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CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
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There is anger these days in Minnesota, Green Bay, St. Louis and Denver, maybe rage being a better word in some cases. How in the heck can what was supposed to be such a promising NFL season go so wrong in just one week?
Mike Tice's Vikes feel the pain in the opener. (Getty Images) By contrast, fans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins think their teams might have playoff chances, fresh off impressive upset victories last week. Fans of the 49ers are even thinking maybe it might not be all that bad after all.
So went the wild and wacky first week of the NFL season, where upsets were the norm and the house in Vegas made a lot of money off the favored players.
But before thinking any of it can be construed as a trend, we bring you a few words of caution:
Watch out for Week 2.
The second week of the NFL season is almost always about getting even -- the highs from the week before many times followed by lows and the downs followed by the ups. That's the greatness of the NFL, which is why it's tough to gauge this league until at least the beginning of October.
Does anybody really think the Bucs will have a better record than the Vikings? Or the Dolphins a better mark than the Broncos?
The first week craziness made for a tough set of CBS SportsLine.com Power Rankings. At least we know one thing's constant in doing the rankings, that the New England Patriots maintain a clear lead at the top.
After that, who knows? And in this league, even that's perilous. Don't the Patriots go to Carolina on Sunday? Don't the Panthers need to win or fall to 0-2 with two home losses to start the season?
It's get-even week in the NFL. Just wait and see how different these rankings are a week from now.
The rankings for Sept. 13:
POWER RANKINGS Current Team Previous
1 New England Patriots 1 The beat goes on. The Patriots are still the class of the league for now. The schedule is brutal the next three weeks starting Sunday at Carolina.
2 Pittsburgh Steelers 3 So much for all that preseason concern about the offense. One game in and it looked dominant. Willie Parker is the real deal.
3 Indianapolis Colts 7 They came darn close to a shutout, which is saying something, no matter how bad the offense they faced. It's a faster defense, which might actually get this team past New England. Might.
4 Atlanta Falcons 5 It wasn't quite redemption Monday night, but the Falcons showed they won't be pushed around. The passing game has to get better.
5 Philadelphia Eagles 2 Winning on the road on Monday night is tough duty, even for this experienced team. The feeling here is that they are still the class of the NFC.
6 Jacksonville Jaguars 6 Now that the offense has come alive, watch out for this team. They have a chance to make a statement against the Colts Sunday on the road.
7 New Orleans Saints 17 Kudos to this team for fighting through all the adversity to win on the road. That was special. Watch out for this talented team.
8 Kansas City Chiefs 12 If the defense is that improved, the Chiefs are going to be an AFC force. But let's hold off until we see what they do Sunday at Oakland before putting them in the Bowl.
9 Buffalo Bills 15 We knew the defense could be dominant, but J.P. Losman answered some questions against the Texans. Now we have to see him do it on the road.
10 Carolina Panthers 4 The Panthers not only lost to the Saints, but they lost one of their best players for the season in Kris Jenkins. And now the Patriots come to town. Good luck.
11 Dallas Cowboys 21 Bill Parcells gets a big road victory to open the season and the best thing about it is how well Drew Bledsoe played. Dallas could be a playoff team if that continues.
12 Oakland Raiders 8 Opening on the road against the Super Bowl champs is tough duty. The Raiders played well for a half, but then fell apart. They have to limit the mistakes.
13 Baltimore Ravens 9 The defense can't carry this team to a Super Bowl without some help from the offense. It was terrible against the Colts, who don't exactly have a great defense.
14 Minnesota Vikings 10 The Vikings were a big flop on Sunday. You can't take away Randy Moss and think you'll be a better team. You just can't.
15 New York Giants 28 Watch out for this team. Tom Coughlin can coach them up and there are some good players on this roster.
16 Cincinnati Bengals 23 Carson Palmer and the offense looked good, and the defense seems improved. But that was just the Browns. So temper it a bit.
17 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26 Maybe we all underestimated this group. You know Jon Gruden will have them fighting every week.
18 Arizona Cardinals 11 The offense has to find a way to run the ball better or Kurt Warner is going to get killed. The special teams were awful.
19 San Diego Chargers 14 They played well against Dallas, but you're supposed to win home games in this league if you're a playoff team. Are they in for a fall?
20 Detroit Lions 24 They made the Packers look old and slow. Maybe this defense isn't getting enough attention.
21 Washington Commanders 29 As long as that defense plays as it did against the Bears, the Commanders will stay in games. At some point, though, the offense has to do something.
22 Miami Dolphins 30 We thought this would be a five-victory team, even with a good coach like Nick Saban. That might have to be revised up.
23 Seattle Seahawks 19 The Seahawks are another of those teams that will score a lot of points, but has to play better on defense to be a playoff team. We wonder if they can.
24 Denver Broncos 13 We give them a mulligan for their effort in the Florida heat, but if things don't turn around, the heat will be on the Teflon Coach.
25 New York Jets 16 We thought this team might be in for a little fall this season, but not anything like what we saw in Kansas City on Sunday. They sure didn't have a playoff look.
26 San Francisco 49ers 31 A heck of a job by Mike Nolan and his staff in pulling off the upset of the Rams. They killed a lot of people in those survivor pools.
27 Chicago Bears 22 The defense did its part, but the offense has to get points on the board, even with a rookie quarterback.
28 Green Bay Packers 20 This is shaping up as a long season, especially with Javon Walker down for the year. Is this the end for Brett Favre?
29 Houston Texans 25 If the heat wasn't on this staff before Sunday, it sure is now. The offense was awful. What is wrong with David Carr?
30 Tennessee Titans 27 With a young group, there are going to be days like they had against the Steelers. This team is better than it showed.
31 St. Louis Rams 18 Losing on the road to the 49ers is inexcusable for this group. The defense will be trouble all year long. Is the coaching staff now officially in trouble?
32 Cleveland Browns 32 They thought the 49ers would keep them out of this spot, but then the 49ers go and upset the Rams. Cleveland might stay here awhile.
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