Week 1 Consensus NFL Power Rankings: Packers’ Place More Sour Than Sweet

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With the 2026 NFL regular season about to kick off, the Green Bay Packers are 16th in the preseason edition of the Consensus NFL Power Rankings.

Our Consensus Power Rankings take eight sets of national power rankings and turn them into one more-powerful-than-a-locomotive consensus ranking.

The Packers’ best spot is seventh at CBS and ESPN. Their lowest spot is 17th at The Athletic and Yahoo. They lag behind the Bears (ninth) and Lions (12th) in the NFC North.

Here are each of the individual power rankings, with much more extensive analysis available at the links.

ESPN: 7th

This week’s theme is a milestone. Packers beat writer Rob Demovsky chose Micah Parsons setting an NFL record with five consecutive seasons of 12-plus sacks to start his career. With him set to miss the start of the season, will he be able to extend the streak to six?

“He could be targeting a Week 6 return, which would give him 13 games to hit the dozen sack mark,” Demovsky wrote. “He played in exactly that many games in 2024. If Parsons gets to at least 10 sacks, he would join Reggie White as the only players since 1982 to reach that mark in their first six seasons.”

CBS: 7th

The Packers are No. 1 in the NFC North in Pete Prisco’s rankings.

“They have to navigate the early part of the season without Micah Parsons, which means manufacturing a pass rush,” he wrote. “But I think the offense can score a lot to overcome that if they set Jordan Love loose.”

NFL.com: 12th

The Packers’ place in these power rankings is “precarious,” according to Nick Shook.

“Running back Josh Jacobs' placement on the commissioner's exempt list removes a major contributor from Green Bay's offense,” Shook wrote, “but I believe Matt LaFleur can game plan around this absence, especially if Tucker Kraft can suit up at tight end. I also expect Minnesota DC Brian Flores to cause problems for Green Bay

Sports Illustrated: 15th

Conor Orr focused on the “lingering uncertainty” over the running game but saw a potential payoff.

“I think that, like Jacksonville toward the end of last season, Green Bay will make sense of its talent rich offense and create something even more sustainably good. Many of the conditions are right for the quintessential Jordan Love season, which could usher him into a cemented top-seven placement among NFL quarterbacks for the near future.”

Pro Football Talk: 16th

Mike Florio focused on the elephants in the room (but not on the field), Josh Jacobs and Micah Parsons.

Fox Sports: 16th

Ralph Vacchiano thinks you’ll be mad about this ranking, which is based on Micah Parsons’ recovery from a torn ACL and the absence of Josh Jacobs.

Yahoo: 17th

Frank Schwab wonders about the impact of Josh Jacobs’ absence.

“MarShawn Lloyd is talented but he has six carries over two seasons due to injuries. There isn't much behind him. This should force the Packers to pass more with Jordan Love, which might not be a bad thing.”

The Athletic: 17th

The rankings compiled by Chad Graff and Josh Kendall are supplemented by projected win totals from Austin Mock’s models. Green Bay is projected to win 9.4 games.

“Jordan Love is good enough to carry the offense in some early-season shootouts, but the Packers’ pass rush isn’t going to scare anyone until Micah Parsons returns from a torn ACL,” the authors wrote. “Fortunately for them, two of their first three games are against the Falcons and Jets.”

This Week’s Opponent: Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings are 18th in our Consensus Power Rankings, which is only two spots behind Green Bay, though the Packers are ahead in all eight of the individual rankings.

The Vikings fall between 18th and 22nd in all of the individual rankings. They are 19th at Sports Illustrated, with Orr calling the Vikings’ over/under of 8.5 wins one of the safest bets considering they won nine games last season with inferior quarterbacking.

They are 18th at Fox, with Ralph Vacchiano writing: “QB Kyler Murray was fine this summer, but it’ll take a lot more than that to make me believe he can lead this decent Vikings team in a brutally tough division. It’s possible, though. Kevin O’Connell only has to turn back the clock to 2024.”

The Vikings are 1.5-point favorites with an over/under of 46.5 points.

Latest Packers Odds

Sportsbook odds aren’t part of our rankings, though they provide another insight into the teams. At FanDuel Sportsbook, the Packers are:

15th in the Super Bowl odds at +2200. The Rams are huge favorites at +500. In the NFC North, the Lions are +2000, the Bears are +2500 and the Vikings are +4000.

Seventh in the NFC playoff odds at -112 (the Bears are eighth).

Have an over/under of 9.5 wins.

Jordan Love ranks 13th at +2200 in the NFL MVP odds.

Packers On SI’s Consensus Power Rankings

1, Los Angeles Rams (10 points; six first-place votes); 2, Seattle Seahawks (17 points; two first place votes); 3, Denver Broncos (31 points); 4, Buffalo Bills (39); 5, Baltimore Ravens (59); 6, Houston Texans (65); 7, New England Patriots (68); 8, Philadelphia Eagles (71).

9, Chicago Bears (84); 10, Jacksonville Jaguars (86); 11, Cincinnati Bengals (88); 12, Dallas Cowboys (98); 12, Detroit Lios (98); 14, San Francisco 49ers (100); 15, Los Angeles Chargers (104); 16, Green Bay Packers (107).

17, Kansas City Chiefs (109); 18, Minnesota Vikings (152); 19, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (156); 20, Pittsburgh Steelers (161); 21, Indianapolis Colts (166); 22, Carolina Panthers (180); 23, New Orleans Saints (188); 24, New York Giants (189).

25, Washington Commanders (193); 26, Atlanta Falcons (206); 27, Tennessee Titans (219); 28, Las Vegas Raiders (224); 29, New York Jets (229); 30, Arizona Cardinals (240); 31, Cleveland Browns (241); 32, Miami Dolphins (252).

ICYMI, here are 6⃣ reasons why this season will be a dumpster fire: ⬇️https://t.co/Oo1D4y9oc0

And 5⃣ reasons why they'll win the Super Bowl: ⬇️https://t.co/rv3WdnVR4B
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 9, 2026

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