NFL Power Rankings debut at Grumblings Media as William Del Pilar gives us his takes! Do you agree with him or not? Let us know, and until then, enjoy the upcoming week’s games!
NFL Power Rankings: The Elites
- Kansas City Chiefs – Super Bowl champs have their entire starting lineup in play now (DE Chris Jones and TE Travis Kelce). They’re still the team to beat.
- San Francisco 49ers – QB Brock Purdy is still getting his sea legs back regarding his arm and will have his difficulties, but the Niners have arguably the best “overall” team in the league.
- Philadelphia Eagles – They’re for real but aren’t playing the lights out we saw last season after two weeks. However, they discovered a rushing attack this past week.
Elitism is on their Radar.
- Dallas Cowboys – the “Boys” are playing like the Cowboys of the Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson eras. Maybe Mike McCarthy isn’t as bad a playcaller as Aaron Rodgers wants the world to believe.
- Buffalo Bills – a dominating win over the Raiders shows their maturity and understanding when it’s time to take care of business after a mental slip against the New York Jets in Week 1.
- Miami Dolphins – arguably one of the best-coached teams in the NFL, but can they beat the elite teams?
NFL Power Rankings: Better than Average, but Kinks still to Work Out.
- Detroit Lions are still learning how to win and will have growing pains, but they are for real!
- The Baltimore Ravens – a new offense, and they took out the Bengals, who start slow, and their QB Joe Burrow missed an entire preseason and training camp.
- New Orleans Saints – that defense can carry them, and they’ll get Alvin Kamara back in a few weeks. The ceiling is high, as their offense is still learning to gel.
NFL Power Rankings: Pretenders or Contenders?
- Cincinnati Bengals – where’s QB Joe Burrow? What happened to the defense that’s supposed to be a strength entering the season? They start slow and should recover, but you can’t afford to lose games you’re supposed to win.
- Jacksonville Jaguars – this team needs to learn how to win against the better teams. The Chiefs’ loss showed they can be competitive, but they must now learn to beat the elite and close-to-elite teams as their next growth phase.
- The New York Jets – must give Zach Wilson a chance to improve, or their season is over. The Cowboys look elite, so it’s tough to gauge where the Jets’ offense is facing a stout rush, but the Jets’ vaunted elite defense let the team down this week.
- Cleveland Browns – the rushing attack was vital in helping Deshaun Watson to find his groove since leaving the Texans. However, this could be a struggle with Nick Chubb (knee) out for the season. Watson isn’t anywhere near the form we saw while he was with the Houston Texans. That fully guaranteed contract may become the stuff of legends in bad front-office decisions.
Grumblings Media Spotlight – Points on the Board
Pioneers of the fantasy sports industry, William Del Pilar and Big John, team up to bring you Points on the Board, a sports talk podcast that’ll make you think deeply and laugh out loud.
In this episode, Del Pilar welcomes Eddie Aparicio to discuss Victor Wembanyama, Damian Lillard, NFL Power Rankings heading into Week 3, and more.
NFL Power Rankings: The Rest of the Best or Pretenders?
- Seattle Seahawks – they’re one of the best-coached teams in the NFL, and Pete Carroll has never gotten his due as an elite head coach, but can they continue to play poorly (penalties) and win? The victory against the Lions is enormous!
- Pittsburgh Steelers – the knock with head coach Mike Tomlin is that it may be time to move on and start anew, as the past few years have shown sloppy and inefficient football. However, the saving grace is that Tomlin excels with the team’s improvement as the season progresses. That should happen again, especially with Kenny Pickett and the expected gains as the season progresses.
- Tennessee Titans – head coach Mike Vrabel’s personality sticks with this team. Play big, make no excuses, and keep fighting until the end. While they’ll be competitive every week, overall, they don’t have guns, specifically at quarterback, and WR DeAndre Hopkins is on the wrong side of thirty. That said, Vrabel’s a great motivator, so they’ll compete every week.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers – are we seeing a maturation of Baker Mayfield into the quarterback many thought he’d be? If so, this team will rise in the rankings, but we must wait and see.
- Washington Commanders – are winning against subpar teams, but the good teams beat the teams they have to. We’re not sure where the Commanders will end up, but their perseverance is critical to their 2-0 start and begins the legend of “Eric Bieniemy!”
