Another week, another top ranked team falls in embarrassing fashion. The Green Bay Packers followed up a statement win against the Seahawks (who are starting to look like their offense doesn’t know how to move the ball at all) by falling flat on their face on Sunday Night Football against the Falcons 34-23. The score looked closer than the gym was — Atlanta was able to score with ease and control the night. Another top ranked team that was unable to get anything going was the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys were blessed with a trip to Mile High and got completely exposed by the Denver defense AND offense. The Broncos are starting to look like the team that went to back to back championships and I’m sure the AFC is on notice early in the season.
1) Atlanta Falcons (2-0)
Last Week: #7
The Falcons were able to bounce back from a weak win against the Bears and beat down a good Green Bay Packers team. Atlanta is starting to look like the favorite in the NFC again.
2) Pittsburgh Steelers (2-0)
Last Week: #2
The Steelers stay in the two spot thanks in part to a solid victory of a Vikings team missing Sam Bradford. We still haven’t seen anything outstanding from the Steelers but they’ve got the job done. An easy trip to Chicago is next on the schedule.
3) Kansas City Chiefs (2-0)
Last Week: #4
The Chiefs also stay close to their same spot as last week but look to be challenging for the top. A win over Andy Reid’s old employers shows us that the season opener was not a fluke. The Chiefs look to continue their run against a Chargers team who has barely missed out on a potential 2-0 start.
4) Oakland Raiders (2-0)
Last Week: #5
The Jets were in the bay area last weekend and the Raiders did exactly what we expected to them to do — dismantle them. Crabtree caught 3 TDs and Marshawn danced the night away to put the Raiders in the four spot.
5) Denver Broncos (2-0)
Last Week: #10
The Broncos are looking real dangerous behind a revived CJ Anderson and a poised Trevor Siemian. Their defense is making plays — highlighted by a 103 yd interception return by Aqib Talib. Nobody wants to go to Mile High regardless but especially when the Broncos look like this. A potential trap game at Buffalo is next before an AFC West showdown with the Raiders.
6) New England Patriots (1-1)
Last Week: #6
Tom Brady broke the Saints defense before the second quarter even started, having his best ever performance in a first quarter. The Patriots were never in danger in this one but saw Gronk go down to an injury. He says he’s good to go and we’re seeing the return of Amendola, Hightower, and Slater this week but the injury concerns have to be taken serious in Foxborough. A date with Houston at home is next.
7) Detroit Lions (2-0)
Last Week: #11
The Lions are starting to look like a team that has finally figured it out — taking an early division lead in a tough NFC North. The Giants looked dreadful on Monday night but the Lions were able to capitalize and look like a strong team in the process. Stafford leads the league with 6 passing TDs.
8) Green Bay Packers (1-1)
Last Week: #1
The Packers stay in the top 10 only because of the talent that they have on the offensive side of the ball. They came out flat in an early statement game and looked to not even be on the same level as Atlanta. The Packers have a bounce-back game at home against the hapless Bengals.
9) Baltimore Ravens (2-0)
Last Week: #12
The Ravens have two convincing wins but they both came from two teams that are not the most impressive. The defense has looked like the older Ravens’ defenses but we need to see them against an offense that can move the ball. We may not see this until after this week, as the Ravens are in London with the Jaguars.
10) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0)
Last Week: #14
The Bucs looked damn good to start the season against the Bears. One garbage-time TD away from a shutout, Winston and the offense didn’t have to do much as Tampa took a big lead early. Although it was against the Bears, the Bucs will love taking this confidence into an away game against the Vikings.
11) Dallas Cowboys (1-1)
Last Week: #3
The Cowboys looked like one of the worst teams in the league against Denver, but we know that’s not the case — for now. Dak Prescott looked painfully average and Ezekiel Elliot was completely shut down. Did Denver crack the code for stopping the Cowboys? Could be interesting to see going forward — Dallas has a Monday night primetime game against the Cardinals.
12) Seattle Seahawks (1-1)
Last Week: #8
The Seahawks won 12-9 against the 49ers in an absolutely dreadful game. They have shown no offensive power and are unable to move the ball in any fashion. Their defense has been keeping them in games and are the only reason they are above .500 right now. They have an interesting matchup in Nashville against the Titans where we will learn a lot more about both teams.
13) Carolina Panthers (2-0)
Last Week: #16
The Panthers are in a weird spot — yes, they won both games but they managed a 9-3 sleeper against Buffalo at home. Cam Newton still looks rusty and Greg Olsen broke his foot during the game. A division matchup against New Orleans is next.
14) Philadelphia Eagles (1-1)
Last Week: #13
The Eagles don’t have too much movement after a tough fought loss at Kansas City. The Eagles only lost by 7 in a back and forth matchup at Arrowhead. They look to bounce back against the Giants.
15) Tennessee Titans (1-1)
Last Week: #17
The Titans went into halftime up 6-3 against the Jaguars but then managed to finish with a 37-16 victory. The slow start was definitely troublesome to the outlook of the Titans but a 21 point victory over a division rival is always a welcome sign. The Titans host the Seahawks next.
16) Miami Dolphins (1-0)
Last Week: #18
The Dolphins got a very fortunate break with Younghoe Koo missing a go-ahead FG to win. Jay Cutler and co. were able to snag an away win in the first game of the season however, and that cannot be overlooked. In a division where 2 of the teams are abysmal, the Dolphins may not be in bad shape.
