Top 10 Teams before Week 2

Cover Image for Top 10 Teams before Week 2
Felix Johnson
Felix Johnson

  1. Los Angeles Chargers (Previous ranking: NR)

(Yahoo Sports)

The Chargers should celebrate that Chiefs win as one of the franchise's greatest wins because it legitimately is. Though they capitalized on Kansas City's miscommunication on defense, Greg Roman's magically appearing passing playbook was greatly appreciated. Jim Harbaugh will hold this team to a standard like Joe Alt's massive bear paws. Jesse Minter and the defense should throw in new mixtures to their coverages and possess a Chiefs defeat on their résumé.

  1. Detroit Lions (Previous ranking: 8)

The Lions are likely the biggest victims of the longstanding media term, "brain drain." With the Packers looking like absolute world-beaters with a low-pitch-count Micah Parsons, Sunday wasn't likely going to their way. The strange part is that Detroit never would have touched #10 last season, and not much has changed with their roster aside from Frank Ragnow's retirement. Next week, they play against their former OC and a Bears team searching for its first win after their meltdown. What exactly will Jared Goff continue to look like without one of his elite play callers?

  1. Baltimore Ravens (Previous ranking: 7)

Similar to the Lions, Baltimore would rarely have fallen to depths such as #9. The Ravens regularly find themselves in situations like they did vs. the Bills. A final stanza's catastrophe is always a stone's throw away for them but they are typically saved by having one of the three best signal callers in the sport. In back-to-back losses (dating back to last year) to the same team, self-imposed mistakes become fatal for a supremely talented team. I don't doubt that Baltimore will rise through the ranks, but the clock is ticking until they play one of the two (or three) better QBs than theirs.

  1. Minnesota Vikings (Previous ranking: 9)

(Pioneer Press)

The Vikings looked thoroughly abysmal for 3 quarters. Letting Sam Darnold walk in favor of a redshirt freshman seemed like the greatest miscarriage of Justin Jefferson's prime. And then. JJ McCarthy rose like a phoenix in the 4th and gave Vikings fans new belief in their future. The Brian Flores defense shifted into gear when they needed, following suit of the team's leader. If McCarthy is what Minnesota thinks he is, prepare for more of last season and beyond for them.

  1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Previous ranking: 5)

The Bucs are recipients of hype that dorks like myself are attaching to them. They may notch 12+ wins because of games just like the one against Atlanta to open the year. Their first-rounder Emeka Egbuka, through one game, is inheriting the scepter from Mike Evans. Winning games like that have become second nature for this team and if Todd Bowles' defense can do the things they want to, their quiet danger may become louder as the season progresses.

  1. Kansas City Chiefs (Previous ranking: 2)

Prior to the weekend commencing, the Chiefs were one of the bigger victims of overreaction-itis. Being that the loss was in the division and the secondary miscommunicated so much, Kansas City's entire résumé has been thrown under the bus. If any team in recent history has deserved the benefit of the doubt that they will figure it out, it's them. Andy Reid has never wanted to run the football, so his regular refusal to do so is whatever at this point. The competition only stiffens against the Super Bowl champs, but do you expect the Kansas City Chiefs to start 0-2?

  1. Los Angeles Rams (Previous ranking: 4)

The Rams' rise is more about some others falling rather than their own quality, but they did win. That's about all they did. Keeping CJ Stroud's revival a Week 2 proposition is exactly what Chris Shula and that defense were hoping for and with Stafford's quick turnaround, the offense wasn't going to score a ton of points. Early season wins are critically important to a team already dealing with injuries.

  1. Green Bay Packers (Previous ranking: 6)

Adding Micah Parsons to this youth fest could only go well if Green Bay did what they did to that Lions team in particular. As the perennial DPOY candidate gets more comfortable in Hafley's defense, the coordinator will likely become your dad's favorite head coaching candidate. Jordan Love's live wire of an arm can do wonders for both teams but we didn't see that early. The sky is the limit for this team with the oodles of talent they have courtesy of Jerry Jones.

  1. Philadelphia Eagles (Previous ranking: 1)

Colin Cowherd sums the Eagles' culture up perfectly: they do a ton of things that bad teams do, but they still win. Jalen Hurts didn't scramble for a TD a single time last season (all his rushing TDs were tush pushes), but he made it a point to peel out all over the newly Parsons-less Cowboys. Jalen Carter hawking a loogie onto Dak Prescott may be the only thing holding Fangio's defense back, but this isn't the team that rattled off 13 straight wins last year. They were 2-2 through the first month of 2024, so they may be a final three quarters type of team.

  1. Buffalo Bills (Previous ranking: 3)

(bills.com)

Josh Allen may run a back-to-back MVP season based of his performance through the first game. With no turnovers, this continuation of a trend in Allen's career makes him truly dangerous. Though the defense isn't up to its usual standard at this point, they also allowed 35 to this same Ravens team in the early part of last year. Keon Coleman's emergence should be focused on and James Cook needs to live up to his pay day if they want to dominate this year.