2023 NFL Power Rankings: Week 2
We’re officially through the first week of the 2023 NFL season and judging by the overreactions, half of the teams are Super Bowl bound while the other half are guaranteed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. There’s no in between according to some fans.
While it’s way too early to make any declarations, we learned quite a bit about every team to begin the season. For example, the Kansas City Chiefs can’t rely on Patrick Mahomes to do it all, while the Dallas Cowboys look like a complete team if they can stay healthy. But what about everyone else?
Each week of the season, Bears Wire will unveil power rankings of all 32 NFL teams. Here are the rankings entering Week 2.
1. San Francisco 49ers
Week 1 result: 30-7 win at Pittsburgh Steelers
Last week’s ranking: No. 4
If there were any doubts about Brock Purdy heading into the season as a starter, those can be put to bed. The 49ers dismantled the Steelers with efficient offense and stifling defense. Nick Bosa got paid and doesn’t look like he has any rust. They’re a complete team to start the year.
2. Dallas Cowboys
Week 1 result: 40-0 win at New York Giants
Last week’s ranking: No. 6
You couldn’t ask for a more complete game from the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. Dallas’ defense made life miserable for Daniel Jones and the New York Giants, while the offense hummed with no turnovers or sacks allowed. They made a statement with their performance in prime time.
3. Philadelphia Eagles
Week 1 result: 25-20 win at New England Patriots
Last week’s ranking: No. 2
Once again, the Eagles thwarted Tom Brady, even if he wasn’t playing. Philadelphia opened their season with a sluggish win and have some things to work on. But even on their off days, they still have the talent to gut out tough victories.
4. Miami Dolphins
Week 1 result: 36-34 win at Los Angeles Chargers
Last week’s ranking: No. 10
Tua Tagovailoa is back and the Dolphins offense is thriving with him under center. He put on a show in Los Angeles with Tyreek Hill in a back-and-forth affair with the Chargers and secured the win late. It’s the kind of performance Dolphins fans needed to see.
5. Kansas City Chiefs
Week 1 result: 20-21 loss vs. Detroit Lions
Last week’s ranking: No. 1
It turns out Patrick Mahomes can’t do it all when his receivers drop passes and Travis Kelce is unavailable. But the good news is Kelce should be back this week and Chris Jones ended his holdout, giving a boost to the defense going forward.
6. Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 1 result: 31-21 win vs. Indianapolis Colts
Last week’s ranking: No. 7
There’s a new dynamic duo in the league now that Trevor Lawrence has Calvin Ridley as a receiver. The Jaguars offense continues to get better and better and Lawrence could enter the MVP conversation sooner rather than later.
7. Baltimore Ravens
Week 1 result: 25-9 win vs. Houston Texans
Last week’s ranking: No. 9
The Ravens were dealt a blow on their offense as running back J.K. Dobbins was lost for the year with a torn Achilles. But they continued on thanks to Justice Hill and a stifling defense and cruised to an easy victory.
8. Buffalo Bills
Week 1 result: 16-22 loss at New York Jets
Last week’s ranking: No. 3
It looked like the Bills had an easy victory when the Jets lost Aaron Rodgers to injury, but Josh Allen threw three interceptions and coughed up a fumble to keep the Jets in the game and ultimately, give them the victory. Buffalo should bounce back, but this was one of the worst performances of Allen’s career.
No. 9 Detroit Lions
Week 1 result: 21-20 win at Kansas City Chiefs
Last week’s ranking: No. 13
The Lions had many opportunities to put the Chiefs away early, but kept them in the game until the end. Nevertheless, they took down the reigning Super Bowl champions and started their season off on the right foot while dealing with lofty expectations.
10. Cincinnati Bengals
Week 1 result: 3-24 loss at Cleveland Browns
Last week’s ranking: No. 5
The Bengals and Joe Burrow once again start the season slow, but this time they had little to no life on offense. They should get things figured out but it was an uninspiring effort against a division foe.
11. Los Angeles Chargers
Week 1 result: 34-36 loss vs. Miami Dolphins
Last week’s ranking: No. 8
The Chargers put up a good fight against the Dolphins, yet were on the wrong side of the result when it was all said and done. Their defense is too talented to give up nearly 500 passing yards, but at least their offense can keep them in games.
12. Cleveland Browns
Week 1 result: 24-3 win vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Last week’s ranking: No. 16
The Browns offense is still a work in progress after Deshaun Watson’s uneven day, but at least they have a stellar defense. Cleveland was giving fits to Joe Burrow all afternoon long, keeping them from doing much of anything. If the Browns can get their offense going, watch out.
13. New York Jets
Week 1 result: 22-16 win vs. Buffalo Bills
Last week’s ranking: No. 12
The Jets got a big win over the Bills in overtime, but the big news is the potential season-ending injury to Aaron Rodgers. The Jets are loaded with talent on both sides of the ball and now will have to turn back to Zach Wilson to lead them. That’s not quite how their fans saw this season going.
14. Green Bay Packers
Week 1 result: 38-20 win at Chicago Bears
Week 1 ranking: No. 22
The official start of the Jordan Love era couldn’t have gone much better for the Packers. He threw for three scores and pulled away from the Bears in the second half. We’ll see if they can keep it up, but it was an impressive start to the season.
15. New Orleans Saints
Week 1 result: 16-15 win vs. Tennessee Titans
Last week’s ranking: No. 17
The Derek Carr era didn’t get off to a bang in New Orleans, it was more of a light tap. Still, Carr helped the Saints win a close one over the Titans thanks to timely third-down conversions. A healthy Michael Thomas also helps when it comes to the passing attack.
