Seahawks.NET Power Rankings -- Week One

Welcome to the 2008 Edition of the Seahawks.NET Power Rankings.

One of the first things you’ll notice in this year’s debut rankings is that the vast majority of teams with question marks at quarterback can be found at the bottom of the heap.  That’s not to say that some of these teams won’t be lifted up by their proverbial bootstraps when one or more of the rookies/journeymen/underachievers suddenly clicks a la Derek Anderson in 2007, but I’m not willing to hazard a guess as to who this year’s Lazarus will be.  It was hard enough just trying to sort out the middle 10 or so teams, all of whom could easily be ranked 5 or so spots higher or lower than they appear below.  Parity has left us with a great grey area in the middle of the pack, and, odds are, several of these teams will make the Playoffs this year, most likely the teams who remain healthiest.

Finally we get to our Top Ten – I’m sure Giants fans and Patriots fans will be have a lot to say about the Colts nabbing the top spot after not making the Super Bowl last season, but both the Giants and Patriots return significantly weaker on defense than they finished 2007.  Dallas and San Diego get the early season nods over the perennial playoff Seahawks, based on the past trends of fast starts for both the Cowboys and the Chargers.

Oh, yeah, and I know I misspelled Chiefs.  For those of you who didn’t get the reference -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffN9jcVcH_o

As always, comments, criticisms and discussions about rock and roll can be sent to .

Ranking	Team	Commentary
1	Indianapolis Colts	Indy is on the longest Division winning streak in history and shows no sign of relinquishing their stranglehold.
2	New York Giants	Big Blue are World Champs, and have looked sharp when the first string was on the field.  Losing 5 starters off of the Defense drops them down a peg.
3	New England Patriots	The Patriots were one game shy of perfection last season, but they won't come close to that this year, thanks in large part to a soft defense.
4	San Diego Chargers	The Chargers have one of the most potent offensive attacks in AFC, and with or without Shawn Merriman, their defense is strong enough to contend.
5	Dallas Cowboys	The Cowboys, like the Chargers, are regular season prodigies, and we'll have to wait until January to see if they've made any progress.  In the meantime, they'll keep winning games.
6	Seattle Seahawks	The Seahawks added to an already potent offense in the offseason, and are poised to win their division for a fifth straight year.
7	Jacksonville Jaguars	The Jags top a lot of people's "dark horse" lists, and for good reason.  They're consistent on both sides of the ball and have no glaring weakness.
8	Philadelphia Eagles	The Eagles are one McNabb injury away from irrelevance.  However, with Donovan under center, they're serious contenders.
9	New Orleans Saints	There's no doubting the offensive firepower of the Saints.  But the defense is still very much in question.
10	Pittsburgh Steelers	The Steelers future rides completely upon the performance of their offensive line.
11	Tennessee Titans	The rest of the team is playoff caliber, so it all comes down to whether or not Vince Young can lead a team into the postseason.
12	Minnesota Vikings	Love the running game, like the defense a lot.  The passing game?  Not so much.
13	Cleveland Browns	Lingering questions about the defense remain, but for the first time since the Kozar days, the Browns have an explosive offense.
14	Carolina Panthers	During the last 2 seasons, the Panthers went into the tank after injuries to Jake Delhomme.  If he can stay healthy, the Cats can compete.
15	Denver Broncos	Lots of pundits are going ga-ga over Jay Cutler, but I'm underwhelmed, mainly because of a pedestrian WR Corps.
16	Cincinnati Bengals	The Bengals are a train-wreck in progress.  If they could ever keep their heads in the game, they might find themselves winning the division.
17	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Jeff Garcia along with the stout Tampa Bay defense should provide enough oomph to contend for the NFC South crown again this year.
18	Arizona Cardinals	I'd love to rank the Cardinals higher, but a team that constantly underperforms isn't gonna sucker me into ranking them higher based on potential.  Potential don't win games.
19	Detroit Lions	The NFL's worst defense in 2007 should benefit from not being on the field for 40 minutes a game in 2008 … guaranteed.
20	St. Louis Rams	Steven Jackson is all this team has to hang it's hat on at this point.
21	New York Jets	The Good News -- the Jets have Brett Farve.  The Bad News -- the Jets have Brett Farve.
22	Washington Redskins	It took Matt Hasselbeck two years to fully grasp Jim Zorn's offense.  It will take Jason Campbell just as long.  There will be some flashes this season, but not enough to keep out of the basement in the toughest division in the NFL.
23	Chicago Bears	The Bears D isn't going to be able to make up for the total lack of offense all season.
24	Houston Texans	A large portion of the Texans season is riding on the health of Ahman Green.  That's not very reassuring.
25	Green Bay Packers	Okay, Cheeseheads, Brett is gone.  Aaron Rodgers is going to need one season, maybe two, before he's running at full speed.  That's just the nature of the game.  Chillax.
26	Buffalo Bills	The Bills were decimated by injuries last year and appear headed down the same path this year.  Coupled with Jason Peters holdout, it's looking like another rough year in Buffalo.
27	Baltimore Ravens	Starting a rookie quarterback on a team with an already anemic offense is not going to win you many games.
28	Oakland Raiders	The Raiders will show signs of life, or at least, some other teams will suck worse than they do.
29	San Francisco 49ers	Another year, another new Offensive Coordinator.  Do you think there was anyone less happy about the Mike Martz hiring than Frank Gore?
30	Atlanta Falcons	The Falcons cut away the deadwood and the malcontents this offseason and will try out some new players and some new ideas and hope that a few stick.
31	Kansas City Chiefs	Great googly-moogly, it's a-gonna be a long year for the Chefs.
32	Miami Dolphins	The Dolphins were one game shy of an oh-fer and have done little to address their desperate need for a signal caller.

Dylan Johnson is a die-hard Seahawks fan trapped in Eagles Country and firmly believes that “Live At Leeds” is the single greatest live performance since a deaf Ludwig Van debuted his final symphony in Vienna in 1824.