ESPN Week 2 Power Rankings
1 (1) Patriots 1-0-0 Now we know why Bill Belichick -- especially when he wears a hood -- always appears so secretive. The guy's a spy! OK, it's evidently just one of his cameramen. Do they need the help that bad?
2 (2) Colts 1-0-0 Two days after the Colts routed the Saints, Saturday Night Live replayed the show that Peyton Manning hosted. Frankly, we can't get enough of that faux United Way commercial. 'I throw. You catch. It's not that hard. Now get the f--- out of here.'
3 (3) Chargers 1-0-0 LT rushes for 25 yards on 17 carries ... and they still win? That's living dangerously, but the Chargers must feel good knowing they can succeed without a huge rushing day from their big guy. Of course, he did have 51 yards in receptions.
4 (4) Bears 0-1-0 Things quickly have turned bad for the Bears. Not only did they lose to the Chargers, but Rex Grossman and Cedric Benson are still in the starting lineup. And now the defense has lost two starters to season-ending injuries.
5 (8) Cowboys 1-0-0 Let's get this straight: Wade Phillips is a defensive-minded coach. That means the Cowboys defense should be salty, right? Oops, 35 points allowed to the Giants. Luckily for the Cowboys, Tony Romo and the offense was more productive.
6 (11) Bengals 1-0-0 Did you like Chad Johnson's fashion statement on Monday night? His yellow HOF jacket is the first of his planned TD celebrations this year. Hey, as long as he doesn't imitate Britney Spears' MTV Awards performance, we're fine with it.
7 (5) Ravens 0-1-0 The bad news? Baltimore committed six turnovers and suffered multiple injuries against the Bengals. The good news? They still had a chance at the end. This team is gritty, but health will be the key now.
8 (10) Seahawks 1-0-0 Seattle might be excited about the aggressive play of its defense against the Bucs, but let's put this in perspective -- Tampa Bay's offense stinks. We'll check back after Week 3 when the Seahawks play the high-octane Bengals.
9 (13) Steelers 1-0-0 Ben Roethlisberger didn't throw for a ton of yardage (just 161) but you gotta like his completions-to-TDs ratio: 12 to 4. The Mike Tomlin era is off to a nice start. Of course, it helped to play against a patsy.
10 (9) Broncos 1-0-0 Just how Jason Elam's field-goal unit managed to scramble onto the field and kick the game-winner against the Bills before time expired is still one of the small miracles from Sunday's action.
11 (6) Saints 0-1-0 It was gonna be a tough battle to win on the road at Indy in the opener, but hey, at least put up a fight. Instead, the Saints' offense failed to reach the end zone, the first time that's happened in Sean Payton's 19 games as head coach.
12 (15) Panthers 1-0-0 Kudos to QB Jake Delhomme, who managed to avoid looking over his shoulder at backup David Carr and instead looked for open receivers against the Rams. His QB rating of 125.7 puts him just ahead of Peyton Manning. We suspect it won't stay that way.
13 (7) Eagles 0-1-0 They shoot punt returners, don't they? Well, they might in Philly this week after Greg Lewis and J.R. Reed mishandled punts that turned into costly turnovers in the loss to Green Bay.
14 (22) Titans 1-0-0 Travis Who? (OK, we suspect we're not the only ones to have written that since Sunday). The Titans lost 1,200-yard rusher Travis Henry, but Chris Brown took up the slack with a career-high 175 yards in a win over the Jags.
15 (16) 49ers 1-0-0 The late Bill Walsh likely would've been put off by the inept display of offense seen in the game against Arizona. But he certainly would've been pleased with the way Alex Smith produced the winning TD drive.
16 (12) Jaguars 0-1-0 If the Jags are going to struggle on the ground this season, it's going to be a very long year. Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor combined for just 48 yards on 13 carries, putting too much responsibility on QB David Garrard.
17 (24) Packers 1-0-0 Mason Crosby's name may sound like a country-western singer, but the rookie sure can kick a football. His three field goals, including the game-winner with two seconds left, even had Brett Favre doing the two-step.
18 (14) Jets 0-1-0 The smartest move QB Chad Pennington made all day was to go up to head coach Eric Mangini late in Sunday's loss to the Pats and tell him to send in backup Kellen Clemens. Pennington didn't want to risk further injury to his right ankle.
19 (19) Redskins 1-0-0 It wasn't pretty, but nonetheless, Washington is 1-0 after beating an equally suspect team, the Dolphins. With Gen. Petraeus in D.C. this week to dominate the media spotlight, the Redskins can likely fly under the radar of any criticism.
20 (17) Rams 0-1-0 The Rams must live and die on their offense. Against the Panthers, they died. Steven Jackson lost two fumbles and failed to bust loose. Marc Bulger was outplayed by counterpart Jake Delhomme. They need to get untracked next week vs. SF.
21 (25) Lions 1-0-0 There are a lot of offensive weapons in Detroit and in spurts, the Lions should be fun to watch. Rookie WR Calvin Johnson caught a TD pass in his first NFL game.
