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Looking to extend their championship window and turn their streak into a three-peat, the Kansas City Chiefs headline our Week 2 NFL Power Rankings. After an NFL Week 1 full of storylines, breakout players, and underwhelming performances, there are plenty of stats and snap count decisions to keep track of.
Come along as we provide in-depth analysis every week on how each team fared in the NFL, important stats/takeaways from each contest, and storylines to follow heading into the following games. Which team are you the most excited to follow this year?
1. Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs kicked off both the 2024 NFL season and our Week 2 NFL Power Rankings, hosting the Baltimore Ravens on the first Thursday night game of the year. While there were certainly some cobwebs to shake out, the defending Super Bowl champions looked pretty solid.
It was a modest showing from the KC offense, as Patrick Mahomes (291 yards, one touchdown & interception), Isiah Pachecho (15/45/1), and Travis Kelce (3/34 on four targets) didn’t fill the stat sheet in a typical way. But rookie wideout Xavier Worthy stole the show, as he found the end zone twice, once on the ground and through the air.
2. San Francisco 49ers
It was a painless Week 1 win for the San Francisco 49ers over the New York Jets, as the Niners looked to start up their journey to get back to the Super Bowl. Checking in as the second-best team in our Week 2 NFL Power Rankings, the 49ers showed it from the first snap.
Even without Christian McCaffrey, the offense hummed on all levels, as Jordan Mason stepped up in a big way. Mason and Deebo Samuel each found the end zone, and Brock Purdy managed a solid game to help lead San Francisco to its first win of the year.
3. Philadelphia Eagles
It was an uphill battle for the Philadelphia Eagles in their opening bout, traveling down to Brazil to face the Green Bay Packers. It was a turnover-heavy game for the Eagles offense, but a strong second half helped push them to their first win.
Jalen Hurts was mostly held in check on the ground, throwing for 278 yards but only rushing for 33 yards on 13 carries. Two interceptions and two fumbles (one lost) paint a lukewarm picture for Hurts’ performance from Friday, but Saquon Barkley (130+ total yards, three TDs) played a big role in leading the Eagles to 17 second-half points and the eventual win.
4. Detroit Lions
It may have taken overtime, but the Detroit Lions did their best to not give Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams a warm welcome to Ford Field in Week 1. It was an entertaining first Sunday Night Football contest of the season, one that didn't see a ton of work come from most of the Detroit superstars.
Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery both found the end zone on the ground Sunday night and Jared Goff connected with Jameson Williams on a bomb for their first points coming out of halftime. It took surviving a back-and-forth effort to get to the finish line, but the Lions helped cap off the first Sunday of the season with a win.
5. Miami Dolphins
It wasn’t pretty, but the Miami Dolphins survived a pre-game incident with Tyreek Hill to earn the win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. It took 13 second-half points to get past the Jaguars, seven of those coming on an 80-yard connection from Tua Tagovailoa to Hill.
Tyreek Hill with an 80-yard TD and celebration connected to this morning. pic.twitter.com/H027R2u2ZV
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 8, 2024
Outside of Tagovailoa’s 338 passing yards, Hill and De’Von Achane led the way offensively (17 touches,100 total yards, one rushing TD), with Jaylen Waddle (5/109 on five turrets) chipping in in the win.
6. Houston Texans
Two touchdowns for Stefon Diggs was a pleasant way for the Houston Texans to incorporate him into their offensive attack, and they needed all of that in their win over the Indianapolis Colts.
Overshadowed in the win was their other offseason addition Joe Mixon, who ran all over the Colts defense to the tune of 159 yards and a TD on 30 carries. Stroud’s WR1, Nico Collins, hauled in a 55-yard bomb on his way to putting up 117 yards on six receptions, rounding out a strong showing for the Houston offense.
7. Dallas Cowboys
It was a pretty strong statement to send to start the season for the Dallas Cowboys, as they dismantled the Cleveland Browns 33-17. While no one on the Dallas offense really stood out, it was the defense that continually made things tough for the Browns all day.
A relentless pass rush combined with a strong coverage scheme helped shut down the Cleveland offense, making things easy for Dak Prescott and his shiny new contract to earn the win.
8. Buffalo Bills
Scoring 24 points in the second half was just enough to push the Buffalo Bills to an opening-week win at home over the Arizona Cardinals. Questions about the lack of proven wideouts for Josh Allen still exist, but target distribution was the name of the game for the Bills in their win.
