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Well, we have been waiting months to get to this point. We got our pre season power rankings. We're going to be doing this all season long. Mike am Eric at a home with you. If there's interest in finding out where teams should be slotted, there's no one better than Eric to give you the skinny on that.
All right, break this down.
For me, Eric, before we reveal some of your top teams here, would love to know what's the criteria. Is it simply just based off of end results from a season ago, a.
Lot of dart throwing, a lot of responding to threats on Twitter. No, seriously, I do try to kind of balance things out with the analytical side, right, You got to use the numbers. You have to have some kind of evidence to back up your claims, but vibes do matter, right, And obviously you can see a team with a good record we're talking about Week twelve, like the Eagles last year, and you know ten and one, they must be number one team. Well, we could see that was a little
bit of a house of cards. So there's always a little bit of an adjustment made kind of between vibes and analysis and try to ride the balance between the two.
So it's not perfect, but we do our best.
Okay, well, we will try to do our best the entire season. I want to unveil some of the top teams that you have in the NFL heading into this season, no surprise, sending at number one the raigning Super Bowl champs and the Kansas City Chiefs number two, the San Francisco forty nine ers at three, the Baltimore Ravens, who I think you could have made an argument was the best team in the NFL a season ago, had they not lost an AFC Championship game and then obviously not
even get to the Super Bowl. The Lions checking at four, the Eagles at five, Cincinnati at six, at seven, Houston Texans, and at number.
Eight the Buffalo Bills.
And Eric will dive into a couple of these squads, but let's start at the top. From a super Bowl perspective, they're trying to be the first team to three peat. Is this as simple as you got, Patrick Mahomes, You get the benefit of doubt, and you should be number one.
Yeah, it's hard to ignore the fact Mike that they've got most of the band back together, right mahomes Andy Reid obviously a great coaching staff there as well. Steve Spagnola might be a Hall of Famer one day for all we know. Travis Kelsey, you know the band by now. But you know they still have some pieces they have to worry about. No lagerious sneed that puts Trent McDuffie in that number one role and a rookie left tackle Kingsley Sua Mataia. You know, how is he going to
hold up? Especially with some tough games early in the season. I mean, you've got Baltimore week one, Cincinnati Week two, Houston and Buffalo on the schedule as well, so you know, AFC West has gotten tougher. They place some of the heavyweights in their conference. It's going to be a battle as usual. But you know, last year proved Mike that they don't even have to have a great regular season and they could still be the best in the top of the mountaintop when the season ends.
Well, the team that had the best season in the NFL, least in my mind, was the Baltimore Ravens, who you have sitting at number three statistically speaking, first team since nineteen seventy to leave the NFL scoring defense, takeaways and sacks in the single season. They don't have Mike McDonald, their defensive coordinator, who now heads to Seattle. Did you think about slotting them number two?
I did, Yeah, obviously it's it.
You know, it looks like I just cut paced last year's conference championship games in the top four slots, and you know that's a fair criticism. But I do worry about the offensive line a little bit. You mentioned the defense to Mike McDonald, gone, you know, Zach Orr, thirty one year old defensive coordinator. He's got guys on his defense older than he is. That's a question mark. But yeah, the offensive line, I mean, you could argue there are
questions at four of the five spots. Possibly you know, first year starters at right tackle, Roger Rosa Garden, left guard Andrew Worries was seventh round pick, didn't play last year.
So I realized Lamar and Dereck.
Henry their new running back. Those two guys can kind of make up for a bad offensive line with their ability to either break tackles or run around him. But there still has to be that protection up front. There still have to be the takeaways and sacks on defense. So I didn't feel like they quite stacked up to where we saw them for most of last season.
Wow, I feel like you're going to get some heat on this Derrick Henry alone.
Yeah, No, probably look teams in in the AFC, certainly in the NFL, they almost build their rosters to take out Kansas City. I think the addition of Derek Henry in that backfield might be that missing piece we saw in that AFC Championship Game two design runs for Lamar Jackson. Something tells me Lamar ground to pound if we get a rematch this upcoming season. The lines were darling last year heading into the NFL campaign. You have them at four.
