Tulin's 10: Week 1

Click ahead for my week 1 top 10 NFL power rankings!

Welcome to the first edition of my weekly ranking of the top 10 teams in the NFL. Let's get down to business:

1. Steelers (1-0) The defending champs earned a hard fought win against the Titans last Thursday night, and oddly enough, I think Troy Polamalu's injury might well help this team in the long term. The vulnerability it gives them against the pass should make it much more plausible to score against them, which will force Mike Tomlin and Bruce Arians to stop trying to be a power running team because they aren't going to be playing 13-10 games. They're a better team throwing the ball than running it, even if they're giving up 21 points a game instead of 14.

2. Packers (1-0) I'm still just totally in love with this team, assuming the protection for Aaron Rodgers in the 2nd half was the real Packers offensive line, which I believe it was. Even if not, their defense completely dismantled what should be a pretty good Bears offense, something I think should happen just about every week. They have too many guys that can cover too much ground and too many pass rushers not to make quarterbacks' lives hell all year long.

3. Patriots (1-0) Losing Jerod Mayo for what appears to be about half the season is an absolute killer, but honestly, I'm still not seeing a game I think they should lose. Anyone choosing to look at Tom Brady the other night and see anything other than an assassin doesn't really understand football. Yeah, it took him a little time to get any kind of a rhythm going, but find me a QB other than Drew Brees who didn't last week. And he was playing the lions. Brady proved his health in the last 5 minutes of the game, the same way he's proven his greatness there over the years. Give him the ball in the 4th quarter with anything resembling a prayer and chances are, you will lose.

4. Eagles (1-0) This could change pretty quickly if McNabb doesn't play at a high level starting after the bye in week 4, but for now, I'm working under the assumption that he'll be back and himself with the team no worse than 1-2. If that's the case, they're an absolutely terrifying football team, as the Panthers could surely attest. There were a lot of questions about how the Eagles' D would look under Sean McDermott, and the answer was loud and clear in week 1: just like it did under Jim Johnson. Amazing what 10 years working as a genius' right hand man can do for ya, no?

5. Chargers (1-0) My second favorite team, like my favorite, could see a precipitous drop in the coming weeks if Shawne Merriman doesn't start making an impact. He looked slow and weak the other night, not even enough of a player to be a shell of his former self. The result, much like last year, was a serious vulnerability in the passing game, though the play that almost cost them the game was a completely blown coverage that Merriman would've had to be taking the snap to have any chance of salvaging. On the offensive side of the ball, I have to wonder if, even if he gets "starts," LT will be the #1 back on the depth chart ever again. What, exactly, isn't Darren Sproles doing better than him right now?

6. Giants (1-0) If Eli proves that he and his receivers are capable of making that one play to win a tight game on a consistent basis, the Giants will be #1 on this list in no time. Brandon Jacobs and their legion of unblockable pass rushers make them an absolute nightmare as is, and if Eli can burn teams who try to stack the line, they're practically unbeatable. The fact that they're this low should tell you my opinion of Eli and his receivers.

7. Bears (0-1) Despite seeing the absolute worst of Jay Cutler and losing Brian Urlacher for the season, I still see this as a playoff team. Cutler has always had his bad games, as all QBs do, and I think we'll be seeing that happen a hell of a lot this season against the Packers defense. Defensively, I don't see Urlacher's loss being that impactful from any standpoint other than the loss of leadership, which could hurt but can also be replaced. On the field, he's still a good player, but his best attribute, his range, has been steadily declining. I think the trio of Briggs, Hillenmeyer, and Tinoisamoa can cover more ground than Briggs, Urlacher, and Tinoisamoa without losing much of their ability to bring the ball carrier down. And having one of the best running backs in football and a quarterback who finally will give them a chance with the game on the line shouldn't hurt either.

8. Jets (1-0) Maybe it's the Jet apologist in me (11 years living in Manhattan and hating the Giants will do that to ya) but I totally believed what I saw last weekend in Houston. Week 1 of his first season as head coach, Rex Ryan had the Jets' defense, without two of the best players in its starting front seven, playing like the Ravens defense at its best. They're gonna make it very hard for most teams to score points. Their running game and offensive line should keep pressure off Mark Sanchez, who looked as calm and confident as any QB I saw week 1, rookie or no. I wanted to be wrong about the Jets this year and I think I just might've been.

9. Saints (1-0) Drew Brees remains one of the best QBs in the game, and should keep them in every single game they play, but there's still nothing to like about their defense or running game in my opinion. They allowed 27 points to the Lions with Matt Stafford literally staring down his receiver on every snap. It makes you wonder how much better that team might be if they had a coach who acknowledged the defensive side of the ball to go along with the ridiculous amount of firepower on their offense. As far as I can tell, Sean Payton doesn't even make that offense any better. Brees would complete passes in whatever system you put him in and Payton hasn't managed to get a damn thing out of the running game in his time there. Not that I think Sean Payton's a moron or anything.

10. Falcons (1-0) I make this pick with absolutely no conviction at all. It was either Atlanta or one of an AFC South trio which doesn't include the Jaguars. I think Peyton is all the Colts have, Chris Johnson the same for the Titans, and lord knows I question my pick of the Texans to win the division after the egg they laid against the Jets. So I'm left with the Falcons, whose offense is pretty good and whose defense did everything it could to win me over on Sunday, but did it against the Dolphins, who, let's be honest, suck on offense. There were still points to be had all day against Atlanta, the Dolphins just aren't capable of doing anything about it.