DETROIT LIONS SHOW REST OF NFL THE WAY

The NFL started with a bang Thursday night and the Detroit Lions showed the NFL the way forward by beating the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs 21-20.  And before critics pipe up about Travis Kelce's injury or Chris Jones' holdout, let me remind you of a few things:

Regarding the Lions, this is the best roster they've had in their history.  Sure, owned a loaded roster during the 1957 NFL Championship season, but, let's face it, those old-timey teams couldn't stand up to today's athlete.  This promises to be a great season.  Many predicted the Lions will win the NFC North.  But many of those same people are upset with the NFL for putting the "lowly" Lions on national TV for the league's season opener.  Those same people predicted there was no way the Detroit Lions would beat the Chiefs.  A 21-20 win on the road suggests otherwise.  Plus, I'll throw this out there:  maybe the AFC isn't as dominant as people think.

-Craig Shemon

ESPN Southwest Florida

The NFL season kicks off within the month. Here are how the team's stack up heading into the season with my NFL power rankings. I have the Detroit Lions has the highest ranked team that missed out on the playoffs last year. The Jahmyr Gibbs pick was scoffed at me the "experts". But he looks like a potential Christian McCaffrey or Alvin Kamara the way he can be used in the passing game. Dan Campbell has turned the entire operation around in Detroit. And reports out of training camp are glowing about Jared Goff and his command of the offense. Staying in the state of Florida, I am really high on the Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins this season. Both are stacked rosters with young quarterbacks in their rookie contract window. The time to strike is now for the Fins and Jags.

The biggest move of the offseason was Aaron Rodgers leaving Green Bay for the New York Jets. Most talking heads have the Jets as a legitimate Super Bowl contender. I do not see it that way though. Rodgers will improve the offense from last year. But what's that saying when you rolled out Zach Wilson, Joe Flacco, and Mike White? Rodgers was not his MVP self last year. If that was just a blip on the radar, then I expect the Jets to be the best version of themselves. But I am not buying into that yet. Anyway, here are the NFL Power Rankings heading into week 1 of the NFL season.

The Cardinals are the worst organization in the league. They're going to be in a tough spot next April when they have the #1 pick, but still have 4 years remaining on Kyler Murray's contract.

Jim Irsay didn't take long to become the most hated owner in the league after Daniel Snyder left. This roster was just a quarterback away from contender for a few years, and now it's one of the worst. I like Anthony Richardson, but he won't be ready to take off this year.

I really like what the Texans did in the first round with CJ Stroud and Will Anderson. I think it will take some time for them to come together, but they have some pillars of a successful organization moving forward.

It all comes down to how quickly Bryce Young can put it all together. They went out and signed Adam Thielin and Miles Sanders as a couple of veterans to help ease Young into the NFL. I like the Frank Reich hire as well.

The Bucs have one of the most underwhelming quarterback battles the league has seen in a long time; Baker Mayfield vs. Kyle Trask. That's all you need to know about the Bucs in 2023. Whoever wins that battle will have a pair of All-Pro receivers in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to throw to.

Where is the talent around Mac Jones? They paid DeVonte Parker, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Mike Gesicki this offseason like they're elite talents. Hunter Henry is a nice tight end, and the same with Rhamondre Stephenson in the backfield. In a tough AFC the Patriots are towards the bottom of the conference in talent.

The Bears did what all organizations with a budding talent at quarterback should do; get him a legit #1 pass catcher. The addition of DJ Moore this offseason was one of the bigger moves in the league that has gone under the radar. Let's see how big of a step forward Justin Fields takes this year.

This was a team that thought the DeVonte Adams deal last offseason would push them over the top. Just 12 months later it feels like a rebuild is on the horizon. Josh McDaniels will be back in New England as an assistant next season like every other Bill Belichick disciple.

Let the Jordan Love era begin in Green Bay. We're about to find out what that means. However it is interesting that the Packers are last in the league in offensive spending and wide receiver spending. The Packers are really young at quarterback and wide receiver.

Deshaun Watson did not look like the MVP version of himself last year. There were... circumstances surrounding that though. He's back with the team for the entire offseason and training camp, so let's see how it looks this year. Looking at the roster on paper, and it looks pretty good. However it feels like we say that about the Browns every year.

The entire roster was crushed with injuries last year. There have been reports this offseason that the Rams were looking to trade Matthew Stafford, but there were no suitors. When Stafford and Cooper Kupp are healthy it's one of the deadliest tandums in the league. But is Matthew Stafford healthy?

The Falcons have retooled on the fly beautifully. Kyle Pitts, Drake London, and Bijan Robinson are all 1st round picks from the last 3 drafts that could be the best WR-RB-TE combo in the league. I think if Desmond Ridder plays to the level I expect him to play at, they could be the surprise team in the NFL this season.