22 (18) Giants 0-1-0 If Eli Manning is indeed out a month with a shoulder injury, then the Giants will need to rely on Jared Lorenzen, the 285-pound QB from Kentucky. This is one Jared who evidently has NEVER eaten at Subway.
23 (23) Cardinals 0-1-0 The Ken Whisenhunt era didn't exactly start on a high note, did it? There wasn't much to like offensively, and the defense failed to step up with the game on the line. Another long year in Arizona?
24 (27) Vikings 1-0-0 Rookie RB Adrian Peterson touched the ball 20 times and produced 163 yards of offense, including a 60-yard TD catch. He actually might need to shoulder more of the load depending on the severity of Chester Taylor's injury.
25 (29) Texans 1-0-0 You best get used to hearing this combination: Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson. The two hooked up seven times on Sunday for 142 yards, including a 77-yard bomb in the first game of Houston's post-David Carr era.
26 (21) Bills 0-1-0 Tough, tough day for the Bills. They deserved a better fate against the Broncos. Of course, that means nothing compared to the injury suffered by reserve TE Kevin Everett, who appears to be permanently paralyzed.
27 (20) Dolphins 0-1-0 It wasn't a good debut for new coach Cam Cameron. His team committed eight penalties, dropped several passes, turned the ball over once, failed to establish a running game and badly mismanaged the clock. Other than that ...
28 (28) Buccaneers 0-1-0 New QB Jeff Garcia was effective when he wasn't getting sacked or knocked down or injured. Unless Tampa Bay shores up its blocking, the offense will continue to scramble simply to stay healthy.
29 (30) Raiders 0-1-0 Josh McCown had a nice second half and put the Raiders in a position to beat the Lions. Still, Raiders fans would rather see Daunte Culpepper as the starter. Well, actually they'd rather see JaMarcus Russell, who's on his way.
30 (26) Chiefs 0-1-0 Just call it the Curse of Lawrence Tynes. The Chiefs traded away their veteran kicker during the offseason, and now they're struggling to find a suitable replacement. Serves 'em right.
31 (31) Falcons 0-1-0 Understand this: Joey Harrington was not the reason the Falcons lost. He actually was productive for most of the game, and you can't pin all the blame on him for the two interceptions. Getting sacked six times didn't help, either.
32 (32) Browns 0-1-0 For all you sports fans in Cleveland who'll have to suffer by watching this lousy team, we have a key date for you: Oct. 31. That's when the Cavs open their regular season. Until then, you're on your own.
2 (2) Colts 1-0-0 Two days after the Colts routed the Saints, Saturday Night Live replayed the show that Peyton Manning hosted. Frankly, we can't get enough of that faux United Way commercial. 'I throw. You catch. It's not that hard. Now get the f--- out of here.'
3 (3) Chargers 1-0-0 LT rushes for 25 yards on 17 carries ... and they still win? That's living dangerously, but the Chargers must feel good knowing they can succeed without a huge rushing day from their big guy. Of course, he did have 51 yards in receptions.
4 (4) Bears 0-1-0 Things quickly have turned bad for the Bears. Not only did they lose to the Chargers, but Rex Grossman and Cedric Benson are still in the starting lineup. And now the defense has lost two starters to season-ending injuries.
5 (8) Cowboys 1-0-0 Let's get this straight: Wade Phillips is a defensive-minded coach. That means the Cowboys defense should be salty, right? Oops, 35 points allowed to the Giants. Luckily for the Cowboys, Tony Romo and the offense was more productive.
6 (11) Bengals 1-0-0 Did you like Chad Johnson's fashion statement on Monday night? His yellow HOF jacket is the first of his planned TD celebrations this year. Hey, as long as he doesn't imitate Britney Spears' MTV Awards performance, we're fine with it.
7 (5) Ravens 0-1-0 The bad news? Baltimore committed six turnovers and suffered multiple injuries against the Bengals. The good news? They still had a chance at the end. This team is gritty, but health will be the key now.
8 (10) Seahawks 1-0-0 Seattle might be excited about the aggressive play of its defense against the Bucs, but let's put this in perspective -- Tampa Bay's offense stinks. We'll check back after Week 3 when the Seahawks play the high-octane Bengals.
9 (13) Steelers 1-0-0 Ben Roethlisberger didn't throw for a ton of yardage (just 161) but you gotta like his completions-to-TDs ratio: 12 to 4. The Mike Tomlin era is off to a nice start. Of course, it helped to play against a patsy.
10 (9) Broncos 1-0-0 Just how Jason Elam's field-goal unit managed to scramble onto the field and kick the game-winner against the Bills before time expired is still one of the small miracles from Sunday's action.
11 (6) Saints 0-1-0 It was gonna be a tough battle to win on the road at Indy in the opener, but hey, at least put up a fight. Instead, the Saints' offense failed to reach the end zone, the first time that's happened in Sean Payton's 19 games as head coach.