They're no longer you know, they're the team that's now getting hunted at this point. Did you hedge a little bit and maybe want to slide them back a little bit?
Yeah, I mean, you still have to see improvement on that defense, right, and we know how explosive that offense is. Obviously, Jared goffback Ben Johnson, the talent and play caller, gave up a head coaching opportunity in Washington to stay in Detroit and keep this train rolling, and you know they can score with anybody, But have they made enough defensive improvements. That's where I just hold back a little bit. I want to see it first. And they made additions in
the secondary. They added to the front line as well. DJ Reader Marcus stab and poured a little bit of the question with his injuries in the past. But those two rookie corners, Arnold and Rakestraw rounds one and two clearly targeted that as a major area of need of improvement. So if there are significant strides on that side of the ball. They were actually decent defensively the first handful of games of the year and seem to regress as time went on.
I'd love to see the opposite right.
If they start slowly, that's fine, but by the end of the season, as long as they're in that kind of middle of the pack, opportunistic defense, get key takeaways, make red zone stops, whole teams the field goals.
Boy, what a difference that could make.
That could have cost you know, that could have cost them a seventeen point lead in San Francisco in the NFC Championship game. That defense is certainly going to be in the spotlight this year, but I think Detroit, you have to put them among the super Bowl contenders. They're one of my Super Bowl teams this year, so I'm excited about what might happen in Detroit this year.
Yeah, we had to do it for one of our shows, and I actually went with the Lions as the team that I thought could get to the super Bowl. And I'm with you, I'm sort of buying on some strides on that defensive side.
You know, I was privy. I get your list and by the way, Eric's fullest on NFL dot com. You can go one through thirty two.
Last night, I'm analyzing it and I took a deep breath and I said, Philadelphia sitting at five, and I don't hate it. But at the same time, I saw a collapse last year where this team lost five out of the last six.
I get at Saque's there, but they lose leadership.
Kelsey gone, Fletcher Cox now on the defensive side, he's gone. How much did you waiver on having them as a top five team in the NFL?
Yeah, I mean, as I said in the intro there, I mean, they were a ten to one football team. But at the same time, when you watch closely. They had a loss of the Jets, they almost lost the Patriots Week one. They had a couple other games where they really had to grind their gears.
To get the victory.
So, you know, this is a team that only outscored its opponents I think by five points last year, despite a pretty good record, even with the townfall at the end of the season. But yeah, what happened in December and January has to worry.
People on the big scale. Is this to carry over?
Is the perceived awkwardness between Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts going to kind of cloak this entire season. I don't know the answer to that, right, I'm not inside the locker room. But Hurtz has had a good preseason. He's had a good camp.
He's got that quiet, stoic style. Will that translate.
Look, with all the weapons they have and now Vic Fangio, the guy they wanted on defense, maybe that unit stops underperforming and maybe the offense can finish drives just a little bit better this year with Saquan and all those weapons.
They You know, you mentioned that defense.
Back half of that defense a year ago was the walking wound in and we saw them address that in the draft with their first two selection, brought in some free agents. One of the leaders of that team a couple of years ago in CJ. Gardner Johnson. So I'm with you, cautiously optimistic. Maybe that awkwardness is in the rear view mirror and this team can really thrive.
Cincinnati at six.
Joe Burrow when he's healthy, Eric, and you know this that they're playing inn AFC Championship games. He wasn't a season ago. He missed the final seven games. I just get worried. It's a risk injury for him. But you have him as the six ranked team heading into the season in the NFL. It seems like you're not concerned about it.
Well, it's one of those balancing acts again, Mike, because I have him as a super Bowl team and I fully recognize their shortcomings or there are potential weaknesses, their achilles heels, whatever you want to call them.
If Joe isn't protected, we know what happens.
