Pr4wn's 2013 Power Rankings - Week 1

1 - San Francisco 49ers

There's little doubt about this one. Their solid defence managed to keep Aaron Rodgers relatively under wraps, were stout against the run and the new safety Eric Reid looks to be a bit of a find. On offense, CK looks to be the real deal this year, a rocket arm, fluid pocket movement against a solid pass rush and good accuracy to find his mediocre receivers. Boldin looks to be in an offense that suits his skills a lot more this year.

2 - Denver Broncos

So, how about Peyton Manning? At 37 he looks as sharp as ever. He has an unbelievably talented receiving corps and an offensive line that can pretty much do anything. I'm a little more concerned about the defence, especially the pass rush that only seemed to wake up once Shaun Phillips was able to beat up on a rookie or a tight-end.

3 - Seattle Seahawks

Good teams win ugly and that's exactly what Seattle did on Sunday. Russell Wilson was fantastic in the second half and his touchdown pass was a thing of beauty. Hard to tell whether the defence is going to be as dominant as last year but the Hawks could easily have lost this game had DeAngelo Williams not fumbled late on.

4 - Houston Texans

It gets tough from here because so many teams have seemingly large faults. The Texans fought back so well against the Chargers but they gave up a 21 point lead so early on. Andre Johnson looks fresh and full of energy. If Arian Foster can reach the same level of fitness, this team could be a real force to be reckoned with.

5 - Chicago Bears

Some may laugh at this placing but hear me out. Their offense looked much better than last season. Matt Forte ran and caught the ball extremely well and Brandon Marshall was as dominant as ever. All this against a much-vaunted (and very capable) Bengals defence. Yes, the offensive line needs some help but the dominance of the Chicago defence will give them opportunities to win any game.

6 - New Oreleans Saints

I have to say that I'm very surprised that the Saints played so well. We all know how dangerous Drew Brees, Marques Colston, Jimmy Graham and Darren Sproles can be but it was Rob Ryan's battered and bruised defence that stood out for me. They generated consisten pass rush and played with a massive amount of heart and determination. That won't get you through a whole season, but it's got them to 1-0 and 6th in my rankings.

7 - New England Patriots

The season only gets harder for the Patriots from here. They squeaked past the Bills in week one and have lost Shane Vereen (their most impressive offensive player by far) and Danny Amendola. I'm starting to wonder just how many more injuries Tom Brady can cope with. The defence was unspectacular but, then again, it's perfectly plausible that New England bounces big with a big win next week to prove me wrong.

8 - Green Bay Packers

A tough loss for the Pack this week, especially considering that blown call that gifted the 49ers some points. Rodgers looked great and there's no way that James Jones gets shut out two weeks in a row. The offensive line is surely a concern and Jermichael Finley really should know how to catch by now but the defence looked to have some potential.

9 - Atlanta Falcons

Steven Jackson give this already amazing Atlanta offense another dimension. He's infinitely better than Michael Turner. The real concerns for this Atlanta team will be the leaking offensive line that looked like it was playing the 49ers and the leaking defence that produced barely any pass rush at all. Their leading sacker from last season in John Abraham is no longer with them and they're going to have to get after the QB if they want to win games. Robert Alford looks great, though.

10 - Indianapolis Colts

As said above, good teams win ugly. Yes, this win was against the Raiders but the Colts were against a completely unknown commodity in Pryor. Andrew Luck looks unreal, though and his connection with Reggie Wayne looks as strong as ever. Dwayne Allen seems to be quite the talent at tight end. The defence will have to get a lot though, though, if the Indianapolis want to take that next step.

11 - Cincinnati Bengals

This may be being a little harsh on the Bengals who certainly weren't terrible. They faced a very tough test with an opening-day road game at Soldier Field against that Chicago defence but Andy Dalton certainly didn't look like a Superbowl calibre QB. AJ Green will get plenty of praise but he dropped a very catchable ball that led to an interception. The Bengals were sloppy and they paid the price. I'm expecting plenty of improvement.

12 - Dallas Cowboys

I also think I'm being a little harsh on the Cowboys here. There were some opening-day jitters in game one but they have the foundation to make a run into the playoffs this year. Their defence looked a lot more mean than in previous years and their offense will have another big contributor when Dez Bryant returns to fitness. The only question is whether Tony Romo has what it takes. His offensive line and receiving troop certainly looks good enough.

