2024 NFL Week 1 Power Rankings: Welcome to a brand new season
Congratulations on making it to another NFL season. We really made it.
There are other sports that help pass the time, but there is clearly nothing like football and nothing like the National Football League. Thursday will kick off the 105th season in league history which is pretty crazy to think about, thankfully the Dallas Cowboys have only been in a Super Bowl drought for about the final third of that.
While the season will surely be epic, the truth is that right now we don’t know what it will yield. Every week will give us another set of data to work with, but we have to lay out the state of things as we see it before get there.
Every week here at BTB you can find our power rankings where we put together our ranking of every team in the league at that moment, plus a collection of how outlets across the internet view the Dallas Cowboys.
Happy football season. Let’s go.
They are the unquestioned kings until proven very much otherwise.
If there was an all-time bridesmaid it might be the 49ers over the last few years. So many elite teams with top-level appearances and zero trophies to show for it.
3 – Baltimore Ravens
They boast the reigning MVP and should never be counted out.
4 – Detroit Lions
I am certainly a believer. But the amount of people who overlook that they blew a 17-point lead in the NFC Championship Game really is something.
5 – Houston Texans
There is a ton of hype here. We will see if they live up to it.
Joe Burrow is back. That is a problem for everyone else.
7 – Dallas Cowboys
It is wild how this remains one of the best teams in the NFL on paper given, uh, everything.
8 – Buffalo Bills
They had a very similar offseason to Dallas in that they did not do much. Josh Allen time.
It is a very different thing when you are not taking teams by surprise. But I would not bet against Jordan Love.
10 – Philadelphia Eagles
Do I wish the Cowboys were as aggressive as them from a front office perspective? Yes.
Are there an enormously large amount of people forgetting their historic collapse across the second half of last season? Also yes.
11 – Los Angeles Rams
Is this the final season of Matthew Stafford in LA?
12 – Miami Dolphins
When they are humming no one can run with them, but we have yet to see that hold over an entire season and into the playoffs.
Mike McDaniel has taken them to the dance in each of his first two years but has not won a game there, yet he received a contract extension this summer. Imagine that!
13 – New York Jets
Prepare to have this team thrown all in your face. Again.
14 – Jacksonville Jaguars
Obviously their second half collapse last year was something in and of itself.
Is the pressure sort of on Doug Pederson?
15 – Cleveland Browns
So much depends on if Deshaun Watson can be a legitimate NFL quarterback.
16 – Atlanta Falcons
I’ve always believed in Kirk Cousins. I expect them to win the division, like many do.
17 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Is this the year they return back to that team we sort of sometimes think about every now and then?
18 – Los Angeles Chargers
Jim Harbaugh time, baby.
19 – Seattle Seahawks
They have so many receivers, but trusting it all to Geno Smith remains an interesting choice.
20 – New Orleans Saints
If there was a truly blah team, it is the Saints.
21 – Indianapolis Colts
I’d love to see Anthony Richardson pay off. We will see.
22 – Chicago Bears
There is no question that there is a ton of excitement. Now we need to see it realized.
They are low to start, but I would not be shocked if it all works. Time will tell.
24 – Denver Broncos
Bo Nix may not be bad, but that absolutely no one is calling for Sean Payton in any way remains an incredible thing.
25 – Tennessee Titans
They are the top contenders with New Orleans for the title of blah.
26 – Arizona Cardinals
I do anticipate that they will be better. Kyler Murray will win a lot of people their fantasy football leagues.
27 – Minnesota Vikings
It is such a bummer that we have to see them without J.J. McCarthy this year.
28 – Las Vegas Raiders
Not quite blah, but only because of historical value.
29 – Pittsburgh Steelers
Are we supposed to buy in all of a sudden?
30 – New York Giants
Nobody is nervous about this team. Nobody.
31 – New England Patriots
Bring in Drake Maye and we can talk.
32 – Carolina Panthers
You have to prove everything.
NFL.com: 10 (LW: N/A)
Top 10!
