NFL power rankings Week 2: There's a new No. 1 after Rams tumble
NFL power rankings Week 2: There's a new No. 1 after Rams tumble
Nate Davis, USA TODAYTue, September 15, 2026 at 10:16 AM UTC
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NFL power rankings entering Week 2 of the 2026 season (previous rank in parentheses):
1. Seattle Seahawks (2): Should've known they'd demand and command the respect of a reigning champion that deserves the No. 1 slot until proven otherwise. Did the 'Hawks look spectacular while winning their Super Bowl rematch with the Patriots, despite losing QB Sam Darnold five plays in to a hip injury? Nope. Did they show their typical grit and dominant defense while again vanquishing a quality opponent? Yep. And plenty of upward mobility, as they'll tell you. "We'll improve our operation," said coach Mike Macdonald after the win. "(W)e can get so much better very quickly." Good bet they will.
2. San Francisco 49ers (7): Their "Sleep tight" tweet served as the mic drop of Week 1 after the Niners, who were at least close to full strength after juggling so many injuries in 2025, stuck it to the apparently jet-lagged Rams in Australia. The NFC West is already shaping up as a three-way heavyweight bout once again, and the 49ers − if healthy − have certainly shown they've got the goods to be a Super Sunday threat. They were clicking in all three phases out of the box.
3. Buffalo Bills (4): The Great Lakes Bengals? The Bills barely played a lick of defense Sunday in Houston but nevertheless looked like a team very much capable of making a run to Super Bowl 61 − especially with Josh Allen, now the fastest player in NFL history (129 games) to collect at least 300 combined passing/rushing TDs, at the helm.
4. Chicago Bears (5): The Windy City Cowboys? The Bearsbarely played a lick of defense Sunday in Charlotte but nevertheless looked like a team very much capable of making a run to Super Bowl 61 − especially with Caleb Williams, fresh off his first game with multiple TD passes and runs (even he's not Allen-esque … yet), at the helm.
5. Los Angeles Rams (1):Woof. At least you couldn't blame the special teams for this loss? But the Rams scored their fewest points of the Matthew Stafford era, while WR Puka Nacau had more tackles (1) than ballyhooed offseason acquisition Myles Garrett, who will be out at least the next month – apparently he should've stayed in L.A. with Aaron Donald. This was likely an anomalous defeat, if a reminder that the Lombardi Trophy is guaranteed to no team.
6. Kansas City Chiefs (13): Return of the King? Having a Super Bowl MVP tandem backfield of Patrick Mahomes and Kenneth Walker III was even more than it was cracked up to be in the opener, when K.C. made an emphatic statement that it's ready to reclaim its AFC West throne from Denver. And maybe more.
7. Baltimore Ravens (12): Despite a steady churn of offensive coordinators, newbie Declan Doyle now in the post, they are the only team to score at least 20 points in Week 1 over the past 10 seasons … which tells you how good Lamar Jackson (and Joe Flacco) has been.
8. Jacksonville Jaguars (14): Among the many reasons the Jags, who already sit alone in first place as they embark on their AFC South title defense, should get a little more respect is the edge tandem of Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker … even if it's not the best one in their division.
9. Cincinnati Bengals (8): Could the notoriously slow starters get out of the gate 2-0 for the second straight season … for all the good it did them last year, when dropped 11 of their final 15? But Sunday's defensive effort should sow hope for the Stripes amid their modest offensive debut.
10. New England Patriots (6): QB Drake Maye has four multi-interception games in his three-year career, half of them in his past two starts against Seattle. But, hey, at least he wasn't hit nearly as much in the opener as he was in Super Bowl 60.
11. Houston Texans (10): That's nine turnovers in QB C.J. Stroud's last three games. Worth wondering if he should have taken whatever extension was offered rather than tabling negotiations.
12. Detroit Lions (11): If you didn't think missing starting safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch was a big deal, then you didn't see Saints QB Tyler Shough raid this defense for 410 yards through the air Sunday.
More: 32 things we learned in NFL Week 1 − just don't ask who the best team is right now
13. Denver Broncos (3): How long before Sean Payton reclaims play-calling duties from newly promoted OC Davis Webb? Probably not very with another performance like Monday night's in K.C.
