12. Denver Broncos (6)
Honestly, the Broncos are probably a bit fortunate that they’re only dropping five spots in the power rankings. Sean Payton’s team pulled out the win at home against the Titans in the end, but it was anything but pretty. Bo Nix, who was near masterful last season as a rookie in this offense, looked uncharacteristically sloppy, and it made Denver face an uphill battle at times in this matchup. Fortunately, this defense is still one of the NFL’s elites, and they gave rookie Cam Ward fits throughout this matchup.
Still, for Denver to reach their preseason expectations, we're going to need to see a ton more from Nix and this offense than we did on Sunday.
11. Los Angeles Rams (7)
My initial reaction the Rams grinding out a win over Houston was to move them down in the power rankings further than this. After a bit of reflection, though, the facts are that they were able to pull out the victory while not playing their best football and while being matched up with a defense that is one of the more stout units on that side of the ball in the NFL.
Matthew Stafford and the offense certainly looked like their work as a unit in the preseason was scarce, but they found their footing a bit more as the game progressed. And the good news is that Jared Verse and this defense still look ferocious in the trenches, which should be more than enough to get the Rams in the mix atop the NFC West this season.
10. Arizona Cardinals (11)
An eight-point win over the Saints might not look like much, especially given how bad New Orleans potentially could be this season, but the Cardinals still have me feeling optimistic about this team after the win. The truth of the matter is that the game never really felt out of their control because of the visible improvements that have been made on the defensive side of the ball.
Arizona's problems in Week 1 were from some sloppy, yet still explosive, offensive play that looked like this unit was clearly not all the way geared up and using this as an extended preseason. Ultimately, that's a good thing that the Cards were able to not play remotely their best football and still get the win, even if the opponent is one of the league's bottom-dwellers.
9. Minnesota Vikings (12)
Things looked decisively ugly and worrisome for the Vikings through three quarters on Monday Night Football. J.J. McCarthy in his first start looked out of his depth, Ben Johnson seemed to be winning the battle with Brian Flores, and Minnesota looked like it was going to be asking some tough questions after the first game of the season about moving on from Sam Darnold after a 14-win season. Then the fourth quarter happened.
The switch absolutely flipped for McCarthy and the Vikings looked like the team every fan hoped for. They stonewalled the Bears offense for most of the second half, which allowed McCarthy to orchestrate a comeback with three straight touchdown drives, a pass to Justin Jefferson, a dime to Aaron Jones, and then a rushing score. While Kevin O'Connell is certainly hoping that the first three quarters become a thing of the pass, we caught a glimpse of the Vikings' ceiling late in the rally, and it was damn impressive.
8. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9)
Everyone in Tampa was certainly sweating watching the Bucs, and not just because of the late-Summer humidity in Florida. Baker Mayfield and this team didn't make things easy on themselves. The veteran quarterback's decision-making was spotty in the season opener, and the defense came up with big stops at times, but was also quite generous for much of this game as well.
That being said, isn't that kind of what we've seen from the Buccaneers in recent years? It's not always going to be the prettiest brand of football, but when a big moment arises, they too rise to meet it. Mayfield and the offense did that in the go-ahead two-minute drill, and it feels like more of the same for a team looking for its fifth consecutive division crown.
7. Kansas City Chiefs (2)
Starting out with a loss to the Chargers in Brazil while looking down the barrel of a rematch with an Eagles team that stomped you in the Super Bowl seven months ago probably isn't the ideal scenario for the Chiefs. Not that I'm breaking news there, but the loss internationally definitely puts thing on the wrong foot for Kansas City this season.
Xavier Worthy's injury compounds some questions at receiver with Rashee Rice suspended, but it was perhaps more worrisome to see Steve Spagnuolo's defense get carved by Justin Herbert and the rest of Greg Roman's offense. While there's always hope Patrick Mahomes can pull the rabbit out of the hat and get the offense cooking, that could be for naught if we don't see a better defensive effort in the coming weeks.