Levines’ NFL Team Rankings

Rankings, rankings, rankings. Everyone always wants to talk about rankings and for good measure as rankings normally give us a good depiction on which teams are better and who has more upside. People trust rankings and because of this rankings have become so popular especially in the NFL. Here are my team rankings for the season and some predictions for the awards that will be given out at the end of the year:

Will Russell Wilson lead the Seahawks back to the Super Bowl in 2015? Or will another team dethrone them? By andrewtat94, via Wikimedia Commons

2. New Orleans Saints: This is one of the only teams I see giving the Seahawks a scare in the NFC

3. New England Patriots: Their offseason additions put them slightly over the Broncos for now in my book

4. Denver Broncos: Peyton Manning will be Peyton Manning, but will it be enough to reach the Super Bowl again?

5. Green Bay Packers: A healthy Aaron Rodgers? Sign me up!

6. Indianapolis Colts: The growth of Andrew Luck shows again and playing in the weakest division will help the Colts, who are on the move into contention.

7. San Francisco 49ers: Their defense took a shot with the suspension of Aldon Smith but they will rebound like they always do.

8. Cincinnati Bengals: Potentially scary offense and a top-three defense that gets back Geno Atkins and Leon Hall. It’s not too bad to be a Cincy fan these days.

9. Philadelphia Eagles: Not 100 percent sold on Foles but I expect them to repeat in the NFC East

10. Baltimore Ravens: Missing the playoffs should give Flacco and company motivation to reach them again so I’m not betting against them

11. Chicago Bears: Lets see if Jay Cutler can really have an MVP-type season. If he does, the Bears can go far.

12. Kansas City Chiefs: Alex Smith has his money, but will he do enough as the quarterback to lead this defensive oriented teams.

13. San Diego Chargers: Phillip Rivers had a career year last season and if he builds on that then the Chargers could make the playoffs again.

14. Arizona Cardinals: This team is good, I mean really good. Carson Palmer is the X-factor here. This team could be top-ten or bottom-five, but will probably end-up somewhere in the middle.

15. Atlanta Falcons: A healthy Roddy White, Julio Jones and others can help the Falcons get back to the playoffs.

16. Carolina Panthers: A sexy pick last season lost many key pieces during the offseason without replacing them well.

17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Lovie Smith was a great hire, plus the additions on defense may help the Bucs be relevant again.

18. Pittsburgh Steelers: They could prove me wrong but I don’t see them team making the playoffs, they are just getting too old and worn-down.

19. New York Jets: Geno Smith will have to show that he really can play in the NFL, otherwise we may see Michael Vick take the field as the starter.

20. Detroit Lions: I really like this Lions team, but Matthew Stafford throws way too many interceptions for me to rely on him as a quarterback to take a team to the playoffs.

21. Miami Dolphins: Again, I like this team and they could make the playoffs but let’s see how Ryan Tannehill does first.

22. New York Giants: They played well toward the end of last season. Maybe that will carry over into this year for Eli Manning and the Giants?

23. Minnesota Vikings: This team could surprise people with their playmakers on offense and having Mike Zimmer as the coach could help the defense

24. St. Louis Rams: Before the Sam Bradford injury, I liked this team but with Shaun Hill running things… not so much.

25. Washington Redskins: RGIII needs to be the RGIII from his rookie season if the Redskins want to do anything this season.

26. Tennessee Titans: A good young team but not enough weapons to actually compete yet.

27. Dallas Cowboys: It’s strange to see the Cowboys so low, but they were god-awful on defense last season and have only gotten worse during the off-season.

28. Cleveland Browns: Good additions to the defense, but without Josh Gordon on offense who do they have to throw too?

29. Oakland Raiders: If Derek Carr plays well, things could get interesting for the Raiders this season. He’s still a rookie, though.

30. Jacksonville Jaguars: I am hopeful that the Jags start Blake Bortles sometime in the first few weeks to at least give the fans something to cheer about this year

31. Buffalo Bills: Losing Kiko Alonso hurts the Bills defense a lot plus I am not sold on EJ Manuel, whatsoever.

32. Houston Texans: Their defense will scare some teams and may help win games but their offense will stink yet again this season. The Texans become bottom-feeders.

Postseason Awards

NFL MVP: Packers, Aaron Rodgers

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Panthers, Kelvin Benjamin

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Ravens LB, CJ Mosley

Offensive Player of the Year: Seahawks, Russell Wilson

Defensive Player of the Year: Texans, JJ Watt

Coach of the Year: New Orleans Saints, Sean Payton

Comeback Player of the Year: Falcons WR, Julio Jones