Week 2 is complete and the NFL is as unpredictable as ever. Despite being only two games into the 2010 season, a few teams (Vikings, Cowboys) have games that, if lost, will effectively end their seasons. The only thing we know for sure is that the 5-6 teams at the bottom suck; the rest is still up for grabs. Make sure you’re following us on Twitter on Sundays and tweet along with us.
| Ranking(Last Week) | Team | Commentary |
| 1(1) | New Orleans Saints | The Saints came away with a last second win against the 49ers to improve to 2-0. Their offense is certainly not putting up the numbers they did last year, but a win is a win. |
| 2(4) | Green Bay Packers | Hard to believe that the Packers, who got a lot of ink before the season started, could be considered a “quiet” 2-0, but they are. Their points for/against differential is by far the best in the league at +34. |
| 3(6) | Houston Texans | For much of their game against the Washington Redskins, it looked as though the “new” Houston Texans–a team built upon running the ball who made the Colts look bad in Week 1–were about to give way to a 1-1 record and lose momentum. After a huge comeback to force OT, a great “ice the kicker” timeout call to erase a game-winning FG for the Redskins, and a good FG from Neil Rackers, the Texans sit atop the AFC South for another week. |
| 4(5) | Indianapolis Colts | Week 1 was not a good time for the Colts and their fans; thankfully for Indianapolis faithful, the home opening “Manning Bowl” saw big brother Peyton completely dominate Eli and the New York Giants. Indy fans certainly hadn’t expected to see anything in the “L” column so early this season, but they have to be heartened by the strong bounce-back result. |
| 5(10) | Pittsburgh Steelers | The Steelers continue to survive without starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. If they can stay healthy, especially defensively, expect them to be a serious contender when the sex offender returns in a few weeks. |
| 6(11) | San Diego Chargers | A week after being upset on national television for the first Monday Night Football of the 2010 season, San Diego got back on course with a commanding victory over the Jaguars at home. That said, it was not a victory without flaws; exciting new halfback Ryan Mathews sprained his ankle and was unable to return to the game. All in all, however, the Chargers held up their end of the bargain in making Week 2 an all-win situation for the AFC West. |
| 7(16) | Miami Dolphins | While the Dolphins might not have been a sexy pick going into Minnesota to play a Vikings team with a chip on their shoulders after losing to the Saints in the NFC Championship Rematch, three INTs from Brett Favre and a huge goal line stop helped Miami take a big road win from one of the league’s top teams last season. Big test against the New York Jets on Sunday night this coming week. |
| 8(14) | New York Jets | The media had a great week beating up on the Jets after a home-opening 10-9 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, but Gang Green put in a gutsy performance and thoroughly outplayed reigning AFC East Champion New England for a 28-14 win in Week 2. Mark Sanchez had his best game as an NFL quarterback in the win, and will hope to make it back-to-back division wins next week against Miami. |
| 9(3) | New England Patriots | After a great showing against the Bengals at home to open the season, the Patriots had a terrible second half and lost by two touchdowns to Mark Sanchez and the New York Jets at New Meadowlands Stadium. The Patriots will need to improve in all phases of the game, as the offense score no points after halftime and the defense had trouble stopping anything as the game wore on. |
| 10(13) | Philadelphia Eagles | Let the QB controversy begin. Coach Andy Reid has a tough situation on his hands after Michael Vick filled in nicely for injurred starter Kevin Kolb. Kolb will be the guy this week, but we can’t help but wonder how long he’ll last with a rejuvinated Vick waiting on the sidelines. |
| 11(2) | Baltimore Ravens | The Ravens slipped to 1-1 this week after a close road loss to Cincinnati. It appears that it will be a while before the offense gels to become what many thought would be an elite squad (though a Week 3 matchup against Cleveland should help get things going). Until then, the defense will keep them in games as they have for the last decade. |
| 12(17) | Cincinnati Bengals | After getting destroyed by New England to start the season, the Bengals bounced back and eeked out a home win against Baltimore. The defense looked strong, but the offense – especially RB Cedric Benson – need to pick up the pace if they want continued success. |
| 13(9) | Tennessee Titans | Despite the closeness of the score in a 19-11 loss to the Steelers, Tennessee was outplayed and quarterback Vince Young was shaky enough for coach Jeff Fisher to go with Kerry Collins to close out the game after Young was responsible for three turnovers. The Titans will need much better performance under center to play with the big boys this year. |
| 14(8) | New York Giants | The older brother and his Colts got the best of Eli Manning and the Giants on Sunday night. This team is hard to gauge at this point, but we’ll know in a few weeks if they’re to be taken seriously or not. |
