6. Washington Commanders (8)
I'm not going to pretend that beating the Giants led by Russell Wilson is some great feat, nor should anyone else. However, there's always something to be said for a team, especially early in the season, coming out and handling business in the way that you expect them to, which is exactly what the Commanders did on Sunday.
The Washington defense had the suspect New York offense in hell for most of this game, which is something that Dan Quinn can hang his hat on and hopefully build off of. But there actually is reason to be impressed, once again, with Jayden Daniels and the offense. The Giants defense is the clear strength of that team, and they still hung 21 points on them quite comfortably to pick up the season-opening win.
5. Baltimore Ravens (3)
Blowing a 15-point lead to lose to the Bills in the final seconds probably isn't how the Ravens imagined things would go for them in Week 1. That's certainly not going to help this team dispel the notion that Lamar Jackson and Company are simply not built for the biggest moments. At the same time, the Ravens not only went pound-for-pound with the Bills in Buffalo in this game, but they should've won considering how thoroughly they controlled the game throughout.
But they didn't win it and such a gut-punch loss is going to move them down in the power rankings. Having said that, if you were high on the Ravens coming into the season, nothing about a 40-point outburst that went awry late should have you feeling all that differently about Baltimore.
4. Los Angeles Chargers (17)
The biggest riser after Week 1 simply has to be the Chargers. Yes, things got strange in Brazil last year too, but for the Bolts to go to this neutral international site and put on the performance that they did against the rival Chiefs was nothing short of highly impressive.
LA's defense undeniably deserves its flowers for the problems they caused Patrick Mahomes, especially with Xavier Worthy going out early in this game. But the real star was Justin Herbert. With the addition of Omarion Hampton to upgrade the running game, it seemed like the Chargers passing game reached a new level, as did their young star quarterback. If we get 16 games of Herbert playing at this level, Los Angeles isn't just an AFC West threat, they're a Super Bowl contender.
3. Philadelphia Eagles (1)
Certainly not trying to be a hater when it comes to the reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles, especially because they took care of business and got a win at home over the rival Cowboys on Thursday. Having said that, it's hard not to look at the performance against a Dallas team that many thought would end up being a doormat without Micah Parsons and not be underwhelmed at least slightly by Philly.
After the first half, the Eagles offense was a bit stagnant. And while the defense did enough to keep the lead to secure the win, one could argue that many of the Cowboys' wounds were self-inflicted rather than caused by anything Nick Sirianni's team did. We know what the upside of Philadelphia looks like, but what we saw in Week 1 really wasn't all that close to that form.
2. Buffalo Bills (5)
Just when you thought the Bills were dead to rights, Josh Allen whipped up some magic in Buffalo on Sunday night. This team was trailing by 15 points with about five minutes to play and it seemed like things might be slipping away from them against the Ravens. Instead, Allen and the offense kept chugging away, the defense came up with a timely turnover and then forced a huge punt, which allowed Allen and the offense to drive and put the game away with a last-second field goal.
Admittedly, you hope that the Bills defense can look better than they did in Week 1, but not every offense they face is Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. However, the fact that Buffalo was able to withstand all of the Ravens' haymakers and still somehow escape with a win speaks to the moxie of this team.
1. Green Bay Packers (4)
The Packers might've been the favorites in the NFC North anyway coming into this season, but the Micah Parsons trade seemed to guarantee that. But if you weren't certain, then Matt LaFleur's team made sure there was no doubt about that with the way Green Bay welcomed the rival Lions to Lambeau Field in Week 1 and completely dismantled them.
No matter where you look, the Packers were dominant. Jordan Love was stellar, Josh Jacobs remained the steady hand in the backfield, the weapons were all doing their parts with no real hierarchy, Parsons notched several pressures despite being on a snap count, and Detroit could barely move the ball. It was a dominant effort on both ends, which is enough for me to plant the flag that the Packers are the NFL's best team until proven otherwise.