NFL Power Rankings After Week 2
Another week, another power ranking. Week one is a lot of overreactions and nonsense. Now is the time to either lay back and enjoy what your team is doing or start looking at the panic button.
32. Chicago Bears (Prev 28)
The Bears are just bad. It is time to start talking about whether they should move on from Justin Fields. There is not much to like about this Chicago team. The defense is bad, and the offense is struggling. It might be best if the Bears look to blow everything up, management and coaching.
31. Houston Texans (Prev. 29)
Houston fans have a lot to be excited about. CJ. Stroud looks to be what he was advertised as. He is accurate and has not thrown an interception yet. They went down early against the Colts but started to mount a small comeback. They weren’t able to cap it off, but Texans fans should be happy with their rookie quarterback for now.
30. Arizona Cardinals (Prev. 32)
Arizona has been competitive; I will give them that. That is all I will give them though. They still have the worst roster in the NFL, and they will not be able to keep it up in the long term. They gave up a 20-point lead to the struggling Giants and ended up losing the game. They climbed the rankings, but they are still a bad football team.
29. Carolina Panthers (Prev. 30)
Carolina needs to get Bryce Young some help. The offensive line has been bad, they have the worst receiving core in the league, and their defense is not playing very well either. They brought Andy Dalton in on fourth down for a QB sneak. It makes me wonder if this team even knows what they are doing by taking their franchise guy out in a big game situation.
28. Denver Broncos (Prev. 25)
I do not know what the Broncos need to do at this point. Russ doesn’t look bad, and the defense hasn’t played bad either. I believe with a few more games under Sean Payton’s system the team will come together a little more. For now, they are 0-2 and not sitting in a great spot.
27. New York Giants (Prev. 21)
This team is vastly underperforming expectations. Darren Waller and Jalen Hyatt were supposed to help this offense make the next jump, but the offensive line has taken a huge step back. Unfortunately, Barkley is at least going to miss this week, so the Giants will live to struggle another week.
26. Las Vegas Raiders (Prev. 24)
This looked more like the Raiders I was expecting to see. I won’t penalize them too much, considering they were playing against the Bills. Josh Jacobs must be more efficient in the run game to give Las Vegas a chance to be competitive down the road. They should have Meyers back next week so that will help get the passing attack back up and running.
25. Tennessee Titans (Prev. 31)
The Titans are the biggest fakers in the league so far. They have looked competitive two weeks in a row, but I am just not sold on them. Ryan Tannehill looks subpar, and the secondary is not very good either. Derrick Henry can only do so much at his age. They should let Will Levis take the reins and see what they have in the second-round pick.
24. New York Jets (Prev. 13)
I imagine the Jets will be in the bottom part of these rankings a lot soon. Say what you want about Zach Wilson, he is not the answer for New York. They need to either trade for a veteran backup like Dalton/Winston or give a look to the likes of Rivers/Ryan. Any of those options are good as long as the defense can keep playing well.
23. Indianapolis Colts (Prev. 26)
Richardson has looked very solid through two weeks. He keeps taking big hits which is expected from a dual threat quarterback in his rookie year. He has been in concussion protocol all week and it is looking like he won’t play this weekend. The Colts have been exciting to watch, but they still are a bottom-tier team.
22. Cleveland Browns (Prev. 11)
I want to start off by saying losing Nick Chubb was heartbreaking for the Browns, and the entire sport. He is a generational talent in the running back position, and I hope he can make a speedy and full recovery.
Cleveland is still struggling from Deshaun’s lack of passing ability. This team was always going to boil down too if he could still ball out like he did in Houston. The defense is good, but it is not good enough to make up for the waste of $64 million a year.
21. Pittsburgh Steelers (Prev. 20)
Steelers’ fans need to slow the roll a little bit. I know they had a good defensive showing last week, but the Browns offense is not that good. They were not able to stop the run and I am not going to give too much credit for being able to play well defensively against Deshaun Watson. Pittsburgh needs to make Jaylen Warren the starting back if they want to get their run game going. Pickett also needs to be a better decision maker for this team to fight for a spot in the AFC playoff picture.
20. Minnesota Vikings (Prev. 17)
The Vikings are only going to be able to win games in a shootout fashion. This worked last year, given their point-differential was negative, but it has not worked so far this year. Kirk Cousins did about all he could do in their loss to the Eagles, putting up over 300 yards and four touchdowns. The defense is a genuine liability that is going to cost Minnesota a lot of games.
19. New England Patriots (Prev. 14)
Get Mac Jones some help. Another week of Mac Jones doing everything he can to keep the Patriots in a game against a very good opponent. They need to either look to trade for a wide receiver, or their current guys need to take a step up. On the other side of the ball, Christian Gonzalez has looked great and is a serious candidate for DROY.
18. Los Angeles Chargers (Prev. 8)
Are the Chargers the worst good team or the best bad team? This team is way too talented to start off 0-2, especially losing to the Titans. I want to give them a few more weeks to develop a better scheme under Kellen Moore, but I think Staley needs to go. There are plenty of other options that would be a better fit to coach this team than Staley. If he is at the helm, this team is doomed to fail.
17. Cincinnati Bengals (Prev. 7)
It might be time to hit the panic button in Cincinnati. Not only because of the recent struggles, but Burrow seemed to have re-aggravated his calf injury. If they cannot get Burrow completely healthy, the rest of their season could easily just be a scratch. Without Joe Burrow, the Bengals do not make the playoffs this year.
