We already had the Hall of Fame Game, but how about a full slate of NFL action in Preseason Week 1? It's finally time for football to be back, even if this is just the first of many courses for football fans everywhere.
It's been a fun offseason in the NFL with tons of player movement, new eras beginning all over the league, and change, as we always see. But which teams have made the biggest strides this offseason? Which teams are on the decline?
Our latest NFL Power Rankings will take a look at the biggest risers and fallers across the league as we head into the first week of NFL Preseason action in the 2025 season.
NFL Power Rankings: Every team ranked worst to best before Preseason Week 1
32. New Orleans Saints
I have gone back and forth on the New Orleans Saints all offseason. Ultimately, it’s impossible to ignore how bad their quarterback situation is currently, and how easily that could sink their ship. While I don’t view the Saints’ roster as being as bad as some national media have said this offseason, the QB situation is something that could drag this team down all year.
31. Tennessee Titans
The Titans are almost in the opposite situation of the Saints. They have a promising young option at the quarterback position and one of the worst rosters I’ve seen in quite some time. Mike Borgonzi inherited a bit of a mess from the previous regime, but he didn’t exactly go out in NFL free agency and start doing things differently. He kept in theme with overpriced veterans who are older than you’d like to see.
30. Cleveland Browns
It might just be that the Browns have Myles Garrett on their roster, but frankly, I’m surprised they are this high as I’m putting this together. The Browns could very easily be the top contender for the #1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and they are in desperate need of a QB to come and turn the franchise around.
29. New York Jets
I want to see Justin Fields have success as a full-time starting quarterback in the NFL, but I’m really skeptical that this timing is right with him and the Jets. The Jets are in a state of major transition from the front office to the coaching staff, and obviously the roster. This is going to be arguably the best team around Fields in his NFL career roster-wise, but also his shakiest situation.
28. Las Vegas Raiders
The upgrade from Antonio Pierce to Pete Carroll cannot be overstated. The upgrade from Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew to Geno Smith cannot be overstated. The upgrade from Alexander Mattison to Ashton Jeanty cannot be overstated. The Raiders will be improved offensively, there’s no doubt, but they might end up with the worst defense in the NFL this season.
27. Jacksonville Jaguars
I want to see the Jacksonville Jaguars climbing this list all throughout the 2025 season. This was a team I was buying stock into heavily back in 2022, and it’s been a shame to see the drop-off from the second half of the 2023 season up to now. With Travis Hunter in the fold, the ofense should at least be tough to stop on a weekly basis.
26. Atlanta Falcons
Even if you’re buying stock into the young Atlanta Falcons offense in the first year of the Michael Penix Jr. era, you’ve got to have a healthy level of skepticism for the defense once again. At least the Falcons made some draft investments there this year, but unless that young defense has about five different guys breaking out this year, the Falcons could be in for a tough year. They’ll need to be great situationally to avoid losing 10 or more games.
25. Carolina Panthers
It’s been great to see Bryce Young bouncing back after a rough rookie season and then getting benched for Andy Dalton last year. Young’s confidence clearly grew over the course of the 2024 season, and he’s now got some new weapons to work with. If the Panthers get a big year out of rookie Tetairoa McMillan as well as progression from Xavier Legette, they’ll be cooking with a little something. The defense has to take a huge leap for them to be relevant.
24. Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts have the right coaching staff in place, but do they have the quarterback situation to be a true threat in the AFC? They’ve been a threat the past two seasons despite what they’ve been dealing with, which was Gardner Minshew for the majority of 2023 and then Anthony Richardson completing less than 48 percent of his throws last year. This team is a wild card and nearly impossible to predict at this stage.
23. Chicago Bears
I will admit it, I’m not nearly as high on the Bears as the masses seem to be. Caleb Williams is still riding the reputation he had built back in 2022 at USC, and the Bears are just paper champions at this point. We like the moves that they’ve made. But even the Bears’ front office is investing before seeing proof of concept. They extended GM Ryan Poles and the pressure will be on this year to compete for the NFC North title, which I think is up for grabs.
