Baltimore and Kansas City find themselves atop the heap days before they face off for Monday Night Football. Where does everyone else fall? We discuss.
It was the second week of football and there were some very exciting games to watch. After this week, team tiers are beginning to form. While Kansas City and Baltimore seem to be headed for a preview of the AFC Championship this week, the NFC is a jumbled mess of top-tier talent. After a week of competitive, high-scoring games, some teams are clearly among the best. Other teams are clearly at the bottom of the NFL. So, who goes where and what happened this week?
The Chiefs eked out a win in Los Angeles over a talented defensive group. Justin Herbert shined in his first NFL start against a beat-up Chiefs defense. Even in a tough matchup and situation, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs topped the Chargers 23-20 in overtime. In other AFC West news, Denver is on to quarterback #2 with a shoulder injury to Drew Lock, and the Raiders took out the Saints in their home opener in Las Vegas.
On the NFC side of things, the Tampa Bay Bucs beat out the Panthers for Tom Brady‘s first win outside of New England. While Carolina made a late push, Leonard Fournette closed the game out on a long touchdown. After a slow start, the Packers beat up on the hapless Lions and Aaron Rodgers still looks electric. Dallas also had an incredible comeback win that has made Skip Bayless entirely unbearable.
All across the NFL, there has been a shift in standings and expectations. Here is what this week’s NFL Power Rankings look like:
The Chiefs did not look like they were at the top of their game this week, but managed to find a way to win. Great teams do that. Harrison Butker nailed three straight field goals that gave the Chiefs the victory over the high-flying Chargers. Mahomes and company look on to the Ravens on Monday night. The Chiefs managed to stay on top for this week.
The Ravens have steamrolled their opponents thus far and look like they may be pushing Kansas City for the AFC Championship. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens take on the Chiefs on Monday night to determine who should be the highest-ranked franchise in the AFC.
After stumbling out of the gates, the Packers turned it around and decimated the Lions this week. Rodgers looked very good for the second week in a row. If the Packers can continue to play like this offensively, they could push for the NFC Championship.
Despite the tenacity of the New England Patriots, the Seahawks held on to victory in Week 2. Seattle does not look like a great defensive team, but offensively you would be hard-pressed to find a more productive group. Russell Wilson looks like an MVP candidate to this point and that could pay dividends.
Is Josh Allen legitimately good? After another very good week, the Bills looked more legitimate. With some room to grow on defense and some dominant offensive performances, the Bills could be a top-tier team for the first time in years. If Allen can maintain this pace, the Bills are a scary team.
The Saints looked shaky, but they’re still the Saints after all. New Orleans got beat by the Las Vegas Raiders in their home opener by 10, and the Saints looked as bad defensively as they have in years. They could not get the Raiders off of the field. To add insult to injury, Drew Brees looked like a shell of himself. The Saints are talented but are trending in the wrong direction.
The Steelers are very good on the defensive side of the ball. Pittsburgh has a functional offense and have looked solid in their first two games this season. While they have not been a dominant team, they are well-coached and have room to grow. The Steelers are a team to keep an eye on.
Tom Brady has his first win as a Buccaneer. Despite the weapons added to the fold, the Bucs have yet to look dominant. They started the game well on both sides of the ball but had a collapse in the second half in which the Panthers made a late push to come back. If not for a huge run by Leonard Fournette, this game may have been viewed a bit differently. Tampa Bay looks good, but has a lot of questions going forward.
Kyler Murray is electric and has willed his team to victory. DeAndre Hopkins looks great as the primary target in the Air Raid system that Kliff Kingsbury has implemented. Beyond that, the defense has looked pretty solid. While Arizona doesn’t have a tough schedule going forward, we will learn a lot about their legitimacy as the weeks unfold.
Sean McVay and company look like they are returning to form after a tough season a year ago. They look good on both sides of the ball. Los Angeles beat the Cowboys in Week 1 and then dominated the Eagles this weekend. They may be a team to watch in the coming weeks.
San Francisco beat the Jets like they were supposed to, but at what cost? Nearly everything. Solomon Thomas and Nick Bosa are out for the season with ACL tears. Jimmy Garappolo is out for the foreseeable future with a high ankle sprain. Raheem Mostert sprained his MCL. Needless to say, the 49ers have a lot to figure out in the next couple of weeks and will learn a lot about their depth.
Tennessee is well-coached and could be headed for the playoffs again. When Derrick Henry is slowed, Ryan Tannehill has shown an ability to rise to the occasion. While the Titans are not a flashy team by any means, they are solid on both sides of the ball and find ways to win late in games.
Cam Newton is throwing the ball as well as he ever has. Although the Pats came up short against the Seahawks, they proved that they are a capable opponent. If Bellichick can keep his defense running at their best and Josh McDaniels can get the most out of Cam Newton, they will be pushing the Bills for an AFC East title.
The Charger defense may be one of the best in the NFL. Jerry Tillery looks like he is breaking out as a star. Along with Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram, there are very few scarier pass-rushing units in the league. After playing Kansas City to the wire, the Chargers are now on the map as a potential playoff team.
The Raiders took everyone by surprise this week by upsetting the Saints by 10 points in their home opener. In the stunning victory, the Raiders ran the ball very well and held on to the ball for a long time en route to the victory. Las Vegas is a team to watch if they can slow teams down on offense.
