2017 NFL Power Rankings – Teams 1st-8th, The “Super Heavyweights” of the NFL

2017 NFL Power Rankings – Teams 1st-8th, The “Super Heavyweights” of the NFL: The 4th and final edition of our 2017 NFL Power Rankings before the season starts is out and today’s teams ranked 1st thru 8th are the “Super Heavyweights” of the NFL. These are the cream of the crop and the 2018 Super Bowl Champion is almost certainly going to be one of the 8 teams on this list. You can check the latest odds to win the 2018 Super Bowl and place a bet on who you think will win Super Bowl LII at Bovada Sportsbook. Bovada offers a FREE $250 BET for all new customers who make a deposit with a 50% match bonus. Check out our list below and be sure and check NSAwins.com all season for the best 2017 NFL picks against the spread in the industry. Bar none.

2017 NFL Power Rankings – Teams 1st-8th, The “Heavyweights” of the NFL

1. New England Patriots(+375 odds to win 2018 Super Bowl at Bovada) – The defending Super Bowl Champs have the most talented team in paper in the entire NFL heading into the 2017 in our opinion. The Patriots won their 5th Lombardi Trophy in the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady era last year but did not stand pat and read their press clippings in the offseason. Belichick went balls out acquiring high end talent in cornerback Stephon Gilmore from Buffalo and wide receiver Brandin Cooks from New Orleans in addition to solid pickups in free agency and via trades for tight end Dwayne Allen from Indianapolis, defensive end Kony Ealy from Carolina and running back Mike Gillislee from Buffalo. The rich definitely got richer folks. This may be the most talented New England team in history and that’s including the 2007 team that went perfect until losing the Super Bowl against the Gmen. The Patriots are loaded and will win this division with ease like they seem to always do.

2. Green Bay Packers(+750 odds to win 2018 Super Bowl at Bovada) – The Green Bay Packers have been one of the most consistent franchises in the NFL this decade and have made the playoffs the last 5 seasons including going 10-6 last season to win the AFC North Division. However, the ultimate prize of winning the Lombardi Trophy has escaped the Packers the past 5 seasons since they last won in 2011. The Packers have the most talented quarterback in the NFL and possibly in the history of the game in Aaron Rodgers and the heat is getting on head coach Mike McCarthy to get the Packers back to the Super Bowl as Rodgers’ prime years are starting to waste away. The Packers weakness has been their terrible defense that has failed them on countless occasions in the playoffs. The Packers finished 22nd in the NFL in total defense last season and tried to fix that by using their first four draft picks in the first four rounds of the 2017 NFL Draft on defensive players including 1st rd pick, cornerback Kevin King out of Washington. If the defense can improve enough than the Packers offense should be plenty enough to get them back to the Super Bowl as Rodgers has a new weapon this year in tight end Martellus Bennett who should give Rodgers the security blanket he has lacked of late.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers(+1200 odds to win 2018 Super Bowl at Bovada) – Head coach Mike Tomlin has done a solid job as the man in Pittsburgh over the last 10 seasons as he has compiled a 103-57 overall record to go with 1 Super Bowl Championship in two appearances. Having said that, Tomlin and the Steelers organization hasn’t had any success figuring out the New England Patriots who have owned the Steelers and blocked their path to the Super Bowl 3 times in the AFC Championship Game in the last 17 years. The Steelers went 11-5 last season but were soundly outclassed against New England twice in the regular season 27-16 in Pittsburgh and again 36-17 in the AFC Title Game in New England. The Steelers will once again have one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses with quarterback ben Roethlisberger, wide receiver Antonio Brown and running back Le’Veon Bell leading the way. However, defense is another story and until they figure out a way to play better against Tom Brady they will have no shot at getting past New England when it counts.

