NFL Top 10 Power Rankings Through Week Two

With Week Two closing up with a dramatic finish to the Monday night game that saw the Colts squeak out a 27-23 win over the Dolphins, some teams have already pulled out to an early advantage, some are still in the middle of the pack trying to establish an identity, while some teams are waving an early white flag of surrender.

This week saw a lot of upsets that may have drastically changed the rankings and the standings. Let's take a look at who is at the top of the NFL mountain.

10. New England Patriots (2) (1-1, lost 16-9 to the New York Jets)

The Patriots might have finally given away one too many key players on defense. They have lost Mike Vrabel, Asante Samuel, Richard Seymour, Tedy Bruschi, Ellis Hobbs, Junior Seau, and Rodney Harrison to free agency, trades, or retirement and the defense is getting over matched in the first two weeks.

Tom Brady was never comfortable playing in the Meadowlands against a tough defense in the Jets and after the game, Bill Belichick showed his lack of class with that "Yeah, go f*** yourself" handshake and running away thing he did with Rex Ryan like he did with Eric Mangini.

Their loss drops them, but with Brady and Moss, they just stay in the top 10.

9. Pittsburgh Steelers (1) (1-1, lost 17-14 to the Chicago Bears)

It's safe to say the loss of Troy Polamalu has hurt this team's defense.

They did give up only 17 points to the Bears, but they aren't the same team without Polamalu roaming the defensive backfield.

Ben Roethlisberger did everything he could to try to win the game for the Steelers on Sunday, but kicker Jeff Reed did everything he could to lose the game for the Steelers, missing two fourth quarter field goals that would have won the game for the defending champions.

With this loss, they get dropped down after being in the No. 1 spot.

But, they are still the defending champions and should be able to rebound next week, although they must game plan around Polamalu's loss.

8. Denver Broncos (UR) (2-0, won 27-6 over the Cleveland Browns)

Nobody thought a team without Jay Cutler and with Kyle Orton would start 2-0, especially after the mess Josh McDaniels created before the season started.

But, in fact, they are 2-0. Sure, they beat the Bengals on a fluke pass play and beat up on a weak Browns team. But their defense has only given up 13 points to date, the fewest in the NFL.

The AFC West is wide open and the Broncos are in first place early. The Chargers are always under-performing, so if Denver can continue to surprise people, they have a chance to stay up on here and win some games.

7. Minnesota Vikings (UR) (2-0, won 27-13 over the Detroit Lions)

Brett Favre starts out undefeated with his new team. He has yet to throw an interception, especially one that costs his team an important game, but he's still Brett Favre and does throw wild passes.

Adrian Peterson has been running wild like expected. Even if the defenses he has faced are the Lions' and Browns', he's still the premier running back in the NFL and has produced.

The defense has only picked up six sacks with Jared Allen, Pat Williams, and Kevin Williams, but they should get going when the season progresses, as will their standings on here when they play better teams.

6. Indianapolis Colts (5) (2-0, won 27-23 over the Miami Dolphins)

On Monday night, it wasn't pretty. The Colts had the ball for all of 15 minutes in the game. Yet, they still came out on top.

It's because of Peyton Manning, who's still one of the greatest quarterbacks in the sport, that the Colts are still a premier team in the league. They sure could use Anthony Gonzalez when he gets off his injury, but Manning finds ways to win games.

With the Titans struggling early, the Colts could possibly be the team to run away with this division, which would be a great way for Jim Caldwell to start out as head coach.

5. Baltimore Ravens (UR) (2-0, won 26-21 over the San Diego Chargers)

People said Joe Flacco would endure a "sophomore slump." Flacco is telling those people where they can stick that sophomore slump.

After an impressive win against the Chiefs, Flacco had a major test early against a tough Chargers team on the road and Flacco delivered again, outplaying Phillip Rivers, who threw for over 400 yards.

The Ravens' defense without Rex Ryan has shown vulnerability, but any defense with Ray Lewis and Ed Reed is still an impressive one and one to be feared.

4. Atlanta Falcons (7) (2-0, won 28-20 over the Carolina Panthers)

Matt Ryan is doing the same thing to his critics of the "sophomore slump" by winning an important division game over the Panthers.

Michael Turner rebounded from a rough first game and had a great second game, running for over 100 yards. Tony Gonzalez had another big game for Atlanta and is quickly racking up another 1,000 yard receiving season.

The Falcons will have an incredible test in their first road game of 2009 against an angry Patriots team that was embarrassed against the Jets. Bill Belichick also likes to step up his game after being embarrassed, so Ryan better be prepared.

3. New York Jets (10) (2-0, won 16-9 over the New England Patriots)

Rex Ryan said he wasn't here to kiss Bill Belichick's rings. He was here to beat him in football games. He delivered that on his first try.

The Jets' defense made Tom Brady run for his life all game and never let him get comfortable once, forcing him to throw bad passes and finish throwing under 50 percent. In two games, the Jets have attacked the quarterback and it's worked to perfection.

Also in two games, the Jets' defense has yet to surrender an offensive touchdown, which is incredible, especially against the potent Patriots' offense. Ryan's defense early on has been outstanding and dominating.

On offense, Mark Sanchez wasn't dominating, but he was good enough to win the game against a fierce rival and showed great poise as a rookie. He has a chance to go to 3-0 against a Titans team that is struggling at 0-2.

2. New Orleans Saints (8) (2-0, won 48-22 over the Philadelphia Eagles)

In two games, Drew Brees has nine touchdown passes, making his case early for the NFL MVP Award. Brees went into enemy territory and dominated an Eagles' defense that showed vulnerability for the first time in 2009.

In two games, the Saints have scored 93 points, which is first in the league, so they have established themselves as the league's best scoring offense early on. What makes the Saints' offense scary is that Brees uses all of his targets in the field somehow.

As long as their defense doesn't give away any of these leads, the Saints will be a playoff team. They will have a tough test next week on the road against the Bills.

1. New York Giants (3) (2-0, won 33-31 over the Dallas Cowboys)

There is nothing more fun than going down to enemy territory and spoiling the rival owner's grand opening to the billion dollar stadium on national TV, which is exactly what the Giants did with their win over Dallas.

Eli Manning took the ball with three minutes to go and drove over 60 yards, throwing key passes to Steve Smith and Mario Manningham that set up Lawrence Tynes' game-winning 37-yard field goal.

In this game, Manningham had a nice break out game and may have established himself as a playmaker for the Giants, while Smith continues to show how dependable he is in the passing game. Manning also outplayed Tony Romo, who threw three costly interceptions.

The Giants' running attack of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw was held down, but Dallas has a tough defense. They should be back on track next week.

The Giants' defense also gave up too many yards in the running game, but also had a lot of key injuries, including one in which Flozell Adams tripped Justin Tuck and had him tumble into the ground, hurting his shoulder. Tuck's status is still unknown.

The banged up defense did force four turnovers against Dallas, which was a key in the game. The defense again should rebound against the Buccaneers.

Because the NFC East is the toughest division in the NFL and the Giants are already 2-0 against it, that shot the Giants up from the No. 3 spot to the No. 1 spot after Week Two.

That's all from a crazy and wild Week Two. Hope everyone has a good work or school week and then we will get ready for an interesting Week Three on Sunday.