Cafe Home
Fantasy Baseball
Fantasy Basketball
Fantasy Hockey
Fantasy Cafe Wiki
We’re used to surprising results in Week 1, so though a lot of final scores were shocking in nature last weekend, nothing should have shocked us entirely. Buffalo broke out for a 34-point win on the road against a division winner, while Super Bowl favorites like Pittsburgh, Atlanta and New Orleans dropped their first games of the season. However, it’s not quite time to anoint the Bills as a playoff contender and rank them over those one-loss teams. But if they win again this week? Who knows.
Below are my NFL Rankings for Week 2. Every team that won moved up in the rankings save for the Packers, who could climb no higher than No. 1. Almost every team that lost slipped in the rankings, with the Panthers being the only exception. They outplayed the Cardinals for three quarters before allowing a 70-yard touchdown on a bad tackle attempt and a punt return TD to Patrick Peterson. Carolina showed enough to not be considered a bottom-five team, especially with the Colts, Chiefs and Seahawks throwing up stinkers.
| Rank | Previous | Team | Record | Week 1 | Week 2 |
| 1 | 1 | Green Bay Packers | 1-0 | W, NO 42-34 | at CAR |
| Maybe I drank too much of the Cam Newton Gatorade, but this doesn’t look like a double-digit win for the Pack. A win, yes. | |||||
| 2 | 3 | New England Patriots | 1-0 | W, MIA 38-24 | vs. SD |
| Five hundred and seventeen yards later, Tom Brady is looking for another MVP title. NE-SD winner could be AFC No. 1. | |||||
| 3 | 4 | Philadelphia Eagles | 1-0 | W, STL 31-13 | at ATL |
| A convincing win on the road against a quality team bodes well for Philly’s chances this year. Can they do it again? | |||||
| 4 | 7 | San Diego Chargers | 1-0 | W, MIN 24-17 | at NE |
| Will the Chargers ever get their special teams worked out? In the AFC West, it may not matter. | |||||
| 5 | 10 | Baltimore Ravens | 1-0 | W, PIT 35-7 | at TEN |
| Baltimore was the most impressive team of Week 1, and Ray Rice is looking like the No. 1 pick of 2012 fantasy drafts. | |||||
| 6 | 8 | Houston Texans | 1-0 | W, IND 34-7 | at MIA |
| After dismantling the AFC South’s dominant team, the Texans are poised to run away with their division. | |||||
| 7 | 9 | New York Jets | 1-0 | W, DAL 27-24 | vs. JAC |
| The Jets move up by virtue of a win, but they didn’t look particularly great. Another trip to AFC title game may be pipe dream. | |||||
| 8 | 14 | Detroit Lions | 1-0 | W, TB 27-20 | vs. KC |
| This is one over-hyped sleeper that may come through. Health is the only concern for this potential playoff team. | |||||
| 9 | 15 | Chicago Bears | 1-0 | W, ATL 30-12 | at NO |
| The Bears put the beat down on the Falcons; now let’s see if they can take out another big boy, this time on the road. | |||||
| 10 | 2 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 0-1 | L, BAL 7-35 | vs. SEA |
| Don’t get too down on Pittsburgh; Week 1 was their toughest road game by far this year, and they could still win 14. | |||||
| 11 | 5 | Atlanta Falcons | 0-1 | L, CHI 12-30 | vs. PHI |
| If Atlanta wanted to be taken seriously as a contender, it had to win at home against the Bears. Could be a long season. | |||||
| 12 | 6 | New Orleans Saints | 0-1 | L, GB 34-42 | vs. CHI |
| The Saints played their hearts out on Thursday but lost, and now they have to face another playoff team in Week 2. | |||||
| 13 | 12 | Dallas Cowboys | 0-1 | L, NYJ 24-27 | at SF |
| The Cowboys seem good for at least one choke job per year; now they need to settle down and play smart football. | |||||
| 14 | 18 | Oakland Raiders | 1-0 | W, DEN 23-20 | at BUF |
| The Raiders are a quiet contender, clearly the second-best AFC West team at the very least. | |||||
| 15 | 19 | Arizona Cardinals | 1-0 | W, CAR 28-21 | at WAS |
| The Cardinals seemingly escaped with a win in Week 1, but I put no faith in their defense moving forward. | |||||
| 16 | 11 | St. Louis Rams | 0-1 | L, PHI 13-31 | at NYG |
| A rough Week 1 on the scoreboard and in the trainer’s room for the Rams can be forgotten with a MNF win. | |||||
| 17 | 13 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 0-1 | L, DET 20-27 | at MIN |
| Detroit exposed Tampa Bay’s weakness on offense in what should have been a blowout. I think the Bucs keep dropping. | |||||
| 18 | 25 | Washington Redskins | 1-0 | W, NYG 28-14 | vs. ARI |
| The Redskins had a nice game against the under-manned Giants defense, and they could go 2-0 with another decent game. | |||||
| 19 | 24 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 1-0 | W, TEN 16-14 | at NYJ |
| The Jaguars won an ugly game against a division rival, but releasing Garrard is going to come back to haunt them. | |||||
