2014 NFL Power Rankings: Week 2
Updated: September 9, 2014, 2:12 PM ET
ESPN.com
Week:
Did an exciting Week 1, which produced some notable upsets and plenty of nail-biters, result in a shake-up?
Yes and no.
Our top two -- Seattle and Denver -- held serve after impressive openers, but five teams in our previous top 10 lost ground. Among the heavyweights, ESPN's Power Panel (a group of more than 80 writers, editors and TV personalities) punished the Bears most severely, dropping them from No. 10 to No. 18 after they lost at home to Buffalo.
The Dolphins, by virtue of beating New England, rose from No. 22 to No. 15. The Falcons jumped eight spots to No. 9 after winning an overtime thriller over New Orleans. The Bills' victory in Chicago bought them six spots, up to No. 23.
Will Week 2 shake things up even more? It's possible. If the Patriots (No. 7) fail to rebound at Minnesota, Tom Brady & Co. will likely find themselves outside the top 10 for the first time in a long time. Atlanta, which started the season at No. 17, has a chance to take another big step with a road victory at Cincinnati (No. 5).
Note: The comments below are provided by ESPN Stats & Information.
• SN: Rank 'Em | Is AFC East wide open? | Vegas rankings 
| Team Power Rankings charts since 2002
| 2014 Power Rankings: Week 2 | ||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | |
| 1 |  | -- Last Week: 1 | The dreaded Super Bowl hangover skipped Seattle. That defense looked as fearsome as ever, holding Aaron Rodgers to 189 passing yards and a 47.9 QBR after unveiling the team's Super Bowl banner. | |
| 2 |  | -- Last Week: 2 | The countdown's on. Peyton Manning has 494 touchdown passes, 14 behind Brett Favre for most all time. Manning has 21 touchdowns and one interception in home prime-time games with Denver. | |
| 3 |  | 1 Last Week: 4 | Vernon Davis catches the touchdowns, but Anquan Boldin keeps getting it done, too. Colin Kaepernick was 8-for-8 for 99 yards and six first downs targeting Boldin on Sunday. | |
| 4 |  | 3 Last Week: 7 | Nick Foles had four turnovers last year and three in Sunday's first half. Then again, 15-of-21 for 183 yards and two touchdowns after halftime forgives a lot. | |
| 5 |  | 4 Last Week: 9 | A.J. Green's 77-yard touchdown reception saved the day for the Bengals. Green had six catches for 131 yards and a touchdown Sunday -- just another day for Cincinnati's top weapon. | |
| 6 |  | 1 Last Week: 5 | The NFC South could be a really interesting race this year. Based on Week 1, the Saints will have to fend off real challenges from both the Falcons and Panthers. | |
| 7 |  | 4 Last Week: 3 | Tom Brady was 2-of-18 on throws at least 15 yards downfield. His 16 incompletions on deep throws are the most by anyone in Stats & Info's data set (since 2006). | |
| 8 |  | 2 Last Week: 6 | Green Bay surrendered nearly 400 yards of offense Thursday, including 110 on Marshawn Lynch rushes. Chris Johnson and Chris Ivory (170 combined rushing yards in Week 1) could provide similar problems this week. | |
| 9 |  | 8 Last Week: 17 | Think Matt Ryan is happy everyone's healthy? Ryan was 9-of-11 for 224 yards on throws at least 15 yards downfield Sunday. Nine completions were a career high. | |
| 10 |  | 2 Last Week: 8 | Reggie Wayne looked good in the opener. Andrew Luck was 9-of-13 for 98 yards targeting Wayne. The Broncos concentrated on limiting T.Y. Hilton (five catches on 11 targets) and were successful. | |
| 11 |  | 4 Last Week: 15 | Kelvin Benjamin had an impressive debut. Benjamin caught six of eight targets for 92 yards and a touchdown Sunday. Imagine what Benjamin can do with Cam Newton under center. | |
| 12 |  | 1 Last Week: 13 | Antonio Brown picked up where he left off (mostly). Five catches, 116 yards and a touchdown seems routine for Brown. A judo kick to a punter's face was new, though. | |
| 13 |  | 5 Last Week: 18 | Matthew Stafford was an incredible 6-of-8 for 146 yards and two touchdowns under duress Monday, including 3-of-3 for 107 yards targeting Calvin Johnson. He's your Week 1 QBR leader (97.5). | |
