Yes, our first NFL power ranking for the 2016 season came out less than 12 hours after the 2015 season ended. No, the defending champion Broncos are not No. 1.
It’s hard to give them that honor when they don’t know who their quarterback will be next year. Even if they knew — and if they knew it was the legendary incumbent who turns 40 next month and missed nearly half the season with plantar fasciitis — that wouldn’t help.
It won’t matter much, though, as long as they can keep the No. 1 defense in the NFL, the one that neutralized MVP Cam Newton and his Panthers offense in Sunday’s Super Bowl, intact.