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It's the new year. This is gonna be fun. Everybody.
Welcome to NFL Power Rankings, presented to you by Energizer from our studios in Los Angeles.
My name is Andrews. Siciliano.
Heavy is the head that wears the crown, the crown of the man who does the weekly NFL powererankings on NFL dot com. That crown this year has been handed from Dan Hanzu's not here to Eric ed Hoolme. It is now your responsibility to step into the mailstrom and take grief from everybody.
Eric with the new rankings. Are you ready?
Yeah? A large throne, a large crown. I'm a little nervous. Fans get a little a little prickly about where their teams end up every week. But I'm up to the challenge. Man, Why wouldn't I be?
This is exciting, It's a blast.
Turn off your Twitter, turn off your notifications, close your dms on both Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, whatever it is you're on. I would shut down Cameo as well if you're doing any of those, because people are gonna come at you. Are you ready to defend your initial rankings.
Let's got to do it.
Here we go.
If you haven't seen them yet, they're an NFL dot Com slash Power Rankings. Or you can scan the screen right now use that QR code. You're not gonna be charged anybody. It's gonna go right to NFL dot com. You're gonna see that. Eric has Kansas City, the defending Super Bowl fifty seven champions, as number one, then the Eagles, then the Bills, then the Niners and the Bengals.
Routing out the top five.
The Cowboys we'll get to them in the second at six, because wait until you hear what Eric has to say about them.
Then the Ravens, and then the Chiefs.
I guess Kansas City is obvious they won, Eric, and they still have Patrick Mahomes right, but Chris Jones's status is up in there. As we tape this on Tuesday, Kelsey has the knee, a hyper extended knee. Are they one merely because they did win? Or do you think they're winning again?
Yeah, that's a question.
And I think we'll get into kind of how the voting is done and how I rank these teams each week I'm ranking the Chiefs at number one right now.
They won the Super Bowl.
Of course, as you mentioned, I think they had a really good off season, avoided kind of losing some of the key parts, and the ones that did lose found adequate replacements.
You got Mahomes, you got Red, you got a chance.
Now are they trying to do everything in their power to make me look bad? With Jones holding out and Kelsey getting hurt on the eve of the game. Yeah, I'm getting a little nervous here, but this is one game. They'll have the little mini buy after Detroit on Thursday. Look, you can still lose Week one and be fine in the long term. But I just think they're firepower offensively, and assuming they get Jones back, they should have enough on defense to compete with not anybody.
But that schedule is hard, and it starts in Week one. Detroit's legit.
Yeah, that schedule is brutal. You get an early game in the heat in Jacksonville as well. Look at the second half of the schedule.
It is brutal.
But then again, they've hosted three consecutive AFC Championship games in their own building, which is absurd.
Yet the Eagles at two. I get it.
You have the Bills at three, so you're not really taking any stock in the offseason drama with Stefan jis or the idea that and I hate the pressure conversation. I feel like there's more pressure this team than any other team.
I agree, it's produce or you know what's going to happen next year, right, Stefan Diggs, all the drama that happened the offseason quietly been pushed to the side.
Everything's fine, right, Well, we'll see right.
I mean, there's no guarantee that he and Josh Allen, who were very much on the same page last year, the year before, et cetera, are going to be there at the end of the season. We saw how the playoff game unfolded. They didn't really add another weapon, so that pairig has to be superb again. Also got to worry about the defense too. I mean, look, Sean McDermott is really your you're head coach and your coordinator now our colleague Leslie Fraser now joining us at the NFL Network.
But it's a lot of responsibility for.
One guy to oversee the entire team, a team that did kind of flame out at the end and also run the defense. So it's a little bit of a leap of faith by being putting them this high, especially after the Bengals looked like they were a better team at the end of last season than the Bills.
I just think this that if they don't win this year, they're going to be massive changes. Seann Dermott says, it's all on my back right here. If I'm going out, I want to do it my way calling the defense. Vonn's not ready yet. If they don't get to the AFC Championship Game, if they don't get to the super Bowl, I do think they're massive changes here. But that's just
me and we're sitting here. In the first week of September, Eric, you were telling me off there that for some reason you were getting grief for putting the Niners at four.
Absolutely, I was shocked.
