NFL Power 10: Patriots, Steelers miles ahead of the rest of the NFL

August 12, 1:43 AMNew England Patriots ExaminerSean Crowe

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The NFL Power 10 is my version of the NFL Power Rankings.

During the season, I'll use a complicated mathematical formula to come up with the top ten teams in the NFL each week.

I use the formula so I don’t let my personal bias shape the list (though how I rank the teams is a part of the furmula, so I guess that's a lie).

The complicated mathematical formula (which I'll explain at some point, and if you look hard enough you can probably find posted last season on Bleacher Report) doesn’t work in the preseason, so we were forced to go with our gut.

Which usually gets us yelled at by Steelers and Eagles fans.

Besides ranking the top 10 teams, we also keep track of the bottom three teams in the NFL. Mostly so that I can get a few digs in at Raider Nation every week.

The NFL Power 10, Preseason Week 1 

1 (-) Patriots (Last Season: 11-5-0)

…and not just because I’m the New England Patriots Examiner either. Has anyone had a more productive offseason than your New England Patriots?

Their secondary was terrible, so they brought in veterans Shawn Springs and Leigh Bodden, and drafted Pat Chung and Darius Butler. They lost Jabar Gaffney and LaMont Jordan to the Broncos and replaced them with Joey Galloway, Greg Lewis, and future hall of famer Fred Taylor. Coming into training camp, their one glaring weakness was an outside pass rushing threat. Say hello to disgruntled Oakland Raider Derrick Burgess.

Most importantly, Tom Brady looks like Tom Brady. Remember, Brady hasn’t lost a regular season game since 2006. His return vaults the Patriots to the top of the AFC, and the top of the NFL Power 10.

2 (-) Steelers (Last Season: 12-4-0)

I don’t buy the whole “just because they won the Super Bowl, they should be number one in the Power Rankings until they lose” garbage. Last year was last year, this year is this year. The Steelers were the best team in the NFL last season. Let’s talk about this season.

This season, they still feature an offensive line that gave up an extraordinary amount of sacks and quarterback pressures. The line managed to jell towards the end of last season and helped carry the Steelers to the Super Bowl, but they still allowed way too many hits on their quarterback.

That said, they have the best defense in the NFL, and a great defense will take you pretty far in this league. They also have the best quarterback not named Peyton, Tom, or Drew in the NFL in Ben Roethlisberger.

They’re either the second best team in the NFL by a hair right now, or they’re 1b to the Patriots’ 1a. Either way, these two teams are so far ahead of everyone else it’s not even fair.

3 (-) Colts (Last Season: 12-4-0)

Peyton Manning gets to find out what life is like without Marvin Harrison this season. I know this because every Colts preview mentions it ad nauseum. The thing is, Marvin Harrison hasn’t been Marvin Harrison since like 2006. Manning knows how to play without him, and he’ll do fine with the toys he has left.

What I don’t understand is this: Tony Dungy is selling Michael Vick to the entire league, marketing him as a reformed person and a more than capable backup quarterback. If Dungy is so high on him, why hasn’t he sold him to the Colts, a team he presumably has a ton of pull with?

Just asking…

4 (-) Eagles (Last Season: 9-6-1)

I’ve had the Eagles pretty low most of the offseason, and I still have the same concerns. I don’t like Brian Westbrook’s knees. I don’t think their secondary is as good as advertised (I remember the last time Asante Samuel and Ellis Hobbs teamed up, and it wasn’t great). When you look up the word “clutch” in the dictionary, you probably won’t find a picture of Donovan McNabb.

But as a friend of mine reminded me, great teams are built from the lines out. And the Eagles have tremendous offensive and defensive lines. Combine that with the fact that I’ve soured a little on the #5 team in the Power 10, and the Eagles land in the top 4.

5 (-) Giants (Last Season: 12-4-0)

Since Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg, Eli Manning is 1-4, he’s thrown 2 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, and hasn’t thrown for more than 191 yards in any game. Clearly Eli deserved to be the highest paid quarterback in the NFL.

The Giants are loaded on defense, but they’re loaded with questions on offense. I just don’t see this team being able to come from behind. They’ll run the ball well, but you score points in the passing game—and their passing game is going to be awful.

You have to score at least a few points every week if you want to win, right?

6 (-) Chargers (Last Season: 8-8-0)

I’m hearing a lot of praise for Norv Turner and his ability to rally his team down the stretch to squeak into the playoffs every season. I have a different perspective. I’m wondering why Norv Turner can’t get his team ready to play well early in the season.

This team is never going to get to the promise land until they fix their head coaching situation. They have the talent to get there, but they’ve never had the coaching—and the NFL is a coach’s league.

7 (-) Falcons (Last Season: 11-5-0)

Matt Ryan did Boston College proud last season, proving to be the best NFL quarterback to come out of Boston College since Glenn Foley (If you root for Notre Dame, you remember the name). I was a little worried about the Roddy White situation, but now that he’s in camp everything is looking up in Atlanta.

Believe it or not, Mike Vick’s old team is poised to make another run in a wide open NFC.

8 (-) Ravens (Last Season: 11-5-0)

How do you become the eighth best team in the NFL without a single above average offensive player? Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Haloti Ngata, Terrell Suggs, and that ridiculously physical defense.

The Steelers have the best defense in the NFL, but if given the choice, I’m not sure many teams would choose playing against the Ravens over playing against the Steelers.

9 (-) Panthers (Last Season: 12-4-0)

Steve Smith’s injury doesn’t appear to be too serious, otherwise the Panthers would have fallen completely out of the Power 10. Not sure if he gets back in time for the first game of the season, but he will be back. That offense needs Steve Smith to be successful.

Jake Delhomme was awful last season. Spectacularly awful. So naturally, the Panthers rewarded him with a contract extension. The Giants’ front office applauded the move, wishing only that they had thought of it first.

10 (-) Cardinals (Last Season: 9-7-0)

To be honest, I think the Cardinals are ranked a little high. I understand they were in the Super Bowl. I understand they almost won the Super Bowl. But let’s be honest, they were not a good team for most of last season. They were mediocre. They were repeatedly embarrassed on the road by good teams.

They got hot at the right time, but if life were fair they never would have been in the playoffs to take advantage of the hot streak. Kurt Warner is a little older, their defense still isn’t all that great, and their running game went from “old” to “injury prone” with the drafting of Beanie Wells.

Like I said, they’re a little high at 10…

Just Missed:

11 (-) Titans (Last Season: 13-3-0)

The Vince Young saga is overshadowing the fact that they lost the best defensive lineman in football during the offseason.

12 (-) Bears (Last Season: 9-7-0)

I’m not buying Jay Cutler until I see what his offensive line looks like in action.

13 (-) Vikings (Last Season: 10-6-0)

The Vikings could be the first team in NFL history to use the Wildcat as their base offense. Not a single quarterback worth anything on this roster. I’m not a Favre guy. I hate Brett Favre. I think he’s overrated. But the Vikings needed Brett Favre.

Bottom Three:

30 (-) Raiders (Last Season: 5-11-0)

When did the Raiders become the Patriots’ farm team?

31 (-) Rams (Last Season: 2-14-0)

The sad truth is, in the NFC West, they have a legit shot at making the playoffs.

32 (32) Lions (Last Season: 0-16-0)

Every other team didn’t have a “Previous Week” ranking, given that this is the first Power 10 of the season. However, with the Lions, I figured it was a safe bet they were 32nd last week.

Probably next week too.

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Questions? Comments? Insults? You can email them to Sean Crowe at scrowe@gmail.com.