5. Philadelphia Eagles (3)
I probably look like a massive hater after the Eagles moved to 2-0 with wins over the Cowboys and Chiefs and I’ve moved them down to No. 5 in the power rankings. Look, this is still an incredibly talented team and getting wins is really all that matters. Having said that, this offense still hasn’t exactly hit the ground running, which looks more concerning considering how awful the Dallas defense looked against the Giants. The good news is that Philadelphia is still a monster on defense, and that should propel them to many, many more victories. Until the offense takes flight fully, though, I have to have them behind these top three teams.
4. Los Angeles Chargers (4)
Everything that we saw from the Chargers in Week 1 seemed to hold up late on Monday night against Vegas. We knew that this was a game that Jim Harbaugh wanted badly, given that he was across the sideline from his longtime rival Pete Carroll, and you have to imagine the methodical nature in which Los Angeles was able to control this game to cap off Week 2 felt extremely gratifying in that capacity.
Justin Herbert continues to look like a stud, especially with a much more reliable group of pass-catchers now around him. While this defense may not have faced two great offenses to this point, they’ve showed what they’re capable of still. More importantly, though, this looks like a Chargers team capable of winning in multiple ways against anyone, which may well make them AFC West favorites now amid the Chiefs’ apparent demise.
3. Baltimore Ravens (5)
Considering how stout Cleveland’s defense appeared to be in their matchup against the Bengals, it was surely impressive how easy Lamar Jackson and the Ravens seemed to make things look on Sunday. Yes, they did pull away late, but there were few moments when Baltimore wasn’t in control of this game.
The heartbreak and disappointment of the blown lead in the opener should be a distant memory soon enough. This team is still a dangerous threat in the AFC, and few teams are going to have the defensive firepower to stand up consistently to what the Ravens are able to throw at them.
2. Buffalo Bills (2)
On the heels of their thrilling primetime win over the Ravens, a road trip to New York to play a Jets team that looked spirited against Pittsburgh seemed like it could be another shootout for the Bills. Josh Allen and Co. certainly did their part, but the defense looked quite stout in completely bottling up Justin Fields and the rest of the Jets offense.
With how explosive and versatile Buffalo’s offense looks like at this point, if the defense can play at that level, there’s no reason to stop believing that this is a viable Super Bowl contender coming out of the AFC.
1. Green Bay Packers (1)
Nothing that we’ve seen from the Packers to this point suggests anything other than this is the best team in the league. Against a talented Commanders offense on Thursday night, Green Bay and defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley further unleashed Micah Parsons, and the results were devastating for Washington. The Jayden Reed injury is definitely a blow, but that’s why you draft someone like Matthew Golden in the first round to help keep that receiver room deep.
This team probably isn’t infallible, but the improvement on defense over the past two years combined with the depth of the skill positions and a good offensive line, it’s going to be hard for any team to unseat the Packers right now — but we are only two weeks in, so we’ll see how things can change.