13 - Philadelphia Eagles

Although the names on the jerseys are the same it looked like a completely different team out there. When we think of the Eagles of the last two seasons, the effort shown on the field by both offense and defence was nothing short of remarkable. This offense looks to be the perfect fit for LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson. The offensive line looked polished and full of energy and Michael Vick showed his great arm. If only he could stay fit for half a season....

14 - Baltimore Ravens

Tough loss against the best offensive unit in the league. This team is still an enigma to me as I'm unsure of their weapons on offense and I'm waiting to see how this new-look defence holds up against a normal quarterback performance. The Baltimore receivers are going to have to help Torrey Smith out and one of their tight ends is going to have to learn how to catch the ball.

15 - St Louis Rams

A very nice win for the Rams on opening day. Greg The Leg showed that he can close things up and Robert Quinn had an enormous game. They will come up against more stout defensive lines in the coming weeks but this team looks much-improved. All they really need (as we've all been saying for what seems to have been the last four or five years...) is a true number one receiver.

16 - New York Giants

Talk about throwing a game away, David Wilson has almost thrown away his chances of being this year's breakout offensive player. He fumbled twice in a game full of turnovers against the Cowboys. There were numerous miscommunications between Eli Manning and his receivers but this is a very talented group. They have some incredible talent at receiver in Nicks, Cruz, Randle and the emerging Brandon Myers. I'm sure they'll all be looking forward to their rematch against Dallas.

17 - Washington Redskins

They looked as though they might be able to pip the Eagles but it didn't happen. And lets be honest, the Redskins didn't deserve a win at all. RGIII certainly doesn't look as though he's fully recovered from his injuries and it looks as though Ryan Kerrigan will be spending some time out. Still, this team has plenty of talent and is capable of beating anyone on their day.

18 - Detroit Lions

I'll be ready to elevate this team once they've played a team with a real quarterback. However, I still don't understand why people keep selling Reggie Bush so short. If played correctly, he's the very best in the NFL at what he does and he showed us all that on Sunday. He seemed to be ripping yardage at will and once Calvin Johnson starts to perform, this will be a scary offense.

19 - Miami Dolphins

Another enigma team, the Dolphins were certainly unspectacular on Sunday. Their defence looked pretty good but they were against a Brown offense lacking in talent and their number one playmaking WR in Josh Gordon. The offense was exactly as I had predicted with Mike Wallace doing bugger all and Lamar Miller disappointing with his running. the offensive line looks to be missing a piece.

20 - Kansas City Chiefs

It's good to see Justin Houston getting some recognition after his standout season last year. Alex Smith looked the part on Sunday, albeit against a very ordinary Jags side. This is yet another team that strikes me as somewhat of an unknown quantity. There's plenty of talent but let's see how they perform against a proper offense before we starting getting all excited.

21 - Carolina Panthers

Star Lotulelei and the very underrated Dwan Edwards work very nicely together in what looks to be a dominant defensive line. The secondary is still an issue for me though and we'll have to see how they do next week. Everything hinges on Cam Newton for Carolina, though. Apart from Steve Smith and Greg Olsen, they have nothing of note on offense at all. Personally, I feel that they should allow Newton to use high legs a lot more.

22 - Minnesota Vikings

This is the problem with the Vikes. Once you've contained Adrian Peterson, the rest of the offense looks pedestrian. Yes, AD broke off some nice-looking touchdown runs but more controlled and disciplined defences won't allow those to happen like the Lions did. When push comes to shove, I can't see Christian Ponder being the guy to take the Vikings anywhere close to where they want to be (and I'm a Seminoles fan...).

23 - Tennessee Titans

Talk about flying under the radar! The Titans performed admirably against the Steelers but I still feel they're lacking in overall talent to take the next step. Lockers still doesn't look the part and it just seems that when CJ2K isn't on song, the offense doesn't have a single playmaker.

24 - San Diego Chargers

Philip Rivers, what are you? At times, he looks unreal, making very pretty throws to talentless receivers but then he just goes and makes a terrible blunder to throw everything away. Last nice was a very tough loss for San Diego but injuries will probably start hitting soon. I can't believe they didn't use Danny Woodhead more than they did and by the end of the game, I was waiting for some announcement that Norv Turner had been in control the whole time.

