Thursday night marks the end of our long national nightmare when the NFL finally returns from its hiatus when the Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens travel to Denver to play Peyton Manning and the Broncos. Then on Sunday it all starts for real with a schedule front-loaded by 10 games with 1:00 p.m. starts.
In order to get ready for the upcoming NFL season here are HNGN's first Power Rankings of the year.
1. San Francisco - The Niners made the Super Bowl last year behind rookie sensation Colin Kaepernick, now he has had an entire offseason of reps with the starters and should be even better. The addition of Anquan Boldin should offset the loss of Michael Crabtree. Until it is proven otherwise the Niners should be the Super Bowl favorites.
2. Denver - The Broncos' worst move of the offseason was an inability to fax Elvis Dumervil in time to prevent him from leaving town. The combination of Welker and Manning should have defensive coordinators around the league crying for mercy. Add in the fact that the AFC West may be the worst division in recent memory and the Broncos should cruise to at least 12 wins.
3. Seattle - The Seahawks look like they should be just as formidable as they were last year, especially since Russell Wilson seemed to get better every start. They have the best home field advantage in the league, which could be enough of an edge to give them the competitive NFC West.
4. Atlanta - Last season the Falcons were so close to making their first trip to the Super Bowl since Eugene Robinson got arrested for soliciting an undercover officer, and more importantly, they lost to the Broncos. The NFC South should be a lot tougher this year but the Falcons still look to be the favorites thanks to their high powered offense.
5. Green Bay - Every season people worry about the Packers because they seem to have forgotten to put a running back on the team and every year Aaron Rodgers proves them wrong. If the defense is even an iota better than it was last year Green Bay should be playing deep into January.
6. Houston - The Texans are going to need a bounce back year from Andre Johnson if they hope to repeat as division champions. The addition of Ed Reed should help their mediocre secondary, if he gets on the field anytime soon. The Texans will be greatly helped by 4 games against Jacksonville and Tennessee as well as the gift that is playing the AFC West.
7. New England - One of these days there is going to be a situation in New England that is dire enough that everyone will finally lose faith in Bill Belichick finding a way to win. We got close to that this year, but not quite. The defense looks like it will continue to improve and Tom Brady is still Tom Brady. If Gronk can come back any time before the half way point the Pats have little to worry about.
8. Washington - More than any other team the Redskins' spot in the power rankings is completely contingent on one player. If RGIII goes down with another injury this team won't crack the top twenty. As long as RGIII is playing Washington should be the favorites for the East.
9. New Orleans - Last year the Saints defense was bad. Horrifically bad. It's easy to overlook this since Sean Payton was missing and the team suffered from his absence. If the defense can get a little bit better under new D-Coordinator Rob Ryan the Saints should be looking good, everyone knows that Drew Brees and the offense will put up some points.
10. Baltimore - The Ravens signed Joe Flacco to a long term deal and seemingly let everyone else from their Super Bowl winning team go. The team won't miss Ed Reed or Ray Lewis nearly as much on the field as the talking heads will lead you to believe and they should still be quite formidable. Plus, Torrey Smith is still really, really fast.
11. Chicago - Fans in the Windy City are hoping that the combination of new coach Marc Trestman's offense and a contract year for Jay Cutler will create a formidable offense to go with the still stifling defense. As long as Cutler can stay off his back the Bears should be able to contend in the tough NFC North.
12. Cincinnati - While Andy Dalton is still a mediocre quarterback he is surrounded by great talent in the Law Firm and A.J. Green. The Bengals ended the year with one of the best defenses in the league and it looks like they should still be quite formidable on that side of the ball.
13. New York Giants - If, and with current injuries this is a huge if, Eli Manning can keep his jersey clean behind a makeshift offensive line the Giants should be able to stay competitive in the evenly matched NFC East. They will also need to shore up their pass defense which was ranked 28th in the league last season.
14. Indianapolis - There is no way the Colts will be as good as they were last year. They took advantage of a horrific strength of schedule and a whole lot of luck, and Luck, last year. That being said, they still play in a weak division and should make the most out of Luck reuniting with his OC from Stanford.
15. Pittsburgh - In what seems to be a recurring theme the Steelers will need the offensive line to play a heck of a lot better than they did last season if they want to compete. Big Ben can take a beating better than almost any other quarterback in the league, but it would still be nice if he had a little time to throw.