Right the seasons where he's been able to play sixteen games or more, the Bengals have had team success. They got to a super Bowl, they've reached an AFC Championship, game. In seasons where he's started ten or fewer games, including his rookie year and last year, things haven't gone as well. So there's a direct correlation between how the Bengals perform and how Joe Burrows is feeling health wise, So it
worries me. Trent Brown is out, They've got to count on Amarius Mims, the rookie right tackle, but he's looked special early on.
He's a talent.
They have a lot of second and third year guys right to elevate in roles, and so maybe that defense in that run game. Those are probably the two other big worries. Maybe they're not as big a concern when you have guys like Chase and Higgins and andre Usibas.
I think it's going to have a good year as well.
We assume Chase is going to be there, right I have a lot of things, a lot of plates spinning in the air right now and crossing fingers and doing whatever I can to make it work. But assuming Goadjavar Chase shows up, I feel great about.
This team in the long run, even with all the questions.
The division is brutal. Just throwing that it in there, which is going.
To be another factor. But I'm with you, Joe Burrow when he is healthy. I mean, the dude is just throwing darts out on the football field. And there's a reason why it was back to back AFC championship games.
Obviously last year. That didn't happen in a nine and eight campaign.
Checking in at number seven here you have Houston, and I can't help but think that that front off is two years ago, is sitting there going, hey, this is going to be a project. We got our quarterback. This thing is going to get built out over time. Next thing, you know, they're thinking about a Super Bowl right now. They bring in digs on the offseason. Daniel Hunter, I don't think we talk nearly enough about that addition. On the defensive side. I think Stout's a tough five quarterback
in the NFL. Like there's a real argument, Eric and I think fans and Houston might sit here and go, no, we should actually be higher than seventh.
Yeah, I've been pumping the brakes ever so slightly. I'm not selling stock, I'm not dumping, I'm not offloading. I'm just saying, hey, let's keep an eye on the fact that they had a pretty easy schedule last year, right, I don't want to put too much stock into that, because Strau was amazing, Will Anderson was terrific, Demico Ryans was a brilliant first year head coach. I think this team is going nowhere but up. But to me, they're a little bit in that same place that the Jaguars
were one year ago. Everybody's darling. They had the big playoff upset Trevor Lawrence. Things are finally right. They started eight and three, crashed down down the stretch. So could I see something like this happening with Houston with a loaded schedule and everybody now kind of having them in their crosshairs.
Possibly.
I still think they're good, but you look at the number of teams they play, it is daunting. So how will they hold up in some of these early season tests and you know, against like the Bears for instance, and kind of these second tier teams that'll that'll give us an idea how they can stack up against the heavyweights later on in the season.
I'm excited, believe me, I am, but I also recognize.
That maybe we're just elevating them a little too fast at this point.
There's a part of me that's almost buying what you're selling there.
But at the same time we're showing video and if you're watching this, you can see CJ.
Stroud out on the football field.
And if you're listening to this podcast right now, you can just close your eyes and just picture what Straud was able to do with season ago.
The guy was absolutely remarkable.
Eric, we are just getting underway here preseason power rankings for everyone. The tire list is available on NFL dot Com. But it's got us thinking about.
Some of the teams that Eric doesn't.
Have necessarily in that top eight. Gang Green is one of those squads still to come. Here on power rankings, we will focus in on the Jets team. Where does Aaron Rodgers and this team sit?
That's coming up next.
Back here on power rankings and Eric at a home you'll be able to catch his entire list of rankings.
You can go through one through thirty two.
You could scand the QR code or just head to NFL dot com. Sitting at number nine the Green Bay Packers, who just paid Jordan Love two hundred and twenty million. They won six of their last eight games last season. Dallas CD is paid. They check in at number ten Miami eleven after tu Tungo by Loa.
I ended up getting over two hundred million dollars.
The Jets at twelve, the Chargers at thirteen, the Cleveland Browns at fourteen. In what is a make or break season for Deshaun Watson. The Rams, I think, is a team that's on the short list maybe to make a run in the NFC. They check in at fifteen and the Chicago Bears at sixteen.