Eight different players recorded two-plus targets, with three (James Cook, Keon Coleman, and Khalil Shakir) earning three or more targets. Allen took the game into his hands in the second half, leading two 10-play drives, including one that ended on a six-yard TD run for Allen, his second of the day.
9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
No Dave Canales, no problem for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who hung 37 points on the Washington Commanders in their Week 1 win. The offense was humming on all cylinders in their victory, led by a strong performance from Baker Mayfield.
Having earned a new deal this offseason, Mayfield connected on 80 percent of his passes in the win, finding Mike Evans (twice), Chris Godwin, and rookie Jalen McMillan for touchdowns. It was a strong performance overall, although the defense needs to fine-tune how it stops the run.
10. Seattle Seahawks
Rocking their stellar throwback uniforms, the Seattle Seahawks struggled a bit against the Denver Broncos before pulling away in the second half. The new-look offense definitely did look different, with a more up-tempo approach.
A late-game injury scare for Kenneth Walker III looks to not be a big deal, which is great news for a key cog to their offensive attack in the win (20/103/1 rushing). Coming in at 10th in our Week 2 NFL Power Rankings puts the Seahawks in great company, but there are some holes that need to be patched up if they want to remain here.
11. Los Angeles Chargers
The Jim Harbaugh era is officially underway, as the Los Angeles Chargers kicked it off with a 22-10 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. Questions about offensive play-calling seem to be accurate, as the offense recorded 23 carries versus 26 passing attempts from Justin Herbert.
Rookie receiver Ladd McConkey found the end zone for his first-career TD, as he led the team in receptions, yards, and targets (5/39 on seven targets). Second-year receiver Quentin Johnston seems to have a role in this offense too, as he received five targets on his way to catching three passes for 38 yards.
12. New Orleans Saints
Most teams look overly competent when facing the Carolina Panthers, and the New Orleans Saints filled that role admirably in their blowout win. Derek Carr threw for three touchdowns, Alvin Kamara once again recorded 100+ all-purpose yards, and the defense sacked Bryce Young four times and forced three turnovers.
Not much else can be said about the Saints, who got out to a fast start with 17 points in the first quarter and were up 30-3 heading into halftime.
13. Minnesota Vikings
Sam Darnold didn’t look half bad leading the Minnesota Vikings offense, as he was one of only a few QBs to actually throw for 200+ yards. Connecting with Justin Jefferson and Jalen Nailor for his two TDs, Darnold held his own as a game manager and did enough to beat the New York Giants.
Granted, this was a matchup between two teams with plenty of question marks, but the Vikings looked like the better of the two for the vast majority of the contest. This isn’t to say that all the preseason doom and gloom can disappear, but at least there is a slight glimmer of hope for this season.
14. Chicago Bears
Winning the debut for Caleb Williams didn’t come because of the highly-regarded rookie, it came because of their defense and special teams. Scoring touchdowns in both of those areas helped pick up the offense, which failed to record 150 yards of total offense.
Williams only threw for 93 yards (on a 14/29 line), and it’s not like the offense was helped at all by the rushing attack. With the three-headed receiver room needing more attention, this offense has a lot of growing to do if they want to be successful and improve from their 14th ranking in our Week 2 NFL Power Rankings.
15. Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers showed just enough to fend off the Atlanta Falcons to start the season, which feels typical for how the Mike Tomlin era has gone. With the QB dilemma of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields filling up the offseason headlines, it was Fields who got the first start with Wilson nursing an injury.
Fields looked like his typical self from his days in Chicago, as his inaccurate passing was overshadowed (at times) by his rushing abilities. While his performance was far from dominant, Fields probably did enough to hold onto the job if Wilson is healthy for Week 2.
16. New England Patriots
While they come in as the lowest-ranked team that won in our Week 2 NFL Power Rankings, the New England Patriots somehow managed to pull out an upset win over the Cincinnati Bengals on the road.
With Jacoby Brissett earning the start over rookie Drake Maye, the offense didn’t do a lot, only putting up 290 yards of offense (120 passing). Rhamondre Stevenson was the team’s workhorse on offense, turning 28 touches (25 carries into 126 all-purpose yards and a rushing score.
17. Baltimore Ravens
Thursday’s opening game gave us our first look at the Lamar Jackson-Derrick Henry backfield pairing, and it lacked a bit of juice to be honest. While Jackson did a bunch of damage on the ground (16 carries for 122 yards), Henry found the end zone but only ran for 46 yards on 13 carries.