17) Minnesota Vikings (1-1)
Last Week: #9
The Vikings looked helpful without Sam Bradford at the helm. They were unable to move the ball at all and the Steelers stacked the box against rookie sensation Dalvin Cook. Another game without Bradford is looming and the Bucs are coming into town.
18) Washington Redskins (0-1)
Last Week: #22
The Redskins were able to steal a game from the up-and-coming Rams in Los Angeles and ran away with a 27-20 victory. The offense still looks a little shaky with Kirk Cousins at the reign but the NFC East is completely up for grabs.
19) Los Angeles Rams (2-1)
Last Week: #19
This was written after the Thursday night game, so we have to include that one. The Rams lost a tough one to the Redskins and then had a shootout with the 49ers on Thursday night. The Rams did everything they could to lose that game but the 49ers were unable to complete the comeback. The turnovers are troublesome but Todd Gurley looks like he’s back. Jared Goff is having a great sophomore year as well.
20) New York Giants (0-2)
Last Week: #15
The offense looks bad — from the offensive line to the WRs dropping passes. Once they get Beckham back at full strength, look for the Giants to bounce back. For now though, maybe we should keep them off of primetime games.
21) Arizona Cardinals (1-1)
Last Week: #23
The Cardinals really didn’t do much against the Colts. They struggled for a majority of the game but an interception in overtime by Tyrann Matheiu allowed them an easy game-winning field goal. The Cardinals should be doing much better against lowly teams like the Colts but look to struggle without their main weapon David Johnson. It’ll be interesting to see how they perform against the Cowboys.
22) Los Angeles Chargers (0-2)
Last Week: #21
The highest rank for a win-less team goes to the Chargers. After the Cowboys were dismantled by the Broncos, a blocked FG loss isn’t looking so bad. In classic Charger fashion, they followed that up by a missed FG as time expired. Luck isn’t smiling on Philip Rivers and these Chargers but they are still a dangerous team who are a few kicking woes away from 2-0.
23) Jacksonville Jaguars (1-1)
Last Week: #20
Just when Jacksonville looked like they figured it out, they go out and get absolutely dismantled by the Titans. The offense looked bad once again and their defense can’t do too much when they’re always out on the field. Another London matchup awaits with a Ravens team that’s on a roll. How they bounce back will say a lot about the 2017 Jaguars.
24) Buffalo Bills (1-1)
Last Week: #24
Although the Bills were unable to put up anything past a field goal, they were a Zay Jones catch away from winning this game. The Bills look to be one of the NFL’s lesser teams, but are certainly a threat on any given Sunday. Let’s see if Tyrod Taylor can outperform Siemian on Sunday.
25) New Orleans Saints (0-2)
Last Week: #25
The Saints were smacked around by an angry Patriots team look for some form of redemption at the beginning of the season. The same old issue is the Saints problem as always — no defense. However, the offense without Willie Snead isn’t really scaring anyone either. The Saints have a chance to put one in the win column against Carolina this Sunday.
26) Houston Texans (1-1)
Last Week: #26
The Texans won a snoozer on Thursday night against the Bengals. Both teams looked bad but Deshaun Watson was able to break out a 54 yard TD run which was the difference. Watson will go to New England where rookie QBs have never been able to win a game against Belichick. We’re going to guess this one isn’t going to be different.
27) Cleveland Browns (0-1)
Last Week: 27
The Browns check in at 27..again after losing by two scores to the Ravens. Kizer looked pretty bad and the backup Kevin Hogan came in and threw for a TD while he was out with a migraine. Kizer returned into the game but wasn’t ever able to get started. The loss of Corey Coleman hurts and opens the door for a potential Josh Gordon comeback (probably not though).
28) Cincinnati Bengals (0-2)
Last Week: #29
The Bengals managed to move up one spot not because of their performance but how bad the other teams were. The rumors are already floating that the team does not trust Andy Dalton anymore and firing of the offensive coordinator shows there’s some disarray. Marvin Lewis looks like he’ll be lucky to finish the season at the helm.
29) Chicago Bears (0-1)
Last Week: #28
The Bears followed up a solid performance against the defending NFC champions with an absolutely dreadful one against a team that hadn’t even played yet. Mike Glennon didn’t get his revenge game against his old team and the Bears never even had a chance. Jordan Howard pretty much didn’t even show up to this game. The Bears host the Steelers next (yikes).
30) San Francisco 49ers (0-3)
Last Week: #31
The Niners had a hard fought game with both the Seahawks and Rams. Losing both by a combined 5 points has to sting, but Kyle Shanahan saw some life out of the offense in the 41-39 loss against LA. Carlos Hyde looks to be a lone bright spot in an offense that needed help but we may see San Francisco be able to steal a few this season.
31) Indianapolis Colts (0-2)
Last Week: #32
Jacoby Brissett looked to shock the Cardinals in his first start as a Colt. They were however able to battle back and hand the Colts another consecutive loss to start the season. They still don’t look great and are home underdogs against the Browns. The state of the Colts is not well without Andrew Luck, who no one knows when he’ll come back.
32) New York Jets (0-2)
Last Week: #30
The Jets showed some life against the Bills and then it was all lost against the Raiders. The offense sucks. The defense sucks. There’s really no bright spot for these Jets. They host AFC East foe Miami next and although they always play their division tough — I wouldn’t be surprised if the Jets don’t manage to win a game this year.
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