If there was one team the Steelers fans definitely chimed in. But if there was one fan group or one, I say, one team that people kind of single doubt as being way too high on my list, it was the forty nine Ers, and I thought, Okay, this came at the time when we didn't know Purdy's status. There were some questions about what was going to happen with Trey Lance. Those have sort of since been answered, even if Brock Purty only has this.
Small sample size. So I'm shocked at people who say, you got to put him.
Down at twelve, you got to put him at thirteen whatever, almost outside the playoff picture.
I'm not doing that. Look, I get Demiko Ryans moving on.
That's a big loss Steve Wilks running the defense now. Purty questions about the sample size only eight games if you count the playoffs, but a number of weapons they have, Kyle Shanahan's history of making quarterbacks look better, the defensive talent didn't just suddenly get sucked up into the void. So this is a good football team. They don't play
in the strongest division. In my opinion, I think they're going to be just fine, and I think Purdy's going to at least carry on the way he did at the end.
Of last season.
And I think the division certainly factors here. You know, I'm kind of a rams homer here, but we know they they may have some issues this year, particularly defensively, and Kyle Shanahan has had Sean mcvay's number. I don't know what the Cardinals are doing, so I think the division is in their favor. I still think the Seahawks are a good team here, whether or not they could make it to the postseason healthy, which is always their issue.
When they are healthy, then they're good. When they're not, obviously, it's been a mess, but that's the biggest thing for me for the forty nine ers. All Right, we showed you what number five was. Let's get to number six if we could. Here in time for Future champ presented by Fan Duel, as we look at the odds.
To win the Super Bowl. Yes, we're doing this right now.
Kansas City and Philadelphia, who are in it last year, are plus six hundred and plus eight hundred. The Bills and this is your one two three really are plus nine hundred. The Cowboys, and I think this is a sucker bet are plus thirteen hundred because the Cowboy are great in August and they haven't done anything in twenty years. In January, you have them at number six in your power rankings in Eric your initial power rankings, but you have them winning the Super Bowl.
How in the world does that make sense.
I was prepared for this. I was ready for the onslaught here. Okay, explain it to us at home. Here's the way I look at it.
Right.
The power rankings represent where I would slot these teams right now. What happens right now is going to be a lot different from what happens in January. Injuries, hold out developments. Take Dak Prescott last year got on kind of an interception streak. There way too careless with the football. I think that ends, and I think Mike McCarthy you pointed out right pressure may be an overrated word, but there are a lot of folks in Dallas who understand it's now or never.
Cherry Jones certainly feels that way. But I think they're going to put.
Some of their offense to issues behind them, and I think that defense is going to be one of the best teams in the NFL. So I think by the over the course of the season, you're going to see this team really develop. I've hedged a little bit, but I'm just outside the top five.
But that doesn't mean they don't have.
The upward mobility to be one of the best two or three teams. Plus, you know, the best team in football doesn't always win the Super Bowl. So they have maybe a few more questions than the Eagles do.
But can they beat them next year? I think they can.
By the way, I said, you know who five is? Five is Buffalo six? Here is Dallas Again you have them winning the Super Bowl. But this kind of if we get backpedal here go back to Kansas City at one and the Cowboys at six, this kind of opens up people to question, I think, and lets you explain how you do these hansus And I'm going to reference them a couple of times here in the first couple of weeks, always just to say, these aren't the power standings, they're the power rankings.
Why do you have a team at six that you say will win the Super Bowl?
And how does your Super Bowl math factor? What's your overall philosophy with doing these?
Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is just going to be how much room for improvement do these teams have from within and right? And how many unanswered questions currently exist?
Right?
If you want to factor in the idea that hey, Mike McCarthy's taken over play calling, you know, some people thought that his decision to can the OC last year or at the beginning of this year was a bad decision. Right, he's putting too much on his table. He's got a new fangled or an old fangled offense. I guess that's
a question mark, right. I don't think it'll be as big an issue as everybody else does, But at this moment, I think it's fair to bring it up until we've seen evidence that they can move the ball and move it consistently. You've pointed it out too, right, one year doesn't have to do with the next. But how do you have faith in a team like the Cowboys or Chargers when historically they seem to always kind of let us down and crunch then?
And it's funny how they're both kind of linked here.