16. Dallas - If any team should hit rock bottom it is the Cowboys, instead it looks like they were spend another year just good enough to have a bad draft slot and nowhere near talented enough to make the playoffs. They should get a pretty big upgrade at defense with Monte Kiffin's system preventing the big plays.
17. Miami - Ryan Tannehill should be settled into the offense this year and now he has Mike Wallace to throw to. The defense should remain stingy on the run and it won't hurt to have 4 games against Buffalo and the Jets.
18. St. Louis - There were two Rams teams last year; the team that dominated the rest of the NFC West and the team that got creamed by the rest of the league. Hopefully the former team shows up and Sam Bradford finally shows his potential.
19. Kansas City - On paper it looks like the Chiefs could be pretty great; Dwayne Bowe, Jamaal Charles, and Alex Smith are all pretty excellent players. Add in the coaching expertise of Andy Reid and the Chiefs could make a huge jump this season. Or, they could underachieve and Reid could get overly pass-happy and ignore Charles completely.
20. Detroit - If Stafford, Megatron and Suh can stay healthy the Lions should be able to hang with the NFC North and possibly grab a playoff spot. If either of those three misses any time they may be destined for a second consecutive 4 win season.
21. Carolina - Cam Newton combined for 27 touchdowns passing and running last year. The Panthers will need some other players to contribute this season, especially in a division where the Falcons are still strong and the Saints and Bucs should be better than they were previously.
22. Tampa Bay - This season is probably the last chance Josh Freeman has to prove whether or not he deserves to be a starter in the NFL. Despite the top ranked rushing defense the Bucs sported the most porous pass defense last season. Revis should help fix the secondary but it remains to be seen if he can be a miracle worker.
23. San Diego - Much like the Cowboys the Chargers are a team that probably needs to just blow everything up and start from scratch. Philip Rivers is still talented and Antonio Gates might have a little left in the tank but it should be a long season for the Chargers.
24. Minnesota - It took one of the greatest seasons by a running back in the history of the NFL for the Vikings to make the playoffs by the skin of their teeth last season, anything less and they would have been a mediocre also ran. Peterson can't possibly replicate the success of last year and the team will suffer because of it... unless he proves everyone wrong once again.
25. Philadelphia - For years teams have wondered if Chip Kelly's brand of offense would be able to translate to the NFL. By week 2 or 3 we should have a definite answer and here's to guessing that it's not the answer Eagles fans were hoping for.
26. Cleveland - Don't be shocked if the Browns end up finishing the year near .500. Despite how horrible Brandon Weeden is, and he is horrible, there is a lot of young talent elsewhere on the roster. It'll also be interesting to see Norv's return to offensive coordinator.
27. Tennessee - Chris Johnson is still a beast and Jake Locker has a lot of potential but is injury prone. That's about all we know about the Titans for sure, don't expect a drastic improvement off of the 6 win season in 2012.
28. Arizona - When the arrival of Carson Palmer is met with such glee it should be taken as a sign of potential problems. Although, when Kurt Warner showed up in Arizona people were saying the same things about him being washed up....this is not the same situation for Cardinals fans. The offense should be improved but the division is a killer.
29. Buffalo - This is a weird spot for the power rankings. I finally came to the realization that I can't rank all 4 remaining teams 32nd. The Bills are already decimated by injury, Kevin Kolb might be done for the year, but they have a much higher upside than the other three teams remaining. If EJ Manuel can get healthy and produce just a little bit he and CJ Spiller could carry this team to 7 or maybe 8 wins.
30. Jacksonville - It appears as if Blaine Gabbert has won the starting job over Chad Henne, which is probably disappointing for Jags fans. If Henne won the job they could resign themselves to tanking with dreams of Teddy Bridgewater. MJD should produce better than he did last year but it looks as if it will be another lost season for him in Jacksonville. If only there was a local boy who could draw fans and play quarterback available for the Jags to sign this late in the season....Tebow?
31. Oakland - The Raiders are pretty similar to the Jaguars. They have an absolute catastrophe at the most important position on the field, Terrelle Pryor is the likely starter, and an extremely talented running back who deserves to be playing on a much better team. Charles Woodson is probably seriously questioning why he decided to return.
32. New York Jets - Even the most dedicated fan in the world, Fireman Ed, had to jump ship after the idiocy filled 2012 season and frankly it looks like this season might be worse. Remember when Vinny Testaverde was a bit washed up playing for the Jets in 2005? Well, he could easily win the job under center this season at the ripe old age of 49.
*All stats taken from either NFL.com or ESPN.com
