Two went to Antonio Brown who had 126 yards on the night. The defense did a great job halting the Redskins rushing game and improved their Red Zone defense. Yet, allowed Kirk Cousins and DeSean Jackson to rack up 300 and 102 yards respectively. They face the Bengals next, which should be a much better challenge than the Redskins.

2) New England Patriots (1-0) – A Brady-less, Gronk-less Pats fall in at a very close second in the Week 1 Power Rankings. This is mainly due to the absence of their star players. However, they did defeat the Cardinals – the early pick to win the Super Bowl superstar-less. Bill Belichick won the chess match with Bruce Arians on the road. Next week they play the Dolphins, expect big things from the Pats – expect bigger things if Gronk returns

3) Denver Broncos (1-0) – Lost Peyton, gained Trevor. Siemian took over a Super Bowl team and in his first start, he defeated the reigning NFC Champions and NFL MVP. That’s a pretty nice way to start off your career. It’s only uphill from here. C.J. Anderson caught fire and the defense is as good as they were when they won it all. Next week Andrew Luck can expect a full dosage of Von Miller.

4) Green Bay Packers (1-0) – Aaron Rodgers is out of this world.

The Jaguars team came to compete, but it was the Packers defense that rose to the challenge. With 23 seconds to play in the game and the Jags in the Red Zone, the defense forced a turnover on downs. It won’t be an easy one for the Packers next week either as they travel to Minnesota to take on the Vikings.

5) Carolina Panthers (0-1) – The Panthers weakness wears Orange and Navy – and no it’s not the Bears. Despite taking borderline concussion-inducing hits, Cam Newton picked up nearly 250 yards of offense and broke the NFL record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback. Kelvin Benjamin got close to 100 receiving yards and Greg Olsen has and will always be a stud. Carolina needs to do a better job at protecting the reigning MVP even if they are facing a great defense. They should win their next game against the 49ers and even out their record.

6) Arizona Cardinals (0-1) – The Cards retained a large part of their team, but Mike Leach, who was the Cards long snapper for seven years retired in the offseason. He clearly left a void apparent on Sunday night. To be fair, it was not just the snap. The defense needs to work together, pressure, the quarterback and make tackles. One loss doesn’t end the season, especially when Larry Fitzgerald looks better than ever and David Johnson came to play against stellar Patriots defense. But this was a game that Cards should not have lost.

7) Cincinnati Bengals (1-0) – Did you draft A.J. Green? With 180 yards and a touchdown, he could have single-handedly beaten your opponent like he did the Jets. The one-two punch between Hill and Bernard is still in the works and the offensive line NEEDS to step it up. Good news is that the areas of improvement are obvious. Protect the Red Rifle and he’ll protect the lead.

8) Kansas City Chiefs (1-0) – Call it a comeback! The Chiefs put together the biggest comeback in their franchises history to avoid losing to the sorry Chargers. Spencer Ware proved to be an air and ground threat. Ware coupled with Travis Kelce leads me to believe the Chiefs will defeat the Texans next week and start 2-0.

9) Minnesota Vikings (1-0) – No Teddy, no problem! This team is the opposite of 2012. The defense is sparkling while Adrian Peterson is the one that needs polishing. The Vikings will fly up the ranks just as fast as AP improves.

10) New York Jets (0-1) – I’m prepared for the bold decision it is to put the Jets in the top 10. However, Matt Forte carried the Bears through eight rough seasons and proved he is the offensive piece the Jets can depend on. The only problem with Forte is that he was the Jets leading receiver on Sunday. If Brandon Marshall wants to win that bet with Antonio Brown and the Jets want to win close games, their passing offense needs to show up.

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And the rest:

11) Seattle Seahawks (1-0)

12) Huston Texans (1-0)

13) Detroit Lions (1-0)

14) New York Giants (1-0)

15) Oakland Raiders (1-0)

16) Philadelphia Eagles (1-0)

17) Jacksonville Jaguars (0-1)

18) Dallas Cowboys (0-1)

19) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0)

20) Indianapolis Colts (0-1)

21) New Orleans Saints (0-1)

22) San Francisco 49ers (1-0)

23) Baltimore Ravens (1-0)

24) Buffalo Bills (0-1)

25) Atlanta Falcons (0-1)

26) Miami Dolphins (0-1)

27) Tennessee Titans (0-1)

28) Chicago Bears (0-1)

29) Washington Redskins (0-1)

30) San Diego Chargers (0-1)

31) Los Angeles Rams (0-1)

32) Cleveland Browns (0-1)

What do you think? Anyone you think belongs higher? Lower? Comment below!