PurplePTSD: Reacting To The Week 1 NFL Power Rankings

Press release from the PurplePTSD:

Josh Frey

2022-02-21

We’re now a week removed from Super Bowl LVI, which means (sigh) we’re a week into the long offseason. As for now, it’s time to reflect. Throughout the regular season, I did a weekly power rankings, but how accurate were these rankings? It’s time to look back at Week 1 and see where I went right, and where I went very, very wrong.

The Good

Before I get into all the bad parts of this year’s first power rankings, let’s talk about what I correctly predicted. There’s admittedly not a ton, but I put four of the playoff teams in the top-seven for each conference.

The single pick that I feel best about in this ranking is putting the Patriots at No. 11. I expressed faith in the Bill Belichick/Mac Jones offense, and they finished their season with a Wild Card appearance.

The Bad

Where do I begin? Well, for starters putting the Cardinals and Eagles and 23 and 25 probably wasn’t my brightest moment. I expressed zero confidence in either of Klimt Kingsbury or Jalen Hurts, and while I still don’t feel great about either of them, both teams did enough to make the playoffs.

Then I very much overrated the Baltimore Ravens and Seattle Seahawks prior to the season, putting them at Nos. 6 and 8. Of course, some of Baltimore’s crumbling in 2021 had to do with bad injury luck to their running back position, but I completely underestimated just how decimated that offensive line had become. Guess this guy didn’t learn anything from Super Bowl LV.

The Ugly

I can’t decide which one of my preseason takes was the single worst: putting the mediocre-to-the-core Cleveland Browns at No. 4 or the AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals at No. 27. Of course, the Browns were affected by injuries as well as the whole OBJ situation that was a sideshow until he was cut from the team. No matter what though, the Dawg Pound was not the “Super Bowl contender” that I predicted they would be.

As for Cincinnati, the offensive line struggles were a prevalent issue for the team. However, I certainly underestimated how dynamic the duo of Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase would be in the NFL. Apparently 1785 yards and 20 TDs in 2019 taught me nothing.

Overall, the takes may have been wrong, but this past NFL season over coverage was an extremely enjoyable experience. Thanks to all the readers for continuing with us on this journey, and we’ll be sure to bring plenty more content throughout this offseason and into the 2022 season.

This press release was produced by the PurplePTSD. The views expressed here are the author’s own.