They’ve averted crisis with the CeeDee Lamb deal and found a way to kick other cans, such as Dak Prescott’s contract situation, down the road a bit longer. And really, when you’re as talented as Dallas is, and you have most of your team ready to go, you should win. But with Prescott and Mike McCarthy facing such pressure-packed seasons and the Cowboys drawing a much tougher schedule than a year ago, reaching the 12-win plateau Dallas has hit in each of the past three seasons feels difficult. That puts even more emphasis on playoff performance, which is where the ‘Boys really struggled over the past few seasons. This is why I have them 10th and not higher.
ESPN: 6 (LW: N/A)
This is admittedly a time where not everybody has traditional power rankings (that will begin next week after the first round of games). In this instance ESPN put together their rankings based on how their Football Power Index saw things and then added context from their staff.
FPI’s overall ranking: No. 6
Chances to win division: 45.5%
Chances to make the playoffs: 77.8%
Projected wins: 10.3
Strength of schedule: 16th hardest
Biggest strength: The connection from Dak Prescott to CeeDee Lamb. Lamb led the NFL in catches with 135 and set a team record with 1,747 yards to go along with 12 receiving touchdowns last season. Prescott led the NFL in touchdown passes (36) and finished second in MVP voting. Lamb’s absence from training camp wasn’t the best for their connection, but they spent ample time together in the offseason to keep it sharp. Both believe they will have enough time to get up to speed for the regular season, which will be a must if the Cowboys are to make the playoffs for a fourth straight season. — Todd Archer
Biggest concern: The Cowboys need a fast start to the season, and five of their first seven games are against playoff teams from 2023. Without a fast start, the tension level rises on Mike McCarthy and the rest of his coaching staff, who are all on one-year deals. Jerry Jones has made one in-season coaching change in his time as owner and GM. In 2010, he relieved Wade Phillips at the midway point and named Jason Garrett the interim coach. — Archer
USA Today: 18 (LW: N/A)
Outside of the top half.
With WR CeeDee Lamb successfully extended, the 2023 NFC East champs … have checked off a major objective even as they’re likely on the way to being a lesser version of last year’s team.
Yahoo: 5 (LW: N/A)
Numero cinco.
CeeDee Lamb got his deal, and with plenty of time before the season to be at his normal workload. However, “normal workload” might change.
“He’s going to touch the ball a ton,” Stephen Jones told Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein. “When you pay receivers that kind of money, they got to catch the ball 8-12 times a game, 15 times, an occasional 15.”
In other words, the Cowboys are paying $34 million a year and they’re getting their money’s worth.
CBS Sports: 10 (LW: N/A)
We are bouncing around a bit here.
This appears to be a prove-it season for Mike McCarthy and Dak Prescott since McCarthy is in his final year of a contract and Prescott didn’t get a long-term deal. Getting CeeDee Lamb signed was smart to get him back on the field.
The Athletic: 7 (LW: N/A)
Monica Geller will approve.
Preseason vibes: One-third fixed
Despite owner/general manager/team spokesman Jerry Jones’ pronouncement that the Cowboys are “all in,” Dallas is 28th in the NFL in cash spending, according to Over the Cap, even after giving CeeDee Lamb the second-largest wide receiver deal in history last week (four years, $100 million guaranteed). The division rival Eagles still are spending $100 million more than Dallas. Who knows, though? If Jones pays quarterback Dak Prescott and linebacker Micah Parsons, maybe they’ll catch up sometime. Maybe they’ll even win a playoff game sometime, too.
Sports Illustrated: 11 (LW: N/A)
And there you have it.
Dalvin Cook! All right! Nothing to see here, right guys?! Jerry Jones’s misguided belief that contractual pressure creates greatness is straight out of some ridiculous Animal Farm fantasy. For some people that might be true, but for the lot of people angling to take care of their families, it’s a useless and offensive ploy to mask larger issues. It’s frustrating because Dallas stumbled into a handful of players who will make this team better than it should be. Jones wanted Connor Cook. The Broncos and Raiders drafted the wrong receivers ahead of CeeDee Lamb in 2020. And the Giants have a phobia of drafting linebackers in the first round, so they traded back with the Bears and left Micah Parsons on the board. This raft will still float by virtue of these coincidences.
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