Ian's Week 1 Power Rankings

In the first of many this year, John and I are both going to be posting our Top 5 and Bottom 5 in the league as we see them. Feel free to disagree. Heck, we'll probably even disagree with each other.

The February 5
Five teams with the best chances of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in February

Yes, I know I picked them to finish 7-9 this season. But they are the reigning World Champs and until someone proves them to be otherwise, they're going to stay on top. Losing Osi for the season hurts, but they put out a solid performance against the Redskins. They have a legitimate shot at starting 3-0 as they have St. Louis and Cincinnati coming up next.

They shut down Cleveland's offense on the road, the offensive line looked great, and Felix Jones is going to be an excellent compliment to Marion Barber. Things were clicking on offense and the Defense looked good. As long as they keep winning, the big egos in the locker room will be happy.

Bias? Maybe, but they were the only AFC Division winner from last year not named New England to win this week. And they didn't just squeak by. They probably could have put up 50+ if they had wanted to. Ben's a little dinged up, but he's going to keep playing. The offense looked great on the ground and through the air. The defense played incredible and the special teams was fantastic.

Aaron Rodgers proved himself to be a legit quarterback and, at least for now, they proved that the road to the NFC North still goes through Lambeau. Special teams stepped it up against Minnesota and Rodgers played well against a very good front 7 for the Vikes. Peterson put up 100 on the defense, but they completely shut down Minnesota's passing game.

This was a close decision between New Orleans and Philly. I gave the nod to New Orleans because they beat a better team (Tampa Bay as opposed to St. Louis). Losing Colston for 4-6 weeks hurts, but Brees has plenty of targets but after Washington and Denver they get a break with San Francisco, Minnesota and Oakland (all teams with bad pass defenses). Putting up 300 passing yards is no easy task against Tampa, and they deserve credit for starting strong. The defense looked much better as well.

Just missed: Philadelphia

The April 5
The five teams with the best chance of picking at the top of the draft in April.

Much the same as with the Giants, they were the worst team in the league last year, and until they prove differently, they're still at the bottom. Even with Brady's injury, they're the only team in this division without a shot at winning it. If it's any consolation, Matthew Stafford looked great against Central Michigan.

What happened here? Last year the Rams had a legitimate complaint that they had suffered numerous injuries along their offensive line. But with a healthy team to start this season, they get demolished by Philadelphia? Only 3 points, really? From weeks 11-16 they get San Francisco twice and Miami. Those 3 games might decide who wins the Matthew Stafford sweepstakes.

Baltimore started a rookie quarterback and the Bengals recorded a grand total of 0 sacks. Their offense accounted for 4 points (an extra point and a field goal). Their only touchdown came on a fumble return. What is going on here? Marvin Lewis will be gone before the end of the season.

They stuck around against Arizona, but the quarterback situation is a huge issue here. Alex Smith is out again and J.T. O'Sullivan had a so-so NFL debut. Frank Gore looked good, but with Mike Martz running the show, you have to wonder how many touches he's going to get in the future.

Much like with the February 5, this was a toss-up between Oakland and Kansas City. Oakland gets the nod for their disgusting display of offensive line play and their downright inability to stop Denver's passing game, which was supposed to be the strong point of their defense. Russell and McFadden couldn't do anything because the line couldn't stop Denver's defense. It's going to be a long year for Lane Kiffin if the line doesn't start blocking soon.

Just missed: Kansas City