Eric I want to start at number twelve.
With the Jets' longest playoff drought in the NFL active drought at thirteen seasons. Right now, they were the talk of the town a season ago, every show that we were doing on NFL Network, it seems a year ago, as Aaron Rodgers was in the A block and then he gets hurt. Almost feel like a remade offensive line. There's an argument they're going to not only be in the playoffs, but they can make a run, don't you think absolutely?
I mean part of me wants to say, hey, look, we have to reflect the team that was put out there last year, where you know, some weeks they were terrific defensively and the offense couldn't do anything other weeks, the offense was at least passable and the defense.
Would let them down in key moments.
Look, I still think this is a top ten defense, and if there's a healthy Aaron Rodgers out there, I don't know about seventeen weeks, but for the majority of the season, I think they have a terrific chance. Garrett Wilson is a superstar. Bres Hall another year removed from ACL surgery, and the biggest thing for me, Mike just kind of making me feel warm and fuzzy about the whole operation or a little better anyway. The offensive line depth,
that's the biggest thing. You got Tyron Smith, you got Morgan Moses, two veteran bookends, and then you draft Ola Fashion as well. I think they're protected on the outside, and that was such a big concern obviously four plays end of the season, it was a concern, but it continued to.
Be an issue all year long. They seem to have it fixed now.
I'm hoping this u uh Hassan Redick holdout doesn't last too much longer because they lost Brice Off.
They need some.
Juice on that pass rush. Do they have it without them?
I'm not sure.
Starting new left tackle starting new left guard, brand new right tackle. If you watch some of our inside training Camp shows, Aaron Rodgers was a guest on it. Loved up that unit in a big way. I talked to a former Jet over the weekend. He said, look, this was a team that was third ranked defense total defense in the NFL.
Yeah, they don't need Aaron Rodgers to be the MVP. Just be really good. They were thirty first in.
The NFL in total offense. So you play the averages. The Jets are going to be a better football team this upcoming season. The squad that you have slotted right behind them at number thirteen, the Chargers lose Keenan Allen, lose Mike Williams, lose Austin Eckler. And for context, here you have teams like the Browns, the Rams, the Jags, the Steelers, the Falcons, and the Bucks all.
Behind the Chargers. Please sell me on this selection.
Yeah, historically, I'm not looking very smart right now. Right you're looking past performance now. It doesn't have anything to do with future performance. But knowing what the Chargers have been through recent times, historic times, this is a leap of faith. But I believe in Jim Harbaugh. I think he's terrific coach, and I think you look at his pattern history everywhere he's been year one, he's made the team better.
They had a lot of bad luck last year.
They were five and twelve, not a great football team, but losing Justin Herbert, losing close games, not maximizing their talent on defense, so many things here.
I think they have good special teams.
Cameron Dick are one of the best kickers in the game. They're going to have a run game. They added tight ends and backs all offseason. That offensive line is a good unit. So if they just get better at stopping the run, making a few takeaways on defense, getting a guy like Derwin James maybe to have his best season ever.
I think the Chargers can push the Chiefs a little bit.
I don't know about take over the AFC West, but I think they're in that mix for one of the final playoff spots if they get a little luck and start bringing some of that hardball early in the year.
I'm not going to get into the weeds on this as a preseason show, and we will look next week.
When we do this, I want to see Justin.
Herbert out there healthy, little concern right now with this foot injury, A few guys that I've talked to have said, this is one of those injuries that lingers for a long period of done. So hopefully he is aoka because he is really the engine that's going to drive this team.
Chicago sitting at sixteen. Eric.
A couple of years ago for nfil Network, I was covering the draft. I had the Niners, they had the third pick in the draft, and I remember sitting on Zoom at the time, John Lynch, Kyle Shanahan, they would tell you before the draft, teams that picked this high don't have rosters that look like ours, and those guys were right. The Chicago Bears picked number one overall, they get Caleb Williams. This is not a reclamation project. You
have them at sixteen. But I don't think either one of us would be surprised if they're well, clearly they're sitting around the middle, but really are pushing towards that top ten, right.
