NFL Power Rankings: Initial Post-Sunday Breakdown Ahead of Week 2

The National Football League is back with a vengeance. No matter how many times you hear or read that fact, it never seems to lose it's tantalizing awesomeness. 

Sunday's slate of games included a palpitation-inducing number of nail-biters whose outcomes were decided in the final seconds, and that's without mentioning Thursday's thrilling Super Bowl 50 rematch.

While it's likely that an attempt to derive too much from one week of action would be in vain, we can anticipate another season of hard-hitting football riddled with incredible scoring plays and too much complaining about penalties.

Through Sunday's Week 1 contests, some rising teams brashly pulled up their chairs at the big-boy table, while many the league's heavyweights reminded us how they earned that reputation. 

Without further ado, here's this year's version of the Way-Too-Early Power Rankings.

Rank	Team	W-L
1.	New England Patriots	1-0
2.	Green Bay Packers	1-0
3.	Denver Broncos	1-0
4.	Arizona Cardinals	0-1
5.	Carolina Panthers	0-1
6.	Cincinnati Bengals	1-0
7.	Pittsburgh Steelers	0-0
8.	Seattle Seahawks	1-0
9.	Kansas City Chiefs	1-0
10.	New York Giants	1-0
11.	Houston Texans	1-0
12.	Oakland Raiders	1-0
13.	Minnesota Vikings	1-0
14.	Jacksonville Jaguars	0-1
15.	Indianapolis Colts	0-1
16.	Dallas Cowboys	0-1
17.	Baltimore Ravens	1-0
18.	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	1-0
19.	Philadelphia Eagles	1-0
20.	New York Jets	0-1
21.	Detroit Lions	1-0
22.	Washington Redskins	0-0
23.	Miami Dolphins	0-1
24.	Buffalo Bills	0-1
25.	New Orleans Saints	0-1
26.	San Diego Chargers	0-1
27.	Los Angeles Rams	0-0
28.	Atlanta Falcons	0-1
29.	Chicago Bears	0-1
30.	Tennessee Titans	0-1
31.	San Francisco 49ers	0-0
32.	Cleveland Browns	0-1

Notable Rankings

1. New England Patriots

This might be an unpopular place to slot the New England Patriots, but they stomped into the University of Phoenix Stadium without legendary quarterback Tom Brady and hulking tight end Rob Gronkowski and sealed a 23-21 win over the Arizona Cardinals in the final seconds. 

In Brady's absence during his four-game suspension for his role in the Deflategate scandal, his position will be occupied by Jimmy Garoppolo, who proved on Sunday night that he is more than just a worthy substitute for Brady. Garoppolo completed 24 of his 33 passes for 264 yards and a touchdown while navigating a brutal Arizona pass rush.

Bill Simmons, the host of HBO's Any Given Wednesday and Patriots diehard, theorized one reason for Garoppolo's success:

The next three teams the Patriots will face without Brady—the Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans, and Buffalo Bills—don't compare to the status of the Cardinals. 

And just imagine the fire Brady will play with when he returns, both to spite NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and because he's Tom Brady.

It's certainly an oversimplification, but the Patriots once again proved on Sunday night why they are the gold standard of the NFL, and with their future Hall of Fame quarterback waiting to unleash his wrath on the league, the top of the rankings is where they belong. 

10. New York Giants

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

In what has become something of yearly tradition, the New York Giants began their season against the Dallas Cowboys. However, breaking from the norm, New York defeated Dallas and rookie quarterback Dak Prescott at AT&T Stadium. 

Among their litany of problems from last season, a virtually nonexistent pass rush may have plagued the Giants the most. The front office addressed that issue in the offseason by acquiring monsters Olivier Vernon and Damon "Snacks" Harrison to try to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks and runners. And although those acquisitions, and others on defense, were not cheap, they already appear to be paying dividends. 

Despite running for his first career touchdown, rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott was stifled by the Giants defense. He picked up only 51 yards on the ground, and his longest run went for just eight yards. 

On offense, the Giants looked surprisingly potent. Rashad Jennings and Shane Vereen combined to run for 113 yards, and they were rarely stopped in the backfield, which was something that happened far too often a year ago. 

As for the receiving corps for the G-Men, first-year head coach Ben McAdoo had to have liked what he saw. Odell Beckham Jr., while not having a huge game statistics-wise, gave no indication he's headed for a let-down season. More importantly, though, Victor Cruz played his first game since going down with a debilitating knee injury in 2014, and he didn't miss a beat.

Cruz caught four passes including the game-winning touchdown. Sterling Shepard, the rookie receiver from Oklahoma, also hauled in a touchdown pass and looked impressive in his debut. 

Yes, the Cowboys were missing Tony Romo and the Giants still have a lot to prove and many critics to silence. However, they certainly took a step in the right direction and inspired some confidence among their fans as they try to return to their Super Bowl-winning ways of years past.

9. Kansas City Chiefs

Ed Zurga/Associated Press

The Kansas City Chiefs engineered the greatest comeback of Week 1 through Sunday. KC trailed the San Diego Chargers 24-3 with six minutes remaining in the third quarter, but that was before quarterback Alex Smith led his team on a furious rally. 

Up to that point, Philip Rivers had picked apart the Chiefs' defense with precision. Over the next 12 minutes, though, Smith tossed two touchdown passes, one to Tyreek Hill and another to Jeremy Maclin. Then, after a Cairo Santos field goal and a touchdown run by Spencer Ware, Smith scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime with his legs, running it in from two yards out. 

A year ago, the Chiefs made it to the divisional round of the playoffs before falling to New England by seven. Critics of the team might talk about its low ceiling based on the "average" perception that seems to plague Smith. But based on his performance Sunday afternoon, who's to say this team can't build on last year's success?

Smith was complemented impressively by Ware, who ran for 70 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. What's more, Ware was also the team's leading receiver. He caught seven passes for a whopping total of 129 yards. 

The degree of difficulty of the Chiefs' comeback, along with stellar performances from Smith and Ware, give the team some much needed momentum to try and break into the esteemed group of the league's top-tier teams.