I was at Cowboys camp at Oxnard a couple of weeks ago, and all I heard from anybody, Oh, man, Kellen Moore is gone, we are gonna throw the ball deep. All right, this offense, this offense is going to get unleashed. Right But with the Chargers, you know what they're saying, Man, Kellen Moore is here. Now, we are gonna throw the ball deep. Now that Joe Lombardi's gone, Man, we're really gonna open up that.
Offense, and it's it's look, it's August.
Everyone's optimistic, everyone's gonna say it's gonna be different from last year. But for my money, until the Cowboys prove that they could do anything in January, it will never be different than last year because we know what they are. They are last year and the year before that, and the year before that and the year before that. Coming up next, however, what will the Jets be and where will they be on Eric at Holmes Week number one NFL Power Rankings.
That's coming up next Twitter.
NFL Power Rankings presented by energizer Eric at Holmes Week one numbers which are on NFL dot Com, which you could find by scanning the QR code right there on your screen. When you go to dot com. You'll see the Jaguars are nine, America's darlings. The Jets are ten, followed by the Lions, Chargers, Seahawks, Steelers at fourteen. Get to them at a second, the Vikings at fifteen. Remember fourteen teams make the playoffs. Consider the imaginary bar right there,
and then the Saints. I told you Eric at Holme puts these numbers together. It's Eric at Holmes job now to defend them and defend why after the Jets were the darlings of hard knocks, right, they get the hard knock bounce, don't they. They get Aaron Rodgers Broadway erin because all he does is go to Broadway.
These days seemingly ten says to me, Eric that.
You believe in them, but you're not entirely sure.
Yeah.
It kind of has like a first wild card type of feel, right, but you could also see them after We've seen other teams like the Colts last year with Matt Ryan bringing a veteran to kind of bring the whole thing together and it falls apart. Right, We're assuming that Aaron Rodgers not only is going to play a little bit more consistently than he did last year, but he's going to go to a new offense. Yes, with some familiarity Nathaniel Hackett his buddy running the show, but.
Just step right in and gain this confidence.
So yeah, I think we have to kind of pull back a little and say, look, he's not America Worker at age thirty nine. There are offensive line issues that plague this team in the preseason.
We didn't just wave a magic wand and fix all of them.
But they are trending in the right direction, and they do have Dalvin Cook. Now, they have Brice Hall back from injury. That defense was phenomenal, So there was enough positivity there outside of Rogers that I felt like, I think on the back end of the top ten is a pretty good spot for them, saying, look, they could win a Super Bowl or they can also miss the playoffs.
These running backs on the screen, I think are going to be a huge part of this story as we tell the Jet story this year, because Breesaw's coming back from the knee, as you said, and any running back, really, any skill position player will tell you that year one coming back from the knee, and his was mid season, right, it wasn't like last summer in June.
You're not the same. Oh he's activated, he's ready, But is he the same?
Unlikely, because that's just not how these things work. Dalvin Cook's coming off surgery as well on that shoulder. Finally allegedly that thing is fixed. But you mentioned the old line, right, does that O line open up holes for those two backs? And can that old line protect Aaron Rodgers and what happens if and when it does not.
We kind of got a.
Glimpse of what goes wrong or what it looks like when it goes wrong.
During hard knocks with that one.
Explittive filled episode where he was getting on the O line. You know, I know it's the Aaron Rodgers think different of me tore right now, But how does this team look when it hits hardship? And I think that hardship comes on the old line.
It absolutely does. That's what I'm worried about.
Right, even if Rogers is great, right, he still has to have that protection in front of him, and you know, not having Dwayne Brown most to training camp. He showed up late, Makai Beckton, there was a point and you't even know if he could practice, so putting him at right tackle a largely unfamiliar position. He's mostly played on the left side, and you're just hoping that that really strong interior holds up.
But look, that's a lot.
Of finger crossing and you got to maybe get some help from the backs and tight ends too. So yeah, without that offensive line flourishing, I don't see how this Jets offense is much better than last year when they cycled through three different quarterbacks.
I think it's perfect that they're right next to each other here the Jets and the Lions. Jets are ten, Lions are eleven. I was at Lions camp earlier this summer. I'm believing that all. I totally believe in Ben Jonson, Jared goffin this offense. I think Jamior Gibbs and David Montgomery give them a different look. I think Samuel Port is going to have the big year thing eric with the defensive All they have to do is kind of get the middle of the pack right.
