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After 207 days of waiting, tonight football returns. The Baltimore Ravens will face the defending champs in Kansas City to officially kick off the 2024-25 NFL season.
In honor of such a wonderful occasion, there’s no better way to celebrate than with a completely arbitrary ranking of every team in the NFL. It’s hard to say which team is the best. It’s not as hard to point out several of the worst squads. Either way, every single team in the NFL has been ranked below for better or worse. Enjoy.
1. San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers have the best roster in the NFL, plain and simple. However, San Francisco also boasts one of the oldest rosters in the NFL. Their window is closing, and the time to capitalize is now.
2. Kansas City Chiefs
The reigning champs will always be formidable while they employ the services of Patrick Mahomes, and the rest of the team isn’t half bad itself. The Chiefs should be considered one of the favorites yet again.
3. Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens have the luxury of boasting one of the most solid overall rosters in the NFL, the best defense in the NFL, and one of the most exciting quarterbacks to play the position. It’s playoff performance that has tormented the Ravens, but the regular season is a necessary stepping stone on Baltimore’s path to playoff penance.
4. Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles have to be placed this high simply because the roster that GM Howie Roseman has built is deserving of it. Adding Saquon Barkley and rookie DB’s Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean to an already star studded roster was a master class of managerial moxie. But despite the attractive assets on paper, there’s a disquieting feeling about Philly around the media and the league. Rumors of a disconnect between star QB Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni’s coaching staff have some questioning the culture of the talented Eagles team.
5. Houston Texans
Is it a bit salacious to put the Texans above teams like the Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, and even the team down the road, Texas’s beloved Dallas Cowboys? Well, frankly it is. But it is the correct ranking. The Texans are potentially the most exciting team in the NFL- featuring a strong young defense and a wildly explosive offense, the Texans are no longer the forgotten team of Texas.
6. Detroit Lions
Fresh off a magical postseason that ended in the NFC championship, the Lions are favored to repeat as NFC North champs. Dan Campbell’s squad has earned the right to a top 10 ranking.
7. Green Bay Packers
A lot of people have the Packers as their dark horse Super Bowl pick from the NFC, and there’s honestly a lot to be excited about in Green Bay. However, as the Packers implement a drastically different defensive scheme and a new look running game, there’s more turnover than the casual observer might think. A slow start is very possible for the 2024 Pack.
8. Dallas Cowboys
Dallas still has an above average defense and a threatening aerial attack, but the Cowboys didn’t improve this offseason to put it plainly. America’s team might not even be Texas’s best team at the moment. While the regular season should show the Cowboys to be formidable, the question with Dallas will always be “Can they get over the playoff hump?”.
9. Cincinnati Bengals
A healthy Joe Burrow means the Bengals could do anything. Now he only has to stay healthy.
10. Miami Dolphins
Miami will have one of the most electric offenses in the league once again this season, but the defense has some serious question marks. The Dolphins can play with and beat anybody, but any given team can just as easily knock them off.
11. Buffalo Bills
The Bills were absolutely ravaged by salary cap decisions this offseason, losing a good chunk of both their defense and their offense. Josh Allen can’t throw the ball to himself. Playmakers will have to emerge in Buffalo for the Bills to make their way up this list.
12. Los Angeles Rams
The Rams have a quietly good team. Despite the retirement of future hall of famer Aaron Donald, the Rams have a good defense and an very solid offense with two super star WRs in Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp. In a top heavy NFC, the Rams could make some noise this season.
13. New York Jets
It’s hard to pick the proper place to slot the Jets into a ranking. On the one hand, the roster in New York is smattered with talent on both sides of the ball, but on the other Aaron Rodgers is coming off a major reconstructive surgery on his Achilles tendon, and he’s not as young as he used to be. The 2024 Jets are a curious case study indeed.
14. Atlanta Falcons
Kirk Cousins takes a mediocre Falcons team and gives them a very real chance to win a fairly weak division in the NFC South. Amazing what a QB can do.
15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Can Baker Mayfield continue his success from last season? Can the defense maintain their solid play despite the aging of their stars? It feels like a two horse race in the NFC South between the Falcons and the Bucs, and the QB play will determine who comes out on top when all is said and done.