16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Prev. 27)
I said before the season that the Buccaneers sneakily reminded me of the Seahawks from last year. The pre-season quarterback battle was between a veteran and a young guy. The offensive weapons were solid, the defense wasn’t bad, and the team was expected to fail. It is only week two, but Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Bucs have looked very competitive. I would not be surprised if they kept this up.
15. Los Angeles Rams (Prev. 23)
No team has been as surprising as the Rams. Puka proved he was the real deal by going for another 100 yards against a tenacious San Francisco defense. With Stafford balling out, the team is just holding on until Cooper Kupp gets back. The wild card is wide open, and the Rams could fight for a spot this year.
14. Green Bay Packers (Prev. 15)
Green Bay may have lost, but Love stands tall. He now has 6 touchdowns with no interceptions. He has done this without his number one receiver in Christian Watson. Last week he managed to keep his team in it until the very end without Bakhtiari, Watson, or Aaron Jones. Once he has all his weapons, there is no telling what this Packers team is capable of.
13. Washington Commanders (Prev. 22)
Say what you want about Washington, but they are 2-0. Sam Howell did not look perfect, but he made some amazing throws that most quarterbacks could not make. Their offense has looked promising thus far, and the defense has shown signs of improvement. They still have the Cowboys and Eagles twice each, so we will see exactly what the Commanders are made of in the coming weeks.
12. Seattle Seahawks (Prev. 16)
Geno Smith and the offense managed to look amazing while losing Cross and Lucas. Smith showed off his elite pocket presence in week two against a middle of the pack Detroit defense. Although the offense did look good, the defense has allowed 30 points or more in two straight weeks. It might be time to hit the panic button on a defensive unit that was supposed to look drastically better.
11. New Orleans Saints (Prev. 19)
New Orleans has shown that their defense is here to stay this year. They have been the best part about this team through two weeks. The biggest question mark for the Saints is their offense. Derek Carr is not afraid to air the ball out, but they are not putting up many points. I look for Kamara to be the key piece they are missing after his suspension ends week three.
10. Atlanta Falcons (Prev. 18)
The Falcon’s run game is a force to be reckoned with. They have shown that they will beat you up with their run game time after time. Teams must be able to get up big on them in the beginning of the game, because if it is close at the end, they will have your team tired out and beaten down. Desmond Ridder needs to step up for the team to be a serious contender, but they are sitting at 2-0 as of now.
9. Detroit Lions (Prev. 10)
The defense was not what they had planned for this year, and they lost Gardner-Johnson. The offense looks as good as it did last year but the Lions need to be able to come up with big stops if they want to contend as a serious playoff team this year. They matchup with the falcons next week which will be a true measure of their defensive line.
8. Jacksonville Jaguars (Prev. 5)
The good thing is the defense looked good; the bad thing is the offense looked awful. I am not ready to hit the panic button on the offense yet, it came down to a lot of bad play calling and not executing on big plays. The fact of the matter is their defense held the Chiefs to 17 points and they weren’t able to win the game.
7. Buffalo Bills (Prev. 9)
The Bills bounced back big time this week. Josh Allen had a good week, and the defense held their own against the Raiders. The big thing to look for moving forward is if Josh Allen can keep up the consistency. They have a tough division so it will be interesting to watch moving forward.
6. Kansas City Chiefs (Prev. 3)
Chris Jones needs to be paid. The difference he made on the field was Tremendous. He made the Jaguars offensive line look foolish, especially rookie RT Anton Harrison. It was easy to see he was playing this week with a chip on his shoulder. The Chiefs still didn’t look whole though. The offense only put up 17 points, but Mahomes was still able to get different receivers in the mix. I think the Chiefs relieved a lot of their fans with a win this past week.
5. Baltimore Ravens (Prev. 12)
Baltimore looked how I expected them to during the pre-season. Lamar looked decisive and comfortable throwing the ball, all while having the same effect as before with his legs. Zay Flowers seems like he is easily stepping into the WR1 role, playing as the second pass catcher behind Mark Andrews on that offense. They are missing a lot of key pieces after week two, so they will look to find success amidst key injuries like Ronnie Stanley, Marlon Humphrey, Odell Beckham Jr., and Tyler Lindenbaum.
4. Miami Dolphins (Prev. 4)
Tua seems like he has taken the next step as a quarterback. Miami has played two phenomenal games on the offensive side of the ball. I was concerned that Tua might crumble against a strong Patriots’ defensive front, but the opposite happened. I would like to see the defense start playing better, especially Bradley Chubb. They are a rather surprising leader in what is looking to be a strong AFC East.
3. Philadelphia Eagles (Prev. 2)
The Eagles look just as promised. They came away with a good win against the Vikings. The defense didn’t look amazing, but the Vikings do have an explosive offense. Philadelphia also showed they can win the game on the ground with Swift rushing for over 150 yards and a touchdown.
2. Dallas Cowboys (Prev. 6)
I will be the first to admit it, the Cowboys look good, great even. We knew from week one the defense was legit, but even Dak looked good against a strong Jets’ secondary. This Cowboys team looks strong and competent right now, we must wait and see if they can keep it up.
1. San Francisco 49ers (Prev. 1)
It still feels like the 49ers are the most complete team in the league. The defense is strong, and their offensive weapons can score in more ways than I can count. There isn’t much else to say, I think they are the best team in the NFL right now.
