NFL Power Rankings: 5 Week 1 Winners That Will Be Humbled in Week 2

Unlike in the three other North American sports leagues, it's important to get off to a hot start in the NFL. With just 16 games to play with, every game is precious.

With one week of action now in the books, there are plenty of teams that are on the right track. The question heading into Week 2 is which of them will stay on track.

My best guess: not all of them. While it's admittedly a little early to start going around labeling teams as pretenders and contenders, I do think we can take it for granted that a handful of Week 1 winners are going to be humbled in Week 2.

In fact, I foresee five teams in particular coming back down to earth this weekend.

5. Buffalo Bills (No. 24)

Of all the crazy things that could have happened, I definitely did not foresee the Bills pulling off a 41-7 blowout over the Kansas City Chiefs. That came out of nowhere.

As a result of their win, I bumped Buffalo up a few spots to No. 24 in my power rankings, but I think I might be bumping them down again after their game against the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders showed on Monday night that they can still run the ball and rush the passer as well as any team in the league, and they are going to be hard to beat if they can cut their penalties down to a reasonable number.

The Bills are going to find these things out firsthand.

4. Washington Redskins (No. 21)

At one point leading up to the season, I had the Redskins down as the worst team in the league and the early favorite for Andrew Luck.

Now I have them at No. 21 and a possible dark horse playoff team. That's what they get for being impressive in the preseason, and for beating the New York Giants 28-14.

But to be honest, I'm not reading too much into Washington's opening victory. The Giants have, by my count, only three or four healthy players, so it makes sense that they would struggle out of the gate.

I don't expect the Arizona Cardinals to do the same when they come calling this weekend. They're not a great team, but they're a good team. Against them, we shall find out whether or not the Skins are also a good team.

3. Chicago Bears (No. 11)

The Bears tore the apparently-not-so-mighty Atlanta Falcons apart on Sunday by the final of 30-12. I've gotten a lot of guff about putting them at No. 11 after a win like that, but believe me when I tell you that's much higher than I had them before they beat the Falcons.

Up next is a game against another NFC South opponent, the New Orleans Saints. The Saints lost in Week 1 to the Green Bay Packers, but they could have won had Sean Payton made the right play call at the end of the game. They're a very good team with a loaded offense, and I for one still think they have a chance to be the best team in the NFC this year.

They'll be able to prove as much at home against the Bears, who are going to have a hard time doing to the Saints offense what they did to the Falcons offense.

2. San Diego Chargers (No. 7)

The Chargers had their issues against the Minnesota Vikings in their opener, but I still have them down as the best team in the AFC West and the No. 7 team in the league overall.

No matter what happens in Week 2, I'm still going to like the Chargers. But they have the rotten luck of playing Tom Brady and the New England Patriots on the road this weekend, and I suspect that things are not going to go well for the Bolts.

They'll still be good, but it's not going to be pretty.

1. Philadelphia Eagles (No. 4)

If Steven Jackson could have stayed in the game, I don't think the Eagles would have beaten the St. Louis Rams.

But he couldn't, so they did. As a result, I kept them at No. 4 in my power rankings.

Now comes the hard part. The Eagles have to play at the Falcons on Sunday night, and they're in for a tough matchup. I expect the Falcons to run right at the Eagles with Michael Turner, and I expect the rest of their offense to come around as well.

The end result may not be a loss for the Eagles, but the "Dream Team" is certainly in for a wake-up call.

2011 NFL Power Rankings
1. New England Patriots
2. Green Bay Packers
3.  Baltimore Ravens
4. Philadelphia Eagles
5. New Orleans Saints
6. Houston Texans
7. San Diego Chargers
8. Pittsburgh Steelers
9. Atlanta Falcons
10. Detroit Lions
11. Chicago Bears
12. New York Jets
13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
14. Arizona Cardinals
15. Dallas Cowboys
16. Oakland Raiders
17. Kansas City Chiefs
18. New York Giants
19. St. Louis Rams
20. Jacksonville Jaguars
21.  Washington Redskins
22. Tennessee Titans
23. Indianapolis Colts
24. Buffalo Bills
25. Miami Dolphins
26. Cleveland Browns
27. San Francisco 49ers
28. Carolina Panthers
29. Minnesota Vikings
30. Cincinnati Bengals
31. Denver Broncos
32. Seattle Seahawks