I stopped writing NFL Power Rankings a couple of seasons ago ’cause nobody was reading ’em. You know – every sports media website in the world has some form of these power rankings up, so there’s a lot of competition, and the little guys like us lose out in those scenarios. It makes it somewhat pointless to do stuff like this, but whatever happened with Google’s core web vitals update back in May seems to have kicked our traffic into another gear. I guess they like us? Anyway, it made me think that maybe it was worth giving these bad boys another try. So, like I said before I stopped writing these, my NFL Power Rankings are based solely on what has happened on the field so far. I’m not taking preseason expectations or projections into consideration. These rankings are based strictly on what I’ve seen so far this season. Let’s get to it.
NFL Power Rankings: Week 1, 2021
1. New Orleans Saints (1-0) – They were prepared because the trainer told ’em to be prepared. The Saints just plain looked awesome in beating the snot out of a really good Green Bay team that has been to two consecutive NFC Championship games. No Drew Brees, no problem – all Jameis Winston did was go out there and hurl five touchdowns. At one point in the game, every third pass he had thrown was for a touchdown. Just unreal stuff.
I’m losing my mind pic.twitter.com/lZ00D6nvNz
— Will Stout (@WillTStout) September 13, 2021
I am so happy for Jameis Winston – I’m here for this massive comeback tour, and for Jameis becoming the new poster boy for lasik surgery.
2. Los Angeles Rams (1-0) – My pick to win the Super Bowl got off to a hot start, and while that defense looked like it hasn’t skipped a beat from last season, the offense got the shot in the arm it needed in the addition of Matthew Stafford.
3. Kansas City Chiefs (1-0) – “Fuck it – Tyreek is back there somewhere” and “it be like that sometimes” are two succinctly put ways of describing that Patrick Mahomes magic. We saw more of it on Sunday as the Chiefs came back to beat a solid Cleveland Browns squad. Ain’t much changed in the AFC, where the Chiefs are still kings.
4. Arizona Cardinals (1-0) – I know, I know – we may look back at this as a Week 1 overreaction, but *ahem* check that first paragraph again. Based solely on Week 1, the Cardinals had one of the most impressive performances of the week in routing the defending AFC South champs 38-13. In all three phases of the game, the Cardinals looked explosive and aggressive. They just may make a push in the NFC West after all.
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) – We couldn’t have asked for a better way to start the season. With only a couple of minutes left on the clock, Tom Brady and company reminded us of just who the hell they are, marching down the field and stealing that game from the Dallas Cowboys.
6. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0) – To the surprise of no one, that defense is nasty. The Buffalo Bills figure to be pretty good, so that was a good, quality win to start the season.
7. Seattle Seahawks (1-0) – Russell Wilson and company get off to a great start again. This time, it came against a pretty good Indianapolis Colts squad with a defense that is built to take away big plays. That didn’t stop this Seahawks offense at all, though.
8. Los Angeles Chargers (1-0) – Yeah, fuck it – let’s do this. Let’s keep the Justin Herbert hype train ROLLING. I’ve been on it since day one. The Chargers flew across the country to get it done against a very good Football Team defense.
9. San Francisco 49ers (1-0) – The Niners are lower on this list than they would’ve been had they not allowed the Lions to mount a frantic comeback. But, they round out an absolutely loaded NFC West, and look like they’ll be just fine.
10. Denver Broncos (1-0) – This Broncos team is absolutely loaded with talent and went out and got a convincing win against what was supposedly a damn good defense. I know it’s early, but I have no problem predicting that this will be the surprise team of the year.
Predictions
- Top 5 NFL Draft order: 1. Jaguars, 2. Giants, 3. Jets, 4. Falcons, 5. Lions
- AFC Championship: Steelers @ Chiefs
- NFC Championship: Rams @ Saints
- Super Bowl: Chiefs vs. Saints
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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