Power Rankings after Week 2

Pittsburg falls to Jacksonville and with that brings a new king of the mountain. For the most part, the games went as expected, but some surprise teams are emerging. The season is still early, but successful teams have to start here to be at the top in the end.
There are some teams, namely the Panthers, Redskins, Buccaneers and Chiefs, that need to start playing better. Otherwise, their playoff chances will be gone before the end of the month.

1. Chicago Bears – (2-0, Last Week: 2) Rex Grossman, at least for one more week, looks like the first round draft pick the Bears envisioned when they drafted him. The defense has only surrendered seven points in two games. The team is almost too good to be true.

2. Cincinnati Bengals – (2-0, Last Week: 3) Steamrolling the Browns isn’t anything to gloat about, but the offense looks unstoppable and Carson Palmer looks pretty darn good for not being 100%. As long as Chad Johnson isn’t seriously hurt, expect the Bengals to continue their dominance against the Steelers next week.

3. Jacksonville Jaguars – (2-0, Last Week: 4) The Jags add another notch to their belt as they shut out the defending Super Bowl champs. The defense is stout, and offense can do enough to win. Dallas down, Pittsburgh down, can they follow it up with taking down Indianapolis?

4. Seattle Seahawks – (2-0, Last Week: 5) Crushing the Arizona Cardinals is a bit more impressive than squeaking by the Lions, but they still don’t look like last season’s Super Bowl team. If they do not wake up for the Giants next week, they find themselves on the wrong side of victory.

5. San Diego Chargers – (2-0, Last Week: 6) The Chargers have now beaten two semi-pro teams in Oakland and Tennessee. They certainly look impressive, but they need a real challenge. This week should provide a tougher opponent than the Raiders or Titans – a bye.

6. Indianapolis Colts – (2-0, Last Week: 7) Peyton looked bad in week one, but made up for it and then some in week two. Scoring a wrong amount of points in my fantasy league, he made the Texans look like, well, the Texans. Let’s see what they do against the much underrated (but not by me) Jaguars.

7. Pittsburgh Steelers – (1-1, Last Week: 1) Normally I would not drop the top team this low when losing to another top five team, but the Steelers were shut out. The offense looked horrible. Where was Charlie Batch? The defense played their hearts out, and will their hands full again next week against the Bengals.

8. Baltimore Ravens – (2-0, Last Week: 8) No change here because the teams above them won and they haven’t beaten anyone yet. The defense will be there all year, but will the offense be there when they face a real opponent?

9. Minnesota Vikings – (2-0, Last Week: 9) Panthers who? The team just wins. Sure, they have a couple of 3-point squeakers, but a win is a win. The real rest comes this week, where they face the almighty Bears. They win, the NFC North is theres.

10. Atlanta Falcons – (2-0, Last Week: 9) Run. Run. Run. That is what the Falcons love to do – and they do it well. Warrick Dunn and Vick have led the way to nearly 600 yards on the ground in two games. Michael Vick is finally being Michael Vick. Big question – will it continue?

11. New England Patriots – (2-0, Last Week: 9) Something is not right with the Patriots. Yes, they are winning, but barely. Tom Brady needs a receiver to step it up. The defense will keep the team rolling until then.

12. Dallas Cowboys – (1-1, Last Week: 18) The Cowboys looked much better in week two, and TO was not even a factor. He will miss at least one game with a broken finger, but he will not be missed since week four’s opponent is Tennessee.

13. Buffalo Bills – (1-1, Last Week: 17) Maybe that near win over the Patriots in week one was not a fluke. Maybe the Dolphins are not that good. But since everyone else above them lost, they get a nice bump in the ranks.

14. Denver Broncos – (1-1, Last Week: 16) What is wrong with the Broncos? They squeak out a win against a broken Chiefs team, with little to no offense once again. Jake Plummer better remember to throw sooner rather than later.

15. New York Giants – (1-1, Last Week: 20) The Giants do not deserve this kind of bump. They got lucky and caught the Eagles packing it in too early. Now can they catch the Seahawks off guard as well?

16. Philadelphia Eagles – (1-1, Last Week: 15) For three quarters everything was looking great. Then everything went to hell. Just a small slip, or a sign of the season to come? Until that is determined, they stay middle of the road.

17. Arizona Cardinals – (1-1, Last Week: 14) Oops. Maybe they are not playoff ready yet. I wonder if the fans are calling for Matt Lienhart yet. Win or lose, next will be fun as they go to St. Louis and the passing parades will commence.

18. New York Jets – (1-1, Last Week: 21) Pennington brought them back, and for that heart, they get a boost even with the loss to the Patriots. This team may not make the playoffs, but at least they look like they will be competitive every week.

19. Carolina Panthers – (0-2, Last Week: 15) Overrated? Maybe, as they start off the season with two losses. They may have been against good teams, but they are supposed to be better than this. Lose to Tampa Bay next week, and you can tell the fat lady to warm up.

20. New Orleans Saints – (2-0, Last week: 23) This start will be the highlight of their season. If they stop the rushing duo of Vick and Dunn next week, then maybe they will be something worth talking about.

21. San Francisco 49ers – (1-1, Last Week: 25) Well that heart talked about last week turned into a win the very next week. They shut down a talented Ram offense, and Alex Smith looks much improved from last season.

22. St. Louis Rams – (1-1, Last Week: 19) After beating Denver last week, they fall to the 49ers. Have to love their inconsistency. What happened to the greatest show on turf? I'll take a quasi-version at this point.

23. Miami Dolphins – (0-2, Last Week: 13) What is the Dolphins problem? My first guess is Daunte Culpepper. The Vikings improved after he went down for the season last year, and now the Dolphins are failing with him at the helm. Maybe Sage Rosenfels was not that bad after all.

24. Kansas City Chiefs – (0-2, Last Week: 26) It’s all crap from here on out. The Chiefs defense surprising stepped up. Boy do they miss Trent Green already.

25. Green Bay Packers – (0-2, Last Week: 31) Brett Favre proves he still has “it.” Too bad he doesn’t have a team. A valiant effort, but they come up just short.

26. Washington Redskins – (0-2, Last Week: 22) Maybe a 500-page playbook isn’t the best idea. Take a lesson from Madden players Joe Gibbs. Pick 10 plays, and run
them over and over to the point of monotony.

27. Houston Texans – (0-2, Last Week: 29) David Carr at least had himself a good game throwing three touchdown passes, but the Colts bashed the Texans defense in. Mario Williams had two, yes count them, two tackles in the game.

28. Cleveland Browns – (0-2, Last Week: 30) Well, they played better than last week - if you call a 34-17 shellacking by the Bengals better. The big question is why Kellen Winslow and Rueben Droughns are not getting the ball more.

29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – (0-2, Last Week: 27) Well at least the defense played tough. And hey, they got a field goal this week! Maybe next week, they can try for a touchdown!

30. Tennessee Titans – (0-2, Last Week: 28) They are going to give Kerry Collins another chance at quarterback? Why bother. Start Vince Young now, and let him get the snot kicked out of him.

31. Detroit Lions – (0-2, Last Week: 24) Roy Williams made a guarantee. I made a guarantee. After a 34-7 mauling by the Bears, guess whose guarantee stood? By virtue of being dumb and arrogant, the Lions fall to almost to the cellar.

32. Oakland Raiders – (0-2, Last Week: 32) There is no displacing the Raiders. Aaron Brooks gave Andrew Walter an “opportunity” this week – to be killed when he got “injured.” I wonder if Walter will get “injured” next week to give someone else an “opportunity” at quarterbacking this “team.”