Week 2 Power Rankings
Though it didn’t provide the prettiest brand of football, week one taught me one thing: there are more competitive teams than ever. Playoff teams from last season slid to the mid-20s due to lackluster performances and other teams rose the rankings by squeaking out wins against their rivals.
Week one is never make or break but it certainly changed the direction of a lot of teams’ seasons. Let’s see how it shook out in my power rankings.
32. Carolina Panthers
Positive: There are still 16 games to play.
Negative: I’m almost ready to call Bryce Young a bust. It’s not that he’s 2-15 in his pro career. It’s that he has terrible footwork, looks confused, doesn’t show flashes of arm talent, and is outplayed by Andy Dalton every time the Red Rocket touches the field.
31. New York Giants
Positive: Malik Nabers looks like he can be a star receiver in the future…once the Giants get rid of Daniel Jones.
Negative: Jones stinks and the Giants can’t do anything about it. The only player with a lower passer rating than him was Bryce Young.
30. Las Vegas Raiders
Positive: Their defense can be frisky this season as long as Christian Wilkins and Maxx Crosby are on the front line. They caused havoc on the Chargers offense.
Negative: With Antonio Pierce and Gardner Minshew II spearheading the offense behind a bad line, it’ll be hard for the Raiders to score points this season.
29. Tennessee Titans
Positive: Everyone besides Will Levis came to play. The Titans’ much-maligned defense shut down the Bears all game and Tony Pollard was productive.
Negative: Will Levis didn’t come to play. From pure stupidity on his miracle heave attempt that resulted in a Jonathan Owens touchdown to his three turnovers and inaccurate throws, Levis looked horrible.
28. Washington Commanders
Positive: Daniels was the best rookie QB this week. He committed no turnovers, had 272 total yards, and scored 20 points for his team.
Negative: Washington’s defense probably couldn’t have stopped the Panthers' offense on Sunday with how they played. They have no pass defense.
27. Denver Broncos
Positive: Rookie wide receiver, Devaughn Vele, had eight catches after being a fringe member of the roster.
Negative: The Broncos only averaged 3.3 yards per play which was second worst in week one. Nix only had 138 yards on 42 attempts.
26. New England Patriots
Positive: The Patriots had the Bengals playing their brand of football—physical, run-dominant, and uncomfortable. Jerod Mayo looks like a good head coach.
Negative: The offense still didn’t produce great numbers. They are going to need their defense to keep showing out if they want to win games.
25. Minnesota Vikings
Positive: The Falcons additions to their defense seem to be paying off. They and the Vikings were the only two teams to keep their opponent out of the endzone.
Negative: Kirk Cousins looked horrendous. He threw two ugly interceptions, but more importantly, did not look mobile at all coming off a season-ending Achilles tear.
24. Arizona Cardinals
Positive: Kyler Murray looked very comfortable due to solid protection from his offensive line—namely 2023 first-round pick Paris Johnson.
Negative: Their defense remains one of the least talented in the league. They had no answers for the Buffalo offense after the first quarter.
23. Cleveland Browns
Positive: Jaelon Darden had five punt returns for an average of 14.4 yards.
Negative: If Deshaun Watson plays like he did on Sunday, the Browns are dead in the water. And with allegations from 2020 resurfacing, Watson’s season might end quickly if he doesn’t pick it up.
22. Atlanta Falcons
Positive: The Falcons additions to their defense seem to be paying off. They and the Vikings were the only two teams to keep their opponent out of the endzone.
Negative: Kirk Cousins looked horrendous. He threw two ugly interceptions, but more importantly, did not look mobile at all coming off a season-ending Achilles tear.
21. Indianapolis Colts
Positive: This one’s pretty obvious. The defense. My fantasy football defense had two interceptions and swarmed Will Levis pretty much all game. They will be one of the best units in the league this year.
Negative: This one’s pretty obvious too. Caleb Williams only had 93 passing yards—the lowest of any starter this week—and committed an atrocious 20-yard sack.
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Positive: Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans picked up right where they left off. I doubted the Bucs this season, but if Baker keeps playing like a top-10 QB, they’re playoff-bound.
Negative: Their running game didn’t have much of an answer for Jayden Daniels. On the flip side, Rachaad White only had 31 yards on 15 carries.
19. New Orleans Saints
Positive: Just about everything looked good for the Saints, but Derek Carr was on another level. He played almost a perfect game, throwing for three touchdowns and making a number of very difficult throws.
Negative: They played the Panthers, so I’m not going to give them all their flowers yet.
18. Los Angeles Chargers
Positive: Jim Harbaugh is changing this team’s identity for the better. They can make the playoffs by running the ball 40 times per game.
