NFL Power Rankings

My current NFL Power Rankings.

I’m going to use these rankings as the order for my 2019 NFL Mock Draft during the 2018 draft season. Follow @walterfootball.

I’ve gone from WORST to FIRST, so if you don’t see reverse numbering (via Javascript), don’t worry; the Browns and Colts aren’t my top teams.

Updated: Sept. 11

Buffalo Bills (0-1) – Previously: 32.
I’d say the Bills are the odds-on favorite to claim the top pick in the 2019 NFL Draft (go here for my 2019 NFL Mock Draft.) Buffalo fans, just ignore the season and keep checking out my mock. Nothing else matters at this point.

If you’re wondering why the Bills are so much worse this season, it’s because they can’t block. They lost three members of their offensive line. They also lost a starting cornerback, so their defense isn’t as good. Plus, Nathan Peterman is a dumpster fire.

How bad was Peterman? Well, beyond the obvious, there was this:

The Bills were so desperate for a quarterback that they rented a Ravens running back to throw the ball to Kelvin Benjamin!

Detroit Lions (0-1) – Previously: 24.
We expected the Lions to struggle on defense, but what in the world happened to Matthew Stafford? He was befuddled by the Jets’ scheme and had his teammates yelling at him. It looked like he hadn’t practiced all offseason. In fact, it didn’t even look like Stafford was the one under center. Who could it have been? Here’s my theory:

Arizona Cardinals (0-1) – Previously: 23.
What the hell was that? Seriously. I defended the Cardinals, suggesting that they weren’t as bad as people thought they were, and yet they were blown out because their defense couldn’t stop Alex Smith. It’s almost like they forgot to replace Calais Campbell, Tyrann Mathieu and Xavier Williams, or something. I guess maybe that’s why people thought they’d be pretty bad, eh?

Nevertheless, I want to believe that the Cardinals aren’t one of the worst teams in the NFL. Their offense should be much better than it looked in the opener, but their defense was just so bad versus Washington.

Oakland Raiders (0-1) – Previously: 13.
A live look at Raider fans during Sunday Night Football (thanks, Max R.):

What a horrible season opener. The Raiders had so much energy in their stadium, and they got off to a quick start. Yet, their roster sucks so much that they couldn’t hold on to the victory; they even failed to stay within single digits! Oakland clearly isn’t the same without Khalil Mack, though paying him all that money still would’ve been very difficult.

Miami Dolphins (1-0) – Previously: 30.
The Dolphins may have won, but they needed a Marcus Mariota injury to make it happen. Still though, I maintain that Miami isn’t as bad as people think it is, as Ryan Tannehill is a much better quarterback than Jay Cutler, if only because he cares if his team wins or not.

Indianapolis Colts (0-1) – Previously: 29.
I don’t think Andrew Luck looks like quite himself yet. He’s not really challenging downfield much, and he made a bad decision in the red zone early versus the Bengals. But if I had to estimate, I’d say he’s 80 percent of what he once was, which is still a great quarterback. It looked like he was comfortable in Frank Reich’s up-beat tempo system, and he may have beaten the Bengals had Jack Doyle not fumbled in the red zone at the end of the game.

Cleveland Browns (0-0-1) – Previously: 26.
What’s that saying about ties? It’s like f***ing your sister? Sounds about right.

But hey, laugh all you want about the tie, but after just one week in the 2018 NFL regular season, the Browns have guaranteed themselves a better record than they had last year.

I think the ultimately challenge for the Browns would be to go 0-0-16. Would that be good enough to win the division? It would be a .500 record, so if every team in the AFC North finishes below .500, the Browns could sneak into the postseason at 0-0-16!

Seattle Seahawks (0-1) – Previously: 28.
The Seahawks are BAD. If you’re surprised they’re ranked this low, you haven’t been paying attention to them. Outside of Russell Wilson, an injured Doug Baldwin, Bobby Wagner, Earl Thomas, K.J. Wright and a couple of other half-decent players, they have nothing. Absolutely nothing. Their offensive line stinks. They have no running game. Their pass rush is gone. Their secondary is trash. If you replaced Wilson with a bottom-10 quarterback, the Seahawks would go 1-15 at the very best.

I wrote this late in the summer, and some Seahawk fans jumped down my throat about it. Seattle almost beat Denver, but the team was largely outgained. Had Case Keenum not forced some horrible passes, the Seahawks would’ve been blown out of the water.

