NFL Power Rankings: Did They Get It Right ? #nfl

NFL Power Rankings: Who Is Hot Heading Into Week 1?

NFL Power Rankings are back, and for the inaugural list of the 2022 season, we’ve broken the league into tiers—from the teams on a championship course to those who should probably start planning for next year

NFL Power Rankings. Every week from now until the postseason, I’ll be taking stock of who is up and down, relying on a mix of betting odds and analytics to rate the NFL’s risers and fallers. I’ll be breaking the league into tiers, from those with the best chance to make the Super Bowl to those who should start planning for the 2023 draft. For now, Josh Allen and the Bills claim the top spot, but there’s potential for a big shakeup depending on what happens when Buffalo faces Aaron Donald and the defending Super Bowl champion Rams in Week 1.

All betting odds provided by FanDuel as of September 4, 2022. All expected points added (EPA) statistics provided by RBSDM.com.

Super Bowl or Bust
1. Buffalo Bills (-750 to make the 2022 NFL playoffs)
No team has better odds to win the Super Bowl than Buffalo at +600, and rightfully so. Josh Allen is as talented as any quarterback in the league right now, and while the 26-year-old signal-caller will experience the first offensive coordinator change in his NFL career with Brian Daboll taking the Giants’ head-coaching position this offseason, expectations for the offense remain just as high under Ken Dorsey. GM Brandon Beane has built one of the best and deepest rosters in the league; that roster, and especially Sean McDermott’s defense, will get a big test Thursday night against the Rams.

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-750)
Going from a 40-day dose of despair to favorites to win the NFC (+340) is quite the roller coaster of an offseason. During the five and a half weeks Tom Brady was retired, the expectation in Tampa was that stars like Carlton Davis III and Chris Godwin would leave in free agency, and you could picture the Bucs choosing to start second-year quarterback Kyle Trask as some sort of long-game tanking strategy. Instead, Brady’s abrupt return has him leading a star-studded roster that not only re-signed Davis and Godwin but also added guard Shaq Mason, slot receiver Russell Gage, and defensive tackle Akiem Hicks. Injuries to starting offensive linemen Ryan Jensen and Aaron Stinnie are concerns, but not enough to knock the Buccaneers off their Super Bowl course.

3. Kansas City Chiefs (-225)
Tyreek Hill is no longer in Kansas City. Neither are defensive starters Tyrann Mathieu, Charvarius Ward, Jarran Reed, and Anthony Hitchens. But the straw that stirs the drink, Patrick Mahomes, isn’t going anywhere, and that’s why the Chiefs rank so highly to start the season. In a down year by his standards, Mahomes threw for 4,839 yards and 37 touchdowns and ranked second in the league in expected points added (EPA) per dropback in 2021. The Chiefs go as he goes, and he remains the biggest cheat code of any player in the NFL.

Green Bay Packers v Kansas City Chiefs
Reigning back-to-back MVP Aaron Rodgers Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images
4. Green Bay Packers (-500)
You know what Aaron Rodgers would say: R-E-L-A-X. Let’s not overreact to Rodgers’s offseason, which may have included a breakup but definitely included a 12-day panchakarma cleanse, his first tattoo, and aggressively long Instagram captions. The problem is that no detox process or astrological ink is going to help him replace Davante Adams, who accounted for 34 percent of the team’s receiving yards last season and now plays for the Raiders. Still, I trust that Rodgers, who has won back-to-back league MVP awards, will make the best of an Adams-less receiving corps led by Sammy Watkins and Allen Lazard. The Packers are a lock for a top-five spot on any 2022 preseason power ranking as long as Rodgers is in a Packers uniform.

5. Los Angeles Rams (-270)
Losing Von Miller to Buffalo and veteran offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth to retirement this offseason is the late-night boxed wine behind what could be a Super Bowl hangover. Add in the scare that is the Matthew Stafford elbow injury and several other departed starters (e.g. Robert Woods, Sebastian Joseph-Day, Austin Corbett) and uncertainty about Odell Beckham Jr.’s status, and the Rams might as well be mixing in cheap tequila shots. But there’s still too much talent on this team, especially when factoring in the additions of Allen Robinson II and Bobby Wagner and the return of safety Troy Hill, to completely fall off a cliff. The Rams have major star power with Cooper Kupp, Jalen Ramsey, and Aaron Donald, and that’s reason for optimism, but I believe the Buccaneers and Packers are still better positioned to win the NFC.

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