Yeah, I mean even in a really tough nofcn orth and I do think that division is going to be a bear, right, I mean, they think about the Vikings, we're steaming the division, but pretty good.
Right, So in the Bears case.
You're expecting improvement on defense, You're hoping that offensive line comes together, and yes, elephant in the room, Caleb Williams needs to be pretty good too. Yes, there's plenty of weapons around him. I think this system is going to help him flourish, even with a few hiccups along the way. But you're still kind of counting on him to be good.
But to your point, I can't think of a situation that's been much better than what the Bears have right now that any rookie quarterback in recent times have stepped into. So he's got a lot going for him. That tray with Carolina worked out brilliantly. Ryan Poles set this thing up so well, and I think it's you know, with those receivers, assuming there aren't a rash of injuries up front on the offensive line, the running backs they added,
this could be a potentially special offense. Two tight ends as well, Shane Waldrin calling plays, and if that defense just takes a little bit of a tick upward, I think they're going to be in great shape for that playoff run. I'm just holding back a little bit, but I am very encouraged what I've seen.
Oh Look, we watched him in the preseason. I remember being on set.
With Brian Baldinger before one of their preseason games on NFL Network, say, how we got to lower the expectations we get to halftime, We're comparing them to Patrick Mahomes.
He's got like the Nola the side arm stuff.
So I'm with you. I don't think we can squash expectations. Caleb Williams look terrific in the preseason, and he's the future in Chicago. Hopefully he's able to stay healthy and he looks like this in week number one. Eric, more to come from you, and once again, the entire list of Eric's preseason power rankings available on NFL dot com.
Speaking at quarterbacks, I got paid, Kirk.
Cousins got a large bag in Atlanta. Is that gonna pay off in terms of the rankings? And don't look now, but Baker and the Bucks, where are they gonna sit in the rankings?
That's covered up next.
I'm back here on power rankings and the entire list available on NFL dot com. Eric at number seventeen has got the Jacksonville Jaguars eighteen, the Steelers you have their rolling with Russ nineteen the Falcons after paying Kirk Cousins. Number twenty, the Tampa Bay Bucks, and just in case you're wondering, we will have a conversation about this order with those two teams in just a moment. The Colts Anthony Richardson is healthy. They check in at twenty one.
The Seahawks with Mike McDonald now they're head coach. At twenty two.
Anessota.
They got Sam Darnold ready to rock and roll. They check in at twenty three and the twenty fourth ranked team according to Eric. Fans in Arizona might be a little happy with this after a four win campaign, but Eric, let's jump into this at number nineteen, the Falcons. I am high on this football team, so I can't push back too much in the fact that the Bucks are actually behind them.
They pay Kirk Cousins.
Matthew Judon I think is a dark horse to win Defensive Player of the Year. I'm that high on what this guy can go when he's out there in healthy. Raheem Morse I was down in Atlanta. I feel like nineteen is too low for this team.
It could be right.
They're the NFC South favorites or co favorites. Maybe with the Bucks right now. So obviously you say, look, they're one of the fourteen playoff teams. One of these two teams are certainly one of the four in that division are going to make the playoffs. Now, part of what these rankings reflect is how deep can they go? Can they make a Super Bowl type run? I'm not yet convinced that this team is capable of that. I mean I was actually somewhat higher than people were on the
Falcons a year ago. I thought this defense is better than people realize. Yes, the offensive play calling was a mess, but they clean house and the coaching staff Rahie Morris and his crew come in now, I think we'll see a cleaner operation. Obviously, Kirk up greats things so much there and just getting the weapons that the touches they need, right, I mean, Kyle Pitts, Drake Lennon had a breakout season, but also be Jon Robinson too.
Making sure they're all fed properly. That's a big part of their formula success.
The Bucks have won this division though three consecutive times. Why are they sitting behind Atlanta?
