NFL Power Rankings

By Kalen Patrick

BIG BEN LEADS THE STEELERS

These are my first set of Power Rankings for the Season. I am going to try to make this a weekly or at least bi-weekly topic. I'm anxious to see what you guys will think. Here goes.

THE ELITE
1. Green Bay Packers  7-0
2. Pittsburgh Steelers 6-2
3. San Francisco 49ers 6-1
4. New England Patriots  5-2
5. Baltimore Ravens 5-2

All of these teams are at this moment, superbowl contenders. Green Bay seems unbeatable, the Steelers after their win over New England earn a spot above the red hot and surprising 49ers. The Patriots and Ravens respectfully round out the top 5.


THE CONTENDERS
6. Buffalo Bills 5-2
7. Detroit Lions 6-2
8. New Orleans Saints 5-3
9. New York Giants 5-2
10. Cincinnati Bengals 5-2

The Bills, Lions and Saints will all be in the playoffs. Besides for the Saints hiccup at St. Louis, all these teams have played well consistently. Giants and Bengals have more question marks but you can't argue with their record.

NYJ HEAD COACH REX RYAN HAS WORK TO DO

THE PLAYOFF POSSIBILITIES
11. Houston Texans 5-3
12. Atlanta Falcons 4-3
13. Chicago Bears 4-3
14. New York Jets 4-3
15. San Diego Chargers 4-3

These teams (for now) are either likely to round out the playoff teams or else come very very close. Texans and Chargers lead their respective divisions, while the others remain in closely fought wild card battles.


THE MEDIOCRE
16. Philadelphia Eagles 3-4
17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4-3
18. Kansas City Chiefs 4-3
19. Dallas Cowboys 3-4
20. Oakland Raiders 4-3
21. Tennessee Titans 4-3

These are the teams that are still quite competitive, will have to improve in order to make the playoffs but definitely possible. Interesting teams here are the rebounding Eagles, the Raiders with Carson Palmer and the always newsworthy Dallas Cowboys.


THE NO MANS LAND
22. Washington Redskins 3-4
23. Cleveland Browns 3-4
24. Carolina Panthers 2-6
25. Minnesota Vikings 2-6
26. Seattle Seahawks 2-5

THE COVETED ANDREW LUCK

These are the teams that are stuck, they are not bad enough for top 5 pick status (which is now worth a lot with the new rookie pay scale) and none of these teams should be thinking playoffs. Panthers have a bright future ahead with Cam Newton, Ponder has shown flashes in Minnesota, and the Redskins are collapsing after a strong start.


THE ANDREW LUCK CHASERS
27. Jacksonville Jaguars 2-6
28. Denver Broncos 2-5
29. St. Louis Rams 1-6
30. Arizona Cardinals 1-6
31. Indianapolis Colts 0-8
32. Miami Dolphins 0-7

All of these teams are in the competition for #1 overall pick. The teams here that would actually pick Andrew Luck are the Broncos, Cardinals, Colts and Dolphins. The Rams have Sam Bradford, Jags just got Blaine Gabbert. A distinct possibility Luck takes his talents to south beach.

And there we have it, let me know what you think. Will hopefully get around to this again next week.