NFL Power Rankings: Heading into Week 3

Week 2 is in the books, and now everyone knows everything. Sort of. Maybe. Week 2 definitely showed that Week 1 was filled with lies, like we all said. ‘Cause we are smart people.

Below, you will find our collective Broadway Power Rankings for all 32 NFL teams, along with some analysis for certain teams that stand out amongst the pack.

Biggest Risers: To no ones surprise, after wins this week, both the Packers and Titans rebounded from their terrible Week 1 losses.

Biggest Fallers: After losing to the Raiders, the fraudulent Pittsburgh Steelers dropped 12 spots.

As will happen every Tuesday until the offseason, nine of our contributors — Zach Lyons, Shaun Caulderon, Justin Melo, Jimmy Morris, Robert Greenlaw, Wes Wisley, Austin Nelson, Easton Freeze, Justin Graver, and TreJean Watkins — have submitted their power rankings. Below is the aggregate results of those rankings.

Here’s where we landed with our rankings as we head into Week 2…

Shaun: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers returned all 22 starters from their Super Bowl-winning team, and it has shown thus far. The Buccaneers are one of the most efficiently balanced teams, and their 44-year-old quarterback is coming off a five-touchdown game.

Tom Brady is now 14 touchdowns away from having thrown more touchdowns in his 40s than he did in his 20s. Needless to say as long as No. 12 is back there, the Buccaneers are probably going to be towards the top of these rankings.

Justin G: I moved the Titans up from last week after ranking them 15th, but I couldn’t go as high as 5th overall for this team – I actually am the lowest on them out of all our rankers at 9th. They looked much improved in their second-half come-from-behind victory in Seattle last week, and I believe further improvements are on the horizon.

Derrick Henry’s 200+ (total) yards were inevitable after the King was held under 60 rush yards the prior week (he’s now gone for over 200 yards from scrimmage in each of the last three games following a performance under 60 rush yards), and the back-to-back leading rusher looks to be in D-Henber form already. If he can continue to carry the load, if the offense stays in its groove, and if the defense can eliminate the big plays, Tennessee will continue to move up my rankings.

Zach: Hello. Unlike other QBs who got injured in 2016 and saw their careers go down the drain… Derek Carr is back to his MVP form these last two weeks. He is also back to form against the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers. Carr is averaging 391 passing yards per game, and the Raiders lead the league not only in passing yards, but all just total offensive yards. Just like everyone predicted.

Justin G: One day my fellow rankers will come around… I have the Niners at 3rd overall, a stark difference from the middle-of-the-pack team everyone else seems to see San Francisco as. They won Week 1 with an explosive offensive performance against a bad Lions team, and they won Week 2 with a lockdown dominant defensive performance against what could turn out to be a decent Eagles team – nice to see they can win a shootout or a struggle. I remain convinced that the Niners under Shanahan, with Nick Bosa back healthy, with Jimmy Garappolo under center and the upside of Trey Lance ready to step in if something happens, are a Super Bowl contender and still the best team in the NFC West.

I expect they will continue to move up the rankings after they take care of Green Bay this weekend.

TreJean: I don’t really know what to make of Washington right now. Everyone was high on their defense coming into the year, but they’ve looked rather subpar through the first two games of the season. Defensive performance is notoriously unstable from year to year, so perhaps Washington is falling victim to that.

For right now, I’ll slide them in at 14. Other rankers have them lower that that. If that defense can eliminate the gaffs in their play, and Taylor Heinicke can guide this offense while Ryan Fitzpatrick is gone, they’re going to rise up my rankings for sure.

Justin Melo: Are the Panthers for real? I’ll admit I didn’t pay much attention to them after they beat the lowly Jets by one score in Week 1, but a 26-7 win over the Saints in Week 2 has my full attention. This underrated Panthers defense held the Saints to 128 yards of total offense. Carolina is for real, and they officially have piqued my interest.

Easton: The Chargers likely feel robbed of a 2-0 start this week. Two highly questionable officiating moments in their game against the Cowboys ultimately took two good chances at a touchdown away from them. Despite starting 1-1, Justin Herbert appears to be the real deal, and rookie Head Coach Brandon Staley has been promising to start the season.

Wes: For the first time with Frank Reich as their head coach, the Colts have started their season 0-2. After dropping two straight at home to NFC West opponents, they will begin a three game road trip on Sunday in Nashville against their division rival Tennessee Titans.

The Colts’ injury report has been littered with many key players, none bigger than QB Carson Wentz, who suffered injuries to both ankles on Sunday. G Quenton Nelson, LB Darius Leonard, DT DeForest Buckner, RT Braden Smith, LT Eric Fisher, WR Parris Campbell and CB Xavier Rhodes have all either dealt or are still dealing with injuries as well.

The normally stout O-line has struggled, RB Jonathan Taylor appears allergic to the end zone, and one of the NFL’s best defenses has not performed like it so far. As for Wentz, he must not be able to hear the whispers from his “QB Whisperer” head coach. Between the struggling defense, the subpar O-line and Carson Wentz, I believe the Colts will leave Nashville on Sunday 0-3.

Greenlaw: Two games, two public apology posts by the team. This is the saddest team in football, and the only light at the end of the tunnel is a Derrick Henry-sized train. I’d write more about how bad this team is, but I think I’d get in trouble with PETA.

Who is too high? Who is too low? Drop a comment down below!

Have your own power rankings? Click here to goto the forum and put yours up!

Author: Zach LyonsWith over 17 years experience of losing Fantasy Football games, Zach has been a Titans fan since moving to Nashville in 2002. A die-hard Alabama fan, but he doesn't let that cloud his judgement of the Elite Players they have put in the NFL. Players like Derrick Henry, Julio Jones, and AJ McCarron. You've heard him on Football & Other F Words giving his Unfiltered Opinions as facts and that won't change. He's always 100% right even if he has to revise earlier statements. Lawyered.