Tennessee Titans (0-1) – Previously: 14.
We’ll see what happens with Marcus Mariota, but if Blaine Gabbert has to start three-plus games, Tennessee’s season will be over. Speaking of Gabbert, how in the world is he the Titans’ backup? How is he still in the NFL? How is he still alive? OK, I went a bit too far at the end, but that’s how insane it is to have him as a No. 2. Couldn’t the Titans have found anyone else who has any sort of upside? As Kenny from the podcast would say, “Walt, your sister has more quarterbacking upside than Blaine Gabbert.”

New York Giants (0-1) – Previously: 25.
People will make excuses for Eli Manning because his receivers dropped six passes, and Ereck Flowers was mostly responsible for the pick-six, but Manning missed Odell Beckham Jr. for two potential touchdowns. Saquon Barkley looked great, but I wonder if the Giants will regret not selecting Sam Darnold.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) – Previously: 31.
I can’t believe the Saints lost to the Buccaneers. This is the most surprising result I’ve seen in my 19 years covering the NFL. I don’t think I’ll ever understand it. Are the Saints terrible? Did Ryan Fitzpatrick make a pact with Satan like Nick Foles did last year? Can Fitzpatrick repeat this?

I thought about that possibility, but then I saw this from UPPROXX:

Right. So start betting against the Buccaneers when they extend Fitzpatrick. Got it.

New York Jets (1-0) – Previously: 27.
Sam Darnold looked great in the preseason, ranking atop the NFL Rookie Quarterback Grades. He continued that into his regular-season debut, though he got some help from the Lions being very incompetent. Still, Darnold gives Jets fans actual hope for the first time since the beginning of the decade – when we didn’t know Mark Sanchez was quite the butt fumbler.

Dallas Cowboys (0-1) – Previously: 15.
The Cowboys are close to being labeled underrated. Their offense stinks – Travis Frederick is out, and there’s a reason they were graded extremely poorly for Connor Williams in our NFL Draft Grades – but their defense is excellent. Their front line is ferocious, and they have an excellent linebacking corps. Limiting Cam Newton to just 16 points was impressive, so we’ll see how the offense responds in an easier matchup next week.

Denver Broncos (1-0) – Previously: 21.
Case Keenum’s three interceptions were troubling, as the Denver-Seattle game never should’ve been close. What’s worse is that he could’ve had more picks. It wasn’t a good start for him in Denver, though he was much better than the other quarterbacks the Broncos have owned recently. Still, I don’t think it’s out of the question that we could see Chad Kelly at some point this year. It’ll be sooner rather than later if Keenum continues to make horrible mistakes.

Pittsburgh Steelers (0-0-1) – Previously: 20.
Overrated NFL Team: See why the Steelers are an overrated NFL team in our new Overrated-Underrated page.

Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0) – Previously: 19.
Blake Bortles is the worst quarterback in the NFL (click the link for my quarterback power rankings.) If the Jaguars had, say, the 15th-ranked quarterback in the NFL, I’d pick them to win the Super Bowl. But Bortles will weigh this team down with his incompetence and indifference. Bortles predictably struggled in the opener. He had just one interception, but easily could’ve tossed three. Had the Giants not dropped some of his picks, they would’ve won, so Jacksonville has nothing to be proud of with its opening-week victory.

Cincinnati Bengals (1-0) – Previously: 22.
The Bengals did well to win their first game, but let’s not forget that they trailed by 13 in the third quarter and were a Jack Doyle non-fumble away from potentially losing at the end of regulation. They came up with a big fumble recovery, but I’m not convinced that their offensive line woes are solved. Their blocking is better, but center Billy Price was single-handedly responsible for an early Andy Dalton interception.

Washington Redskins (1-0) – Previously: 18.
Underrated NFL Team: See why the Redskins are an underrated NFL team in our new Overrated-Underrated page.

Chicago Bears (0-1) – Previously: 16.
Underrated NFL Team: See why the Bears are an underrated NFL team in our new Overrated-Underrated page.

Carolina Panthers (1-0) – Previously: 7.
I was close to labeling the Panthers as overrated, but I want to make sure of Luke Kuechly’s status. It doesn’t sound like Kuechly will be out for the year or anything, but he injured his knee late in the Dallas game. If Kuechly is ruled out for several games, I’ll add Carolina as overrated, as the team is beginning to be depleted of its talent with Daryl Williams and Greg Olsen also suffering injuries.

