NFL Power Rankings 2016: Predicting Post-Week 2 Standings

Monday morning overreaction time is over. There’s no need to fire out any more of your hottest NFL takes about what you learned in Week 1.

While it’s dangerous to be too reactive to Week 1’s results, the season is already one-sixteenth over, and many of the games we saw over the weekend had playoff implications.

Let’s examine the league’s pecking order with one week of meaningful play in the books. Then, we’ll focus on what went wrong for some of the teams whose stock fell after their first games.

Rank	Team	Record	Week 2 Matchup	Predicted Record
1	New England Patriots	1-0	vs. MIA	2-0
2	Pittsburgh Steelers	1-0	vs. CIN	2-0
3	Denver Broncos	1-0	vs. IND	2-0
4	Green Bay Packers	1-0	at MIN	2-0
5	Seattle Seahawks	1-0	at LA	2-0
6	Carolina Panthers	0-1	vs. SF	1-1
7	Arizona Cardinals	0-1	vs. TB	1-1
8	Cincinnati Bengals	1-0	at PIT	1-1
9	Kansas City Chiefs	1-0	at HOU	1-1
10	Oakland Raiders	1-0	vs. ATL	2-0
11	Minnesota Vikings	1-0	vs. GB	1-1
12	Houston Texans	1-0	vs. KC	2-0
13	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	1-0	at ARI	1-1
14	New York Giants	1-0	vs. NO	2-0
15	New York Jets	0-1	at BUF	1-1
16	Baltimore Ravens	1-0	at CLE	2-0
17	Jacksonville Jaguars	0-1	at SD	1-1
18	Detroit Lions	1-0	vs. TEN	2-0
19	Dallas Cowboys	0-1	at WAS	0-2
20	Indianapolis Colts	0-1	at DEN	0-2
21	Philadelphia Eagles	1-0	at CHI	1-1
22	Buffalo Bills	0-1	vs. NYJ	0-2
23	Washington Redskins	0-1	vs. DAL	1-1
24	San Francisco 49ers	1-0	at CAR	1-1
25	Miami Dolphins	0-1	at NE	0-2
26	Atlanta Falcons	0-1	at OAK	0-2
27	New Orleans Saints	0-1	at NYG	0-2
28	Chicago Bears	0-1	vs. PHI	1-1
29	Tennessee Titans	0-1	at DET	0-2
30	San Diego Chargers	0-1	vs. JAX	0-2
31	Cleveland Browns	0-1	vs. BAL	0-2
32	Los Angeles Rams	0-1	vs. SEA	0-2

Arizona Cardinals (No. 7)

In a Week 1 where none of the NFC’s top contenders played very well, the Cardinals put forth the most underwhelming performance. Despite playing at home against a New England Patriots squad minus Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and Rob Ninkovich, Arizona fell 23-21.

Fans of a losing team often like pointing to one play as the reason for the loss, and that play for Cards fans Sunday was a poor snap leading up to the potentially game-winning field-goal attempt. However, if a game against a severely undermanned team has to come down to that, there were obviously bigger problems.

Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

Arizona struggled in all three phases of the game. Its normally excellent passing game couldn’t get into a rhythm in the first half, and David Johnson was having a lackluster game on the ground until a spectacular 45-yard scamper in the fourth quarter. The defense made quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo look awfully comfortable in his first NFL start.

Head coach Bruce Arians blamed his team’s preparation, according to ESPN.com’s Josh Weinfuss: "We were obviously not ready to play. They outplayed us, and we will learn from it and grow from it and continue. There's a long way to go and regroup and see if we can win the next one."

In Week 2, the defense will have to be especially sharp, as it faces Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Indianapolis Colts (No. 20)

The Detroit Lions defense may not be the best measuring stick, but Andrew Luck looked back to his All-Pro self of 2014 Sunday afternoon, tallying 406 total yards, four passing touchdowns and no turnovers. He also got impressive protection from a much-maligned offensive line.

The problems came pretty much everywhere else in a 39-35 loss, however.

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

Indy’s defense is decimated by injuries, but there was still not much of an excuse for how easily Matthew Stafford got throws off and shredded the secondary. Theo Riddick was a problem for Colts tacklers in space and ended up with 12 touches for 108 yards and two scores. 

Additionally, the team needs to find a way to better integrate the running game. The squad as a whole continued its habit of starting slowly in Week 1 against the Lions, which means it consistently has to play from behind and throw the ball a high percentage of the time.

Indianapolis’ offense will get its biggest test of the season Sunday against the Denver Broncos’ vaunted defense. The result of that battle may not even matter that much, though, if the defense continues to bleed points against even mediocre scoring units.

Los Angeles Rams (No. 32)

Last year, the Rams raised some eyebrows by taking down the Seattle Seahawks in overtime of their Week 1 battle. Week 1 of this season was a different story.

Playing its first game as the Los Angeles Rams, the team got shut out 28-0 by the San Francisco 49ers, a squad considered by most as one of the worst in the NFL. The offense mustered just 185 yards and turned the ball over twice.

Justin Edmonds/Getty Images

Are the 49ers a more respectable squad than we thought? Or are the Rams that bad? Was it a one-game anomaly? There’s probably some truth in answering "yes" to all three of those questions.

The biggest problem for Los Angeles is the passing game, which has been bad for several seasons now but looked absolutely pitiful in Week 1. To his credit, signal-caller Case Keenum took the blame, saying, "This team deserves better play from their quarterback," according to ESPN.com’s Alden Gonzalez.

The Rams do deserve better. If they don’t get it, star running back Todd Gurley won’t have running lanes, and the defense won’t ever be in good field position to stop the opponent.