The NFL season was on fire in Week 2, with a ton of scoring and drama as the herd began to thin out. Week 1 of a season is always fun, as teams emerge from their spring and summer hibernation to dust things off, but there can also be some false positives. Teams can wildly swing in performance between Week 1 and Week 2.
What makes things interesting in when teams build on their starts, whether hot or dismal, and come out and prove it again. That happened in a strong way at the bottom of our Week 1 power rankings; the bottom six teams from last week’s rankings lost again, though a handful showed some signs of life. New Orleans, the Giants andthe Panthers were more competitive than many anticipated, even though they all started 0-2.
Meanwhile, the top of the chart had some shakeups. Who is the best team? Did the way the Bills thumped the Jets enable them to remain No. 1, or did Green Bay, on the strength of beating two teams in the top 10 move into the pole position? And how about the three-time defending AFC champion Chiefs starting 0-2? What is to be made of them losing to two top-10 teams?
For now, pending the Monday Night games, here are the Week 3 power rankings.
31 . Miami Dolphins ( 0-2 ) | Last Week: 3128 . Chicago Bears ( 0-2 ) | Last Week: 2426 . New York Jets ( 0-2 ) | Last Week: 2124 . New England Patriots ( 1-1 ) | Last Week: 2623 . Las Vegas Raiders ( 1-0 ) | Last Week: 25 Pending MNF21 . Pittsburgh Steelers ( 1-1 ) | Last Week: 1019 . Seattle Seahawks ( 1-1 ) | Last Week: 1918 . Houston Texans ( 0-1 ) | Last Week: 18 1 Pending MNF17 . Atlanta Falcons ( 1-1 ) | Last Week: 2016 . Dallas Cowboys ( 1-1 ) | Last Week: 1715 . Indianapolis Colts ( 2-0 ) | Last Week: 2314 . Denver Broncos ( 1-1 ) | Last Week: 1413 . Cincinnati Bengals ( 2-0 ) | Last Week: 169 . Tampa Bay Buccaneers ( 1-0 ) | Last Week: 11 – Pending MNF8 . San Francisco 49ers ( 2-0 ) | Last Week: 86 . Detroit Lions ( 1-1 ) | Last Week: 95 . Los Angeles Chargers ( 1-0 ) | Last Week: 7 – Pending MNF2 . Buffalo Bills ( 2-0 ) | Last Week: 1