Negative: Justin Herbert is starting to get on my nerves. How does somebody so talented score so few points? Before J.K. Dobbins got going in the fourth, the Chargers had nine points against a bad Raiders defense and Herbert wasted a drive that started at the Raiders’ 10-yard line.
17. Jacksonville Jaguars
Positive: Travon Walker looks like he’s finally developing into a star. He and Josh Hines-Allen can be one of the best pass-rush duos in the league this year.
Negative: Trevor Lawrence looks like an empty-calorie player. His talent is not converting to points or wins.
16. Pittsburgh Steelers
Positive: The usual: defense and coaching are still winning them games. They were able to win without knowing Justin Fields would be their starter until just over a day before the game.
Negative: Fields didn’t throw the ball well and still looks too raw to be the quarterback of a contending team.
15. Seattle Seahawks
Positive: Mike McDonald is single-handedly turning Seattle’s defense around. They gave Bo Nix hell and are making my “Seahawks to the Conference Championship” pick look better.
Negative: Geno Smith struggled with big throws for most of the ball game and threw a bad first-half interception.
14. Green Bay Packers
Positive: All signs point to the young receivers—Jayden Reed in particular—developing into one of the best receiver corpses in the league in the next few years.
Negative: They’re now living with Malik Willis who might be the worst quarterback I’ve ever seen.
13. Cincinnati Bengals
Positive: They had three tight ends finish with at least three catches.
Negative: Cincinnati doesn’t have many good players outside of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins. I’m not sure Patrick Mahomes could win a Super Bowl with this team.
12. Chicago Bears
Positive: This one’s pretty obvious. The defense. My fantasy football defense had two interceptions and swarmed Will Levis pretty much all game. They will be one of the best units in the league this year.
Negative: This one’s pretty obvious too. Caleb Williams only had 93 passing yards—the lowest of any starter this week—and committed an atrocious 20-yard sack.
11. Miami Dolphins
Positive: The passing attack was monstrous despite the lack of scoreboard output. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle both went for over 100 yards and Tua Tagovailoa led all QBs in passing yards.
Negative: The running game looks soft. Between five running backs, Miami only totaled 70 yards on 24 carries (2.9 YPC).
10. New York Jets
Positive: Aaron Rodgers is already elevating Allen Lazard from a non-factor last year to his true self. He finished with 89 yards and two touchdowns.
Negative: The Jets’ offensive line still couldn’t stop a nosebleed and didn’t give Breece Hall much help either.
9. Los Angeles Rams
Positive: Matthew Stafford is still playing like the best quarterback in the NFC.
Negative: Kyren Williams was not effective at all, rendering the Rams offensive one-dimensional.
8. Philadelphia Eagles
Positive: Saquon Barkley looks like a new player with a competent offensive line.
Negative: Their defense is make or miss. They give up too many big plays.
7. Buffalo Bills
Positive: Josh Allen spread the ball to nine different receivers. Losing Diggs and Gabe Davis might have created a more versatile offense.
Negative: The safety position looks very weak. Kyler Murray went over the top to his receivers without difficulty on multiple occasions.
6. Dallas Cowboys
Positive: Their offense didn’t seem to miss Tony Pollard very much. They had 102 yards on the ground and scored 33 points despite a pedestrian game from Dak Prescott.
Negative: Just about everything went well for Dallas on Sunday except when Mike McCarthy opted not to have Brandon Aubrey kick a 71-yard field goal. It would have been a fun watch and I swear he would have made it.
5. Houston Texans
Positive: Stefon Diggs and Joe Mixon aren’t washed as the media (and me) told you he was.
Negative: A secondary that we suspected would take a leap this season gave up lots of big plays through the air.
4. Baltimore Ravens
Positive: Isaiah Likely has all the tools and looks like he can be a Pro Bowl tight end this year. He had 9 catches for 111 yards.
Negative: The young, re-structured offensive line was horrible against the Chiefs pass rush.
3. Detroit Lions
Positive: The David Montgomery-Jahmyr Gibbs and Jameson Williams backfield pairing is fast, crafty, patient, tiring, strong, and everything you could possibly ask for out of two running backs. Coupled with Ben Johnson’s electric play-calling, they have the best rushing attack in the NFL.
Negative: Goff showed weakness against pressure and will absolutely need his O-Line to stay healthy this year.
2. San Francisco 49ers
Positive: The Niners’ tumultuous offseason didn’t slow them down one bit. Jordan Mason looked like Christian McCaffrey against arguably the league’s best defense.
Negative: Brandon Aiyuk appeared very rusty after getting very few reps all offseason.
1. Kansas City Chiefs
Positive: Xavier Worthy looks like he can change the Chiefs’ offensive identity for the better.
Negative: They still have holes in their offense. Resorting to Juju Smith-Schuster and Carson Steele in the 4th quarter is not ideal.