22. Seattle Seahawks
I’ve been consistent this offseason in saying that I didn’t like the changes the Seahawks made to their offense, even if I understand where they’re going with it. To get rid of Geno Smith as he’s getting older is one thing, but to get rid of DK Metcalf and replace him with Cooper Kupp is another entirely. Maybe the Seahawks will look like geniuses for bringing in Sam Darnold this offseason. We’re fixin’ to find out.
21. New York Giants
As the offseason goes along, I’m liking the New York Giants more and more. It’s not that they’re doing something out at training camp that’s doing it for me, but the reality is, Russell Wilson had the Broncos in playoff contention back in 2023 (for his part, anyway), and the same with the Steelers last year. Even if he feels like a great starting pitcher who can only go 5 ⅔ innings instead of 7-plus these days, the Giants have so much talent on the defensive front, they might give Russ a lot of opportunities to cook late in games.
20. New England Patriots
I’m buying the Patriots as one of the upstart potential breakout teams in the NFL this season. The Mike Vrabel hire was a great one for this team, and bringing in Josh McDaniels to coach the offense once again was also a great move. Drake Maye’s progression will be critical to this team’s improvement, and that may be dependent upon a shaky offensive line and its new pieces taking a huge leap forward.
19. Arizona Cardinals
I’ve been extremely impressed with Jonathan Gannon since he came aboard the Cardinals program back in 2023. Obviously, he did great work with the Eagles while he was in Philadelphia, but he had a terrible roster playing well above expectations, even if they were losing games, and we saw them jump up to eight wins last year. I won’t be shocked if they get nine or 10 this coming season.
18. Miami Dolphins
While you have some teams in this range of my latest NFL Power Rankings that are on the rise, you have here a team like the Dolphins that is on the decline. I hate what we’ve seen from the Dolphins this offseason overall, and this is a team that just seems to struggle staying healthy. They’ll have games where they put up big points, but the roster is built in such a way that they won’t be able to sustain any key injuries.
17. Pittsburgh Steelers
I’m not fully buying into this new-look Steelers team just yet. There’s never a guarantee that bringing in a bunch of new pieces – especially when they are past their prime – is going to work out. The Steelers are always going to be well-coached, but they are going all-in with an All-Star team from 2021. I won’t be surprised if they’re in the playoffs, but I would be surprised if they do anything.
16. Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are not a bad team on paper. They won 12 games three years in a row with a healthy Dak Prescott. This is a team that needs Prescott to get back to form in the worst way, because I think they can at least compete in the NFC East if he’s on top of his game. Prescott has the best set of weapons we’ve seen in his time in Dallas with the arrival of George Pickens, but Dallas needs to sort out its drama with Micah Parsons to avoid a major distraction entering the season.
15. San Francisco 49ers
I think in some respects, the 49ers are skating by on their past reputation. Make no mistake about it – this is not the same 49ers team that represented the NFC in the Super Bowl a couple of years ago. But it is a similar team, at least in terms of the big-name players you’ll recognize. The 49ers are breaking in a young defense, but they have the perfect coach to do that with Robert Saleh back in the fray. I like the Niners to bounce back this year.
14. Los Angeles Chargers
It’s going to be fascinating to see how the Chargers build on their 11-win season from last year. I don’t like knocking teams for beating who’s in front of them, but the Chargers didn’t really beat many good teams last year, except for their two tight games against Denver. The Chargers had the #1 overall defense in the league last year, but there’s a bit of an asterisk next to that. 8 of their 11 wins last season came against teams that ended up picking in the top 10 of the NFL Draft. It’s not going to be the same in 2025.
13. Houston Texans
Part of me wants to believe the Houston Texans are going to bounce back with a vengeance in 2025 after a bit of a disappointing season in 2024. Part of me also believes this team might not have been as good as we saw in 2023. The Texans were clearly well ahead of schedule on their rebuild after trading Deshaun Watson, and they certainly have big-time pieces. They could have one of the easiest paths to a division title of any team in the AFC.
12. Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals missed the playoffs last year and only won nine games, but I don’t think there’s any way their defense could be quite as bad as we saw last season again in 2025. The Bengals should have Trey Hendrickson back in the fold as well as first-round pick Shemar Stewart. If they can improve by even a handful of spots, or come through late in games in some tight situations, they could easily jump back up to 11 or 12 wins.
