NFL Power Rankings 2024 Week 2 |
Week 1 of the 2024-2025 NFL season is behind us! The Kansas City Chiefs were crowned victorious last February as back-to-back Super Bowl champions. Another exciting offseason of trades, signings, and draft picks ensued, and we are ready for a thrilling season.
With that being said, here are our power rankings as week two approaches: *We decided to explain the top 16 and the Bears* 1. Kansas City Chiefs 1-0 It will take some serious steps in the wrong direction to dethrone the Chiefs, who are firmly cemented as the NFL’s newest dynasty. An offense led by Patrick Mahomes and an aging Travis Kelce had acquired some new toys for Andy Reid: speedsters Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, and Hollywood Brown. Mix that with one of the league’s best defenses and what you have is the NFL’s best teams — and they looked like it on Thursday night against the Ravens. 2. Detroit Lions 1-0 Pretty crazy to see the Lions this high in our rankings, but they’ve earned it. With elite playmakers on both sides of the ball, the Lions were a few different bounces away from representing the NFC in the Super Bowl a year ago. Dan Campbell has figured something out in the motor city and the Lions are on the up and up. The Lions didn’t even play that well on Sunday Night Football and beat a very talented Rams team. 3. San Francisco 49ers 1-0 The 49ers once again represented the NFC in the Super Bowl last season. Despite coming up short, the 49ers return almost the same team that was dominant all season long. There are some question marks in terms of an aging core, but this team remains a force to be reckoned with. Plus, they’ll be on their revenge tour in 2024-2025, which started with a thrashing of the Jets on Monday Night Football in week 1. 4. Philadelphia Eagles 1-0 You could easily make the argument that the Eagles have the best roster in football, and they added Saquon Barkley to it. However, the end of the Eagles season left a sour taste in the mouths if its fans — causing Philly to hire new coordinators. We should know pretty quickly if this Eagles team is a contender or a pretender, and they looked potent offensively against Green Bay in Brazil. 5. Dallas Cowboys 1-0 The Dallas Cowboys are the league’s most top-heavy team. Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons are three of the best in football, but there is a steep drop-off behind them. They also lost their OC and Tony Pollard. Is Dak Prescott capable of carrying a team? We’re about to find out. They dismantled Deshaun Watson and the Browns on Sunday. 6. Baltimore Ravens 0-1 Rounding out our top 4 is the final of the four teams that made the conference championship last season. Led by Lamar Jackson who now has two MVPs in his trophy case, the Ravens had an incredibly strong season a year ago. The only knock on Lamar’s nearly perfect resume thus far is the fact that he hasn’t been able to get over the hump in the playoffs quite yet. Nonetheless, this team has crushed the regular season since Jackson has been in the league, and I don’t see any reason to expect any different. The Ravens gave the Chiefs all they could handle in week one, but they ended the week 0-1. 7. Houston Texans 1-0 Houston was perhaps last season's most surprising team, as CJ Stroud emerged as a top quarterback in the league in his rookie season. Take that highly-ranked offense from a year ago and add Stefon Diggs and Joe Mixon to it, and you’re looking at an All-Star team. Houston should be poised for another exciting year, and a 29-27 win over the Colts starts the season on the right foot. 8. Buffalo Bills 1-0 Buffalo may have lost Stefon Diggs, but any team with a healthy Josh Allen at quarterback is one that deserves some respect in our rankings. They’ve been on top of a division that includes some very talented teams, and for that reason, they’re still in the top 10 in our eyes. Could this be the year Josh Allen wins his MVP? 9. Miami Dolphins 1-0 The Miami Dolphins have looked like the best team in football for the first two months of each of the last two seasons. Then, as the weather turns cold, their offense loses its firepower, and their defense can’t carry them. However, the offense is still top-5, and if Tua Tagoviloa can stay healthy, I see no reason why this team can’t win 10+ games. 10. Green Bay Packers 0-1 Thanks to an extremely strong close to the regular season, the Packers squeaked into the playoffs and had an impressive display. The Packers went into Dallas and destroyed the Cowboys and then gave the 49ers all they could handle — leading Jordan Love to sign a contract that makes him the highest-paid QB in the league. The offense added Josh Jacobs to replace Aaron Jones, and the rest of the team is pretty much the same. It’ll be up to Love to prove that his strong finish wasn’t just a flash in the pan, which might be hard to do moving forward as he was injured in the 4th quarter against the Eagles. 11. LA Rams 0-1 After a disappointing season, the Rams are primed to get back on track this year, and the biggest reason is that they are healthy. Both Mathew Stafford and Cooper Kupp are healthy, Kyren Williams and Puca Nacua are ready to take another step, and this Rams team is looking to challenge the 49ers in the NFC West. They’re thin because of some injuries, but I trust Matthew Stafford. 12. Tampa Bay Bucs 1-0 Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers looked like one of the NFL’s best teams on Sunday. A balanced offensive attack led by Mayfield and Mike Evans mixed with a solid defense leaves the Bucs as contenders in what should be a weak NFC South. 13. LA Chargers 1-0 Something crazy happened when the Chargers acquired Jim Harbaugh as their head coach — they found an identity. Week one against the Vegas Raiders showed the Chargers a game that they have lost a million times over the last few years — but they won it. It feels like the Chargers might be better than we expect. 14. New York Jets 0-1 The Jets have arguably the best defense in football, and now they have a healthy Aaron Rodgers to pair with Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall. The biggest question to answer now is whether it can all last more than four plays. They still have some kinks to work out, but I’m not hitting the panic button on the Jets. 15. Chicago Bears 1-0 The Chicago Bears are one of the most exciting teams in the sport right now. A strong finish to the 2023 season mixed with the new additions of No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, No. 10 overall pick Rome Odunze, veterans Keenan Allen and D’eandre Swift — the Bears are ready to embark on a new era of football. If Williams is as advertised — and not as he played in week 1 — the Bears could be a playoff team in 2024-2025. 16. Cincinnati Bengals 0-1 The Bengals might have had the most shocking performance in week 1—getting beat by the New England Patriots. Joe Burrow looked out of sync, and his lack of training camp experience with Ja’Marr Chase, who held out, was apparent. I trust the Bengals will figure things out, but they certainly didn’t look good enough in week 1. 17. Seattle Seahawks 1-0 18. Atlanta Falcons 0-1 19. Indianapolis Colts 0-1 20. Pittsburgh Steelers 1-0 21. Minnesota Vikings 1-0 22. Arizona Cardinals 0-1 23. Jacksonville Jaguars 0-1 24. Denver Broncos 0-1 25. New Orleans Saints 1-0 26. Cleveland Browns 0-1 27. Washington Commanders 0-1 28. New England Patriots 1-0 29. Tennessee Titans 0-1 30. New York Giants 0-1 31. Las Vegas Raiders 0-1 32. Carolina Panthers 0-1
