Week 2 NFL Power Rankings and Picks

Since I haven’t done an official NFL Power Rankings since before the pre-season and I am in the ranking mood this week, let’s do one now that we have some real game-action to go on. These rankings are obviously iron-clad for the rest of season, or at least until Sunday’s games when our view of certain teams will probably flip 180 degrees!

(Scroll to the bottom if you are only interested in my week 2 picks.)

1. Green Bay – If you had any doubts about the Packers having a Super Bowl letdown they were answered last Thursday night. The Pack have the league’s best roster and are finally playing up-tempo offensively, something I begged them to do for weeks last year!

2. New England – Tom Brady is pretty good. Feeling even better about my Super Bowl pick after the way the Pats and their biggest challenger, the Steelers, played in week one.

3. New Orleans – Some may look at the Saints loss on opening night as a negative. I saw so many positives that this team is going to be a force that I had to jump them up four spots in my power rankings.

4. Philadelphia – The Eagles dominated everyone’s obvious sleeper team in week one but Michael Vick did not look particularly sharp making decisions and throwing the football and that is something he is going to have to do if this team is going to reach the promised land.

5. Baltimore – The Ravens may have played their best overall game since white-washing the Patriots in the 2009 playoffs. Flacco looked tremendous, Ray Rice was phenomenal and the defense was all over Big Ben. More importantly, the offensive line played a very solid game. If the Ravens can get that kind of play from Bryant McKinnie and the rest of the o-line on a consistent basis, their Super Bowl chances would skyrocket.

6. Pittsburgh – It’s one game people, relax! Pittsburgh talk radio was unbearable this week…can people not remember it was week 9 last year when the Steelers were pulverized by the Patriots and that meant nothing on their way to the Super Bowl? I still see the Steelers as the co-favorites for AFC supremacy but I can’t rank them ahead of the Ravens after being dismantled last week. My biggest concern at this point is James Harrison’s back. The star OLB did not look like himself throughout the pre-season and certainly did nothing in week one to squash those fears.

7. San Diego – Do you realize the Chargers allowed the opening kick to be returned for a touchdown, played the rest of the game without a kicker and threw two costly interceptions yet still won the game? Could they finally be turning a new leaf? You could also say that they held the Vikings to 28 net yards passing and held the ball for nearly two-thirds of the game and still almost lost but I am an in an optimistic mood this week.

8. New York Jets – The Jets did everything wrong but lose the game Sunday night. I’m still a little confused on how they managed to pull that off but a win is a win. The Jets badly need the running game to get going if they are going to compete with the elite in the AFC this year.

9. Dallas – On the other side of the ball Dallas did everything right until the final ten minutes or so when Tony Romo decided to commit two costly turnovers and the Cowboys allowed a punt to get blocked. Still, a lot of positives can be taken from this one in Big D.

10. Houston – A good start for the Texans who are trying to exercise their regular season demons and reach the postseason for the first time in franchise history. The game, and the division, looks a whole lot easier when number 18 isn’t around.

11. Chicago – Many people were calling for a big letdown season in Chicago after last year’s surprising run to the NFC Championship game. That wasn’t the case in week one. We know Lovie Smith’s defenses are going to run around all over the field and this is Jay Cutler’s second year in Mike Martz’ system so the drop-off may not be so great after-all…something I didn’t think was going to happen dramatically anyway.

12. Atlanta – Atlanta saved the Steelers from the week one Super Bowl contender who performed the worst award. This week Mike Vick makes his return to the A-T-L and the Falcons are staring at an 0-2 start right in the face.

13. New York Giants – This is where doing power rankings in week two can get a little dicey. People will say how can you put the G-Men ahead of the Redskins when they just lost to them? Well I can because they are MY rankings, and I still think the long-term forecast for the Giants is better than that of the ‘Skins.

14. Detroit – The Lions get the biggest jump from our pre-preseason power rankings moving up from 19th. The Lions went on the road and dominated what we thought would be a halfway decent Bucs team. Believe me when I tell you that this game wasn’t nearly as close as the final score would indicate. Stafford looked terrific, Megatron is a freak and the Lions defensive line is downright scary.

15. St. Louis – It was only one loss to one of the League’s elite teams so I am not all that concerned with their week one performance. What I am concerned about is the injuries to an already weak secondary.

16. Minnesota – Since I am being optimistic this week I am going to say the Vikings almost won a game on the road against a Super Bowl contender despite only getting 39 yards passing from Donovan McNabb. (If I were being pessimistic, I would say that McNabb didn’t look very good and that the offensive line looked even worse.)