Chicago has been a surprise to about everyone. Mitch Trubisky has refrained from losing games thus far for his team. While the Bears have played the lowly Lions and hapless Giants, they are nonetheless undefeated. They have a quality defense and as long as Trubisky doesn’t blow the game, they are capable of winning some games this year.
Indianapolis has been on the Philip Rivers rollercoaster. Anyone who has watched Rivers play in the AFC West knows that he can win his team games and lose them as well. He can have 300+ yards passing and throw 4 interceptions. Indy won against Minnesota in commanding fashion holding Kirk Cousins to a mere 113 yards passing and 3 interceptions. The Colts look like a shaky and inconsistent team. They could move up and down the power rankings all season long.
The Cowboys are lucky that they aren’t 0-2 instead of 1-1. They looked awful in their opener and eked out a victory against the Falcons who blew an enormous lead throughout the course of the game. They seem out of sync and completely incapable of playing defense. Despite being heralded by many as one of the most talented rosters in the NFL, they have shown little-to-no consistency.
Things in Minnesota have gone from bad to worse. After getting throttled by the Packers in week 1, Kirk Cousins has reverted to the bad version of himself and the Vikings lost to the Colts who let Gardner Minshew shine against their secondary just a week ago. Minnesota doesn’t have an easy schedule going forward and is trending in the wrong direction.
The Broncos are in trouble. They have been bit by the injury bug a bunch of times in the last two weeks. They have lost Drew Lock for a while and Courtland Sutton for the season. They are winless in a division that has them playing Kansas City and the Chargers twice. The depth in Denver must be impressive, or they will find themselves in a hole very quickly.
The Texans have not gotten a very fair shake to start the season. The Chiefs and Ravens put them in their place in the first couple of weeks. Bill O’Brien has been outcoached and Deshaun Watson outplayed. We will soon know what they are made of as they are set to take on the Steelers and Titans in the next two weeks respectively. Houston needs to be a better team than what they have shown in the first couple of weeks.
Jacksonville was widely regarded as the worst team in the NFL to start the season. Now, they are showing some signs of life. Laviska Shenault has looked like a good draft pick and weapon to add to their offense. Even though they came up short this week against the Tennessee Titans, Minshew looked like he was for real instead of just a joke quarterback with a goofy name and mustache. The Jaguars could have some mobility in the power rankings this year.
Atlanta did what Atlanta does: They blew an enormous lead against the Dallas Cowboys. That happened when they allowed the Cowboys to dive on an onside kick that they simply watched roll in front of them. They not only looked poor on defense as they allowed Dak Prescott to score late touchdowns against them, but they also looked poorly coached. If he wasn’t before, Dan Quinn is on the hot seat now. At this rate, he may not make it through the season.
Cleveland has some talent and Baker Mayfield looked like a capable quarterback. The young quarterback refused to say that he was “feeling dangerous” in a post-game interview, even when prompted. Baby steps to maturity, perhaps? That being said, the Browns seem far from dangerous and should lean on their rushing attack going forward. While they have a talented group of players, it’s difficult to believe in the Browns because it’s the Browns after all.
Joe Burrow looks ready for the NFL. Unfortunately for him and the Bengals, his offensive line looks incapable of blocking anyone. Burrow takes shots from blitzers and is forced to throw on the move more than any rookie should. The Bengals don’t look like a team that will turn it around this season but they are a team that should be watched in the coming seasons. They have some serious young talent. This week, the Browns beat Cincinnati out this week in a pretty tight game.
Washington has been an interesting team to this point. While Dwayne Haskins has not looked like a quarterback that is ready for the NFL, their defense is terrifying. Ron Rivera is taking a talented defensive front and making the team competitive. While they dropped this week’s game, they will certainly be a team to keep an eye on from week to week.
Carolina showed some signs of life this week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. When they needed a stop, they could not get one. Leonard Fournette kissed their hopes goodbye on a 46-yard touchdown run. The Buccaneers held on despite a pitiful second half from future Hall of Famer Tom Brady. Carolina may not be so low but they have lost Christian McCaffrey for several weeks due to a high ankle sprain which may debilitate their offensive production in the coming weeks.
The Eagles have looked like a complete mess; losing two games in back-to-back weeks that they were expected to win. They got throttled this week by the Rams. The Rams will be better than anticipated, but the game wasn’t even competitive. Carson Wentz needs to get it together if he wants to keep his job in Philadelphia. The Eagles took quite a slide this week.
Detroit jumped out to a quick lead on Green Bay and then sat and watched as they slowly got annihilated by the Packers and Aaron Rodgers. While it seems like Detroit has some real potential and talent, it seems as though they are never really up for the task. The problem is, they have struggled so mightily in the first two weeks, it is difficult to put your finger on any one issue that could turn things around if corrected.
The Dolphins are in a weird place. They find themselves winless after two weeks but haven’t looked totally helpless. Miami seems to allow a lot of risky business from Ryan Fitzpatrick and can occasionally come up big. While they couldn’t beat out the Bills this week, they did make the game somewhat interesting.
New York must not be much of a football city. Between the Giants and the Jets, it appears to be a race for the #1 overall pick in next year’s draft. With a serious injury to Saquon Barkley, there is little to nothing that the Giants can do to stay competitive in the next several games. Daniel Jones will need to prove his worth to say the absolute least.
The Jets don’t look like an NFL team. The 49ers had several impact players go down with injury and it didn’t even phase them against the Jets. Adam Gase was once seen as capable future head coach. Now, it is increasingly unlikely that he can keep his job for much longer with the New York Jets. Something must change or the team will have the potential to go winless this season.