They were worse than football last year.
If they can just get into the teams somewhere, I am buying this team.
I'm with you hundred perssett that I'm not worried about them scoring points, right, even if it isn't that a completely prolific unit that we saw, especially down the stretch last year.
They're gonna get there as on offense, and that doesn't concern me.
It really is all about I think, improving by some measurable amount on the defensive side of the ball, and for me, it's really hard to picture them not being better on that side. Look at the unit or that they put together in the secondary, not an impressive group last year.
They add Cam Sutton Emmanuel Moseley, CJ. Gardner, Johnson, Brian Branch, which I thought was a stealing Round three. That group feels better.
Linebacker, they're kicking Malcolm Rodriguez to the bench kind of and with Jack Campbell the first rounder, and I think the defensive line around is dear.
They have guys, it's like Josh Pascal coming off injury, leve On Zerique.
I just think they're gonna be better at not only pressuring the quarterback, which we saw teases of last year, but also covered that was the coverage.
Breakdowns drove everybody nuts last year. I think they've got the.
Chops to kind of solve it and good versatility defensively. To all of a sudden, they have twenty nine players on their opening fifty three on the defensive side of the ball. That's a lot that's trust in your offense, but also faith.
That you have plenty of talent on DA and pretty much a brand new secondary. Brian Branch, can you have a second round slot guy be in conversation for dpoy, I think he could here potentially.
I'm sorry. Defensive rookie of the Year.
I think Brian Branch, along with Chauncey Gardner, Johnson Mcmanuel Moseley, all the other moves Camp Sutton they made in that secondary I think truly helped turn that team around. Now there's a conversation to be had here with the power rankings, and you did them another version right at the beginning of camp, maybe a week into camp, about what the preseason actually means. Eric for the Steelers, it meant something for you. You had them go from nineteen to fourteen
after seeing what they did in the preseason. Was this from what you saw in these by the way, are power moves. Let's get that in here, power moves presented to you by energizer Or is this only a reaction to shut the Steelers fans up on social media as they hammer you.
I would never cater to the Steelers fans that directly, but you know, they made a good point.
I probably did.
Have them a little too low at nineteen. I definitely heard from their contingent there. But you know, the more you look at this steam and I may have been more of a Browns fan in that division two months ago.
As time has gone on, I kind of will get in the light a little bit. Oh sEH, I know, we will.
I know you've got ties, but I just have kind of seen the light as far as targeted acquisitions this offseason. They needed to get better on the offensive and defensive lines.
I think they did.
The secondary a little bit of worry with Sutton gone. You mentioned who left for Detroit, but you get Joey Porter Junior in Troth and they still have some playmakers like Fitzpatricks, so you know they lose.
They lost TJ wat for what seven eight games last year. That was a big deal. That's half the season.
So I think there's also improvement from within that I maybe didn't account for. But five for five touchdowns and five drives with the first seam offense, that 'dit looked great.
Kenny Pickett looks like the dude, and I get like, I think it's the best division football top to bottom. I don't know that there is a second. And know the AFC East is good good. I think you could make a case for every team in the AFC North winning that division. I don't know that there is a similar argument in any other division. And that's me saying I don't believe in the Patriots winning the division. Really in essence, that's what I'm saying there. I think the
Steelers are that good. I think they could surprise a lot of people. Also, wouldn't eastunt if they're seven and ten? And can he pick ittt as you know, typical second year regression. But really he came on late and they look good. And yeah, in that final preseason game they're ones, beat the snot out of the Falcons threes that everyone wins. All right, coming up, what about the Broncos? Is Russ going to cook? Or dare I say? And I try to hype him? Here is Russ cooked?
That's next?
On NFL Power Rankings presented by Energies Week one power rankings Here. NFL Power Rankings presented by energizer Eric at Holme has the Falcons at seventeen, the Browns at eighteen, followed by the Giants, Broncos, Packers, Titans, Commanders, and then the Patriots at twenty four. Listen, Eric, I do think that the Falcons are a lot better than here, like the changes they have made.
I think you're putting a lot of stock in faith.
However, in Desmond, Ritter that you have the Falcons ahead of a team led by Deshaun Watson, who admittedly did not play well last year, but it's got to be better than last year. Falcons ahead of the Browns.
I hear you right.
