Rnk | LW* | Team | Record | Comments |
1. | 1. | Pittsburgh Steelers | 1-0 | Roethlisberger engineered a game winning drive in the 4th quarter or overtime for the 18th time in his career. Most by any QB since he has been in the league. |
2. | 2. | New England Patriots | 1-0 | Out of synch Brady came alive when needed in the final 2 minutes. |
3. | 3. | New York Giants | 1-0 | Manning showed he could spread the ball around to overcome the loss of Burress. |
4. | 4. | San Diego Chargers | 1-0 | Perennial slow starters escaped from Oakland. |
5. | 5. | Indianapolis Colts | 1-0 | Loss of Gonzalez to injury hurts the passing game. Polian has publicly stated that he is not interested in bring back Harrison so the burden falls on Garcon and Collie. |
6. | 6. | Minnesota Vikings | 1-0 | In the upper echalon as long as Favre sublimates his game and follows Purple Jesus to the promised land. |
7. | 8. | Baltimore Ravens | 1-0 | Are they transitioning from defensively dominant to offensively dominant? |
8. | 9. | New Orleans Saints | 1-0 | Brees seems poised to make another run at Marino's single season touchdown passing record. |
9. | 10. | Philadelphia Eagles | 1-0 | Signed Garcia as a short term stopgap while they wait for McNabb to recover from a broken rib and Vick to get himself back into playing shape when he returns from suspension in week 3. |
10. | 12. | Atlanta Falcons | 1-0 | Started strong in their attempt to post back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in franchise history. |
11. | 13. | Dallas Cowboys | 1-0 | Romo did not miss TO at least for one week. |
12. | 11. | Tennessee Titans | 0-1 | Lack of big plays in the passing game make it tough when Johnson and White get bottled up. |
13. | 17. | Green Bay Packers | 1-0 | Primed for a big rebound from last year's 10 loss season if the defense can keep playing as well as it did on Sunday night. |
14. | 22. | New York Jets | 1-0 | Ryan and Sanchez started strong as they try to follow in the footsteps of rookie head coaches and quarterbacks in Baltimore and Atlanta last season. |
15. | 7. | Chicago Bears | 0-1 | Shouldn't be ashamed of losing a road game to a divisional rival in prime time. Of course they didn't plan on Cutler throwing 4 interceptions and Urlacher going down for the season with a dislocated wrist. |
16. | 23. | Seattle Seahawks | 1-0 | Return of Hasselbeck was a success. |
17. | 24. | San Fransisco 49ers | 1-0 | The force of Singletary's will (plus the lack of top competition) makes them a legitimate contender in the NFC West. |
18. | 14. | Arizona Cardinals | 0-1 | Curse of the Super Bowl loser strikes early. |
19. | 15. | Carolina Panthers | 0-1 | Delhomme picked up where he left off in the playoffs by turning the ball over 5 times and getting pulled in the 3rd quarter. |
20. | 16. | Houston Texans | 0-1 | Dominated at home by the upstart Jets. Things don't get easier with a trip to Tennessee for a divisional battle between winless teams. |
21. | 18. | Miami Dolphins | 0-1 | Has the league caught up to the wildcat? |
22. | 20. | Washington Redskins | 0-1 | Lack of productivity among the wideouts outside of Randle El makes Campbell's job difficult. |
23. | 21. | Jacksonville Jaguars | 0-1 | Early offensive struggles should have been expected for the first team starting a pair of rookie tackles since 1982. |
24. | 31. | Denver Broncos | 1-0 | Fluke, 87 yard touchdown off a deflected pass allows McDaniels to start his career as a head coach on the right foot after a disasterous off season. |
25. | 19. | Cincinnati Bengals | 0-1 | Same old Bungles. |
26. | 25. | Oakland Raiders | 0-1 | Addition of Seymour and ability to run the ball actually give them some hope. Can Cable and Russell do the job? |
27. | 26. | Buffalo Bills | 0-1 | Snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Any talk of a moral victory by keeping the game close is overshadowed by how they blew the lead. |
28. | 27. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 0-1 | Successful return of Cadillac was not enough. |
29. | 28. | Cleveland Browns | 0-1 | Defense hung tough for a half before succumbing to Purple Jesus. Lack of offensive playmakers severely limits their margin for error. |
30. | 29. | Kansas City Chiefs | 0-1 | Croyle was surprisingly effective in relief of Cassel, alas the defense could not contain Flacco. |
31. | 30. | St. Louis Rams | 0-1 | Spagnola has a lot of work to do. |
32. | 32. | Detriot Lions | 0-1 | New coach. New QB. Old result. |
*Last week's ranking