NFL Power Rankings Week 2: 10 Teams with the Most to Gain This Weekend

As the NFL season rolls into its second week of play, there will be plenty of teams looking for redemption come this weekend.

There were several games last week that could be deemed a blowout, and the teams on the losing end in those contests will be looking to prove they're better than they showed in Week 1.

Here are 10 teams that have the most to gain in Week 2.

St. Louis Rams

If you were upset about your favorite team's loss last weekend, just be happy your not a St. Louis Rams fan. And if you are a Rams fan, you have my sympathy.

Not only did St. Louis suffer a defeat at the hands of the "Dream Team" Philadelphia Eagles, it suffered injuries to three important players on its roster. During the Week 1 game, Sam Bradford, Steven Jackson and Danny Amendola all suffered various degrees of injuries.

Amendola has likely been lost for the season, Jackson seems doubtful for this week, while it seems probable their franchise quarterback will play against the New York Giants.

Regardless of the injuries, the Rams are still a favorite to win the NFC West and have the opportunity to show just how formidable an opponent they can be this week as they play on Monday Night Football.

San Diego Chargers

While it's true that the San Diego Chargers won their Week 1 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, they didn't do it in convincing fashion.

Special teams problems created issues for the Lightning Bolts again as Percy Harvin was able to take a kick return all the way for a touchdown last weekend.

The Vikings led all the way until the fourth quarter despite quarterback Donovan McNabb collecting less than 40 yards passing on the day.

The Chargers take on the New England Patriots on the road this week, and if they are able to defeat their East Coast opponents after their performance last Monday night, everyone will be talking about San Diego.

Kansas City Chiefs

Getting blown out in the first week of play after making the playoffs the year before is disappointing, getting blown out at home against the Buffalo Bills is downright embarrassing.

Arrowhead Stadium is regarded is one of the places to get a road win in the league—apparently Buffalo didn't get the memo.

Ryan Fitzpatrick lit up the Chiefs' secondary while Fred Jackson torched KC on the ground en route to a 41-7 whipping of the home team.

Kansas City won't get to be in the comforts of home this Sunday as it'll be on the road against the much-hyped Detroit Lions. After the Lions' performance last weekend, if the Chiefs are able to come into Ford Field and defeat the home team, perhaps they'll have everyone's mind off the Bills game for a little while.

Atlanta Falcons

After all the hype regarding Mike Smith's Atlanta Falcons during the offseason this year, they came out of the gates and laid an egg against the Chicago Bears.

After the big draft day trade to get wide receiver Julio Jones and airing it out in the preseason with Matt Ryan the offense was unable to get into any rhythm against the Chi-Town defense.

Philadelphia is coming to town this Sunday, which will surely be highly publicized due to Michael Vick returning to face his old team.

Defeating the Eagles and Vick would be such an uplift for the Falcons as an organization; not only be a big early season win, but it would end all discussions of their former quarterback around Atlanta.

Denver Broncos

Despite their quarterback Kyle Orton throwing for more than 300 yards against their division rivals on national television, the Denver Broncos still found a way to lose and their fans still chanted for Tim Tebow.

With the Week 1 loss, the Broncos are now 0-1 overall and within division play. The quarterback controversy is also back, with coach John Fox having to come out and publicly announce Orton as the starter for this week against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Bengals shouldn't prove to be a difficult opponent for Denver, but anything is possible with this squad. The Broncos need to beat down on Cincy this Sunday if they hope to keep the Tebow chants at bay.

Buffalo Bills

If you had money on the Bills defeating the Chiefs last week, you are a bold and lucky individual.

Buffalo came out and dismantled a team that went undefeated for a significant number of weeks last season.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Stevie Johnson and Fred Jackson looked like superstars last week, but the question is how much longer can this team continue to perform at this level?

They Bills have the chance at a repeat performance this week against the Chiefs' fellow AFC West team, Oakland Raiders.

Chicago Bears

Though the Bears didn't win in as convincing fashion as the Bills last week, they were able to upset a perennial playoff team in fairly easy manner.

Jay Cutler spread the ball around and was able to pick apart the Falcons defense while Matt Forte proved to be more than difficult to stop on the ground.

Next game may prove to be a bit tougher as Chicago will be facing the New Orleans Saints, who are coming off a high-scoring air show against the Green Bay Packers.

If the Windy City team is able to top the Saints, it would prove to the media that perhaps it isn't the NFC South that should be receiving so much attention and it's time for the spotlight to shine down on Soldier Field.

Indianapolis Colts

The Indianapolis Colts were expected to be less formidable with Peyton Manning unable to play, but not to the extent that they would fail to post fewer than two scores against the Houston Texans.

The Houston defense proved to be too much for Kerry Collins and Joseph Addai to handle, and they'll need to play much better when they take on the Cleveland Browns at home.

Cleveland had difficulties shutting down Andy Dalton and the Bengals last weekend and found a way to lose against a team many would consider to be worse off than Indy.

The Browns may not be the same easy win they used to be in recent years, but if the Colts want people to believe they're still a contender this year, now is as good time as any to show they have an argument to be made.

Dallas Cowboys

By now every NFL fan has heard the story of the epic meltdown the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth quarter against the New York Jets last Sunday night.

The fact of the matter is, Dallas was owning that contest until the storm of misfortune and bad decisions started.

The Cowboys secondary was shutting down Plaxico Burress, Santonio Holmes and Derrick Mason for almost the entire contest while pressuring Mark Sanchez all day. The offense looked impressive—in particular Dez Bryant—having its fair share of success against the Jets' stellar cornerbacks.

The 'Boys will take on the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2, and if they are able to play as well as they did against the Jets through the first three quarters when they take on San Fran, Cowboys fans could be celebrating their first win of the new season.

Miami Dolphins

While New England was breaking records and Tom Brady was throwing up passing yards with little effort, the Miami Dolphins offense looked almost as impressive.

Chad Henne and Brandon Marshall were connect on several occasions, and Reggie Bush contributed on the ground as well as through the receiving game.

Henne posted 30 completions for 426 yards and two touchdowns—not bad for a guy they tried to bench in favor of Kyle Orton in the past.

Miami faces the Texans after their demolishing of the Colts, so earning a victory against the new favorite to win the AFC South with another impressive offensive performance could have people wondering if the Dolphins could make some noise this regular season.