| 20 | 31 | Buffalo Bills | 1-0 | W, KC 41-7 | vs. OAK |
| How ’bout them Bills? The Chiefs are really, really bad, but the Bills could be better than we thought as well. | |||||
| 21 | 26 | San Francisco 49ers | 1-0 | W. SEA 33-17 | vs. DAL |
| They needed a couple special teams TDs to put away the Seahawks at home. I’m definitely selling my 49er stock. | |||||
| 22 | 32 | Cincinnati Bengals | 1-0 | W, CLE 27-17 | at DEN |
| Our last winner checks in here, and I have a feeling they’ll be sinking back toward the bottom before long. | |||||
| 23 | 16 | Tennessee Titans | 0-1 | L, JAC 14-16 | vs. BAL |
| It feels like the Titans lost a winnable game by keeping the ball out of their best player’s hands. Shouldn’t happen again. | |||||
| 24 | 22 | Miami Dolphins | 0-1 | L, NE 24-38 | vs. HOU |
| The Dolphins put up a fight on offense on Monday, and Chad Henne looks better than advertised. Orton who? | |||||
| 25 | 20 | New York Giants | 0-1 | L, WAS 14-28 | vs. STL |
| The Giants’ outlook is bleak after all their injuries and an embarrassing loss to the Redskins. Is Tom Coughlin safe? | |||||
| 26 | 30 | Carolina Panthers | 0-1 | L, ARI 21-28 | vs. GB |
| I’d love to put them higher, but with just two wins in 2010, they have plenty to prove. What a great debut by the rookie. | |||||
| 27 | 23 | Minnesota Vikings | 0-1 | L, SD 17-24 | vs. TB |
| A team with one of the best players in football (Adrian Peterson) shouldn’t be ranked this low, then you watch them play. | |||||
| 28 | 21 | Kansas City Chiefs | 0-1 | L, BUF 7-41 | at DET |
| Unless the Bills have developed a playoff contender under the radar, this could be four spots too high. It’s not getting better. | |||||
| 29 | 17 | Cleveland Browns | 0-1 | L, CIN 17-27 | at IND |
| The Browns had sleeper buzz but lost a game that felt like a lock. At least Joe Haden looks spectacular on defense. | |||||
| 30 | 27 | Denver Broncos | 0-1 | L, OAK 20-23 | vs. CIN |
| The Broncos still have a lot of rebuilding to do before we can take them serious, and Week 1 injuries aren’t going to help. | |||||
| 31 | 29 | Indianapolis Colts | 0-1 | L, HOU 7-34 | vs. CLE |
| After New England played solidly with Cassel, it’s clear that Peyton Manning is the MVP of the last decade (and more). | |||||
| 32 | 28 | Seattle Seahawks | 0-1 | L, SF 17-33 | at PIT |
| They probably have a better group of talent than Indianapolis, but I can’t get behind Tarvaris Jackson as a starter. | |||||
R.J. White is the head editor at the Cafe, writes for FanDuel and Razzball and has previously written for FanHouse. Catch up with him in the forums under the name daullaz. Follow him on Twitter; don't follow him in real life.
Rate this article:
   (No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Want to write for the Cafe? Check out the Cafe's Pencil & Paper section! |
subscribe
print version
You say, “…don’t get too down on Pittsburgh…” yet YOU dropped them from 2nd overall to TENTH !!!
DOES NOT COMPUTE, SORRY DUDE
1. Top ten is still pretty good; I hardly consider that “too down.” 2. They’re going to rise when they start winning, but it wouldn’t be fair to the good teams that won to be ranked below a 0-1 team. Any team that I felt within reason had a quality win or is an elite team had to be ranked over Pittsburgh. I’m trying to make these rankings a mix between on-field results and future potential.
I’m not sure what to make of the first sentence under the Panthers. Could someone please translate?
Sorry, I lost my train of thought in the middle of it apparently. Will fix.
Why did Chargers move up after their win over the Vikings? They played terrible and barely won.
Also, the score for that game is wrong. Chargers won 24-17 not 28-21
Here is my top 10
1. Eagles
2. Ravens
3. Packers
4. Patriots
5. Steelers
6. Texans
7. Jets
8. Bears
9. Cowboys
10. Falcons
@Hippo45: You’re right about the score. It’s been fixed. As I said in the intro, a win in Week 1 moves you up. That won’t always be the case moving forward, but it made sense to do it this week.
Ok, gotcha.
Hard to argue with the rankings. Good stuff.
Looks like a lot of the rankings will last another week. You might switch Green Bay and New England since the Pats beat the team that was supposed to be AFC champ while the Packers barely squeaked by a team they were expected to be much better than.
The Ravens/Titans game is the biggest head scratcher though. How much better are the Titans than people thought, and if they are so good, how much if any do you have to drop the Ravens?
The Eagles game should answer questions about Atlanta.
Overall in hindsight your ratings were extremely good, and will probably get even better in the coming weeks.