1.) Green Bay Packers: The defending Super Bowl champions came out of the gate on fire in week one. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers went 27-35 for 312 yards and 3 touchdowns (all coming in the first half) in the Packers narrow victory over the New Orleans Saints.
2.) New England Patriots: Is anybody really that surprised that quarterback Tom Brady threw for 500+ yards this week against the Dolphins? The Patriots look to have another vaunted offensive attack, and the emergence of Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis as the starting running back is a scary thought for the rest of the NFL. However, only time will tell as to if the Patriots’ secondary is that bad or Chad Henne is actually becoming a decent quarterback (416 yards against New England on Monday night).
3.) Philadelphia Eagles: Mike Vick a (14-32, 187 yds, 2 tds) and the “Dream Team” Eagles started off the season on a good note. We all know the Philly secondary is lethal, but Eagles fans have to be worried about an offensive line that can’t give Vick any time in the pocket. On a scary note, LeSean McCoy rushed for 122 yards and a score in the Eagles backfield, him combined with Vick and speedy receiver DeSean Jackson will have the Eagles offense lighting up scoreboards all season.
4.) Baltimore Ravens: Baltimore was favored against Pittsburgh last week, but was anyone really expecting there to be any scoring in this game, like, at all? Quarterback Joe Flacco torched the Steelers’ secondary for 224 yards and 3 touchdowns, but the Ravens most important part of the team is their defense. A defense that allowed only 7 points against the former AFC champions while notching up 7 turnovers, including 3 interceptions of Big Ben Roethlisberger.
5.) New Orleans Saints: How great was it watching Drew Brees (32-49, 419 yds, 3 tds) and Aaron Rodgers air it out on Thursday to open up the NFL season? The Saints defense looked poor, but it should be noted that the Packers passing attack is the best in the game right now. Rookie Mark Ingram may have gotten stuffed at the line for the game-tying touchdown, but he looked overall decent in his NFL debut.
6.) Chicago Bears: ‘Da Bears were supposed to be this season’s let down team after winning the NFC North and going 13-3 last season. Brian Urlacher was supposed to be too old, and Jay Cutler too soft. None of that showed on Sunday as the Bears massacred the Atlanta Falcons 30-12 at Soldier Field in Chicago. If the Bears are going to make another push for the NFC crown, they started off on a good foot. Especially Cutler, who went 22-32 for 312 yards and 2 touchdowns.
7.) Pittsburgh Steelers: The Steelers will bounce back after a road loss to the Ravens, i think. Conventional wisdom says that the Pittsburgh defense will buckle down in upcoming games, but there has to be a sense of concern around the team after James Harrison and that defense were torched by a usually vanilla Baltimore offensive attack.
8.) New York Jets: The cardiac kids did it again this week against the Cowboys. With all eyes on them Sunday night, the Jets pulled off an amazing victory after trailing 24-14 in the fourth quarter. Rex may have won the “Ryan Bowl”, but there is no happiness coming from the defense this week after giving up 390 total yards to the Cowboys, the fifth-highest total in 33 games under Ryan.
9.) San Diego Chargers: A September victory for the Chargers! That has to be a first, at least in the Norv Turner era. San Diego battled back to defeat the Vikings on Sunday, 24-17. The San Diego defense held Donovon McNabb and the Vikings to only 39 yards passing, but only time will tell as to if the Chargers are finally ready to take the next step in the AFC.
10.) Houston Texans (Tie with Atlanta): The Texans looked like a great team on Sunday, but until they show that their defense can stop a team not quarterbacked by Kerry Collins (he who was writing country songs 15 days ago), they won’t jump up on this list.
10.) Atlanta Falcons (Tie with Houston): I still fully expect the Falcons to make the playoffs this year, but Sunday’s game against Chicago was just plain ugly. If Matt Ryan wants to win as many games as he did last year, he’ll have to much more careful with the football.
Just Missed the Cut: Buffalo Bills (41-7 vs. Kansas City), Detroit Lions (27-20 vs. Tampa Bay), Washington Redskins (28-14 vs. New York Giants)
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