Yeah, I mean, obviously a couple of them with Tom Brady, you know, so they've made a quarterback change, and Baker Mayfield was really good last year. I mean, for the most part, I think he exceeded expectations. They re signed and there's a reason he's back. He and Mike Evans and a lot of that crew are going to return. But I do worry about the defense a little bit.
I mean, you look on that side of the ball and you say to yourself, Hey, you know, Carlton Davis is gone, Devin White, Shaq Barrett, some new faces there. They've got to figure things out on that side as well, you know. And maybe the offensive line is in a complete unit yet. I think it's getting there, but not quite so, you know, can they topple the Falcons? I obviously put them pretty close together in the rankings.
It's possible.
Last year they sort of survived everybody else in the division. I want to see a little bit more firepower and a little bit more proficiency throughout the course of the season.
Eric, Let's get to the rest of the rankings right now, and at number twenty five, a new era in Tennessee Brian Callahan now they're head coach. They got Calvin Ridley, by the way. At twenty six, it is Washington twenty seven. Bone Knicks is the guy in Denver, the New Orleans Saints. I did a double take. Here you have him at twenty eight Vegas, at twenty nine, thirtieth the New York Giants.
Oh boy.
At thirty one, it's New England. I am worried about their roster. And at thirty two it is the Carolina Panthers are coming off a two win campaign. Let's go a little rapid fire right now. Let's check in on number twenty six and the commanders. Dan Quinn is there. They got Jayden Daniels. I feel like they could knock off some good teams this year.
I think they're sneaky tea.
By the end of the season, we're going to say, hey, look look how much they've improved. Daniels maybe an offensive Rookie of the Year candidate. Quinn is somebody who's going to raise the energy level in this building. And Adam Peters the job he's done with this roster. Building from the bottom up. I really love the approach. It's going to take some time, but I am optimistic. I've just been inching them up my rankings every month or so this offseason.
Are you not a believer in bow Knicks. Who you have the Broncos at twenty seven.
If you look around at other people's power rankings, they've got them Denver at thirty thirty one. I think, Wow, the disrespect for an eight to nine team. Yes, I think Knicks could be pretty darn solid this year. I mean, Sean Payton ran off Russell Wilson to make sure he could get somebody like this, and they've been seemingly in the same sort of mind frame this preseason. He didn't hesitate name and I'm a Week one starter. Does he have the weapons outside Courtland Sutton? We'll see, but I
do expect this team with Sean Payton his record. I mean, look, he's never lost or never won fewer than eight games in a season. Now, this might be too low, but it's even a little higher. I'm surprised to see elsewhere in other power rankings.
Eric, you know I was excited about doing this show. I thought we would be fast friends. You know I'm a Giants fan.
You have them checking in over thirty.
This is insane thing, Thelak Neighbors, Are you kidding in they retool their offensive line and if that new Daniel Jones is healthy. You know, a couple of years ago, they won a road playoff game in Minnesota.
If Jones is anywhere near his twenty twenty two level, I'll eat these words, and I'll admit I'm wrong. Brian Burns is gonna help on defense too. Secondaries young though love Wandale, but I think you know, he and Neighbors may be the only two reliable weapons out there.
It's just lacking a little bit of juice for me.
Again, I'll eat it if they end up playing pretty well.
Oh, Eric, you're going to be eating it. Man, You're going to be eating it. I just saw I've been bringing Burns in the offseason. I think we all watched Hard Knocks, and you know, of course, I'm disappointed Saquon Barkley is not there, and you actually had the Eagles checking in at number five, so they need to figure out that backfield. But Molik Neighbors. What we saw from him in glimpses in the preseason him, yep, was really terrific. Eric,
This's gonna be a ton of fun. We're going to be rolling every single week here throughout the course of the NFL season. If you love the rankings, you can at me. If you have an issue with the rankings, they're all erics. I'm just throwing that out there. You do not want to miss us all season long.
Of course, you'd be able to catch us on nfl dot com and YouTube channel.
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.