2013 NFL Power Rankings: Week 2
Updated: September 10, 2013, 4:27 PM ET
ESPN.com
Week:
What does an impressive home victory over the Packers get you?
If you're Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers, the reward for a strong Week 1 showing is the No. 1 spot in ESPN.com's Power Rankings.
Seattle, which owned the top spot last week, also won in Week 1 (12-7 at Carolina), but overall, our voters (John Clayton, Ashley Fox, Dan Graziano, Jamison Hensley, Mike Sando and Kevin Seifert) were more impressed with San Francisco.
The Seahawks now sit at No. 2, while Denver, Atlanta and New England round out the top five. The Eagles made the biggest gain of the week, jumping from No. 25 to No. 14.
Expect Week 2 to produce more shuffling, and more clarity regarding the top teams. As luck would have it, the 49ers and Seahawks meet Sunday night. It's an early battle for NFC West bragging rights, and the outcome will likely give us a unanimous No. 1 for the first time this season.
Note: The comments below are provided by ESPN Stats & Information.
• Reporters' analysis | Read-option threat powers 49ers, Seahawks | Rank 'Em | Mike & Mike 
| Team Power Rankings charts since 2002
| 2013 Power Rankings: Week 2 | ||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | |
| 1 |  | 2 Last Week: 3 | Between Anquan Boldin (13 catches, 208 yards, TD) and Vernon Davis (6 catches, 98 yards, 2 TDs), it doesn't look like replacing Michael Crabtree will be an issue. | |
| 2 |  | 1 Last Week: 1 | The Seahawks' defense held Cam Newton in check. He posted a career-low 163 yards of offense. Keep that game plan for this week against Colin Kaepernick. | |
| 3 |  | 1 Last Week: 4 | Seven TDs against the defending champs? The Manning Bowl could be a nice encore opportunity -- Peyton and Eli finished 1-2 in Week 1 passing yards, both reaching at least 450. | |
| 4 |  | 2 Last Week: 2 | Matty Ice, what happened? Atlanta had possession in the last two minutes of each half, but failed to score. Matt Ryan was 4-of-9 with an interception in that span. | |
| 5 |  | 1 Last Week: 6 | A near loss in Buffalo wasn't pretty, but Danny Amendola looked good. Amendola had nine catches for first downs, a total Wes Welker reached twice in 77 games since 2008. | |
| 6 |  | 1 Last Week: 7 | Monday was Matt Schaub's fourth career game with at least 300 yards and completing three-quarters of his passes. The game plan is to run despite Arian Foster's injury, but should it be? | |
| 7 |  | 2 Last Week: 5 | Aaron Rodgers was 1-of-6 for 3 yards and an interception when the Niners blitzed. Last year, Rodgers' plus-11 TD-INT differential against added pressure was second best in the league. | |
| 8 |  | 5 Last Week: 13 | Matt Ryan was sacked three times in 15 drop-backs against at least five rushers in Week 1. Ryan wasn't sacked on 31 such drop-backs last year against New Orleans. | |
| 9 |  | 5 Last Week: 14 | Jay Cutler was 8-of-10 for 94 yards and a touchdown against at least five rushers Sunday against the Bengals. Cutler ranked 33rd with a 23.5 Total QBR last year against added pressure. | |
| 10 |  | 1 Last Week: 9 | Good start for Andy Dalton, with two touchdowns to A.J. Green and connecting on all 10 attempts to tight ends Tyler Eifert and Jermaine Gresham. | |
| 11 |  | 3 Last Week: 8 | The Ravens allowed 15 passing touchdowns last year and almost half of that in this year's opener. The seventh TD pass Baltimore allowed last year was in Week 10. | |
| 12 |  | 1 Last Week: 11 | Andrew Luck was 11-of-12 for 99 yards against Oakland's blitz Sunday. Will Miami do the same? The Dolphins sent five-plus rushers on 26 drop-backs, most in Week 1. | |
| 13 |  | 5 Last Week: 18 | Bill Callahan kept things short for Tony Romo. Romo threw two-thirds of his passes 5 yards or fewer downfield, his largest percentage in a game since 2008. | |
| 14 |  | 11 Last Week: 25 | Michael Vick was an effective caretaker of the read-option Monday, running 41 zone-read rushes. Philly's 245 zone-read rush yards were the most in a game in the past five years. | |