Defensively, with Mike Macdonald and other members of the defensive staff receiving external promotions, it felt like they were a bit less aggressive in getting after Mahomes. Holding Kansas City to under 400 yards of offense seems like a win in itself, so even though Mahomes was only sacked twice, there are promising signs for this group moving forward.
18. Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona offense, at times, looked like the offense that is expected from the Cardinals, as Kyler Murray was keying in on tight end Trey McBride early and often (5/30 on nine targets). But left out of the conversation was star rookie Marvin Harrison Jr., who earned three targets but only caught one pass for four yards.
Setting the tone on the ground was very obvious from the first snap, as James Conner was heavily utilized, both on the ground (16/50/1) and through the air (3/33). Expect to see Conner heavily leaned on this year, and look for Harrison to be more heavily integrated into the passing attack.
19. Green Bay Packers
All eyes are on the recovery of QB Jordan Love, who suffered an MCL sprain and likely will miss around a month. Having gone down at the end of their international matchup with the Eagles, Love had struggled a bit in their opening game, but connected with Jayden Reed and Christian Watson for two scores.
The new-look defense under coordinator Jeff Hafley showed some signs of life as well, more than what could be said for how the Joe Barry era ended in Titletown. With Love on the shelf for the foreseeable future, former Titan Malik Willis, who was acquired this offseason, likely will get the first crack at holding down the fort.
20. Indianapolis Colts
A healthy Anthony Richardson is a sight to see for football fans, even in a loss. While the Colts did drop a two-point divisional matchup with the Texans, there are positives to take away from the offense.
Richardson may have only completed nine passes, but he did throw for 212 yards and two scores, including deep scores to Alec Pierce (3/125/1) and Ashton Dulin (1/54/1). While Michael Pittman Jr. only had four catches, his involvement in the passing attack is evident, as he led the team with eight targets.
21. Los Angeles Rams
The Rams did all they could to try and record an upset win over the Lions, but losing Puka Nacua in the second quarter to injury slowed their offense down. With Nacua missing an unknown amount of time with what looks to be a knee injury, the injuries keep piling up for a Rams team that needs to overcome an average-at-best defense to be a contender.
Stafford underwhelmed in his return to Detroit, and the offense wasn’t able to get Kyren Williams going in his first game. If Nacua is forced to miss a good amount of time, then their offensive identity looks very different, putting even more of a focus on Cooper Kupp’s role.
22. Jacksonville Jaguars
Seen as a potential shootout candidate, the game between the Jaguars and Dolphins didn’t have the kind of offensive fireworks many had hoped for. For Jacksonville, their offense struggled to move the ball, ultimately dropping their Week 1 game.
Trevor Lawrence followed the trend of QBs throwing for less than 200 yards, as he did connect with rookie Brian Thomas Jr. to salvage his 162 passing-yard performance. A costly fumble from Travis Etienne Jr. inside Miami’s five-yard line proved to be the difference-maker in Sunday’s loss.
23. New York Jets
There were plenty of questions about Aaron Rodgers and the Jets offense that needed answers heading into their MNF matchup with San Francisco. It's safe to say that while the offense showed flashes, there was still a lot of unanswered questions remaining.
Breece Hall and Allen Lazard were the lone bright spots for the Jets offense, as Hall found the end zone on the ground and Lazard caught two touchdowns. With an easier stretch of games coming up for the Jets (Tennessee Titans, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings), hopefully Rodgers and the rest of the offense can string together some strong play.
24. Washington Commanders
Welcome to the party, Jayden Daniels! Being utilized more with his legs than his arm, the former LSU Heisman Trophy winner put up a fairly solid showing in his debut, helping Washington check in at 24th on our Week 2 NFL Power Rankings.
While Washington did drop a 37-20 contest with the Buccaneers, Daniels and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury combined on a solid gameplan to help Daniels lead the Commanders the best he could. Finding the end zone twice on the ground (16 carries, 88 yards) isn’t too surprising for Daniels, as his legs were a big part of his game in college.
Two rushing scores, combined with 184 scoreless passing yars (7.7 yards per completion), is a nice showing from Daniels, and the offense, outside of Terry McLaurin’s involvement (two catches for 17 yards on four targets) looked good enough to act as a baseline moving forward.
25. Cincinnati Bengals
A dreadful, gross performance from the Bengals showed that maybe some of the offseason headlines involving Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are weighing heavy on this team’s 2024 outlook.
