NFL Fraud Rankings After Week 1 (Chargers Take Top Spot)

One of my favorite things to do on a yearly basis is to point out which teams in the NFL are fraudulent.

The makings of a fraudulent team are those with good records with a high public opinion, but are actually not good teams when you look deeper than how many wins they have. Last year, the Vikings and Giants were the biggest frauds in the NFL and the year before the Titans were the most fraudulent No. 1 seed in NFL history.

This season, I'm going to actually rank the top five frauds in the NFL on a weekly basis. Now, this can be difficult to do just one week into the season, but I'm going to do my best anyway.

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Now, let's jump into the first official edition of my NFL Fraud Rankings:

Most Fraudulent Teams in the NFL

5) Buffalo Bills

I really didn't want to put the Bills on this list, but I'm obligated to after their performance on Monday night. Specifically the performance of Josh Allen. It was a tough showing after Aaron Rodgers went down on the Jets first drive. Buffalo was at one point 14.5-point favorites on the live line and should've been able to run away with it.

Also, are we sure Allen is an elite quarterback?

4) Green Bay Packers

Let's pump the brakes on the Packers after a Week 1 18-point win over the Bears. It was one game and we're already seeing people call Jordan Love one of the better quarterbacks in the league and Green Bay being a contender in the NFC.

I think their win against the Bears was more of a sign of how bad Chicago is than a sign of how good Green Bay is.

3) Dallas Cowboys

Don't crown the Cowboys NFC East champs just quite yet. Was their 40-0 win over the Giants one of the biggest butt-kickings of all time? Yes. Does it mean they're going to dominate the division all season? No.

Ever since the blocked field goal on the first drive, everything that could have gone wrong for the Giants, went wrong. Sometimes that happens. The Cowboys are a good team, but the overreaction to Week 1 makes them fraudulent by no fault of their own. Everyone calm down.

2) Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks were the feel good story of the season last year and everyone expected them to be a borderline playoff team once again. Not so fast.

They lost by 17 points to the Los Angeles Rams at home. A pure disgrace. I don't think this is going to be a blip on the radar either. They had a lot of things go right for them last season and now we're seeing regression to the mean. They're frauds until people accept they're not a good football team.

1) Los Angeles Chargers

Despite coming off a loss, the Chargers take the top spot for the most fraudulent team in the NFL through Week 1 purely to once again being the most over-hyped offseason team.

The Chargers defense got absolutely decimated by the Dolphins. They allowed 8.2 yards per play, which is the most amongst all teams in Week 1 by 2.3 yards per play. That's completely insane.

Ever since the end of the LaDainian Tomlinson days, people expect the Chargers to be something they're not on a yearly basis. 2023 is no exception.

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