I think a lot of it has to do with competition. You mentioned in the previous segment just how tough the AFC North it is, and I think that that factors in in terms of what what this team might be. Right, and you start out slowly. If Watt doesn't show a little bit of a pre twenty twenty one form, then we get nervous. We ask questions, is he a good fit for Kevin Stefanski's offense. Listen, they were my summer crush.
I thought Deshaun has to play better. They added front seven health, they added wide receiver health, and the kicker issues started cropping up, other health stuff, rumors of questioning whether Watson and Stefanski truly are on the same page as far as improviser versus structured play calling.
I don't know.
I still like him, I don't love them as much as I did, And that's why you've seen the Steelers essentially take their place in my rankings.
I think the early leader in the clubhouse for New Coordinator of the Year is going to be Jim Schwartz, Right, you give him Miles Garrett, Zadarius Smith, Dalvin Tomlinson, the talent they have at corner here. I think this defense is going to be the story for this team more so than the offense. And maybe I'm just being a fanboy here, but I do think they're a far better team than they were a year ago.
The question is, what are the Broncos do?
Speaking of new head coaches or new coaches, they're Sean Payton and he's going to try to fix I guess Russell Wilson.
But how much patience is he going to have? Eric, You have them at twenty.
Yeah, this is a big head, right, I mean obviously Sean Payton, Russell Wilson, these are two big time names. You would imagine them peering up. Maybe great things could happen. It could, but I'm.
Still a little bit leery.
I saw what Russ did last year, and I remember twenty twenty one in Seattle that was kind of the start of Russ's kind.
Of downslide a little bit here, and I don't think.
Sean Payton is gonna pull any punches when he comes in here.
I doubt he has to this point.
I think He's going to demand that Russ play the kind of ball that he wants to play. Yes, explosive, but we've got to take care of the football.
We've got to be more accurate on these balls.
He saw in that first preseason game he was frustrated they couldn't get in the end zone. He was going to will his way to get that first team in offense in the end zone. There will be some patches that are ugly. The defense has not been fixed yet. So there's a lot going on in.
A division that has the Chiefs, the Chargers, and maybe even the Raiders. Maybe they're a better football team. Look, so lot going on here.
Yeah, sorry, With Jerry Judy out early here, I think the offense is going to struggle and then what how do they fix those issues without Jerry Judy with that wide receiver room in transition again, I mean, they've never been healthy since we got all those guys together there. That's going to be fast stating. I should note that you have them at twenty and the Giants are at nineteen.
They were a playoff team a year ago. Again, fourteen teams make the playoffs, so you have them far below the line there at nineteen.
Let's get the other teams in here from twenty.
Five on down in our initial power rankings, the Panthers and the Bears back to back, the two teams that traded with that number one overall pick then the Raiders, the Bucks, the Colts, the Rams, the Texans, and not surprisingly the Arizona Cardinals tie for the best of the rest. We go rapid fire and roll through those eric starting with number twenty five and the Carolina Panthers.
What do you think, Yeah, obvious optimism with Bryce Young coming in new coaching staff.
People have raved about what Frank Reich.
And Josh McCown could do for young interesting weapons to defensively, a lot of young talent. But Brian Burns, what's his status with the contract?
Lock to question there? Chicago at number twenty six.
You see why there's optimy too, right justin fields and they take that Jalen Hurts like jump.
That's the big question mark here.
But they've got to also get the better defensively, even with Aaron Rodgers out of the vision, that front seven has to be much better than we saw a year ago.
And number twenty nine of the Colts.
I get why there's optimism and as far as like Anthon Richardson, maybe the line is healthier than it was a year ago. But you know all the questions, Jonathan Taylor's situation, the backups to him, unknowns, the defense, so many things to answer. That's why they're still very close to the bottom and number thirty. The rams you kind of referenced it earlier. You've got the top heavy guys, the Sean mcvays and obviously the Aaron Donalds at Cooper Cuffs cup hurt Donald is it his final season?
We don't know.
Matthew Stafford situation, no names on defense, A lot to figure out, Andrew for a team that two years ago were champs and right now headed into an unknown void.
I think every Tuesday the brand new Power Rankings drop on NFL dot com and we will be here for the Power Rankings, presented by Energizer.
For Eric at home, I'm Andrew Siciliano. See you NEXTPUE.
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.