2020-2021 NFL Power Rankings: Week 2
1.Baltimore Ravens
▲1
The Ravens are dominant on both sides of the football. Their unique rushing attack racked up 230 yards against the Texans, and the defense held the Texans to only 16 points. The Ravens are the best and most complete team in the NFL right now, with Lamar Jackson playing confident football.
2.Kansas City Chiefs
▼1
It’s strange to see the chiefs score less than 30 points in a game, but there were stretches on Sunday where they struggled to move the football offensively. If Harrison Butker misses either of his 58-yard field goals, the Cheifs lose. That’s what makes the Cheifs great, however, because they can win in many different ways.
3.Seattle Seahawks
▲2
If the season ended after two games, Russell Wilson would be the MVP of the season. He was nothing but spectacular on Sunday, despite an early pick-six, he threw for five touchdowns with only six incompletions. The Seahawks defense has also played well with newly added versatile safety/linebacker Jamal Adams. After two weeks, all I can say is, let Russ cook.
4.Green Bay Packers
-
The Packers offense is off to a historical pace after two games, currently with the highest offensive EPA/play in the NFL by a wide margin. They’re the first team since the 2013 Broncos to score 40 points in their first two games. The defense plays well in spurts but lacks consistency in the run game.
5.Buffalo Bills
▲1
Josh Allen is looking like the best quarterback from the 2018 draft class so far. He reminds me of a mixture between Cam Newton and Andrew Luck with his incredible size and strength, especially when he runs with the football. One area where he has improved dramatically is with his deep ball accuracy, wherein 2019; he only completed 30.9% percent of passes over 20 yards.
6.New Orleans Saints
▼3
The Saints are the first significant drop in the rankings for one of the top-10 teams. The Saints struggled in week one against the Buccaneers, but that was mostly chalked up to going against a good defense. In week two, however, the Saints struggles lingered against the Raiders on Sunday. Brees’s arm strength, especially on throws outside the numbers, doesn’t look great after two weeks.
7.New England Patriots
▲1
Any team with an average or below-average quarterback should be kicking themselves for not signing Cam Newton before the Patriots signed him for pennies on the dollar. Cam threw for 397 yards on Sunday, which is the third-highest total of his career, and was 2 yards away from winning the game against one of the best teams in the league.
8.Los Angeles Rams
▲1
Sean McVay has taken a time machine back to 2017 and his team is playing extremely efficient football. Their execution on the offense is more polished than last year, and their defense thoroughly dominated the Eagles upfront. I think the Rams heard all of the offseason chatter that their championship window is closed.
9.Arizona Cardinals
▲3
The Cardinals are one of the biggest surprises this early in the season. Kyler Murray is dominating throwing and running the football, and Sunday, he had 286 passing yards with 67 rushing yards. The defense has elite playmakers on each level, especially Chandler Jones and the newly minted Budda Baker.
10.Tennessee Titans
-
Like I mentioned last week, the Tennessee Titans know their identity and play to their strengths. They will live and die by running the football with Derrick Henry and run deep play-action off of that. Ryan Tannehill is quietly having a great start to the year, completing 70% of his passes with a passer rating of 120.7.
11.Pittsburgh Steelers
-
The Steelers are a dangerous team with Big Ben stepping in right where he left off before hurting his elbow last season. Their defense looks like a top-three unit right now, and TJ Watt is looking like he’s about to have a career year. Baltimore needs to watch out because the Steelers will be around all year.
12.San Francisco 49ers
▼5
I hesitate to move a team down the power rankings because of injuries, but they have too many injuries for me to ignore. Losing both Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas to ACL tears will be massive blows for this defensive front, and while they are a deep team, it’s impossible to make up for the production both of those players provide. They did beat up on the Jets though.
13.Las Vegas Raiders
▲4
The Raiders are another pleasantly surprising 2-0 team this year. Josh Jacobs is an ascending player and had several awe-inspiring runs against the Saints talented defensive front. The Saints had no answer for Darren Waller, who had 12 receptions for 105 yards and one touchdown. The rebuilt defense is also playing better than expected, giving Drew Brees more trouble than he expected.
14.Tampa Bay Buccaneers
▼1
Tampa Bays defense is playing great just like they did at the end of the 2019 season, and they are beginning to buy-in to the Todd Bowles system. The offense, though, is struggling to get on the same page, whether it’s between Brady and Arians or Brady and Evans. It will take some time, but the good news is that Leonard Fournette had his best game in a long time.
15.Dallas Cowboys
-
One of the craziest comeback wins I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, the Cowboys looked awful in the first quarter with four turnovers. Luckily for the Cowboys, they did win, and the offense started to click towards the end of the game. The defense needs to clean things up if they want to get to the next level.
16.Chicago Bears
▲3
The Bears are 2-0 but have looked inconsistent on offense; however, Trubisky had an excellent 4th quarter against the Lions in week one. Khalil Mack is back to looking like the player the Bears gave up all of that draft capital for back in 2018, and the defense is playing solid football in the first two weeks.