16. Pittsburgh Steelers
To put it plainly, the Steelers QB competition is a choice between two evils. While defense and a decent run game should keep the Steelers around the middle of the pack, they aren’t scaring anyone and are easily the 3rd best team in their division, if not the 4th.
17. Cleveland Browns
With star RB Nick Chubb still recovering from a devastating knee injury suffered last season, the Browns lack an identity on offense. Still, their defense should do enough to keep them competitive in most games.
18. Indianapolis Colts
QB Anthony Richardson saw a promising rookie season cut short by a shoulder injury in 2023, but fast forward a year to 2024 and Richardson is back healthy and ready to go. Like many teams in the NFL, the Colts roster is built to succeed if their QB is capable. The Colts success will come down to how Richardson plays.
19. Chicago Bears
The Bears got some playmakers, and they got #1 overall pick Caleb Williams at QB. There’s reason for excitement in Chicago, but a less than stellar defense and a horrid offensive line should help to temper expectations in the Windy City.
20. Jacksonville Jaguars
A year ago, the sky was the limit for the Jags. Now, the sky is a long way away in Jacksonville. After a middling year where the Jags missed the playoffs and lost Calvin Ridley to free agency, Jacksonville still has the pieces to be better than expected. However, it will be an uphill battle to knock off the Texans who sit firmly atop the AFC South.
21. Los Angeles Chargers
Jim Harbaugh is attempting to orchestrate one of the largest schematic and cultural flips in recent memory with the Chargers, and there are going to be some bumps in year one. They have too much talent to be the worst team in the league, but it may not be pretty for much of the season.
22. Seattle Seahawks
They may not be bad, but it’s hard to see Seattle being very good. A perfectly middle of the pack team.
23. Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings still have a lot of talent, but a mediocre defense and a journeyman QB will limit their ability this season. The expectations are low for the men in purple.
24. New Orleans Saints
The defense is decent, the offense is bad. Since Drew Brees retired the Saints have not been able to find consistent QB play, and Alvin Kamara is aging rapidly. Despite playing in a weaker division on paper, the Saints will find it difficult to make a move in the NFC South.
25. Washington Commanders
The Commanders frankly could be lower on this list, but a solid RB room and the reigning Heisman trophy winner in Jayden Daniels are enough to keep them a bit higher at the start. Dan Quinn has his hands full revamping this squad.
26. Tennessee Titans
The king is dead. Long live Tony Pollard? The Titans lost the face of their franchise in Derrick Henry this offseason, replacing him with Cowboys RB Tony Pollard in a rather unexciting move. The Titans have a long way to go before catching up to their own division, much less the rest of the NFL.
27. Las Vegas Raiders
It’s Minshew Mania in Las Vegas. The journeyman QB officially won the job over 2nd year incumbent Aiden O’Conell a couple of weeks back, although in the end the difference may not be noticeable. The Raiders do have some very nice pieces in Maxx Crosby, Davante Adams, and rookie Brock Bowers, but the challenge of putting the pieces together will make or break the Raiders.
28. Arizona Cardinals
They didn’t get Caleb Williams, and while Marvin Harrison Jr is a very nice player the rookie WR doesn’t help the Cardinals much in the short term. With a healthy Kyler Murray, Arizona could have a shot to move up in the rankings as the season goes on, but it feels like a long shot at best.
29. Denver Broncos
Denver still has enough talent to rise in these rankings, but based on the performance of their team the past several seasons and their losses in the offseason, there’s no real reason to believe that Sean Payton and his rookie QB1 Bo Nix can right the ship so quickly.
30. New England Patriots
Bill Belichick has exited to stage left, and the Patriots have truly entered a new era. This is almost certainly a rebuilding year, and nothing much is expected from the Pats this season.
31. Carolina Panthers
Hope springs eternal, but it’s hard to find much to hope in in Carolina. Year two of #1 pick Bryce Young at QB isn’t inspiring fear in the hearts of many, and the roster has not been significantly improved from a year ago. The Panthers will be among the bottom feeders of the league barring significant growth and improvement from their young players.
32. New York Giants
The Giants only offensive identity for the last several seasons had been Saquon Barkley. But after Barkley departed for Philadelphia this offseason, the Giants have no identity. The first overall pick is a distinct possibility for New York this season.