| 15(7) | Minnesota Vikings | All is not well in the north country. Favre made several poor throws and outside of a good day from AP, no one stepped up. The Vikings are looking forward to the return of Sidney Rice around week 6, but will the damage be irreversible by then? |
| 16(18) | Atlanta Falcons | Atlanta decided to take out it’s anger from the week one loss against the Cardinals. The offense was clicking and Ryan was able to spread the ball very well. We will find out a lot more about the Falcons after next week’s match-up against the Saints. |
| 17(25) | Chicago Bears | While they barely got by a supposedly poor team in week one, they beat a supposedly good/great team in week two. The Jay Cutler that we saw in week 2 is the Jay Cutler the Bears paid money to bring to Chicago. The Bears may continue to surprise people. |
| 18(24) | Kansas City Chiefs | In 2009, it took until Week 10 for Kansas City to earn their second win of the season. In 2010, it’s only taken two games for the Chiefs to reach half of last year’s overall win total. It was a squeaker of a win–16-14 over a struggling Cleveland Browns squad–but it’s good enough to give KC a one-game lead over the AFC West early in this year’s campaign. |
| 19(21) | Denver Broncos | Kyle Orton had a nice game against the Seattle Seahawks and erased the bad taste of a tough loss to Jacksonville last week. While a 31-14 home victory against a team which surprised everyone by winning in Week 1 isn’t exactly season-defining, the win allows Denver to keep pace in the AFC West in a three team tie behind the Chiefs. |
| 20(12) | Dallas Cowboys | This week’s matchup at Houston is likely do-or-die for the Cowboys’ 2010 and maybe Wade Phillips’ job. If the Texans come out and play like they did at home Week 1, Jerry Jones’ can kiss any hope of Dallas playing in a home Super Bowl goodbye. |
| 21(18) | San Francisco 49ers | Embarrassed in week one, heartbroken in week two. The 49ers clearly have the potential to be a good team and how they bounce back in week three will tell us a lot about them. |
| 22(20) | Washington Redskins | If not for a series of blunders in their overtime loss to Houston, the Redskins would be sitting atop the division at 2-0. 32nd in the league in rushing yards and 31st in passing yards allowed won’t cut it if they hope to remain a contender in the NFC East. |
| 23(22) | Jacksonville Jaguars | Bad timing for the Jaguars coming off a Week 1 win; on the road against the San Diego Chargers–a team still smarting from a loss to division rival Kansas City–Jacksonville had little chance of going 2-0. Bad INTs from David Garrard didn’t help on their way to a 38-13 loss. |
| 24(27) | Tampa Bay Bucs | Not many people would have predicted that the Bucs would start out the year with two wins, but looking at the opponents it becomes less shocking. Pittsburgh comes to town in week 3 and will likely bring the Bucs back down to earth. |
| 25(19) | Seattle Seahawks | In just one week, Matt Hasselbeck cut his QB rating in half with a 1 TD/3 INT game at Denver. But, again, in a weak division there is always a silver lining. |
| 26(23) | Arizona Cardinals | Even in a weak division, Arizona looks like a team destined for mediocrity. They have some top notch players at some positions, but as a whole this team just isn’t built to contend. |
| 27(26) | Detroit Lions | Poor Detroit, robbed of a win in week 1 and almost had a win in week 2. Now they have back to back road games and could be looking at 0-4 fairly quickly. From the fantasy side of things, Jahvid Best may turn out to be a touchdown machine (or vulture, depending on how you look at it). |
| 28(30) | Oakland Raiders | The Raiders matched division-rival Kansas City with a 16-14 win of their own against a weak team; in their case, the St. Louis Rams. While Oakland will be happy to even their record to 1-1 with this win, the bigger question is who will start at quarterback next week: Jason Campbell, who was pulled from this win, or Bruce Gradkowski, who completed the victory. |
| 29(29) | St. Louis Rams | The Rams have kept both of their games close, but still have a goose egg in the win column. They have a few more poor teams on their schedule which should help them surpass last year’s win total….of one. |
| 30(28) | Carolina Panthers | After getting stomped in their first two games, Carolina is turning to rookie QB Jimmy Clausen. Will it turn their season around? Doubtful. |
| 31(31) | Cleveland Browns | Two losses to start the season by a combined three points, but don’t expect a winning streak anytime soon as their next 7 games are against Baltimore, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, New England and New York Jets. |
| 32(32) | Buffalo Bills | Another week, another game, and another loss for the Buffalo Bills. Granted, few would have expected the Bills to make it competitive against the Packers, but a 34-7 loss is ugly nonetheless. A game in New England next weekend against an embarrassed Patriots squad doesn’t bode well for the future. |
Commentary breakdown: Alex (AFC North, NFC East), Brian (AFC East/South/West), Pat (NFC North/South/West).
These good are ratings. Every season people say this the year the Texans move from 8-8 team to playoff contender. This is the first season I actually believe they have a shot. Season’s still early though.
These ratings are good, I mean. I’ll chalk that up to the no sleep.