Week 1 of the NFL season is usually tough to parse out. Drawing anything definite from it can be foolhardy. Generally, my Rankings don't aspire to predict anything. I don't know where these teams are going any more than any other writer that does these. I just look at who performed the best and rank them accordingly.
That said, there was a lot of sloppy play. A point was made by one of the various voices I heard on the weekend that this is what we get after four preseason games. I'm not in favor of the preseason and I'm not sure it really makes that big of a difference. There'll always be some rust in the first week of games. Some teams just dug holes that were too big to climb out of.
Here are the Rankings for Week 1:
1.) Denver (1-0)
Nobody else played better. Peyton Manning had the strongest performance of the "elite" QB's and the defense held fairly strong in the second half. Even without Von Miller, they were able to get pressure on Joe Flacco. That said, I don't think Baltimore is in too precarious a position. It looks like the Chiefs are the only serious competition for the Broncos.
2.) New Orleans (1-0)
Sure, it was at home, but the Saints had one of the more impressive wins of the week. They took out the Falcons right at the end by forcing an INT out of Matt Ryan. Drew Brees looked as solid as usual while the defense held the Falcons to 17 points. The NFC South should be quite competitive.
3.) San Francisco (1-0)
Another good team, another home win. The numbers might say otherwise, but based on the eye test, the 49ers defense made Aaron Rodgers look pretty bad. Colin Kaepernick has started to prove that he's no fluke and doesn't require gimmicks to be a successful passer. I'm not convinced he'll be a great QB just yet, but it is impossible to ignore the connection he and WR Anquan Boldin have made. Any question about who Kaepernick is going to throw to seems to have been answered.
4.) New England (1-0)
It was ugly, but somehow Tom Brady and the Patriots managed to beat the Bills. I guess having to remake the offense on the fly will be a bit of trouble for the first couple weeks, at least until Gronkowski returns. I'm not a huge fan of driving for a field goal to finish the game. The Pats' kicker botched a couple of those last season as well, so my confidence wasn't all that high. Luckily, they pulled it out and start at the top.
5.) Indianapolis (1-0)
One of the most cited stats of the weekend: in 17 starts, QB Andrew Luck has 8 4th quarter comebacks. It came against the Raiders this time. They weren't expected to do much besides fight for the #1 overall pick in the draft, but Terrelle Pryor played well enough that it might not happen. While some viewers are down on the Colts, I think another playoff berth is likely, especially if Luck continues to produce in the clutch.
6.) Seattle (1-0)
Russell Wilson and the Seahawks scored 12 points and won. Woooooooo! I know, going across the country to play the early game (1PM eastern, 10AM pacific) is tough, but Seattle made it look even harder. Carolina's offense might not be so hot, but their defense is for real. Wilson and company have a tougher test in Week 2 as they take on the 49ers. They'll be in Seattle for that game, so maybe we'll see a better performance.
7.) Chicago (1-0)
It's not easy to play well on defense in the NFL. One of the best ways to do so is to create turnovers. The Bears have been excellent at this for years. Despite having trouble with Bengals WR A.J. Green, the defense was able to contribute by forcing Andy Dalton into mistakes. The Bengals were the darling of most of the media, with prediction of making or winning the Super Bowl. Chicago definitely dropped them down a peg. I'm still hesitant to get behind the Bears; I don't know much about new coach Trestman and have never been a fan of Jay Cutler. If their defense keeps creating turnovers, they'll always have a chance.
8.) Detroit (1-0)
It's hard to believe the Lions didn't give away that game. Then again, considering who they were playing, it might not be a huge surprise. Good QB play is the hallmark of today's NFL, where offense has been given various advantages over the defense. I'm not convinced about Matt Stafford, but he's clearly better than Christian Ponder. Ponder still doesn't look like he's ready for prime time, even with the best RB in the game behind him. Stafford wasn't exactly error-free, but with Calvin Johnson and Reggie Bush (who would have thought?) alongside him, he's got a chance to do some good things.
9.) Kansas City (1-0)
I get the feeling that there are expectations in KC, even while various outlets are trying to temper them. They have a new coach and QB and were on the road playing what has to be one of the worst teams in the league. The fact that a beatdown resulted should really be no surprise. The Chiefs were a team with talent, but they lacked the QB play necessary to make them good. Alex Smith is another guy I'm not entirely sold on, but he played well enough and has put down a template for success. Still, it'd probably be better for him (not to mention his health) if there's more balance in the offense.
10.) Dallas (1-0)
How hard is it to force six turnovers and barely win? Apparently not very hard. The Cowboys were 0-4 against the Giants at newly-christened AT&T Stadium before Sunday. And despite forcing those turnovers and making Eli Manning look fairly bad for the balance, the offense mostly sputtered. This has to improve if the Cowboys are going to be contenders. Turnovers have to result in touchdowns. The defense changed from 3-4 to 4-3 over the offseason as well. I wasn't in favor of this change; it does nothing to address the real problem the Cowboys have. Despite forcing all those turnovers, the defense wasn't that impressive. When Eli got his legs under him, finally, he carved up the defense at will and did pretty much whatever he wanted.
Three Games to Watch (Week 2):
St. Louis @ Atlanta (FOX)
Denver @ NY Giants (CBS)
San Francisco @ Seattle (NBC)
That's all for this week. See you next week.
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