17. Miami – Sure, the Dolphins were absolutely torched by Tom Brady and company but I’m not sure that any defense would not have been the way the Pats were rolling Monday Night. Steelers’ fans know the feeling from their meeting last year. The encouraging sign for the Dolphins, however, was the play of Chad Henne. If the Dolphins get that kind of performance out of their QB all year they will be right in the thick of the playoff hunt.

18. Jacksonville – It was right around the Vikings spot in the rankings that I started to notice that this is really a season of the haves and the have-nots. There are a lot more teams that I was looking to put towards the bottom of this list than there are in the middle of it. Jacksonville looked the best of the bad teams and should at least have a solid defense to keep them in most games.

19. Tampa Bay – If it weren’t for a gift pick-six and a late touchdown while Detroit was in its prevent defense we would be talking a lot more about how poorly the Buccaneers played in week one. The Bucs absolutely have to get LeGarrette Blount and the running game going to take some pressure off of Josh Freeman and to give the defense some rest.

20. Tennessee – Tennessee is another team that has to get their running game going with Chris Johnson. I know he missed most of training camp but nine carries is nowhere near enough when the Titans never trailed by more than 13 points.

21. Arizona – The good news is that the Cardinals got a pretty good game from Kevin Kolb and Beanie Wells. The bad news is that their secondary looked absolutely horrendous. Lucky for the Cardinals that they play in a division where Alex Smith and Tarvaris Jackson are two of the QBs that will be trying to take advantage of that secondary.

22. San Francisco – Jim Harbaugh won his coaching debut, mostly thanks to the Seahawks anemic offense and his returner Ted Ginn Jr. You can tell that Harbaugh didn’t have much confidence in his own QB but hey, at least David Akers looked good kicking the ball.

23. Oakland – I actually think I had the Raiders a little low in my initial rankings and might even have them a little low here as well. The Raiders can run the football and win the battle along the defensive line, a formula that can at least keep them competitive.

24. Indianapolis – I don’t think the Colts envisioned the season starting this way when the lockout started back in the spring. It’s going to take some time, but there is still enough talent on the offensive side of the ball to win five or six games this year.

25. Washington – Rex Grossman looked like a different man on Sunday, playing with poise and not forcing the ball into tight spaces. There’s still a lot not to like about this Washington offense but for one week let’s give them the credit they deserve.

26. Carolina – We saw all of the reasons that Cam Newton went #1 in the draft and I don’t think the Panthers’ brass could have been more happy about week one despite the gut-wrenching loss.

27. Denver – I think we saw why it is going to be a long season for Denver fans this year. The Broncos can’t stop the run and their offensive line is poor, at best.

28. Buffalo – The Bills may have put a shellacking on the Chiefs in week one but I don’t think it takes a football expert to understand why they are ranked where they are. Still, it was a great opening week performance by Buffalo and a lot of credit goes to Chan Gailey and his staff for having the Bills ready to perform that way.

29. Kansas City – Tough choice between the Chiefs and Browns for who had week one’s most embarrassing home loss. I’m going with the Chiefs, fresh off their first playoff appearance since 2006, they lay a complete egg against a Buffalo team that many expected to be among the league’s worst teams. To make matters worse, star safety Eric Berry suffered a torn ACL and will be out for the season.

30. Seattle – Ummm, Tarvaris Jackson, really? That’s the best they could come up with in the offseason for a starting quarterback? Hey, the Seahawks did outgain the Niners 219-209 and they are firmly entrenched in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.

31. Cincinnati – Andy Dalton looked pretty solid before leaving with an injury and AJ Green had a big 41-yard touchdown reception from my man, Bruce Gradkowski. The Bengals are off to a great start in what is certainly a rebuilding year and their young talent, including tight end Jermaine Gresham, showed some very good signs in week one.

32. Cleveland – Absolutely pitiful loss for a Cleveland team that built a lot of positive momentum at the end of last year into this year. To be honest, the Browns probably don’t deserve to be last in these rankings but I can’t get over a 10-point home loss to a rebuilding Bengals team.


Week 2 Picks (Home Team in Caps)

Oakland (+3.5) over BUFFALO
Kansas City (+9) over DETROIT
Baltimore (-6) over TENNESSEE
INDIANAPOLIS (+2.5) over Cleveland
MINNESOTA (-3) over Tampa Bay
NEW ORLEANS (-6.5) over Chicago
Green Bay (-10) over CAROLINA
Arizona (+4) over WASHINGTON
Dallas (-3) over SAN FRANCISCO
PITTBURGH (-13) over Seattle
NEW YORK JETS (-9) over Jacksonville
DENVER (-3.5) over Cincinnati
MIAMI (+3.5) over Houston
San Diego (+7) over NEW ENGLAND
Philadelphia (+2.5) over ATLANTA
St. Louis (+6) over NEW YORK GIANTS
(Last Week: 8-7-1)