Joe Burrow looked like a shell of himself, throwing for 164 scoreless yards and getting sacked three times. While Sunday’s game was his first game action since injuring his wrist back in November 2023, Burrow and the offense looked multiple steps behind where they should be.
While Week 1 is far too early to sound any warning alarms, Cincinnati should be on high alert if their offense is going to struggle this much, even with Chase suiting up.
26. Atlanta Falcons
The first game of the Kirk Cousins era got off to quite the unceremonious start, as the Falcons put up a measly 10 first-half points in their loss. Cousins struggled and didn’t look very comfortable in the pocket, even with the offense looking better with the role for Bijan Robinson.
While Kyle Pitts did find the end zone (IT’S ABOUT TIME), he and Drake London only combined for six targets, five receptions, and 41 receiving yards. In the most up-for-grabs division in the entire NFL, the Falcons have the pieces to fight for the NFC South title, if their offense decides it wants to carry its weight.
27. Denver Broncos
Bo Nix made his first career NFL start, as the former Oregon rookie was tasked with commanding a Sean Payton offense. While showing flashes, 42 passing attempts for Nix, which resulted in only 3.3 yards per completion, paints a very inefficient picture for the Broncos.
In the game until late, Denver was not able to do anything on offense, so their Week 1 affair was supported more by their defense. By forcing two safeties and two turnovers, the Broncos showed that at least one unit should be above average this year, putting the onus on Payton to get his rookie QB in shape sooner rather than later.
28. Las Vegas Raiders
The quarterback battle for the Las Vegas Raiders opened its first chapter of the 2024 NFL season, as Gardner Minshew earned the inaugural start against the Chargers. While it was a fairly efficient game from the gunslinger (25/33, 257 yards, 1:1 TD:INT), the offense sputtered and didn’t do a whole lot.
With Zamir White and Alexander Mattison combining for 63 rushing yards, a lot of the offense relied on Minshew moving the ball. Rookie Brock Bowers led the team in targets (eight) and receptions (six), while Jakobi Meyers led the team in receiving yards (61) in the loss.
29. Cleveland Browns
As one of the games in the mid-afternoon slate, there were a lot of national eyes on the Cleveland-Dallas matchup. And a lot of people saw just how much the Browns could struggle this season.
Deshaun Watson was on the run all game, getting sacked six times and hit 17 times. That, combined with two interceptions and a sub-50 percent completion percentage, and you see plenty of signs of just how bad his contract extension continues to look.
Repeated missed connections with Amari Cooper (two receptions on nine targets) doomed this offense from the start, as they struggled to only three first-half points, easily putting themselves near the bottom of our Week 2 NFL Power Rankings.
30. Tennessee Titans
Head coach Brian Callahan’s debut was a tale of two halves, as the first two quarters were strong but the second half was rough. Having gone into halftime with a 17-3 lead, their 24-17 loss to the Bears will hopefully act as an early-season wake-up call.
Neither offense was able to get much going, as Will Levis (127 passing yards, one TD, two INTs) wasn’t able to get on the same page as his receivers. Tony Pollard easily led the two-headed RB room, finding the end zone on one of his 16 carries.
Even though the Titans only allowed 148 total yards to the Bears, a blocked punt TD and pick-six in the second half buried any chances that Tennessee held on for their first win.
31. New York Giants
Expectations are low for the New York Giants, but even their showing against the Vikings was quite disappointing. Rocking their interesting throwback uniforms kind of set the tone for the afternoon for the Giants, whose offense scored fewer points than the Vikings defense.
Daniel Jones was, below average at best, as he barely completed 50 percent of his throws. Averaging less than five yards per completion and being sacked five times made for a very rough day for Jones, who finished with a 44.3 QB rating.
32. Carolina Panthers
There shouldn’t be much of a surprise which team comes in last in our Week 2 NFL Power Rankings, as the Carolina Panthers look to be no better than last season. Even with Dave Canales with his first game under his belt as head coach, the massive struggles are still there.
An awful showing against the Saints, resulting in a 47-10 loss, really put how bad things are into perspective for the Panthers. Bryce Young (161 yards, two interceptions) and the Panthers offense as a whole (193 total yards, three turnovers) were dreadful, and the defense allowed over six yards per rush and only sacked Derek Carr once.
It’s going to take a lot of work from Canales and his staff to turn things around, but expect to see the Panthers in the cellar for a while longer.
