Raul Vazquez | September 17th, 2019
Yet another week of NFL football is in the books and man has the landscape changed. Where does your favorite team stand in the grand scheme of the NFL? How have injuries impacted a number of teams?
1) New England Patriots (+0)
The team that destroyed Pittsburgh 33-3 in week one added Antonio Brown to their offense and had a field day against the lowly Dolphins. Tom Brady and Brown were off-target after connecting in the first half but will get it fixed. The Patriots look like a team that can go undefeated.
2) Kansas City Chiefs (+1)
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense started slow, getting down 10 early but boy did they pick it up in the second quarter. Mahomes woke up and turned it on for all four of the necessary scores in the second quarter. Mahomes somehow looks better than he did last year which is crazy to think about.
3) Los Angeles Rams (+5)
The Rams are big risers in this week’s rankings. In a rematch of the NFC championship from a year ago, Los Angeles showed up. The Rams beat a Saints team that was largely without Drew Brees but forced a pick and a punt while he was in the game. This Rams team should be in for another deep run.
4) Green Bay Packers (+4)
In another divisional matchup, the Packer defense showed up once again. The defense sealed the game with a pick in the endzone and has now allowed just 19 points through two games. With the Bears not looking great, Green Bay is certainly in the race for the division crown.
5) Dallas Cowboys (+1)
Dak Prescott is still waiting to get paid, but he continues to make his case to be a $40M quarterback. Through two weeks, stud tailback Ezekiel Elliott has yet to get it going but Prescott is more than playing his part. The Cowboys continue to look good and have looked like a team that can come out of the NFC.
6) Baltimore Ravens (+1)
Lamar Jackson has started out this season hot. The Cardinals gave the Ravens a scare coming withing three but the game was put on the arm of Jackson who closed it out on a long ball to Marquise Brown who has been sensational.
7) Seattle Seahawks (+7)
The Seahawks found a way to pull out another close win and have looked good to start the year. In a quarterback-driven league, the Seahawks have a top-five player which will be enough. D.K. Metcalf has been special early too. With games against the Saints and Cardinals coming up the Seahawks could very well start 4-0.
8) Philadelphia Eagles (-4)
The NFL is a cruel league when it comes to injuries. The Eagles had Jason Kelce, DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery, Carson Wentz and Timmy Jernigan miss time during the game against the Falcons and their depth was on display. With reserves playing big roles the Eagles stuck in it and will be fine after an entertaining affair with the Falcons.
9) New Orleans Saints (-7)
Through 13 years with the Saints, Brees had only missed one game to injury, but now the Saints will have to play extended time without Brees under center. Luckily for them they Teddy Bridgewater as a backup but he is no Brees. They play the Seahawks and Cowboys coming up which will be tough.
10) San Francisco 49ers (+10)
San Francisco might be the biggest surprise of the season so far. They have started the season 2-0 after a dominant road win over the Bengals after pulling out a close win over Tampa. Jimmy Garoppolo has missed a ton of time but is 8-2 in the games he’s started in San Francisco.
11) Minnesota Vikings (-7)
The Vikings started slowly in week two and were down big early to Green Bay. Minnesota scored 16 unanswered but couldn’t close the deal after a costly Kirk Cousins pick in the endzone. Minnesota remains high after a dominant week one win.
12) Atlanta Falcons (+7)
This past Sunday night was a fun game between the Falcons and Eagles. Atlanta bounced back after a pummeling at the hands of the Vikings to pull out a close one over the Eagles. If healthy, Atlanta can compete.
13) Cleveland Browns (+2)
The Browns bounced back after a disappointing week one with a win over an injury-riddled Jets team. The win wasn’t pretty but it gets the Browns back on track and they have the talent to get it going.
14) Buffalo Bills (+7)
The Bills are hard to gauge. The team is 2-0 but looked horrible in the first half of week one, but then bounced back nicely against the Giants. The Bills play the Patriots in two weeks in a statement game.
15) Chicago Bears (-3)
The Bears have a kicker! The hero of the day for Chicago was their stud kicker Eddy Pineiro. After a chaotic end of the game against the Broncos ultimately ended in a win for the Bears but it was all that pretty. This offense has problems and it all starts with Mitchell Trubisky.
