NFL Power Rankings, Week 1: Saints Still Dominant, Raiders Still The Raiders

Welcome to SB Nation's NFL Power Rankings.

Because this is the first set of NFL power rankings since our preseason rankings, there's more movement than you would normally see. Some teams that we thought were good, struggled in Week 1 (looking at you, 49ers) and some teams that we thought weren't very good, played very well (looking at you, Redskins).

For the most part, the usual suspects are near the top in our NFL power rankings -- Saints, Colts, Patriots -- and the basement is occupied by many of the same teams as last year -- Raiders, Rams and Bills.

Without further ado, here are SB Nation's NFL Power Rankings.

32. Oakland Raiders (0-1)

Last week's rank: 27

Last game: Titans (Lost)

SB Nation: Silver And Black Pride

The Raiders were completely dominated by the Titans. There aren't many positives to take out of that game.

31. St. Louis Rams (0-1)

Last week's rank: 32

Last game: Cardinals (lost)

SB Nation: Turf Show Times

The Rams played better than what many people thought they would losing 17-14 to the Cardinals. Early results say Sam Bradford was the correct pick at quarterback. they'll improve in our power rankings despite the loss (don't thank me -- thank the Raiders).

30. Buffalo Bills (0-1)

Last week's rank: 31

Last game: Dolphins (lost)

SB Nation: Buffalo Rumblings

C.J. Spiller's impact in 2010 is still To Be Determined. He averaged less than one yard per carry in game one against the Dolphiins. Still I figured the Bills would be blown out against the Dolphins but they kept it close.

29. Cleveland Browns (0-1)

Last week's rank: 29

Last game: Bucs (lost)

SB Nation: Dawgs By Nature

Browns QB Jake Delhomme is in a walking boot and his backup is Seneca Wallace so this ranking may not improve next week.

28. Detroit Lions (0-1)

Last week's rank: 28

Last game: Bears (lost)

SB Nation: Pride Of Detroit

The Lions lost on what will be known as The Calvin Johnson Rule. QB Matthew Stafford looks like he'll be out a couple of weeks so the Lions should get used to the bottom of the NFL power rankings.

27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0)

Last week's rank: 30

Last game: Browns (won)

SB Nation: Bucs Nation

They only beat the Browns last week but a victory still deserves a boost in the rankings.

26. Carolina Panthers (0-1)

Last week's rank: 17

Last game: Giants (lost)

SB Nation: Cat Scratch Reader

This is a big drop for the Panthers but that's more about us overvaluing them to start the season. With Matt Moore, they may be better suited for the bottom half of these rankings.

25. Denver Broncos (0-1)

Last week's rank: 23

Last game: Jaguars (lost)

SB Nation: Mile High Report

The Broncos were probably the better team on Sunday against the Jaguars but a 24-17 loss isn't the end of the world in a week AFC West.

24. Arizona Cardinals (1-0)

Last week's rank: 25

Last game: Rams (won)

SB Nation: Revenge Of The Birds

The Cardinals will stay the same because they squeaked by the lowly Rams. They've got to fix the quarterback position or else they'll be dropping in the coming weeks.

23. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0)

Last week's rank: 24

Last game: Broncos (won)

SB Nation: Big Cat Country

A win's a win no matter how it comes. The Jaguars will need more than 98 yards from Maurice Jones-Drew to be consistent winners.

22. Kansas City Chiefs (1-0)

Last week's rank: 26

Last game: Chargers (won)

SB Nation: Arrowhead Pride

The Chiefs won a thriller on Monday Night Football against the Chargers. They won't win very often with Matt Cassel throwing for 68 yards but it's a big win nevertheless.

21. San Francisco 49ers (0-1)

Last week's rank: 13

Last game: Seahawks (lost)

SB Nation: Niners Nation

Maybe we overvalued them in the preseason rankings at 13 but their offense looked terrible against the Seahawks. The defense doesn't deserve a ton of criticism but that offense won't be winning many games this year.

20. Seattle Seahawks (1-0)

Last week's rank: 23

Last game: 49ers (won)

SB Nation: Field Gulls

No matter how you slice it, a 31-6 win is impressive. It looks like the Pete Carroll era may be more successful than some of us thought.

19. Chicago Bears (1-0)

Last week's rank: 20

Last game: Lions (won)

SB Nation: Windy City Gridiron

The Mike Martz influence is in effect. QB Jay Cutler threw for 372 yards but they could only put up 19 points on the Lions. Cutler still has some of his bad habits but he's talented enough that this team will be a tough out.

18. Cincinnati Bengals (0-1)

Last week's rank: 16

Last game: Patriots (lost)

SB Nation: Cincy Jungle

Maybe Chad Ochocinco should be Batman and Terrell Owens should be Robin. Ochocinco had an impressive 159 yards receiving. This was one of the best defense's in the league last year. They'll need to play more like last year's defense to climb in the rankings.

17. Tennessee Titans (1-0)

Last week's rank: 19

Last game: Raiders (won)

SB Nation: Music City Miracles

They don't gain many points by beating our lowest ranked team, the Oakland Raiders, but an efficient performance from Vince Young plus CJ2K gets them some points. They'll be competitive throughout the year as long as Chris Johnson continues to perform like he has the last 17 games.

