Last season, we decided not to post a preseason power rankings and let things shake out after Week 1, which led to an interesting initial list based on who ended up 1-0 and 0-1. We were attempting to avoid any offseason bias influencing our rankings later in the year. This season, we tried something different again. We created a preseason list, then averaged the power rankings of six media outlets we respect. The numbers in parentheses below show how far off our picks are from the “consensus” of the six others. In some cases, there might seem to be bias here, but the truth is we are all in on the Bears (and apparently the Jaguars) and way down on the Jets and Packers compared to other outlets. We’ll see how it plays out.
- Chiefs (Even – consensus No. 1 on all seven sites): They won it all again and, more impressively, won at Buffalo and at Baltimore in the process. How can you pick against them?
- Ravens (+2): We believed in Baltimore for most of the latter half of last season, right up until the bitter end. We seem to have more faith than others to start, but we’re happy to let it be decided on the field in tonight’s No. 1 vs. No. 2 opener
- Lions (-1): If not now, never? Nah, let’s not be negative and ride with the kneecap-gnawers one more season.
- 49ers (-1)
- Bills (+2)
- Eagles (+3)
- Dolphins (+4)
- Cowboys (+2)
- Bengals (-3)
- Texans (-2)
- Bears (+5)
- Packers (-7)
- Steelers (+2)
- Jaguars (+6)
- Buccaneers (+2)
- Rams (-3)
- Browns (-3)
- Jets (-6)
- Colts (+2)
- Chargers (-2)
- Seahawks (+1)
- Commanders (+4)
- Falcons (-4)
- Titans (Even)
- Saints (Even)
- Vikings (-3)
- Cardinals (Even)
- Raiders (+1)
- Broncos (-1)
- Panthers (+2)
- Giants (-1)
- Patriots (-1)