Following the NFL Draft, many national media outlets compiled their “Power Rankings” of the 32 NFL teams. There is a fair amount of disagreement at the top of these lists and then not much past the top 10.
We looked at the rankings — all published in May — by CBS Sports, ESPN, NFL.com, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.
Of the five, ESPN rates the Green Bay Packers highest, at No. 3. NFL.com and CBS have the Packers at No. 4. USA Today has them at No. 7 and SI at No. 8.
SI and USA Today rank the Arizona Cardinals at the top, while NFL.com and CBS have them at No. 2.
New England is ranked at the top by CBS and ESPN, though the Patriots are ranked as low as No. 6 by NFL.com.
Carolina is picked No. 1 by NFL.com and No. 2 by ESPN and SI, but as low as No. 6 by CBS.
You might have heard that the Packers appear to have the easiest schedule in the league this year. These rankings bear that out.
The Packers’ opponent appearing most often in these top 10 is Seattle, ranked No. 4 by ESPN, No. 5 by CBS, No. 7 by NFL.com, and No. 10 by SI and USA Today.
Minnesota is the perceived to be the next toughest opponent, rated No. 6 by SI, No. 8 by USA Today and No. 9 by ESPN and NFL.com.
No other 2016 Packers’ opponent is ranked in the top 10 on any of the five lists.
The only opponents picked higher than the Packers by anyone are Minnesota, picked two spots higher by SI; and Seattle, picked a spot higher by USA Today.
Based on all this forecasting, it’s very possible that the only regular season game in which the Packers will not be favored could be the September 18 away game against the Vikings.
That Vikings game looms large — on so many levels.