- Commissioner’s statement on Ventura, Marte
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: Masters champion ‘felt so vulnerable’ in final
- Arron Fletcher Wins 2017 WSOP International Circuit Marrakech Main Event ($140,224)
- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
- Moncada No. 1 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Braves land 2 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Kingery makes MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- New Zealand wrap up 2-0 after Bangladesh implosion
- Mathews, Pradeep, Gunathilaka to return to Sri Lanka
- Elliott hopes for rain for Poli
NFL Power Rankings Week 2: Predicting Post-Monday Night Football Standings
- Updated: September 12, 2016
The first Sunday of the 2016 NFL season has come and gone. It’s been an entertaining couple of days of football since the season kicked off on Thursday night, and once Monday night’s games are complete, Week 1 will be in the books.
So far, Week 1 has confirmed a few things about the landscape of the league. The Denver Broncos defense is still nearly impenetrable, for example. Those plucky Cleveland Browns? They’re still pretty bad.
We’ve also seen a few assumptions dispelled—a big one being that the New England Patriots haven’t taken a massive step back without Tom Brady under center.
Competitive play has also been a theme of the season’s opening week so far. Of the 14 games that have been played, six have been decided by two points or fewer. The Browns were the only team to lose by at least 10 points.
So what does all of this mean for our power rankings? Well that’s what we’re going to examine today. We’ll be ranking all 32 teams, using our predictions for Monday night as a guide. We will be focusing primarily on playing performance, though injuries and other issues will be considered.
Monday night has the Washington Redskins hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Francisco 49ers hosting the Los Angeles Rams.
Notable Rankings
1. Denver Broncos and 2. New England Patriots
The Patriots and Broncos could almost be considered 1A and 1B in our rankings. Both teams faced strong NFC opponents in Week 1, and both are dealing with unproven quarterbacks under center.
Both teams also managed to win this past week, thanks to missed field goals.
The important takeaway for these teams, though, is that a bit of adversity isn’t going to derail either season. The Broncos, who bested the Carolina Panthers 21-20 in the season opener, look like they can again be Super Bowl contenders. The fact that both Payton Manning and Brock Osweiler are gone doesn’t change this.
Second-year man Trevor Siemian—who went 18-of-26 for 176 yards with a touchdown and two picks—wasn’t perfect against the Panthers, but he was more than serviceable. The Broncos can win with him.
Jimmy Garoppolo, who will start during Tom Brady’s four-game absence, was even better in his first pro start. Against the Arizona Cardinals, he went 24-of-33 for 264 yards and a touchdown. It appears that the Patriots will be in good hands with Garoppolo.
“He played well the entire game,” Patriots receiver Chris Hogan said of Garoppolo, per Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today. “He’s the starting quarterback of the New England Patriots. He stepped up well and he handled himself really well throughout the entire …
