NFL Week 2 power rankings: 49ers remain on top, Chiefs climb

We have a full week of games, the 2024 season is underway and some preseason expectations have been confirmed, at least early on.

Half the league is 1-0 and the other half is 0-1. Half are Super Bowl bound and the other half need to trade everyone.

It’s not that drastic, but we do have some changes to our power rankings, although the team at the top remains the same.

1. San Francisco 49ers (no change)

The Niners didn’t have Christian McCaffrey in the opener on Monday and Jordan Mason ran all over the Jets. They scored 32 points on that vaunted Jets defense.

2. Kansas City Chiefs (+1)

So adding the speed of Xavier Worthyt is a game-changer early on. Just wait till Hollywood Brown comes back.

3. Detroit Lions (-1)

The Lions held on and beat an injury-riddled Rams squad in overtime. David Montgomery was great and Jameson Williams might finally be who what the Lions hoped he would be.

4. Houston Texans (+2)

So Stefon Diggs makes the Texans even better.

5. Los Angeles Rams (+4)

Their offensive line is decimated by injuries and Puka Nacua got hurt but they still went toe-to-toe with the Lions

6. Baltimore Ravens (-2)

Lamar Jackson was great. They were inches from a win or overtime against the Chiefs.

7. Philadelphia Eagles (no change)

Jalen Hurts was picked off twice, but, man, Saquon Barkley looked good in that offense.

8. Buffalo Bills (+2)

Josh Allen rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another two. They weathered early dominance by Arizona and basically did whatever they wanted offensively after that.

9. Miami Dolphins (+2)

They got a win the hard way, something that they didn’t do a lot of last year.

10. Indianapolis Colts (+4)

They went toe-to-toe with the Texans. Anthony Richardson is going to be a problem in the AFC.

11. Dallas Cowboys (+6)

The Dallas offense did whatever it wanted to Cleveland’s defense and Micah Parsons was unblockable.

12. New York Jets (no change)

Aaron Rodgers didn’t get hurt but the defense was unable to stop the Niners.

13. Jacksonville Jaguars (+3)

Trevor Lawrence was efficient and they held the Dolphins to only 20 points despite giving up 400 yards.

14. Cincinnati Bengals (-6)

What exactly happened in Week 1? Only 10 points? Yes, Tee Higgins was hurt, but that was bad.

15. Los Angeles Chargers (+4)

A healthy J.K. Dobbins will be fun. The sackmaster duo of Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa is still great.

16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+4)

37 points in Week 1? OK, maybe they can keep things up in the NFC South, although it did come against Washington and their bad defense.

17. Minnesota Vikings (+6)

Sam Darnold was solid, but it was against the Giants.

18. Pittsburgh Steelers (+4)

The offense with Justin Fields looked like the offense with Kenny Pickett. But they have a great kicker and a defense that keeps them in games.

19. Seattle Seahawks (+5)

They won, but it was against the Broncos in Bo Nix’s debut. They move up, but do we trust them?

20. New Orleans Saints (+5)

They moved up after a blowout win over the Panthers, but how much credit can we give them?

21. Green Bay Packers (-17)

Can they weather the next few games without Jordan Love?

22. Chicago Bears (-4)

Defense and special teams led the comeback over the Titans. Caleb Williams looked shaky.

23. Atlanta Falcons (-10)

So maybe I overestimated Atlanta and what Kirk Cousins would do for that offense. Or perhaps Pittsburgh’s defense is that good. We will see.

24. Cleveland Browns (-9)

That was an ugly game. Are we sure Deshaun Watson isn’t just a bad quarterback now?

25. Arizona Cardinals (-4)

Their first half looked so good and their second half looked so bad. Defensively, they definitely have question marks. They won’t win much with 34 combined receiving yards from Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison Jr.

26. New England Patriots (+5)

They held the Bengals to 10 points. But they won’t win much with Jacoby Brissett averaging 5.0 yards per passing attempt.

27. Denver Broncos (no change)

Bo Nix threw no touchdown passes and had a pair of picks in his debut.

28. Washington Commanders (-2)

The defense was just as bad as it was last season, at least after one week. At least Jayden Daniels looked like he will be fun to watch.

29. Tennessee Titans (-1)

Chicago’s offense didn’t do anything and the Titans still gave up a 17-point lead.

30. Las Vegas Raiders (-1)

They missed Josh Jacobs.

31. New York Giants (+1)

They only moved up because of how bad the Panthers played.

32. Carolina Panthers (-2)

Welcome back to the bottom.

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