2009 NFL Power Rankings: Week 1 ESPN.com

Week: Select Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

The 2009 NFL season does not kick off officially until Thursday, but we've already got a rising team -- that is, according to the latest poll of our experts.

If the Seattle Seahawks continue to skyrocket the ESPN.com NFL Power Rankings at the rate they've been climbing this year, expect them to be our No. 1 team by, say, Week 3.

The Seahawks, 4-12 during an injury-riddled 2008 campaign, are No. 15 in the Week 1 edition of our rankings. So what, you say? In May, the Seahawks ranked 22nd. In our Training Camp edition published in July, the birds in blue were 18th. They finished last season ranked 28th.

Instead of 12 experts weighing in weekly, we have four who will cast their votes. See the glossary below for details.

The first four spots remain unchanged from our Training Camp edition. The San Diego Chargers and Indianapolis Colts flip-flopped the Nos. 5-6 spots.

• More: Voting | Blog takes | SportsNation: Rank 'em | SportsNation: Pick'em | Football Today

(Editor's note: LW indicates each team's ranking last week -- in this case, in the Training Camp edition Power Rankings.)



