Post Pre-Season Top 10 NFL Power Rankings

Post Pre-Season Top 10 NFL Power Rankings
Tue 3rd September 2019

It’s been a wild fortnight in the NFL!

Shock retirements, devastating injuries, continuing contract hold-outs and mind-boggling trades have all conspired to change the landscape of the league as we build in to Week 1 of the 2019 season.

On Saturday,each team was forced to cut down their rosters to 53 players and, as such, the starting base for all 32 teams has been set.

With the Bears and Packers kicking us off on Thursday night in one of football’s oldest rivalries, now is the perfect time to take a step back and re-assess the state of the NFL landscape.

Welcome to Sportstips.com’s top 10 preseason power-rankings.

1. New England Patriots

Could it be anyone else?

The reigning champions, as usual, have done everything right this preseason. With some of the shake-ups in recent days it also seems like their closest AFC rivals are starting to fall off the pace.

Oh, and they also get the added bonus of a rejuvenated, rested, reinstated Josh Gordon to add to a receiving corps which is already starting to look stacked, despite the cut of Demariyus Thomas and the retirement of Rob Gronkowski.

 

At the moment, there is nothing to suggest the Pats are anything but Super Bowl bound. Again.

2. Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs are scary good on offense.

Signing LeSean McCoy and trading Carlos Hyde to Houston is a pretty good indication of how well they’re going.

 

Kansas City has an embarrassment of riches, led by reigning-MVP Patrick Mahomes, who would be licking his lips at the amount of pressure being taken off his shoulders. McCoy, Damien Williams, Darrel Williams and Darwin Thompson all on the roster should ensure this is one of the best backfields in the league.

While the defense is still an issue it has certainly improved since last season. On paper this is a better team than the one that lost to the Pats in the AFC Championship game.

 

3. Philadelphia Eagles

If – and it’s a big if – Carson Wentz can find a way to stay on field, this team is clearly good enough to go deep in to the playoffs.

However, the loss of Nick Foles in free agency takes away a serious security blanket. There is now no margin for error in Philly.

That said, they seem to be flying under the radar. The Eagles have made definite upgrades on offense, will return most of their core on defense and have a friendly schedule.

Injuries –  only the Buccaneers lost more games to them in 2018, per Football Outsiders – can bring the Eagles down.

4. New Orleans Saints

Drew Brees, Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas.

Those three names are really all you need to know about the Saints. Any team with that kind of offensive firepower is going to be a handful in the postseason, whenever and wherever they play.

New Orleans could have (and probably should have) made the Super Bowl in 2018, and you can bet that they and their fans will have a point to prove going in to this season.

5. LA Rams

If it wasn’t for Todd Gurley’s injury struggles, the Rams probably would’ve won the Super Bowl last season.

Like most of the teams above them, it’s just impossible to see a roster led by Jared Goff and featuring the unbridled receiving talent of Brandin Cooks, Cooper Kupp, and Robert Woods not competing at the pointy end of the season.

Even if Gurley’s knee turns out to be worse than anticipated, with a full offseason under his belt, expect resident head coach / super genius Sean McVay to have built a strategy fully around whatever the Rams’ star RB is able to produce.

Oh, and we’re also very excited to see what new signee Clay Matthews can do in La La Land.

 

7. Los Angeles Chargers

QB Phillip Rivers is arguably in his prime, and a relatively easy schedule should see the Chargers with a high seeding going in to the playoffs.

Unfortunately, though, the injury to safety Derwin James and the continued holdout of Melvin Ingram have cast a bit of a pall over the Chargers’ pre-season. It’s also worth noting that even though they’re arguably the 7th-best team in the NFL, the Chargers are not only not the most talented team in LA, they may not even be the most talented team in the AFC West.

The Chiefs are a nightmare team to have to play twice in the regular season, and might be the only thing standing in the way of the Chargers and a top seeding. It also doesn’t help that they managed to snaffle McCoy from under LA’s nose.

 

8. Seattle Seahawks

Seattle’s trade for Jadeveon Clowney may end up being the biggest move of this NFL offseason.

No longer is this a team wholly reliant on the generational talent of Russell Wilson. The Seahawks now have enough ability on both sides of the ball to be a serious threat against any other team in the league. Check out this front 7:

Ziggy Ansah

Poona Ford

Jarran Reed

Jadeveon Clowney

Bobby Wagner

KJ Wright

Mychal Kendricks

Find a stronger one in football. We dare you.

9. Chicago Bears

Chicago showed last season that they have the ability to win a playoff game, now they just need to put it all together and actually do it.

Their defense is stacked, their offense has all the pieces at all the right skill positions and, really, their hopes rise and fall on whether Mitch Trubisky can take the next step to become an elite NFL QB.

Matt Nagy seems to be one of the rising stars in the coaching ranks, and Chicago have a dark horse feel to them which is hard to shake.

Weighing against the Bears is that arguably they play in the toughest division in football, and Trubisky may never be able to shake the stigma of being taken ahead of Patrick Mahomes.

Reminder that the Bears traded up to draft Mitch Trubisky with Patrick Mahomes still available.

— Barry McCockiner (@LoverOfTroops) September 2, 2019

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10. Houston Texans

Yes, the Texans lost their former number 1 draft pick to the Seahawks.

However, they still made some decent moves in amongst the mess. Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills were both great additions on offense, and will fit excellently alongside running back Duke Johnson Jr. and wide receivers DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller and Keke Coutee

The Texans have won the AFC South three of the past four seasons and should again with Indianapolis losing Andrew Luck.

Their potential under Deshaun Watson is immense, and Tunsil will provide him with all the protection he needs.

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