What a weird week it was in the NFL. The rankings are going to shake up considerably in the first couple weeks as teams jostle for positioning. The teams ranked 11-18 last week all lost this week, and the teams ranked 28-32 last week all won this week. It just goes to show that you never really know what is going to happen in the NFL. Without further ado, here are my Power Rankings going into Week 3.
1. New England Patriots (Previous: 1)
The Patriots walked into Buffalo and proceeded to out-coach and out-perform the Bills. New England is likely to stay in this position for a while as their next two games are against Jacksonville and a Romo-less Cowboys.
2. Green Bay Packers (Previous: 3)
Green Bay finally beat the Seahawks! With the Seahawks needing a win badly Sunday night, the Packers looked good even without Adams for most of the game and Lacy. The Pack will play on Monday night against the Chiefs next week.
3. Denver Broncos (Previous: 4)
Some people don’t believe in Denver and what they’re doing. I am not one of those people. The most important thing at this stage of the season is winning games and building chemistry. Peyton Manning looks fine.
4. Cincinnati Bengals (Previous: 9)
Cincinnati has looked really good through the first two weeks. After dominating the Raiders in Oakland (something Baltimore couldn’t do), the Bengals took care of a Chargers team that looks improved this year.
5. Arizona Cardinals (Previous: 10)
I don’t know what it is about Bruce Arians, but he does nothing but win football games. Not surprisingly, Arizona dominated the Bears in every facet of the game. Surprisingly, Carson Palmer hadn’t thrown consecutive 3 TD games since 2006 before Weeks 1 and 2 this week.
6. Dallas Cowboys (Previous: 5)
I contemplated dropping the Cowboys much further than this. Here is what it comes down to: this team is 2-0, and their best two players are expected to return before the playoffs. If the Cowboys go 4-4 over the next two months, they’ll likely make the playoffs in a week NFC East.
7. Seattle Seahawks (Previous: 2)
Panic time in Seattle? Probably not. But, sitting two games behind the Cardinals this early in the season has to be a cause for concern. The Seahawks have no offensive identity right now, and they need to find one fast. Maybe they should start throwing the ball to Jimmy Graham.
8. Pittsburgh Steelers (Previous: 8)
A tale of two weeks for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They jumped all over the 49ers all day on Sunday. Ryan Shazier (13 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery) looked unstoppable as did Big Ben and Antonio Brown.
9. New York Jets (Previous: 21)
J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS! 2-0 without Geno! Who would’ve guessed that!? Either way, Todd Bowles looks like he knows what he’s doing as a rookie NFL head coach. Ryan Fitzpatrick is doing a great job managing the game, and Chris Ivory looks like a pro-bowl player.
10. Kansas City Chiefs (Previous: 11)
Last week, the teams ranked 11-18 all lost. Of all those teams, the Chiefs and Chargers are the best teams, followed by Buffalo. The Chiefs could easily be 2-0 and in the top five of this countdown. A late fumble cost them that opportunity.
11. San Diego Chargers (Previous: 14)
Again, yes San Diego lost, but they did not look bad in their loss. They played a Bengals team who looks to be pretty good this year. San Diego has Philip Rivers and that means this team can win any game they play in.
12. Buffalo Bills (Previous: 16)
Buffalo moved up four spots essentially by default. I don’t think Carolina or Atlanta can be proclaimed as great teams yet. The Bills played two teams that started in the top-five this season and didn’t have a dud in either game.
13. Carolina Panthers (Previous: 19)
Two wins over Jacksonville and Houston does not excite anybody, but being 2-0 does! The NFL is all about matchups, and the Panthers have had two easy games thus far. It doesn’t get a whole lot more difficult, as they welcome New Orleans to Charlotte.
14. Atlanta Falcons (Previous: 20)
The Falcons have now beaten the Eagles and the Giants. Those are better victories than the Panthers, and they weren’t expected to win this year. Dan Quinn seems to be a defensive genius and Matt Ryan is leading the charge on offense.
15. Baltimore Ravens (Previous: 7)
Who saw this coming? A loss against the Broncos on the road is nothing to be ashamed of. A loss to the Raiders while allowing 37 points is something to be ashamed of. Baltimore needs to win against the Bengals this week, or else they fall three games behind them in the standings.
16. Indianapolis Colts (Previous: 6)
Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden were talking about the Colts roster a lot last night. At the end of the day, it isn’t very talented. A QBs three biggest bailout are his running back, his offensive line, and his defense. The Colts don’t have any of those it appears.