17.Houston Texans
▼3
The Texans schedule is one of the more brutal beginnings to a season I’ve seen in a while, especially for a team with new pieces that need to fit together quickly. So far, it is looking like the Hopkins trade hasn’t worked out for the Texans, and for it to work, the Texans need to do a better job running the football with the newly acquired David Johnson.
18.Los Angeles Chargers
-
The Chargers gave the Chiefs everything they could handle on Sunday. Joey Bosa had a really great game and finally got his first sack on Mahomes. Herbert had a really good first start against an elite team throwing for 311 yards and one touchdown, and rushing for another. Unfortunately for Herbert, Anthony Lynn confirmed to reporters that Tyrod Taylor would be the starter moving forward.
19.Indianapolis Colts
▲7
After the Colts uninspiring week one loss to the Jaguars, the Colts bounced back strong and trounced the Vikings while rushing for over 140 yards; and defensively, forcing three interceptions. Jonathan Taylor looks like he didn’t miss a beat from his college football days at Wisconsin. With Rivers being an older quarterback, the Colts need to keep relying on their running backs.
20.Denver Broncos
-
The Broncos have it almost as bad as the 49ers with injuries. Courtland Sutton left the game with a torn ACL, and Drew Lock was knocked out of the game and left the stadium in a sling. Even with the injuries, the Broncos have put together two competitive games against outstanding teams. Hopefully John Elway has better luck with Jeff Driskel than Brock Osweiler or Paxton Lynch.
21.Jacksonville Jaguars
▲1
Gardner Minshew is completing 75% of his passes this season with six touchdowns. Most people thought the Jaguars were going punt on this season and tank for Trevor, but so far, the Jaguars look to be much more competitive. The AFC South seems to be wide open after two weeks of football, and they look to be making a run at it.
22.Atlanta Falcons
▼1
The Falcons have two demoralizing losses to start the season. I’m not sure how their special teams unit doesn’t jump on top of the onside kick as it scoots past them. On top of that, Julio dropped the potential game-sealing touchdown, and the defense folded like a cheap tent in the second half. They’ll need to make dramatic changes to save their season.
23.Cleveland Browns
▲7
The Browns bounced back in a big way against the Bengals this week, spearheaded by a rushing attack that totaled 210 yards. Because the rushing attack was so effective, Baker Mayfield connected on deep play-action shots with Beckham Jr. and Landry. The defense is young and talented, and hopefully, they can build on this win.
24.Washington Football Team
▼1
The Washington defensive front wreaked havoc on the Eagles offensive line in week one but struggled to do the same thing to Kyler Murray this week. After being one of the biggest surprises of week one, they fell behind 20-0 before halftime. The offense eventually did pick up in the second half, but it was too little too late.
25.Miami Dolphins
▲3
The Dolphins spent a lot of capital to improve their defense in the offseason. As of right now, those changes don’t seem to be helping them after giving up 417 passing yards against the Bills in week two. Fitzpatrick isn’t the answer at quarterback for the long term, but despite that, they can score points and stayed competitive in both games.
26.Cincinnati Bengals
▲3
Joe Burrow is the real deal. He single-handedly kept the Bengals in they game against the Browns, throwing 61 times without an interception. That isn’t sustainable, but it’s promising having a young quarterback show that type of composure in a nationally televised game. On the other side of the football, however, the Bengals only managed three pressures against the Browns.
27.Detroit Lions
▼3
Another week and the Lions blow another double-digit lead. In week one, they had a chance to win the game if not for a dropped pass in the endzone from rookie Deandre Swift, but against the Packers in week two, the game was not close. This lack of composure does not reflect well on Matt Patricia, but in his defense, a lot of his starters are injured.
28.Carolina Panthers
▼1
The Panthers had a good week one outing against the Raiders but laid an egg against the Buccaneers on Sunday. On top of that, McCaffery is expected to miss multiple weeks with a high-ankle sprain. If the Panthers want to have a chance in the coming weeks without McCaffery, they will need to rely more on their playmaking wide receivers to score points.
29.Minnesota Vikings
▼13
The Vikings are struggling to do anything correctly in the first two weeks of the season. In week one, they got torched by Aaron Rodgers, and this week they couldn’t get anything going offensively. Dalvin Cook was smothered throughout the game, and Kirk Cousins had a horrible game throwing two ugly interceptions. This team is young but has expectations; we’ll see if they can bounce back.
30.Philadelphia Eagles
▼5
After an embarrassing week one collapse to the Washington Football Team, the Eagles had a chance to bounce back this past Sunday against the surging Rams. Unfortunately, the Eagles had more of the same problems in week two. The Eagles offensive line struggles mightily in passing situations, and Wentz continues making uncharacteristically bad decisions with the football.
31.New York Giants
-
Saquon Barkley tore his ACL on Sunday, which is nothing short of a disaster for this franchise. The team already struggled on the defensive end, but now it will be searching for answers offensively. Daniel Jones will need to do a lot of maturing this year if the Giants plan on winning any games.
32.New York Jets
-
Free Sam Darnold.