2024 NFL Week 2 Power Rankings

Of all the buzzworthy stories to come out of week 1, I think my favorite was a less buzzy story that wasn’t really written. It was about the workhorse running back.

6 RBs had 20+ carries, and at the top of the list was 28 year old Joe Mixon with 30 carries. Jordan Mason stepped in with 28 punishing carries for the Niners after Christian McCaffrey was a late scratch. Rhamondre Stevenson led the Pats to a surprise win with his 25 carries.

We saw a lot less committee backfields and a lot more riding the hot hand to grind defenses into submission. I doubt Mixon will be pounding out 30 carries every week, but still, it must have warmed the hearts of old football souls to see that elusive brand of football on display.

As always, may all your teams win or your coaches be fired.

1. Kansas City Chiefs

Champs were the champs. They struggled at times, but they were also playing an incredible Ravens team.

Chris Jones keeps earning every penny of the deal KC finally gave him. What an absolute beast. He was in Lamar Jackson‘s face all night long.

2. San Francisco 49ers

I don’t know how you could see the way Brock Purdy dismantled the Jets really good defense and not consider him, at the very least, hovering around the top 5 QBs in the league right now.

3. Baltimore Ravens

4. Detroit Lions

5. Houston Texans

I invited everyone on the Nico Collins train a long time ago. Don’t be mad at me if you chose not to get on.

6. Buffalo Bills

*Note: Rankings were set before Thursday’s game.

7. Philadelphia Eagles

8. Miami Dolphins

*Note: Rankings were set before Thursday’s game. Prayers for Tua.

9. Dallas Cowboys

10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Baker Mayfield is real, always has been, and Browns fans deserve better. When you watch Baker throw, he’s not out there taking advantage of bad defenses to pad stats. Each of his 4 TD throws in week 1 was immaculate and required a certain touch we don’t normally see in week 1.

11. Cincinnati Bengals

12. Green Bay Packers

13. Pittsburgh Steelers

14. Los Angeles Chargers

15. Jacksonville Jaguars

16. Minnesota Vikings

17. Chicago Bears

Before anyone gets too feisty, I’m not ready after one week to act like Caleb Williams was “exposed” or anything like that. For the Bears sake, let’s hope he just got a bit of a wake up call.

He tried to play his college game against an NFL defense, and the results were what you would expect. A really good college defense might have a handful of players who will make an NFL impact someday… every NFL defense has 100% players making an NFL impact right now.

Luckily for Williams, his team’s defense was a lot better last week.

18. Atlanta Falcons

Kirk Cousins looks old.

19. Vegas Raiders

20. Indianapolis Colts

I’ve seen a lot of throws by a lot of great QBs. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like Anthony Richardson under pressure launching it 60 yards off his back foot with pinpoint accuracy to Alec Pierce.

21. Seattle Seahawks

22. New Orleans Saints

If he can play well against the Cowboys defense, I’m willing to give Derek Carr another look. But let’s not get too excited about beating up on the Panthers.

23. New England Patriots

I made a mistake last week. I was mistakenly under the impression Drake Maye was starting and Jacoby Brissett would once again be pushed be pushed under the rug. I was delighted to see Brissett leading the Pats instead, en route to a somewhat shocking upset of the Bengals.

Before anyone tells me about Brissett’s meager stats, he also had no turnovers. Considering the offense he has to work with, he managed the game well and kept them in position to win.

24. Arizona Cardinals

25. Cleveland Browns

The first truly deserving 25th Element of 2024. Deshaun Watson is lost. I’m prepared to eat those words, but we’re now in the third year of his contract and he looks confused on the field. And this time, he doesn’t have Nick Chubb to bail him out, at least for now.

That might be cause he now has another accusation looming on his mind and potentially further punishment coming if the NFL finds it credible. And keep in mind, he doesn’t need to be convicted of anything or lose a lawsuit… the league can suspend him of their own discretion.

26. Los Angeles Rams

27. New York Jets

Aaron Rodgers looks older than Kirk Cousins.

28. Tennessee Titans

29. Denver Broncos

30. Washington Commanders

31. Carolina Panthers

I actually subconsciously typed 32 before their name at first. I can’t believe there are two teams that are this bad. I hope Bryce Young can turn it around, but if he had any early optimism, it has to be hard to hold onto it.

32. New York Giants