| 15 |  | -- Last Week: 15 | Jared Cook didn't catch a pass without fumbling it until inside the second-quarter two-minute warning. However, he caught his last six targets for 94 yards and two TDs. | |
| 16 |  | 4 Last Week: 12 | David Wilson? Two fumbles. Da'Rel Scott? Poor route led to game-clinching interception. Three 100-yard receivers were nice for Eli Manning, but who's up next at running back? | |
| 17 |  | 3 Last Week: 20 | Miami dialed up the pressure against Brandon Weeden, and it worked. Weeden was 12-of-24 with an interception, but Andrew Luck will likely handle it better in Week 2. | |
| 18 |  | 3 Last Week: 21 | The Lions gained 240 yards after the catch, second highest in Matthew Stafford's career. Reggie Bush had a career-high 104 YAC, including a long screen pass TD reception. | |
| 19 |  | 9 Last Week: 10 | RG III wasn't great, but what about Alfred Morris? Career-low 45 rushing yards and a first-play fumble hurt. It doesn't get any easier for Washington, which visits Lambeau next. | |
| 20 |  | 1 Last Week: 19 | Alex Smith was one of five quarterbacks with multiple touchdown passes and no interceptions. No defense had more picks in its opener than Week 2 opponent Dallas (three). | |
| 21 |  | 4 Last Week: 17 | Christian Ponder was 3-of-6 for 68 yards and two interceptions against at least eight men in the box. Until he improves, stopping Adrian Peterson is all defenses need to worry about. | |
| 22 |  | 5 Last Week: 27 | A win in Pittsburgh was a great start for the Titans. A win at Houston would go a long way toward proving Tennessee is for real. | |
| 23 |  | 7 Last Week: 16 | Pittsburgh had 15 rushes for 32 yards in the opener, and lost center Maurkice Pouncey and running back LaRod Stephens-Howling with torn ACLs. Not a good start. | |
| 24 |  | 1 Last Week: 23 | Career lows in offense for Cam Newton, but the rush defense looked great. The Seahawks had 26 rush yards after contact, their second-lowest game total since the start of 2011. | |
| 25 |  | 1 Last Week: 26 | Larry Fitzgerald caught a pair of TD passes on end-zone throws in his debut with Carson Palmer. Cardinals QBs were 0-for-9 targeting Fitzgerald in the end zone last year. | |
| 26 |  | 2 Last Week: 24 | Philip Rivers was 1-of-7 with a pick-six in the fourth quarter Monday night. Including last year, Rivers' 7.7 fourth-quarter QBR is less than half of any other QB. | |
| 27 |  | 5 Last Week: 32 | Geno Smith was off target on four of 38 pass attempts (11 percent) in his debut. Mark Sanchez missed on 22 percent of his throws last year, fourth highest among qualified QBs. | |
| 28 |  | 6 Last Week: 22 | Avoidable mistakes hurt. Lavonte David's penalty was the biggest, but the Bucs gave the Jets five first downs via penalties, tied for second most by a Tampa defense since 2001. | |
| 29 |  | 1 Last Week: 30 | Buffalo limited EJ Manuel's movement well in his return from knee surgery. Manuel was 18-for-25 for 150 yards and a pair of touchdowns out of the shotgun. | |
| 30 |  | 2 Last Week: 28 | Brandon Weeden was 11-of-28 with two interceptions on throws 5 yards or fewer downfield. Blaine Gabbert was the only other QB with a completion percentage under 50 percent on short throws. | |
| 31 |  | -- Last Week: 31 | Only LeSean McCoy had more rushing yards than Terrelle Pryor (112) in Week 1, but the loser of Jaguars-Raiders still looks like an early favorite in the Jadeveon Clowney sweepstakes. | |
| 32 |  | 3 Last Week: 29 | The Jaguars' offense didn't cross midfield until the fourth quarter. The Raiders present a chance to get back on track, but Seattle looms in Week 3. | |
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| Glossary |
| The rankings were determined by ESPN's Power Panel, a group of more than 80 writers, editors and television personalities. |
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