San Francisco 49ers (0-1) – Previously: 9.
This is what I was screaming when my five-unit pick on the 49ers was going down in flames:

That game was so tilting. The 49ers had two dropped touchdowns and a fumble at the goal line, yet failed to cover by two points. Ugh!

Baltimore Ravens (1-0) – Previously: 17.
I didn’t know what to think of the story that Joe Flacco actually tried hard this offseason. My initial response was: “Why?” Why hadn’t Flacco put in full effort in previous offseasons? Why didn’t he throw to his teammates prior to training camp? It’s inexcusable behavior for someone being paid so much, but that’s now water over the bridge, as a Hall of Fame running back once said. Flacco looked great in the season opener, as all of his new weapons stepped up. The defense, meanwhile, was also excellent. Then again, the Ravens beat up on the Bills, which is like crushing your 8-year-old kid brother in a game of one-on-one.

Los Angeles Chargers (0-1) – Previously: 6.
Well, well, well, so the team that always kills itself with dumb mistakes surrendered a punt return touchdown, muffed a punt, dropped countless passes and missed a field goal? You don’t say! The Chargers might as well change their team name to the Murphy’s Laws because whatever can go wrong will go wrong with them.

Minnesota Vikings (1-0) – Previously: 12.
Overrated NFL Team: See why the Vikings are an overrated NFL team in our new Overrated-Underrated page.

Atlanta Falcons (0-1) – Previously: 8.
Underrated NFL Team: See why the Falcons are an underrated NFL team in our new Overrated-Underrated page.

Houston Texans (0-1) – Previously: 4.
I’m really beginning to question Bill O’Brien as a head coach. He constantly gets out-coached in big matchups, and Deshaun Watson’s regression – albeit in a very small sample size – is a worry. Plus, I don’t get why he didn’t challenge the Rob Gronkowski catch in the second quarter. The CBS announcers were pleading for O’Brien to challenge it, but he looked like he was more concerned with checking out how cool his chin dimple looks.

That said, I still have faith in the Texans. Their offensive line sucks, but Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins and the excellent defense should be able to get into the playoffs in spite of O’Brien.

Kansas City Chiefs (1-0) – Previously: 10.
I listed the Chiefs as underrated heading into the season, but I guess I can’t do that anymore, huh? People seemingly recognize how talented Patrick Mahomes is. Alex Smith did a good job of winning in the regular season, but Mahomes, thanks to his great talent, will be able to win in the playoffs. The scary thing is that Mahomes isn’t even close to being a finished product yet, as he torched a great Chargers secondary despite it being just his second career start!

Los Angeles Rams (1-0) – Previously: 11.
Overrated NFL Team: See why the Rams are an overrated NFL team in our new Overrated-Underrated page (and yes, they are overrated, as being tied 13-13 at the end of the third quarter with a putrid Raider team is not impressive.)

New Orleans Saints (0-1) – Previously: 1.
I still can’t believe what I saw. The Saints put together one of the most pathetic showings I’ve ever seen from a big favorite. I’d apologize for recommending them as a Survivor Pool pick, but I think they need to apologize instead. Seriously, ownership needs to find the e-mail of every single person in a Survivor Pool who picked them and tell them that they are sorry.

I honestly don’t know what to do with them per my power rankings. I want to still believe that they’re a great team, but a great team doesn’t surrender 48 points to Ryan Fitzpatrick. The loss could definitely be a fluke – remember, Sam Bradford torched them in Week 1 last year – so I’ll wait until I downgrade them too severely.

Green Bay Packers (1-0) – Previously: 5.
I can’t believe Aaron Rodgers isn’t out for the season. I even texted a few people, “I can’t wait to bet against DeShone Kizer every week,” but Rodgers, fortunately, turned out to be OK.

How did this happen, by the way? Here’s what a secret camera captured from the locker room:

It all makes sense now.

In all seriousness, the Packers are extremely fortunate their season isn’t over right now.

Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) – Previously: 3.
I moved the Eagles out of the top spot prior to the season because they looked pretty complacent in October, reminding me of what we saw from the Raiders in the preseason last year. However, they looked motivated when they heard that everyone was doubting them. It’s amazing that Philadelphia was suddenly expected to lose because it lost a 5-0 game in the preseason. I never realized exhibition contests mean that much!

New England Patriots (1-0) – Previously: 2.
I suppose the Patriots should probably be ranked No. 1 right now. Their defensive line has improved, and they took care of business against a team that’s supposed to be very good. Plus, unlike the Eagles, their starting quarterback is actually healthy.

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