- Atlanta Falcons – After initially leaving them off and thinking they ranked about 25th during the podcast, they’re 2-0 and are playing smart football. They’ll return to Earth, but this outstanding start will give them the confidence they need at the quarterback position in developing Desmond Ridder. Ridder is still developing chemistry with his wide receivers, and we’re still wondering where TE Kyle Pitts is. While the Carolina Panthers win isn’t notable, the comeback against the Green Bay Packers is, especially considering how they could’ve quit but didn’t. What should’ve been a loss – we saw perseverance and a win.
NFL Power Rankings: Get it Together, or Else.
- Green Bay Packers – Jordan Love looks like the real deal for fantasy owners, but that’s a big disconnect from the reality of winning in the NFL. Also, their defense isn’t impressive, and thus, it appears we have the same formula as ever in Green Bay, which shows a team that can be dominant but doesn’t play dominant against teams they should beat. Can they improve?
- Minnesota Vikings – a whiz kid offensive coordinator not ready for the big leagues? It could be the case as this team seems to play poorly, does not care for fundamentals, and they have a coach who only wants to throw. Letting Dalvin Cook go looks to have been a mistake.
- New York Giants – this team is playing poorly, but this writer noted if they’re for real, they’d be able to come back against the lowly Arizona Cardinals. The genuine issue now is Saquon Barkley (ankle), and how much time he’ll miss. Week 3 is a given, but how much past that, if any? After two weeks of poor play, this team must get it together based on expectations, or Daniel Jones’ contract is looming as another flawed business decision.
- Los Angeles Rams – when you whore yourself out to mercenaries, odds are the salary cap will get you, and it has. This team still suffers salary cap issues from their Super Bowl run. Regardless of what analysts want to tell us, they don’t have the depth necessary to make a serious run. Not to mention, Matthew Stafford is another year older (35), and he’s not the classic stay-in-shape workout warrior. The likelihood of WR Cooper Kupp coming back soon doesn’t bode well, and finally, don’t look too deeply into the Niners game. Division rivals tend to play differently based on knowing one another intimately. The only flaw in my analysis is Puka Nacua. If they can pair him with Kupp once he’s back, the passing game could be devastating and make them a playoff contender.
- Los Angeles Chargers – let’s get something straight. The Chargers have a long history – of losing close ones or outright giving the game away, as they did here. Head coach Brandon Staley should be in the hot seat already! This team is a franchise with a history of not knowing how to win close games and lacking the toughness (think Vrabel and the Titans) teams need to be dominant. They’re a soft, finesse team.
NFL Power Rankings: The Rest or We’re Playing for Draft Position
- New England Patriots – this team looks like it’s from the 1950s and hasn’t adapted to today’s NFL. However, they have to come together as a team to be competitive. They have no one to put them on their backs and carry them. They’re not far off, but this may be a season of close losses before acquiring another piece or two before they can compete for a deep run.
- Denver Broncos – new coach, new offense, same losing ways. This team is still learning to play together and has yet to learn how to win. More close game losses are likely than wins, but if QB Russell Wilson can revert to form, they could create quite a few upset wins. That jury is still out.
- Las Vegas Raiders – The Buffalo Bills gave them a reality check, but this team needs Josh Jacobs to get back into game shape. Once that happens, this team can compete, but until then, a wide receiver (Davante Adams) has never carried an NFL team, and as good as Adams is, he can’t do that.
- Indianapolis Colts – Anthony Richardson is proving his critics wrong with his play, but not his critics who had health concerns. Teams will key in on him without RB Jonathan Taylor (ankle), and Richardson is yet to stay healthy in only two weeks of play. The team needs Taylor back ASAP; until then, dividends won’t be high with this team.
- Carolina Panthers – Rookie QB Bryce Young doesn’t look good at all, and right now, the offense is nowhere near expectations. They’re playing for experience this season and draft picks, as they need more help than their supporters want to admit.
- The Chicago Bears – are playing poorly, and Justin Fields is part of that problem. Still, patience will wear thin with both the front office and fans as they expect Fields to make massive improvements this season, specifically in the “W” column, and compete for MVP. Right now, he’s holding on to the ball too long.
- Houston Texans – this team is in a complete rebuild mode and looking to ensure rookie QB C.J. Stroud gets his reps in, i.e., experience on the field. They will remain part of the bottom unless a miracle happens.
- Arizona Cardinals – this team should’ve beaten the Giants and are playing with great heart but don’t have the offensive manpower to win. They may pull off an upset or two, but a losing season seems guaranteed.
There you have it! William Del Pilar’s Week Two NFL Power Rankings. Do you agree or not? Let us know.
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