NFL.com Power Rankings

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1. Seahawks
2. Broncos
3. 49ers
4. Eagles
5. Bengals
6. Panthers
7. Packers
8. Cardinals
9. Dolphins
10. Falcons

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NFC South

Panthers
Playing a division opponent on the road with Derek Anderson ( not Cam Newton) as frontman was like Van Halen following up Roth and Hagar with Gary Cherone. Good luck with that one ... Except, wait -- it worked out! Anderson made some plays. That aside, this defense can challenge Seattle's unit for the best in football. And if Kelvin Benjamin can give the team more of Week 1 Kelvin Benjamin -- look out.


Falcons
So what is Julio Jones' season gonna look like? 110 catches, 1,635 yards and 10 touchdowns? Is that out of the realm of possibility? OK, maybe that's a tad high. Yet if Matt Ryan has enough time in the pocket to check his LinkedIn notifications and bid on an eBay Gerald Riggs jersey, those projections might not be so far off.


Saints
That was the Rob Ryan defense a lot of us are familiar with. The 49-sack, surprise top-five unit of last year was nowhere to be found at the Georgia Dome on Sunday. Show the Marques Colston fumble all you want, TV peeps, but understand that the front seven lost that game.


Buccaneers
Will the real Josh McCown please stand up? (Well, maybe he did Sunday, if the first, oh, 10 years of his career are any indication.) The Buccaneers sure didn't get much from McCown, barely anything from Doug Martin, and darn-near nothing from ballyhooed wideouts Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans. Thankfully, the woeful Rams charge -- scratch that: limp -- into Tampa this Sunday.