Only one team can win the Super Bowl. That means every year 31 fanbases don’t get what they want, reasonable expectations be damned. The best most fans and analysts can hope for is to have their priors confirmed. On that score, we appear to be on the same page as ESPN when it comes to who holds power in the NFL heading into the 2022 season.
Near the end of a wild month of March that saw Russell Wilson get traded as well as a dozen other earth-shaking moves around the league, we took a stab at a power rankings list for all 32 teams. At the top we put the Buffalo Bills, who have added Von Miller to an already loaded roster. Meanwhile, we slotted the new-look Seattle Seahawks at No. 27 on the list.
While there are significant differences between our list and theirs, ESPN’s FPI power rankings that were released last week also had Buffalo at No. 1 and Seattle at No. 27.
2022 Football Power Index ratings and rankings!
The rating itself indicates approximately how much better or worse — in points — that team is predicted to be, relative to an average NFL team on a neutral field.
It is a predictive rating. pic.twitter.com/9oDRKm8nKR
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) May 17, 2022
There’s always a chance this team could be a pleasant surprise – and if this offseason has taught us anything it’s that nobody can accurately foresee the future, even with predictive rankings or if your uncle inherited a time machine from Tesla.
In any case, we would be surprised if the Seahawks do any better than 8-9 this year. Until they either find a new franchise quarterback or Geno Smith or Drew Lock develop into a star, fans should keep their expectations for this team low so as not to be disappointed.