25 - Arizona Cardinals

I think I might be being a bit harsh on the Cards here. They played against a very tough Rams defence and Carson Palmer made a few cracking throws. Larry Fitzgerald looks to have returned from exile and things are definitely looking up in the desert.

26 - Buffalo Bills

A spirited display from a team that was missing two major playmakers in Stephon Gilmore and Jairus Byrd. Fred Jackson looked to be back to his old self and EJ Manuel actually had a very solid first start in the NFL. I think that the Bills are a better team than many think.

27 - Pittsburgh Steelers

Could this team be any less fortunate with injuries? Now Maurkice Pouncey and Larry Foote are out for a while and suddenly things are a lot less optimistic in Pittsburgh. Emmanuel Sanders impressed me but with no real running game and this catalogue of injuries, a strong response will be a tough ask for Big Ben and his Merry Men.

28 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers

I'm sorry, but I just can't put the Bucs behind the Jets. Tampa was the better team for the vast, vast majority of this game and only have themselves to blame for this ugly loss. The offensive line looked disjointed without Carl Nicks and the new-look defence looks like it needs some time to settle in. After this display of dysfunction, Greg Schiano must show that he's the man for the job.

29 - New York Jets

The front seven were solid and Kellen Winslow looks to have been a nice offseason pickup for the Jets. However, their secondary got shredded by Vincent Jackson and the offense was very slow. There was no running game at all but Geno Smith showed some nice poise at times. As said above, they weren't the best team in a game they won, not by a long shot. There's a difference between winning ugly and being gifted the game.

30 - Cleveland Browns

There was plenty of preseason hype about the Browns. They were supposed to take that next step, become contenders, dominate up front. But here we are, where Cleveland always seem to be. Their offensive line got absolutely destroyed and Brandon Weeden once again looked shaky and unsure.

31 - Oakland Raiders

Well, they're not at the bottom! Terrelle Pryor certainly has some talent but he's got a long way to go. An interesting that asked a lot more questions than many thought they would in week one.

32 - Jacksonville Jaguars

I really feel for Jacksonville's fan base. This team looked awful. That is all.

Good effort Prawn.

The Bengals performance was very frustrating, they put themselves in position to win but then failed to close it out.

I thought Dalton looked good, you could make a case that both picks were Green's fault but certainly the second was on Green.

Surprised by the lack of pressure up front, that’s the strength of the team and the o-line a supposed weakness of the Bears.

Philly are going to be a lot of fun this season.

Pr4wn wrote:32 - Jacksonville Jaguars

I really feel for Jacksonville's fan base. This team looked awful. That is all.

what about poor old London...4 years of the Jags  

atleast there will be a 2nd IS game i suppose

Pr4wn wrote:
29 - New York Jets

The front seven were solid and Kellen Winslow looks to have been a nice offseason pickup for the Jets. However, their secondary got shredded by Vincent Jackson and the offense was very slow. There was no running game at all but Geno Smith showed some nice poise at times. As said above, they weren't the best team in a game they won, not by a long shot. There's a difference between winning ugly and being gifted the game.

I, surprisingly, take umbrage with this snippet. The Jets outplayed the Bucs offense. We limited an offense with Doug Martin, Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams to 17 points. 7 of those came on a 5 yard drive after a Geno Smith fumble. The other TD was only a 44 yard drive. We didn't get gifted the game. Our defense made play after play to keep us competitive in the game and give us the slightest shot at a win.

Everyone says that good teams find ways to win games. The Jets found a way to win this game.

Prawn, where does it say Kerrigan will be out? He was taken to the locker room with reported 'concussion like symptoms' but no further injury report.

Just something I read, may well have just been conjecture.

NYJ, they absolutely didn't find a way to win that game, they were given it. If David didn't given away that penalty, you'd have lost. No question.

Secondly, we had over 100 yards in penalties and gave you five or six first downs. The Bucs played the better football and lost the game for themselves.

We certainly did our best to give the Bills the game with our turnovers, the Bills tried to with penalties.

In the end having a HOF QB made the difference. Gonna take time for the receivers to gel with Brady, but they will.

Good effort Pr4wn
I agree with most of them
The top 4 are clearly the cream at the min
Who ever wins the Niners - Hawks game will be No.1 next week

After last night the Pats will likely have to move down a few spots!