14. New York Giants (23): Don't want to overrate them this early, but Sunday night's victory over the Cowboys was no fluke. This was efficient, smashmouth, John Harbaugh football, and the rest of the NFC East is officially on notice.
15. Dallas Cowboys (9): Don't want to underrate them this early, but Sunday night's loss to the Giants was no fluke. America's Team still has plenty of time to make a long-awaited Super Bowl push … yet must still disprove the notion that these are the same underachieving Cowboys.
16. Minnesota Vikings (18): The bad news? Quarterback disarray remains the baseline here. The good news? Resurgent WR Justin Jefferson has already matched his 2025 TD total (2).
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17. New Orleans Saints (19): If you didn't listen six weeks ago, are you bought in now? And just wait until they have Cam Jordan, Alvin Kamara and Jordyn Tyson back.
18. Philadelphia Eagles (17): They're 6-0 in openers under HC Nick Sirianni and QB Jalen Hurts. And whatever the skeptics − hand raised − might think, Philly has yet to miss the playoffs with that duo, either.
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (20): Rookie LB Josiah Trotter became the first NFL player to start his career with a sack and pick-six in his debut game since sacks became an official stat in 1982. Still, no rookie has ever had a sack, pick-six and notched a win out of the chute.
20. Pittsburgh Steelers (21): OLB T.J. Watt appeared revived Sunday after a subpar 2025 season. He (and Joey Porter?) also looked like a player who might be a tremendous target at this season's trade deadline.
21. Washington Commanders (25): Despite all the summer handwringing about the offensive line, QB Jayden Daniels was only sacked once and hit twice Sunday. Clean up their mental errors, and the Commanders likely escape Philly with a W.
22. Green Bay Packers (16): The absences of OLB Micah Parsons and RB Josh Jacobs were quite evident during a second-half meltdown that saw the Pack surrender 29 consecutive points.
23. Carolina Panthers (24): They looked good (did you see the matte black helmets?). They also looked terrible − defensively − surrendering a franchise record 59 points in Sunday's loss to Chicago.
24. Arizona Cardinals (31): After starting 12 games in 2025, QB Jacoby Brissett has already matched last season's win total. Tough to see the Cards escaping the NFC West cellar this year, either, but they showed Sunday that other teams would be unwise to take their fleet of playmakers lightly.
25. Los Angeles Chargers (15): Jim Harbaugh had never lost an opener as an NFL head coach … until Sunday, a defeat that dropped him to 6-1 in Week 1. The Bolts' putrid performance also makes it worth wondering if Harbs is headed to his first sub-.500 campaign under an NFL headset.
26. Indianapolis Colts (22): It's just one game … but also a game that continues to make one wonder why they ran it back, at such great expenditure, with QB Daniel Jones and WR Alec Pierce.
27. New York Jets (27): Rookie Kenyon Sadiq joined Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome as the only tight ends to rush for a TD in their NFL debuts. Here's hoping the NYJ have the foresight to kick Sadiq upstairs once his playing days are done.
28. Atlanta Falcons (26): All-galaxy RB Bijan Robinson had 173 yards from scrimmage at Pittsburgh. Awesome. He also accounted for 73% of the Falcons' offense. Problematic.
29. Las Vegas Raiders (29): Amazing what RB Ashton Jeanty can do (147 total yards, 2 TDs) with the benefit of competent quarterback play … however long that might last against non-South Floridian opponents.
30. Tennessee Titans (28): You can take Robert Saleh and Brian Daboll out of New York but − thus far − you can't take the New York football hex out of the former HCs of the Jets and Giants … though those teams are 2-0 collectively in Week 1 for the first time since 2009, incidentally, much to the Titans' chagrin.
31. Cleveland Browns (30): Shedeur SZN (Week 3?) is surely almost here, Browns fans − particularly if Baker Mayfield finally exacts revenge on the franchise that dumped him in favor of Deshaun Watson four years ago.
32. Miami Dolphins (32): Piling up tackles isn't necessarily indicative of an elite defender, but rookie LB Jacob Rodriguez's 14 stops − second most league-wide in Week 1 − in his pro debut portend the smart and active player the second-rounder was projected to be coming out of Texas Tech.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL power rankings Week 2: There's a new No. 1 after Rams tumble
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