Craig's Picks & Power Rankings: Week 1

What would you rather do on a Saturday morning than wake up early and read weekly picks and power rankings involving 32 teams that basically are of equal strength and ability to beat, lose to or tie anyone on any given Sunday, Monday, Saturday, Thursday (and some day, when the revenue ceiling needs to be extended to a gazillion bazillion dollars, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday as well)?

CRAIG'S NFL POWER RANKINGS
BEST OF THE BUNCH
1. Seahawks (1-0)
Why: They're the defending champs and, based on Thursday night's headslapping of the Packers, they still look angry. Some of us believe teams can't repeat cuz there always is going to be another, hungrier team that will catch them from behind. Percy Harvin's good health could change that for Seattle. Wow, he looks good.

THE REST
2. Patriots (0-0); 3. 49ers (0-0); 4. Broncos (0-0); 5. Saints (9-2); 6. Colts (0-0); 7. Eagles (0-0); 8. Packers (0-1); 9. Steelers (0-0); 10. Ravens (0-0); 11. Falcons (0-0); 12. Cardinals (0-0); 13. Dolphins (0-0); 14. Chiefs (0-0); 15. Bears (0-0); 16. Chargers (0-0); 17. Buccaneer (0-0); 18. Giants (0-0); 19. Bengals (0-0); 20. Panthers (0-0); 21. Lions (0-0).

THE VIKINGS
22. Vikings 0-0 (Last year's final ranking: Not sure, but it wasn't good): The offense has a lot of talent and a new sense of poise since the franchise moved on from its commitment to Christian Ponder. Matt Cassel claims he worked harder than ever to learn Norv Turner's complex offense. And, so far, it has shown. The defense also looks to be better. Then again, that's not saying much.

THE REST OF THE REST
23. Jets (0-0); 24. Redskins (0-0); 25. Browns (0-0); 26. Titans (0-0); 27. Texans (0-0); 28. Rams (0-0); 29. Bills (0-0); 30. Cowboys (0-0); 31. Jaguars (0-0).

WORST OF THE BUNCH
32: Raiders (0-0): Cheer up, Raiders fans. As bad as things will get for Derek Carr, they probably won't be as bad as Josh Freeman was on that Monday evening in October a year ago.

THREE REASONS FOR VIKINGS FANS TO BE HOPEFUL

2, Matt Cassel and Norv Turner have brought stability to the quarterback position. Turner has been demanding and Cassel put in the work to learn a complex offense.

3, The defense is more flexible and unpredictable. That's a good thing, but only if these fellas tackle better than they did last year.

THREE REASONS FOR VIKINGS FANS TO BE NERVOUS

1, The offensive line underachieved a year ago and it's first test this year is a road game, in a dome against the best front four in the NFL. Three first-round picks make up the Rams' starting front line, while another one is a key contributor in passing situations.

2, Two of the five key defensive back positions – strong safety and No. 3 cornerback – were won basically by default. Strong safety Robert Blanton will be making his fourth career start after missing significant time in training camp because of a hamstring injury. With some healthy competition, he wouldn't be starting. The same could be said for No. 3 corner Josh Robinson, who also is coming off a season in which he struggled. With or without Sam Bradford, the Rams present a lot of quality passing targets to account for.

THE PICKS

VIKINGS
Vikings plus-3 ½ at Rams. The pick: Rams 21, Vikings 17.
It's hard going against a healthy, fresh and champing-at-the-bit Adrian Peterson in a building where he ran for 212 yards not so long ago. But a few things popped up while watching some of the Rams' preseason games. A, They have a lot of quality receivers and tight ends who run as well as receivers. B, Shaun Hill looked as comfortable as Sam Bradford and almost as good. C, Their pass rushers, led obviously by Robert Quinn, are elite and seemingly everywhere. Remember, Peterson's 212-yard game started with him losing yardage on six of his first eight carries. So it's not like they didn't know how to stop him. They just weren't consistent. In the end, this pick was viewed as a close call that was decided by where the game is being played.

UPSET SPECIAL
Giants plus-5 ½ at Lions: Giants 27, Lions 24.
Why?: Eli was awful last year. And that usually means he's about to win a Super Bowl. That seems highly unlikely, but we'll give him a win at Detroit.

THE REST
Saints minus-3 at Falcons: Saints by 7.

Browns plus-6 ½ at Steelers: Steelers by 7.

Raiders plus-5 ½ at Jets: Jets by 6.

Bengals plus-2 at Ravens: Ravens by 3.

Bills plus-7 at Bears: Bears by 3.

Titans plus-3 ½ at Chiefs: Chiefs by 7.

Patriots minus-5 at Dolphins: Patriots by 10.

49ers minus-5 at Cowboys: 49ers by 7.

Colts plus-7 ½ at Broncos: Broncos by 3.

Chargers plus-3 at Cardinals: Cardinals by 7.