16) Indianapolis Colts (+1)
This Colts team is still good. The ship has far from sunk after losing star Andrew Luck to retirement. A week after hanging with the Chargers all the way to overtime, the Colts pulled out a win over the Titans. The AFC South looks like a division that is wide open.
17) Los Angeles Chargers (-6)
A week after narrowly pulling out a win in overtime over the Luck-less Colts, the Chargers were in another close one but lost this one to the Lions after a late fumble from Austin Ekeler and a Philip Rivers interception. A team with AFC title hopes has struggled to start the year.
18) Houston Texans (-8)
The Texans nearly fell to 0-2 after struggling against the Gardner Minshew led Jaguars. Houston has a ton of talent but will need to pull away in a scrappy AFC South.
19) Tennessee Titans (-5)
Tennessee had the chance to take an early advantage in the division race but failed to do so in a close one against the Colts. In a tight division, this game could matter in the future.
20) Detroit Lions (+7)
The Lions could very easily be 2-0 if they had only maintained a 24 point lead in week one. This was a nice one over the talented Chargers in week two and shows signs of life for a mediocre squad.
21) Jacksonville Jaguars (+9)
I completely underestimated what Minshew can do for this offense. He certainly wasn’t spectacular but he kept the Jaguars in it and nearly led them to a win if Leonard Fournette was not stopped on the two-point try.
22) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+7)
The second Thursday night game of the year was an ugly one. For Tampa, the ugliness churned out a win in a divisional matchup. They can keep it rolling with the Giants up next.
23) Pittsburgh Steelers (-4)
The Steelers are one of many teams that have had their quarterback hit with the injury bug. Ben Roethlisberger aggravated his elbow and is lost for the season. Mason Rudolph showed encouraging signs and the Steelers did lose to pair of teams that have playoff aspirations. The season is not quite over for Pittsburgh after landing secondary help.
24) Carolina Panthers (-8)
The Panthers are in deep trouble. They have started 0-2 with losses to middling teams and now face familiar questions over the health of Cam Newton. With an offense that already sputtered with him, they may now be without him.
25) Oakland Raiders (-1)
After their impressive win in week one, the Raiders got destroyed in the second quarter by Mahomes. Given what the Chiefs’ high powered offense has done to everyone over the last 18 games, the Raiders should be viewed very similarly as last week.
26) Washington Redskins (-1)
The Redskins have had a brutal start. Last week they had the Eagles and then a showdown with the Cowboys this past Sunday. Washington was still within ten to start the fourth but Dallas ultimately pulled away. Chicago comes to town this week to continue a brutal stretch.
27) Denver Broncos (-1)
A week after being beat by the Raiders, the Broncos put up a valiant effort against the Bears but were let down by a questionable roughing the passer call. Things aren’t looking better with the Packers up this week.
28) Arizona Cardinals (+2)
This young bunch has a lot of fight. A week after coming back against the Lions to force overtime, the Cardinals fought back against the Ravens. This team wasn’t expected to do much this year but they are showing tons of promise.
29) Cincinnati Bengals (-5)
The Bengals looked dysfunctional in week two. A week after going down to the wire with the Seahawks the Bengals put up an uninspiring performance against the 49ers at home. Andy Dalton is a free agent after next season so he surely has a short leash.
30) New York Jets (-5)
The New York football Jets have been hit with a massive injury bug. In the days after blowing a big lead to Buffalo, the team lost Quincy Enunwa for the season, lost Sam Darnold to mono for a month or more, and both Quinnen Williams and C.J. Mosley for this past week. With New England, Philadelphia, Dallas, and New England coming up an 0-6 start is very much possible.
31) New York Giants (+0)
The Giants easily drove down the field on their first drive and opened up up seven but were outscored 28-7. Starting the 38-year-old Eli Manning does nothing this season and the team just turned over the starting job to Daniel Jones.
32) Miami Dolphins (+0)
I’m sure you’ve already heard by now but the Dolphins have been historically bad. They followed up a 59-10 beatdown with a 43-0 drumming at the hands of the Patriots. The team just traded away cornerstone Minkah Fitzpatrick, but on the bright side now have five first-round picks in the next two years.
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