16. Seattle Seahawks
Week 1 result: 13-30 loss vs. Los Angeles Rams
Last week’s ranking: No. 11
The Seahawks opened their season like we all thought they would last year. They were outplayed by the Rams and Geno Smith turned into a pumpkin when his two tackles went out of the game. Time will tell if the Seahawks can rebound but it wasn’t an encouraging start to the year.
17. Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 1 result: 7-30 loss vs. San Francisco 49ers
Last week’s ranking: No. 14
It turns out the preseason isn’t an accurate indicator of regular season success. Who knew? The Steelers looked abysmal against one of the premier teams in the league. Kenny Pickett was ineffective and the defense had few answers for the San Francisco offense.
18. Los Angeles Rams
Week 1 result: 30-13 loss at Seattle Seahawks
Last week’s ranking: No. 26
Perhaps if the Rams have a healthy quarterback, they can actually field a competitive team. Matthew Stafford returned to form and the Rams relied on their running game to put points on the board. If they can hold down the fort while Cooper Kupp recovers, there’s a chance they may have a chance to be more competitive than previously thought.
19. Atlanta Falcons
Week 1 result: 24-10 win vs. Carolina Panthers
Last week’s ranking: No. 25
The Falcons offense didn’t need to do much when their defense set them up with short fields on multiple occasions. Jessie Bates intercepted Bryce Young twice that helped put the Falcons on the board. They pulled away late and gave the rookie quarterback hell in his first start.
20. New England Patriots
Week 1 result: 20-25 loss vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Last week’s ranking: No. 20
Tom Brady was in the building, but he wasn’t going to suit up and help the Patriots come back against the Eagles. Mac Jones threw the ball 54 times but couldn’t lead a scoring drive late to steal a win. The Patriots didn’t move in the rankings and are the same team we thought they were going into the season.
21. Washington Commanders
Week 1 result: 20-16 win vs. Arizona Cardinals
Last week’s ranking: No. 23
It wasn’t a pretty performance, but the Commanders were able to hold off the Cardinals and pull away for the victory. Sam Howell had a rough opener and the offense turned the ball over three times to an inferior Arizona squad.
22. Minnesota Vikings
Week 1 result: 17-20 loss vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Last week’s ranking: No. 18
The look on Justin Jefferson’s face as the game ended said it all. The Vikings had the best player on the field on Sunday, but couldn’t do much outside of Jefferson’s performance. The Vikings one-score game luck finally ran out.
23. New York Giants
Week 1 result: 0-40 loss vs. Dallas Cowboys
Last week’s ranking: No. 15
No team had a worse performance on the field than the Giants on Sunday Night Football. New York couldn’t get anything going at any level, whether it was turnovers on offense, allowing big gains on defense, and special teams miscues. It was a complete breakdown against a division rival.
24. Tennessee Titans
Week 1 result: 15-16 loss at New Orleans Saints
Last week’s ranking: No. 24
The Titans didn’t show us anything we didn’t already know. They have a struggling offense with Ryan Tannehill as the signal caller, while their defense can hold their own to keep them in games. They’ll play teams tough but wins will be hard to come by.
25. Las Vegas Raiders
Week 1 result: 17-16 win vs. Denver Broncos
Week 1 ranking: No. 30
Jimmy Garoppolo had one of his patented performances where he was efficient enough to secure a victory. The Raiders defense, meanwhile, stepped up even without Chandler Jones and started the season off on a good foot.
26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 1 result: 20-17 win at Minnesota Vikings
Last week’s ranking: No. 28
Perhaps we were too harsh on the Buccaneers following the retirement of Tom Brady. Baker Mayfield stepped up when he needed to most and the team still has star players on both sides of the ball. Let’s see how far they can go, though.
27. Denver Broncos
Week 1 result: 16-17 loss vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Last week’s ranking: No. 19
The good news for Broncos fans is their Week 1 game wasn’t as disastrous as their Week 1 game from last year. Denver was missing key players and Russell Wilson wasn’t as detrimental to the team. But they needed to beat an inferior Raiders team and couldn’t.
28. Chicago Bears
Week 1 result: 20-38 loss vs. Green Bay Packers
Last week’s ranking: No. 21
The Bears were outcoached, outplayed, and outsmarted in their game against the Packers. This was supposed to be the turning point in a one-sided rivalry and instead it was much of the same.
29. Carolina Panthers
Week 1 result: 10-24 loss at Atlanta Falcons
Last week’s ranking: No. 27
Bryce Young may be a good quarterback someday, but throwing to below-average receivers with poor blocking won’t help his development. It could be a long year for the Panthers.
30. Indianapolis Colts
Week 1 result: 21-31 loss vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Last week’s ranking: No. 31
The Colts were able to hang with the Jaguars for the majority of the game and Anthony Richardson made some highlight plays. That’s enough to move them up a spot, but expectations should still be low for this team.
31. Houston Texans
eek 1 result: 9-25 loss at Baltimore Ravens
Last week’s ranking: No. 30
Like the Colts, the Texans have reason for optimism after C.J. Stroud had a passable debut. It’s just going to be a awhile until that optimism results in wins on the field.
32. Arizona Cardinals
Week 1 result: 16-20 loss at Washington Commanders
Last week’s ranking: No. 32
Only 17 more weeks, Cardinals fans. You can do this.