4. New York Giants(+2200 odds to win 2018 Super Bowl at Bovada) – The New York Giants went 11-5 last season to finish in 2nd place in the NFC East but appear poised to claim the division this season behind a well balanced team that can put up points and defend with the best of them. The Giants look to have a team that can realistically compete to win the NFC Title this season and get back to the Super Bowl as the offense should be improved with the addition of 1st round pick, tight end Evan Engram out of Ole Miss. Engram should give quarterback Eli Manning the security blanket he’s lacked to keep the chains moving and improve the Giants offense from the 25th overall unit it was in the NFL last season. Defensively, the Giants were 10th overall in the NFL last season and should be just as good if not slightly better this season with 2nd round draft pick, defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson out of Alabama, expected to fortify a front four that should cause havoc on opposing quarterbacks and ground games.

5. Seattle Seahawks(+1200 odds to win 2018 Super Bowl at Bovada) – The Seattle Seahawks have been one of the best franchises in the NFL for awhile now and are second only to the New England Patriots in success the last 5 years. The Seahawks have won double digits the last 5 seasons including another solid 10-6 campaign last year. Seattle boasts one of the NFL’s most balanced rosters as the offense finished 12th in total offense and the defense finished 5th in total defense last season. Seattle appears to have another stout team in 2017 as the offense has plenty of firepower and one of the game’s best quarterbacks in Russell Wilson while the defense once again promised to be one of the league’s most feared units. Seattle had another great draft in our opinion as they had 6 picks in rounds 2 and 3 after not having a pick in the 1st round. Seattle used 4 of those 6 picks on defensive players headlined by defensive lineman Malik McDowell who can step right in and give Seattle quality snaps on the defensive front from the get go.

6. Oakland Raiders(+1200 odds to win 2018 Super Bowl at Bovada) – The Oakland Raiders may be moving to Las Vegas soon but that won’t stop them from putting on a show for their loyal Oakland fans this season as they have a loaded roster. The Raiders were the surprise of the NFL last season going 12-4 and appeared to be a serious threat to win the AFC until star quarterback Derek Carr suffered a season ending injury in week 16. That injury basically ended any hopes the Raiders had to make noise in the postseason and they flamed out in week 17 at Denver and in the postseason at Houston. The Raiders come back loaded this year after acquiring running back Marshawn Lynch in a trade from Seattle plus they had a great draft to boost their defense as they used their top 3 picks on defensive players headlined by cornerback Gareon Conley from Ohio State in the first round. The Raiders finished just 26th in total defense last season but have the talent to improve drastically especially with the best defensive player in the NFL playing end/linebacker in Khlalil Mack. Offensively, few offenses will be more explosive as the Raiders offense should easily be one of the Top 5 in the NFL.

7. Carolina Panthers(+2200 odds to win 2018 Super Bowl at Bovada) – The Carolina Panthers had a miserable 6-10 season last year after winning the NFC Championship in 2015 but appear ready to get back in the mix to win the NFC Championship this season. The Panthers had a great offseason with some nice pickups in free agency and had a stellar NFL Draft in our eyes. The Panthers used their 1st round pick on running back Christian McCaffrey out of Stanford who could very well win the offensive rookie of the year this season as the kid is a flat out explosive talent both running and catching the football. The Panthers also used their 2nd rd picks on a couple of offensive players who should see considerable playing time in wide receiver Curtis Samuel out of Ohio State and offensive tackle Taylor Moton from Western Michigan. Carolina’s offense was ranked just 19th in the NFL last season but quarterback Cam Newton should have way more help this season and putting up points should not be an issue in 2017. On the other side of the ball, Carolina’s defense was ranked 21st last season but should be much improved especially if linebacker Luke Kuechly can stay on the field and avoid any more dangerous concussions.

8. Atlanta Falcons(+1600 odds to win 2018 Super Bowl at Bovada) – The Falcons are going to be a tough team to play early on this season as nobody knows how they will handle things coming off of the biggest choke job in NFL history when they blew a 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl to New England last February. The Falcons absolutely melted down on the biggest stage in sports and it’s going to be hard for them to put that behind them this season as Carolina found out last year coming off of a Super Bowl loss. Having said that, talent is not an issue for Atlanta as they still remain arguably the most talented team in the division along with Carolina. Atlanta’s offense should be one of the most explosive in the NFL with quarterback Matt Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones making up one of the most dangerous passing tandems in the league. The problem for Atlanta is defensively where they ranked just 25th in the NFL last season and still have a ways to go before they are considered to be an elite defense.

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