17. Miami Dolphins (Previous: 13)
Miami has looked bad both weeks. They start the year with two pretty bad teams in Washington and Jacksonville. They’ll look to get their offense more on track this week against the Bills, which is no easy task.
18. St. Louis Rams (Previous: 15)
Wasn’t it just last week that people were proclaiming the Rams as a playoff team? This team plays really well against the division and at home. When neither of those things are happening, it’s hard for this team to win. They’ll welcome the Steelers to St. Louis next week.
19. Minnesota Vikings (Previous: 25)
This is the type of football that the Vikings are hoping to play. Adrian Peterson dominating, Teddy Bridgewater managing the game, and the defense forcing turnovers. If that team can do that consistently, the Vikings could get to 10 wins.
20. Detroit Lions (Previous: 12)
Wow, it looks bad in Detroit. This defense obviously misses Suh a lot, but it’s the offense that is preventing this team from winning games. They are already two games behind the Packers, and are welcoming Peyton and Co. to town. Sorry Lions fans!
21. Philadelphia Eagles (Previous: 17)
It looks like the NFL coaches have figured out how to stop Chip Kelly. They have three really good RBs and a great offensive line and can’t get the ball past the line of scrimmage. Sam Bradford also looks very lost in this offense.
22. San Francisco 49ers (Previous: 22)
Coming off of Monday night, flying across the country, starting at 12, and playing against a team with four extra days of rest; none of this helped the 49ers who looked bad in Pittsburgh. Expect them to fall somewhere in the middle of their Week 1 and Week 2 performances.
23. Oakland Raiders (Previous: 29)
The Raiders have had two tough games to start the season, and I’m sure they’re more than happy to be 1-1. Oakland looks different than in year’s past; this team isn’t going to get pushed around for 17 weeks. The Raiders are trying to make some noise, unfortunately they’re in arguable the best division in football.
24. Houston Texans (Previous: 18)
The Texans had a lot of hype going into the season. The bad news is that Houston has no offensive playmakers outside of DeAndre Hopkins with Arian Foster sidelined. Also, benching Hoyer for Mallett is still questionable; Mallett completed less than 50% of his 58 passes.
25. New York Giants (Previous: 23)
The Giants could easily by 2-0 right now, but have lost leads in the 4th quarter both weeks. Odell Beckham, Jr. bounced back nicely after a tough week 1. If there is a silver lining, the NFC East looks absolutely terrible this year with no dominant team.
26. Washington Redskins (Previous: 28)
I don’t know how, but the Redskins have thrown two decent games together. Looks like Kirk Cousins is somewhat getting the job done. They play the Giants on the road on Thursday night in what should be a boring game.
27. Cleveland Browns (Previous: 30)
Johnny Football is performing well and it’s good to see. Coming out of rehab and making intentional life choices seems to be improving Manziel’s football skills as well. Now, he might be replaced again by Josh McCown in Week 3, so let’s relax SportsCenter.
28. New Orleans Saints (Previous: 24)
The Saints are just bad. This defense looks like it couldn’t stop anyone even if they wanted to try. Carson Palmer and and Jameis Winston tore the defense apart both weeks. The biggest news is Drew Brees’ injury. If he’s sidelined, this team won’t win a game.
29. Jacksonville Jaguars (Previous: 31)
Unlike some other teams towards the bottom of this list, Jacksonville is building a young nucleus. This team has committed to building itself through the draft and there is a lot of talent and youth on this roster. This could be a perennial playoff team in 2-3 years.
30. Tennessee Titans (Previous: 27)
Mariota looked as if he had been playing in the NFL for years last week. This week, the Browns made him look like a rookie. At the end of the day, the Titans have very little talent and this team will lose a lot of games. Mariota just needs to focus on improving his game.
31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Previous: 32)
Like the Titans, the Buccaneers aren’t a very good team. Winston looked much better in Week 2 than Week 1. If they can beat a desperate Houston team this week, they’ll be 2-1 and in position to make some noise in the division.
32. Chicago Bears (Previous: 26)
Sorry to all my Chicago friends, but it looks bad in the Windy City. This defense is bad, and the only reason the game against the Packers was close is because of the rivalry. Arizona embarrassed the Bears for the second week in a row in front of the Chicago fans. There are talks of tanking the season already.
Image: Rodgers and Wilson