The anticipation heading into Week 1 now is behind us. Football season officially is underway.
Overreaction to opening week results is commonplace among fans, but there certainly were some telling scores in Week 1.
Teams like the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs upheld their league-wide reputations, while the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers struggled in their respective season openers.
Let’s get into our power rankings heading into Week 2.
1. New England Patriots (1-0, last week’s rank: 1): The Patriots looked like a well-oiled machine in their season-opening blowout of the Steelers. New England has the luxury of adding All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown to the mix next week, making their offense seemingly unstoppable. Combine this with an incredibly deep defense and the Patriots keep the top spot with ease.
2. Kansas City Chiefs (1-0; 2): Losing Tyreek Hill to a collarbone injury hurts Kansas City’s offense, but it appears Sammy Watkins will have no trouble stepping up in his absence. The Chiefs’ offense looks like it’s going to continue right where it left off last season.
3. Dallas Cowboys (1-0; 6): Dallas’ impressive defense was on display in its 35-17 win over the New York Giants on Sunday, but it was Dak Prescott who shined with 405 yards and four touchdowns on 25-of-32 passing.
4. Los Angeles Rams (1-0; 3): It wasn’t easy, but the Rams were able to fight off the Carolina Panthers for a tough road win to begin their 2019 campaign. We’d be shocked if they didn’t take home the NFC West crown at year’s end.
5. New Orleans Saints (1-0; 5): Well, Drew Brees is still Drew Brees. The 40-year-old put together a surgical drive two-minute drill to lead the Saints to a comeback win over the Houston Texans. After coming up just short last season, New Orleans offense looks primed for another deep postseason run.
6. Minnesota Vikings (1-0; 15): Dalvin Cook looked very solid behind Minnesota’s offensive line, collecting 111 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. If that can continue, we like the Vikings’ formula moving forward.
7. Baltimore Ravens (1-0; 14): Yes, it was against the lowly Dolphins, but Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson-led offense looked very good in its Week 1 win, hanging 59 points on Miami. If the Ravens can find consistent production in the passing game this year, they’ll be a legitimate threat.
8. Green Bay Packers (1-0; 16): The Packers were tasked with going into Chicago to open their season and managed to get by the Bears’ stellar defense. It wasn’t pretty, but Green Bay got the job done, proving it’s still in the thick of the NFC North race.
9. Los Angeles Chargers (1-0; 11): Despite lots of questions amid Melvin Gordon’s holdout and Derwin James’ foot injury, the Chargers looked solid in a 30-24 win over the Indianapolis Colts. If Austin Ekeler can carry the load in Gordon’s absence, their offense may be able to keep them afloat.
10. Tennessee Titans (1-0; 21): The Browns may have been everyone’s favorite pick heading into the season, but Mike Vrabel shut that down very quickly. Tennessee’s defense squashed Baker Mayfield and Co., setting a surprising tone for their 2019 season.
11. Houston Texans (0-1; 10): Yes, we know they started with a loss, but Houston looked good in a tough, late-game loss to the Saints. Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins were in sync behind the protection of new offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil. The AFC South should be theirs if that continues.
12. Philadelphia Eagles (1-0; 4): The Eagles’ offensive line should allow Carson Wentz to have an effective year with ample weapons. It took some time, but Philly looked to hit its stride late in their season-opening win over the Washington Redskins.
13. Chicago Bears (0-1; 8): Despite losing to Green Bay, Chicago’s defense still looked very good. Mitchell Trubisky had a rough opener, which will need to change if the Bears want to find success.
14. Seattle Seahawks (1-0; 12): Seattle’s secondary and offensive line remain a legitimate concern, but Pete Carroll’s squad was relatively efficient behind Russell Wilson. A Jadeveon Clowney-led pass rush gives us confidence in their ability to smooth things out.
15. San Francisco 49ers (1-0; 18): The Niners picked off Jameis Winston three times Sunday in a 31-17 win. They’ll continue to rely heavily on their defense led by Nick Bosa.
16. Cleveland Browns (0-1; 9): There was lots of anticipation heading into Sunday’s opener, which was met with lots of disappointment. Cleveland had no answer for Tennessee’s hard-nosed defense. The talent is there, but the execution was nowhere to be found against the Titans.
17. Carolina Panthers (0-1; 17): Christian McCaffery is awesome, that much we know. But Cam Newton looked relatively flat in a 30-27 loss to the Rams. Carolina’s defense, however, will allow them to remain competitive if Newton fails to improve.
18. Pittsburgh Steelers (0-1; 7): Pittsburgh was killed by the Patriots in nearly every facet of the game Sunday night, but again, New England is a machine. Ideally, the Steelers will figure things out, as they have the weapons to be one of the AFC’s best teams.
19. Indianapolis Colts (0-1; 23): The Colts pushed the Chargers into overtime without Andrew Luck. They don’t lack talent, but the question remains if the execution will be there with Brissett under center.
20. Buffalo Bills (1-0; 25): Buffalo showed some nice resilience Sunday fighting back to score 14 unanswered fourth-quarter points to beat New York. But then again, they were losing 16-0 to the Jets, which isn’t a great sign.
21. New York Jets (0-1; 19): The Jets were on the other end of the Bills fourth-quarter comeback, which isn’t ideal. Adam Gase and Co. will need to bring their execution out of halftime if they want to win games.
22. Oakland Raiders (1-0; 28): Oakland’s defense impressed Monday night against the Denver Broncos. No AB, no problem for the Raiders. We’ll see how long that rings true.
23. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-1; 22): Jacksonville lost Nick Foles to a broken collarbone, while its defense got shredded in a loss to the Chiefs. Not a great way to open the season. Â
24. Detroit Lions (0-0-1; 27): Nothing like a tie to begin the year, right? Matthew Stafford failing to come away with a win against the Arizona Cardinals is concerning to say the least.  Â
25. Atlanta Falcons (0-1; 13): Atlanta had an extremely slow start against the Vikings, and simply never got going in an ugly loss. Yes, the Falcons defense is expected to keep them afloat, but that won’t be easy if they look as flat as they did Sunday afternoon.
26. Denver Broncos (0-1; 20): Denver’s defense will get the job done, but its offense … well, that’s another story. Joe Flacco and Co. had a tough debut against the Raiders on Monday night.
27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-1; 24): Jameis Winston really struggled against the 49ers, tossing three picks in a horribly inefficient performance. He’s done nothing to instill confidence in Bucs fans this season, and we’re right there with them.
28. Washington Redskins (0-1; 26): Case Keenum looked surprisingly solid against the Eagles, but Washington’s lack of late-game execution and defense. really hurt them. Divisional opponents like the Cowboys will take advantage of that in a heartbeat.
29. Cincinnati Bengals (0-1; 31): John Ross III finally showed some life, which was the biggest positive from Sunday’s loss to Seattle. Cincinnati’s defense, on the other hand, hasn’t shown life in quite some time.
30. Arizona Cardinals (0-0-1; 29): When a tie is looked at as a positive, you know something’s wrong.
31. New York Giants (0-1; 30): The Cowboys smoked New York by exposing all of its defensive issues, which are aplenty. Fans will focus on the Eli Manning vs. Daniel Jones debate, but it’s the other side of the ball that’s the real issue in the Big Apple.
32. Miami Dolphins (0-1; 32): They gave up 59 points to the Ravens on Sunday, which led to players attempting to get out of town. Things definitely could be better.