I think this is one of the more interesting teams in the league. If Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas can find 80% of what they were 4 years ago, with Chris Olave and Derek Carr now on the team, this offense could be one of the best in the NFC. I also could see a world where it goes south and the team bottoms out.

I think the defense in Washington is going to rebound this season and keep the team competitive in most of their games. I don't know what to expect of Sam Howell and the offense, but I'd imagine they'll get a little boost from Daniel Snyder being out of the picture.

No clue where to put the Titans. They lost their last 7 games in 2022, but 4 of those losses were by 4 points or less. Is there a world where they win those games this year? Sure. Do I expect Ryan Tannehill or Will Levis to win in late game situations? I do not.

We know they will be 9-8 at worse. This defense is one of the best in the league, and it looks like their offensive line will be improved with two new additions. Steelers fans are sold on Kenny Pickett... however I am not. They'll be a salty team, but I don;t know if they'll have the offense to win game comfortably.

The passing attack should be lethal with DK Metcelf, Tyler Lockett, and rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Will Geno continue his form from 2022, or will he go back to the Geno of the Jets and make huge mistakes? This is a good team and will be in the fight for a wild card spot.

Some are saying Super Bowl or bust for the Jets. I'm not there yet. Rodgers is 40 now, and he took a step back last year. The roster is talented but very young. There's a difference in being the hunter or the hunted in the NFL. The Jets won't be as bad as the Broncos last year, but they're giving me the same vibes.

The Giants would be higher if Daniel Jones weren't the quarterback in the big apple. His 15 passing touchdowns is impressively low for a starting quarterback in 2022. Saquon is back, so they've got that going for them. I do think Brian Daboll is a really good coach that has his team ready to play every weekend.

(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

We will get the answer on Russell Wilson this year. Was it all Nathaniel Hackett and his ability as a head coach, or is Russ washed? It would seem like the former is the correct answer. In the 2 games after Hackett was fired last year the Broncos put up 24 and 31 points. That's not super impressive, but the 31 was the highest point total all season.

The Cowboys were playing really good football in the playoffs last year. Unfortunately Dak's propensity to throw the ball to the other team reared it's ugly head at the worst times. Mike McCarthy is saying the Cowboys will run the ball more this year. Let's see how that works out.

Justin Herbert is awesome, and he is now getting paid like so. But the Chargers have ended their seasons each of the last 2 years with coaching gaff's by Brandon Staley. The offense checks all of the boxes. My only questions are the head coach and if the defense can get stops at the right time.

The offense, which was already really good, got better with the addition of Jordan Addison. The defense still scares me though, and they didn't really address it this offseason outside of bringing in Brian Flores as DC. I think the problem was less to do with scheme and ore to do with talent.

Trevor Lawrence is well on his way to becoming a star in the NFL. How high will his play go this season? It's not crazy to say Lawrence will be in the Mahomes-Allen-Burrow conversation when talking about the best young quarterback sin the league.

This team is loaded on offense. They will challenge the Eagles and 49ers for the best offense in the NFC. But have the Lions improved the defense enough to be true contenders? We will see, but they won't be worse than how they started out the 2022 season.

Lamar had quite the offseason. He got paid, the team brought in a new OC, and brought in Odell Beckham Jr and Zay Flowers as receiving weapons. We've seen him get knocked off the field in December each of the last two years. If he can stay on the field the Ravens are a dark horse to win the Super Bowl.

This might be the best roster in all of football. They've got tons of speed on both sides of the ball. There are two questions in Miami. 1) Can Tua stay healthy. And 2) can the offensive line improve to become adequate. Vic Fangio has DC will have the Dolphins defense playing much better than last year.

The Bills were playing the best football of any team at the beginning of 2022. That formed tailed off with suspect run defense and their own inabilities to run the ball. But as long as Josh Allen is on the field this team has the fire power to go up against anyone in the NFL.

The Super Bowl hangover is a real thing. However the Eagles are so talented I don't see them taking a step back this season. The offense is anchored by the best offensive line in the sport, and has a really good group of skill players. The defense did lose some pieces, but they've got some Georgia Bulldog to fill the void left.

The 49ers have all of the boxes check needed to win a Super Bowl; coaching, line play, skill position players. The only question is quarterback. Brock Purdy seems like he'll be ready to go week 1, but with Sam Darnold and Trey Lance waiting in the wings it feels like it will be a short leash for Purdy.

This team has it all and is led by the second best quarterback in the league. Watch out for 5th round draft pick Chase Brown out of Illinois. I think he could add a different dimension to this explosive offense.

In order to be the best, you've got to beat the best. And the Chiefs have beat the best regularly since Patrick Mahomes took over as starting quarterback. Do I think the roster is as good as the other teams in the top 5? Maybe not. But that doesn't matter when you've got Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid on your sideline.