Our good friends (and web traffic ranking twins) over at Real Clear Sports have a wonderful feature where they average all the major power rankings for the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB each week. They accumulate and average the rankings from 8 major media power rankings and the findings show that the Upper Midwest is ruling football right now.
Yes, it’s just week one, and power rankings are extremely subjective in nature- but the NFC North had the most impressive showing in the rankings thus far. Remember the NFL has no BcS.
The only other division that came even close was the AFC East.
Three of the North’s teams are in the top 12. Green Bay tops the chart, with the Chicago Bears #9 and the Detroit Lions are #12. Predictably, the Minnesota Vikings are the laggard, way down there at #26. But the Bears and Lions looked pretty good Sunday.
Bear in mind, only one wild card can come from the NFC North division this season. So somebody might be left out in the cold like the 2008 New England Patriots (the Matt Cassell year, when they were 11-5 but not in the postseason).
The Packers, the defending Super Bowl Champs look like the best team in the NFL obviously. Last year’s S MVP Aaron Rodgers looked like he might the best player in football. Not just the best QB, but best football player alive right now. He’s more about him.
The Patriots looked second best in week one as Tom Brady threw for a new Monday Night Football and New England Patriots franchise record for passing yards, 32-48 for 517! 4 TDs 1 INT, 121.6 passer rating. The Jets come in second giving the East the best pair of teams, but the Buffalo Bills are way down at #20, and the Miami Dolphins are #24.
So if you believe in these numbers, the NFC North has much more competitive balance than the AFC East, or any other division.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site that generates millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
He does regular weekly radio spots in Chicago and Cleveland and has appeared on live shows all across the world from Houston to New Zealand. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too