[Editor’s note: Every Tuesday morning, we’ll post a consensus ranking based on an average of the five rankings from the five PFT writers. So if you disagree with any of these, don’t blame me. Who am I kidding? You’d blame me even if I didn’t cast a ballot at all.]
1. Patriots (1-0; No. 2 last week) (four first-place votes): With an improved defense and an improved running game, it will take much more than a busted nose for Tom Brady to keep the Pats from their first Super Bowl win since 2004.
2. 49ers (1-0; No. 7) (one first-place vote): It’s hard to imagine Week One going any better, even if they had managed to sign Peyton Manning.
3. Ravens (1-0; No. 4): It wasn’t a stirring as last year’s Week One win over the Steelers, but it’ll do.
4. Texans (1-0; No. 5): Yes, it was impressive. But the 2012 Dolphins are a far cry from their counterparts of 40 years ago.
5. Packers (0-1; No. 1): Thursday night’s game should have a postseason feel, because if the Packers fall to 0-2 with two home losses before the second Sunday of the season, the Packers may not feel the postseason this year.
6. Broncos (1-0; No. 14): Even the guy who paid for the Tebow billboards last year has bought a Peyton Manning jersey.
7. Giants (0-1; No. 2): They’ll be sliding more than five spots per week if they can’t find four (or five) defensive backs who can cover receivers.
8. Eagles (1-0; No. 9): A win is a win, but the teams that will be playing the Eagles over the next few months are surely feeling better about the chances of getting a win over Philly.
9. Steelers (0-1; No. 6): They saw some Tebowing late in Denver on Sunday. The goal for Sunday when the Jets come to town will be to avoid seeing any more of it.
10. Cowboys (1-0; No. 13): Tony Romo returns to Seattle for the first time since the time he had popcorn right before a game-winning field goal try.
11. Falcons (1-0; No. 10): The fact that five Internet hacks weren’t sufficiently impressed with Sunday’s performance to keep the Falcons at least where they were before the game underscores the fact that the Falcons won’t get respect until they command it.
12. Lions (1-0; No. 12): Rams quarterback Sam Bradford may not have stayed in school to avoid the Lions, but Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford didn’t do much to avoid throwing the ball to Rams.
13. Redskins (1-0; No. 24): Receiver Josh Morgan gushed last week about RG3. And it looked like an understatement on Sunday.
14. Bears (1-0; No. 11): Andrew Luck or no Andrew Luck, the PFT Power Rankings panel wasn’t impressed by a 20-point win over a 2-14 team. The Bears will get a chance to get noticed on Thursday at Lambeau.
15. Saints (0-1; No. 7): It’s hard not to wonder if the Saints would have looked better prepared if they had signed Drew Brees not before training camp but before the offseason program.
16. Jets (1-0; No. 22): The Jets may have been wise to bank a few of those 48 points for Sunday’s trip to Pittsburgh.
17. Chiefs (0-1; No. 19): They held their own with the Falcons, but those four missing starters on defense eventually caught up to the Chiefs.
18. Chargers (1-0; No. 20): When a team wins a game primarily because the other team’s backup long snapper sucks, that’s not an encouraging sign.
19. Panthers (0-1; No. 19): The PFT panel apparently thinks last Sunday was a fluke for Cam Newton and Carolina; others may be wondering whether last year was the fluke.
20. Cardinals (1-0; No. 25): Kevin Kolb gets yet another chance to not earn his money.
21. Raiders (0-1; No. 21): Of all the changes G.M. Reggie McKenzie has made, not having a backup plan at long snapper kept him from winning his first game.
22. Titans (0-1; No. 21): Somebody had to open the season by playing the Patriots. The good news is that the Titans don’t have to play them again.
23. Buccaneers (1-0; No. 23): Whether the players buy in to the Schiano system after one win remains to be seen. For now, the PFT panel remains skeptical.
24. Bengals (0-1; No. 24): The trend of beating teams they’re supposed to beat and losing to teams to which they’re supposed to lose continues.
25. Vikings (1-0; No. 25): Hey Vikes, win your next home game (Week Three against San Fran), and we’ll move you into the top 20.
26. Seahawks (0-1; No. 26): Braylon Edwards picked a strange way to show his appreciation for having a job.
27. Bills (0-1; No. 18): Mario Williams may want a Mulligan.
28. Colts (0-1; No. 26): If Andrew Luck wants to match Peyton Manning’s three-win rookie season, Luck needs to win at least one of the next two games, at home against the Vikings and Jagars.
29. Jaguars (0-1; No. 29): Does the fact that it could have been worse than a three-point loss in overtime make the loss any better?
30. Rams (0-1; No. 30): With a clock operator error marring the final minutes of a close one in Detroit, only the Rams could find new ways to lose games.
31. Dolphins (0-1; No. 31): It’s way too early to think the Dolphins won’t win a game this season. But they definitely don’t look like a team that can win a game this month.
32. Browns (0-1; No. 32): If Brandon Weeden wasn’t overwhelmed in putting up a 5.1 passer rating, we’d hate to see how bad his numbers would have been if he was.