12 (15) Panthers 1-0-0 Kudos to QB Jake Delhomme, who managed to avoid looking over his shoulder at backup David Carr and instead looked for open receivers against the Rams. His QB rating of 125.7 puts him just ahead of Peyton Manning. We suspect it won't stay that way.
13 (7) Eagles 0-1-0 They shoot punt returners, don't they? Well, they might in Philly this week after Greg Lewis and J.R. Reed mishandled punts that turned into costly turnovers in the loss to Green Bay.
14 (22) Titans 1-0-0 Travis Who? (OK, we suspect we're not the only ones to have written that since Sunday). The Titans lost 1,200-yard rusher Travis Henry, but Chris Brown took up the slack with a career-high 175 yards in a win over the Jags.
15 (16) 49ers 1-0-0 The late Bill Walsh likely would've been put off by the inept display of offense seen in the game against Arizona. But he certainly would've been pleased with the way Alex Smith produced the winning TD drive.
16 (12) Jaguars 0-1-0 If the Jags are going to struggle on the ground this season, it's going to be a very long year. Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor combined for just 48 yards on 13 carries, putting too much responsibility on QB David Garrard.
17 (24) Packers 1-0-0 Mason Crosby's name may sound like a country-western singer, but the rookie sure can kick a football. His three field goals, including the game-winner with two seconds left, even had Brett Favre doing the two-step.
18 (14) Jets 0-1-0 The smartest move QB Chad Pennington made all day was to go up to head coach Eric Mangini late in Sunday's loss to the Pats and tell him to send in backup Kellen Clemens. Pennington didn't want to risk further injury to his right ankle.
19 (19) Redskins 1-0-0 It wasn't pretty, but nonetheless, Washington is 1-0 after beating an equally suspect team, the Dolphins. With Gen. Petraeus in D.C. this week to dominate the media spotlight, the Redskins can likely fly under the radar of any criticism.
20 (17) Rams 0-1-0 The Rams must live and die on their offense. Against the Panthers, they died. Steven Jackson lost two fumbles and failed to bust loose. Marc Bulger was outplayed by counterpart Jake Delhomme. They need to get untracked next week vs. SF.
21 (25) Lions 1-0-0 There are a lot of offensive weapons in Detroit and in spurts, the Lions should be fun to watch. Rookie WR Calvin Johnson caught a TD pass in his first NFL game.
22 (18) Giants 0-1-0 If Eli Manning is indeed out a month with a shoulder injury, then the Giants will need to rely on Jared Lorenzen, the 285-pound QB from Kentucky. This is one Jared who evidently has NEVER eaten at Subway.
23 (23) Cardinals 0-1-0 The Ken Whisenhunt era didn't exactly start on a high note, did it? There wasn't much to like offensively, and the defense failed to step up with the game on the line. Another long year in Arizona?
24 (27) Vikings 1-0-0 Rookie RB Adrian Peterson touched the ball 20 times and produced 163 yards of offense, including a 60-yard TD catch. He actually might need to shoulder more of the load depending on the severity of Chester Taylor's injury.
25 (29) Texans 1-0-0 You best get used to hearing this combination: Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson. The two hooked up seven times on Sunday for 142 yards, including a 77-yard bomb in the first game of Houston's post-David Carr era.
26 (21) Bills 0-1-0 Tough, tough day for the Bills. They deserved a better fate against the Broncos. Of course, that means nothing compared to the injury suffered by reserve TE Kevin Everett, who appears to be permanently paralyzed.
27 (20) Dolphins 0-1-0 It wasn't a good debut for new coach Cam Cameron. His team committed eight penalties, dropped several passes, turned the ball over once, failed to establish a running game and badly mismanaged the clock. Other than that ...
28 (28) Buccaneers 0-1-0 New QB Jeff Garcia was effective when he wasn't getting sacked or knocked down or injured. Unless Tampa Bay shores up its blocking, the offense will continue to scramble simply to stay healthy.
29 (30) Raiders 0-1-0 Josh McCown had a nice second half and put the Raiders in a position to beat the Lions. Still, Raiders fans would rather see Daunte Culpepper as the starter. Well, actually they'd rather see JaMarcus Russell, who's on his way.
30 (26) Chiefs 0-1-0 Just call it the Curse of Lawrence Tynes. The Chiefs traded away their veteran kicker during the offseason, and now they're struggling to find a suitable replacement. Serves 'em right.
31 (31) Falcons 0-1-0 Understand this: Joey Harrington was not the reason the Falcons lost. He actually was productive for most of the game, and you can't pin all the blame on him for the two interceptions. Getting sacked six times didn't help, either.
32 (32) Browns 0-1-0 For all you sports fans in Cleveland who'll have to suffer by watching this lousy team, we have a key date for you: Oct. 31. That's when the Cavs open their regular season. Until then, you're on your own.
posted by The Gryphon at 7:55 PM
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