| 14 |  | -- Last Week: 14 | The most aggressive defense in the league last year, Arizona picked up where it left off. The Cardinals sent extra rushers after Philip Rivers on 57 percent of dropbacks. | |
| 15 |  | 7 Last Week: 22 | Just like everyone predicted, Knowshon Moreno is the NFL's leading rusher. Moreno looked great in Week 1 with 24 rushes for 134 yards, and was a big part of Miami's win. | |
| 16 |  | 5 Last Week: 11 | Keenan Allen (five catches for 37 yards) isn't going to surprise anybody after a breakout rookie year. He saw a lot of Patrick Peterson on Monday night. | |
| 17 |  | 9 Last Week: 26 | It wasn't vertical, but it was effective. Matt Cassel threw three passes deeper than 10 yards downfield, but was 16-of-22 for 152 yards and two touchdowns on short throws. | |
| 18 |  | 8 Last Week: 10 | Not much improvement on 2013's league-worst rush defense. Chicago allowed 8.2 yards per rush between the tackles, including a 38-yard Fred Jackson rush to set up the winning field goal. | |
| 19 |  | 9 Last Week: 28 | The Titans handed Chiefs QB Alex Smith his second three-interception game in the past five years. All three of Smith's interceptions came against Tennessee's four-man pass rush. | |
| 20 |  | 8 Last Week: 12 | Joe Flacco threw 62 passes and averaged under 6 yards per attempt in Baltimore's loss, but the Ravens' organization is facing much bigger problems than Flacco's inefficiency. | |
| 21 |  | -- Last Week: 21 | The Jets were one of 11 teams with at least 400 yards of offense in Week 1. Geno Smith completed 82.1 percent of his passes against the Raiders. | |
| 22 |  | 5 Last Week: 27 | No one's rushed for 100 yards in more games over the past five seasons than Arian Foster, including one Sunday. Foster's 51 yards after contact were his most since 2011. | |
| 23 |  | 6 Last Week: 29 | The Bills used 20 zone-read rushes and averaged 7.1 yards per rush on those attempts. EJ Manuel and the Bills had an impressive start, but so did their Week 2 opponent, Miami. | |
| 24 |  | 5 Last Week: 19 | A 21.7 QBR is brutal for last year's QBR leader, but Josh McCown improved after halftime. McCown completed 19 of 27 passes for 147 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. | |
| 25 |  | 9 Last Week: 16 | Baffling play calling in the season opener. Jamaal Charles had 11 touches, his fewest in a game since Week 8 of 2012. He touched the ball four times after halftime. | |
| 26 |  | 6 Last Week: 20 | So much for 70 percent. Eli Manning completed 13 of 25 passes (52.0 percent) against four or fewer pass-rushers Monday. Only Tom Brady (50 percent) was lower in Week 1. | |
| 27 |  | 4 Last Week: 23 | Tony Romo didn't throw a single interception on a play-action pass all last year. He threw three in the first half of Sunday's loss. | |
| 28 |  | 3 Last Week: 25 | Robert Griffin III was ineffective Sunday, attempting a career-high 14 passes at or behind the line of scrimmage. Griffin's average completion traveled 3.7 yards downfield (0.8 in first half). | |
| 29 |  | 1 Last Week: 30 | Brian Hoyer was 15-of-20 for 173 yards and a touchdown in the second half Sunday, and Terrance West rushed for 100 yards. Just like everyone expected this offseason. | |
| 30 |  | 1 Last Week: 31 | Quite a debut for WR Allen Hurns. Chad Henne was 3-of-3 for 101 yards and two touchdowns targeting Hurns in the first quarter, but the Jaguars collapsed after halftime. | |
| 31 |  | 1 Last Week: 32 | Derek Carr was great against standard pressure (13-of-18, 120 yards, two touchdowns), but couldn't figure out the Jets' blitz (5.4 QBR against at least five rushers). | |
| 32 |  | 8 Last Week: 24 | With first Sam Bradford and now Shaun Hill, the injured reserve list looks much more qualified than the Rams' active roster. Who's up next -- Austin Davis or Case Keenum? | |
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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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