11. Minnesota Vikings
This is going to be painful for Vikings fans, but I’m approaching this season with a healthy amount of skepticism regarding JJ McCarthy. I really liked McCarthy coming out in the 2024 NFL Draft, but it’s tough for any player to start his first year in the NFL, and McCarthy is doing so coming off of a major knee injury. The Vikings have a good enough roster to still be competitive in the NFC but are they true contenders with McCarthy under center? We’ll see.
10. Washington Commanders
Folks have been pretty upset with me over the way I’ve been ranking the Washington Commanders this offseason, but there are reasons for it. It’s going to be tough to replicate the success we saw last year, even just in general, but the Commanders are going to be trying to replicate and even build on that success with one of the worst pass rush groups in the NFL overall. We’ll see if Dan Quinn can overcome that with his scheme.
9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The more you look at this Bucs team, the less you can really see a ton of weaknesses. The only way this Bucs team is not a consistent top-10 team all season is if Baker Mayfield takes a major step back, and do we really see that happening? For all his flaws, Mayfield has really stabilized his game since he got to the Bucs. And now, another big contract could be at stake. This team is going to be tough to stop offensively all year.
8. Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are one of the most improved all-around teams since the start of last season. Head coach Sean Payton has done a tremendous job identifying and developing talent, but there’s no stronger example than quarterback Bo Nix. The Broncos might have a legit star on their hands with Nix, and he might have the #1 defense in the league behind him after the team’s additions of Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga, and Jahdae Barron.
7. Detroit Lions
Call me a hater if you want, but we can already see the storylines for this Lions team this coming season. The Lions are going to struggle with the departure of both offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as well as defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. This team is already dealing with too many injury issues. The NFC North is loaded with talent. I could see Detroit taking a couple of steps back before they take any more steps forward in the NFC. Last year was their best shot, and they blew it.
6. Green Bay Packers
I really like the Green Bay Packers overall. Jordan Love could end up being one young quarterback that really emerges into the upper echelon at the position this year, but this team does have a fatal flaw. The cornerback position is already in shambles, and the biggest offseason addition this team made (free agent Nate Hobbs) just had surgery that will keep him out until the season opener. There’s a lot of pressure on Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love this year.
5. Los Angeles Rams
If Matthew Stafford is able to stay fully healthy this season, the Rams are going to be tough to beat week in and week out. And general manager Les Snead smells the reload coming so he’s got multiple first-round picks in his war chest next offseason. The Rams are going to be one of the NFC’s elite teams from now on, but they have a chance to truly contend for a title this season.
4. Kansas City Chiefs
After two straight years with an offense that ranked in the middle of the pack in terms of scoring, you can’t help but wonder when Kansas City’s luck will run out and there will be some actual consequences for them. The Chiefs have been so elite at situational football that they’ve managed to be better than everyone else in one-score games all the way to their penciled-in spot in the Super Bowl. We’ll see if anyone can dethrone them this year.
3. Buffalo Bills
Right now, the Buffalo Bills are the second-best team in the AFC on paper, and they’ve got a chance to make a massive statement with a Week 1 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens in Buffalo. It’s going to be a huge year for the Bills, who saw the best of Josh Allen last season. The questions now are whether Allen can maintain that level of play, and whether the Bills can get past the Chiefs in the playoffs. Or the Ravens, for that matter.
2. Philadelphia Eagles
There are some good teams in the NFC, but I would say the Philadelphia Eagles have a pretty strong chance of getting back to the Super Bowl this year, or at least hosting the NFC Championship Game. They play in a tough division, of course, but this Eagles team is still loaded on both sides of the ball, and if they can get breakthrough years from some young pass rushers, they’re going to be in position to win back-to-back Super Bowls.
1. Baltimore Ravens
There is no better roster in the NFL from top to bottom right now than the Baltimore Ravens. They are elite all over the place, and should coast to one of the best records in the NFL this coming season. I have made the bold proclamation before that I don’t see the Ravens losing more than a couple of games, barring some kind of freak injuries. This team has it all, from coaching to continuity to depth.