16. New York Giants (1-0)

Last week's rank: 18

Last game: Panthers (won)

SB Nation: Big Blue View

Eli Manning and Hakeem Nicks help make the Giants passing offense look very good. Their defense -- which I can tell you from personal experience was very solid in fantasy football last week -- is on the rebound after the meltdown at the end of the 2009 season.

15. Philadelphia Eagles (0-1)

Last week's rank: 11

Last game: Packers (lost)

SB Nation: Bleeding Green Nation

After watching last week's loss to the Packers, I'm starting to think that this team would be better with Michael Vick. It's just one game but you can already hear the Vick-backers getting louder. It's hard to see Kevin Kolb starting this week after suffering a concussion on Sunday.

14. Atlanta Falcons (0-1)

Last week's rank: 12

Last game: Steelers (lost)

SB Nation: The Falcoholic

You can't knock the Falcons too bad for losing to a good team like the Steelers but what happened to their offense? They scored just nine points last week. They're better than that and I think they know it.

13. San Diego Chargers (0-1)

Last week's rank: 8

Last game: Chiefs (lost)

SB Nation: Bolts From The Blue

This is what happens when you lose a team that's won ten games in the last three years. The Chargers will rebound and they're still the favorites to win the AFC West.

12. Washington Redskins (1-0)

Last week's rank: 21

Last game: Cowboys (won)

SB Nation: Hogs Haven

Victories don't get much better than Sunday night against the Cowboys. What was surprising was that it was the defense that carried them to victory. I suspect the offense will come around with Donovan McNabb in the fold. After seeing them on Sunday night, the NFC East will be very interesting this year.

11. Miami Dolphins (1-0)

Last week's rank: 10

Last game: Bills (won)

SB Nation: The Phinsider

Yeah, they won and they still dropped. After seeing Sunday's game against the Bills where they won 15-10, it seems that we overvalued them to start. If they're going to be a playoff team, they should be dominating teams like the Bills.

10. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0)

Last week's rank: 14

Last game: Falcons (won)

SB Nation: Behind The Steel Curtain

They've survived game one of the Dennis Dixon era. It wasn't pretty but the defense stepped it up to hold the Falcons to three field goals. This will once again be a very good team when Ben Roethlisberger returns.

9. Houston Texans (1-0)

Last week's rank: 15

Last game: Colts (won)

SB Nation: Battle Red Blog

What a win against the Colts. They've been tabbed the next up-and-coming team to make the playoffs for the last few years. Sunday's win over the Colts clearly demonstrates they're capable of playing in January.

8. Dallas Cowboys (0-1)

Last week's rank: 5

Last game: Redskins (lost)

SB Nation: Blogging The Boys

Suddenly the Cowboys have a little more competition in the NFC East from the Redskins. Sunday's game against the Bears will show us whether the Redskins defense was that good or if the Cowboys were just off last week.

7. New York Jets (0-1)

Last week's rank: 6

Last game: Ravens (lost)

SB Nation: Gang Green Nation

After the offseason of proclaiming a Super Bowl victory, the Jets offense opened flat against the Ravens. Yeah, the Ravens are one of the better defenses in the league but the Jets offense didn't look like a Super Bowl contender on Monday night.

6. Green Bay Packers (1-0)

Last week's rank: 9

Last game: Eagles (won)

SB Nation: Acme Packing Company

This will be a hard ranking for the Packers to maintain with the news that Ryan Grant is out for the year. Once again, all eyes will be on Aaron Rodgers and the Packers passing game.

5. Minnesota Vikings (0-1)

Last week's rank: 3

Last game: Saints (lost)

SB Nation: Daily Norseman

2010 Brett Favre didn't look like 2009 Brett Favre. The first game would suggest that the Vikings will need to allow Adrian Peterson to have a larger role. For some reason, he disappeared from the Vikings offense in the fourth quarter last Thursday against the Saints.

4. New England Patriots (1-0)

Last week's rank: 7

Last game: Bengals (won)

SB Nation: Pats Pulpit

That offense hasn't lost anything. They put up 38 points on the Bengals, who had a solid defense last year. They've traded away Laurence Maroney but that won't matter. This team will be winning games through the air.

3. Indianapolis Colts (0-1)

Last week's rank: 2

Last game: Texans (lost)

SB Nation: Stampede Blue

The Texans were treating last Sunday's game like the Super Bowl (and perhaps rightfully so) so we won't knock the Colts too much. They're still among the elite in the AFC as long as No. 18 is under center.

2. Baltimore Ravens (1-0)

Last week's rank: 4

Last game: Jets (won)

SB Nation: Baltimore Beatdown

I gotta admit that I thought they were ranked too high to start the season. Clearly they proved me wrong. Don't let just 10 points against the Jets fool you -- this offense is legit.

1. New Orleans Saints (1-0)

Last week's rank: 1

Last game: Vikings (won)

SB Nation: Canal Street Chronicles

The World Champs did what they were supposed to do in week one. The offense didn't remind you of the 2009 NFC Championship game against the Vikings but a win is all that matters. Good win for the Saints.