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Ian Allan

August 29, 2016

Division winners

Power rankings for all eight divisions

With 48 games behind us, we’ve seen all of the teams a few times. We’re starting to get a feel for which teams are going to be good, and which ones are going to struggle. (That’s the theory, anyway; who would have thought back in 2008, when the Lions were undefeated in the preseason, that they wouldn’t win any regular season games?)

But things appear to be coming into focus. I see the eight divisions panning out this way:

NFC North:

  1. Green Bay
  2. Minnesota
  3. Detroit
  4. Chicago

I’m starting with this one because I consider it to be the easiest. Bears definitely last. Lions definitely 3rd. Only decision is who’s winning it. Packers have more veteran quarterback. Vikings have better defense.

NFC West:

  1. Seattle
  2. Arizona
  3. Los Angeles
  4. San Francisco

I am confidently inking in San Francisco for last, and Rams are most certainly 3rd. I would have called Arizona the winner a few weeks back, but Carson Palmer has sure looked old and shaky in the preseason.

NFC East:

  1. Washington
  2. Dallas
  3. New York
  4. Philadelphia

This one is pretty wide open. Cowboys are starting a rookie quarterback, but I’m not sure they’ll miss Tony Romo at all. They could win it. The concern there isn’t the quarterback, I think, but the lack of talent on the defensive side. The Giants will be better defensively, but their offense sure has struggled in the preseason.

NFC South:

  1. Carolina
  2. Tampa Bay
  3. New Orleans
  4. Atlanta

Saints and Falcons struggled last year, and I don’t see any indication that those teams are headed back up. Carolina looks like the class of this group – in my opinion, the NFC team that is most certain to win its division.

AFC South:

  1. Houston
  2. Jacksonville
  3. Tennessee
  4. Indianapolis

A month ago I would have had the Colts in the top spot, but they still have problems with both their offensive and defensive lines, and all three of the other teams in this division look a lot better. Tennessee will be able to grind it on some teams with that running game. I’m not considering any team other than the Texans as the winner of this group – by far the best defense, and an offense that appears to be vastly improved.

AFC North:

  1. Pittsburgh
  2. Cincinnati
  3. Baltimore
  4. Cleveland

The Browns are a lock for last. Not much difference between the other three. The Ravens have a lot of key guys trying to come back from injuries. I should point out that with this project, I’m not including schedules. Later I will go through and pick all 256 regular-season games, and the order on those first three might change at that time. For now, just ranking them based on how they look.

AFC East:

  1. New England
  2. New York
  3. Miami
  4. Buffalo

Patriots are definitely winning it, like they always do. I don’t see much difference between the other three teams (I don’t see any of them making it into the postseason).

AFC West:

  1. San Diego
  2. Kansas City
  3. Denver
  4. Oakland

By far the most competitive division, I think. Order of finish will likely will determined by scheduling. On that front, the Chargers get the early head start. They’re playing the Browns, while the rest of the division are playing the Bengals, Ravens and Steelers. They’re at home against Miami (another win), while the Broncos play New England and the others are at the Bills and Jets. This division doesn’t have a last-place team. Nor does it have any team that looks particularly safe to make the playoffs.

Anyway, that's the way I see. Be sure to let me know in the comments where you think I'm missing the mark.

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