Crowe - NFL Week #2 Power Rankings
Sunday, September 19, 2021
One week is in the books for the 2021 NFL Season. Let the overreactions begin!
Sure, it’s easy for fans and media alike to overhype a team for a week one win while at the same time, giving a team that loses in week 1 an early doom and gloom feel for their season. So, with that in mind, we’re here to bring you back to reality and be that moderate in the room.
But, before we get there, let me give a huge shoutout to ESPN, Peyton and Eli Manning. Peyton and Eli’s broadcast of Monday Night Football’s game between the Ravens and Raiders on ESPN2 was AMAZING! It was so good that I never even put on the main feed of the game on ESPN and ABC. The Manning Brothers brought football x’s and o’s insight, mixed it with comedic moments, real opinions and awesome guests like Russell Wilson, Travis Kelce and Charles Barkley. After just one week, it’s Must-See Monday Night TV. Check out some highlights here. And that’s no overreaction folks.
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10. Miami Dolphins (1-0)
Round one in the Battle of Alabama quarterbacks goes to Tua Tagovailoa as they march into Foxboro and sneak by rookie Mac Jones and the New England Patriots. Call it just enough mix of clutch plays, an opportunistic defense and taking advantage of the Patriots sloppy, penalty-filled performance. That defense caused two turnovers including a Damien Harris fumble inside the Dolphins’ 10-yard line with under four minutes to go to preserve a 17-16 victory. This week, the Dolphins get to prove if they’re for real, hosting Buffalo where a victory could really set Miami up nicely with two divisional wins and leave the Bills at 0-2.
9. Los Angeles Chargers (1-0)
It’s season 2 for quarterback Justin Herbert and at least for one week, he showed no signs of the sophomore jinx. Herbert goes 31-47, 337 yards and a touchdown in rallying the Chargers to a 20-16 victory in Washington for new head coach Brandon Staley’s first win. In a week where everyone in the AFC West was victorious, the Bolts proved they belong as contenders in the AFC.
8. Seattle Seahawks (1-0)
Remember when Russell Wilson was throwing 4 and 5 touchdowns during the first 8 games of the 2020 season? Well, Danger Russ is back! Wilson tossed four touchdowns in leading the Seahawks to an easy road win in Indianapolis. How good is Tyler Lockett? He caught four of five targets for 100 yards and a pair of scores. Now that’s being effective folks!
7. Arizona Cardinals (1-0)
Who saw this one coming? Kyler Murray with four touchdown passes to go with his 289 yards passing. Chandler Jones with five sacks. The Cards not only come away with a dominating 38-13 victory on the road in Tennessee but they held Julio Jones and Derrick Henry in check. The question now is was that a week one fluke or are the Cards a real threat in the overloaded NFC West, where everyone is now 1-0.
6. Los Angeles Rams (1-0)
Game one of the Matthew Stafford era (321 yards, 3 TDs) was smooth sailing for the Rams. It looked as if LA wasn’t even challenged by the Bears Sunday night, cruising to a 34-14 victory. If the Rams can run the ball as effectively as they did with Darrell Henderson leading the way with 70 yards and a touchdown, Stafford’s life will be so much easier than it was in Detroit.
5. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0)
Reports of the Steelers’ demise may have been a bit premature. Buoyed by a solid defense that kept Josh Allen and the Bills in check for the majority of the game with 3 sacks and holding Buffalo to just 25% efficiency in the red zone, Pittsburgh did just enough offensively, garnering roughly 250 total yards and got a blocked punt for a touchdown to seal the deal. It won’t be explosive, but it may just harken back to the Steel Curtain, run the ball and do just enough in the passing game to provide a blueprint to victory.
4. New Orleans Saints (1-0)
Take that Green Bay and the rest of the NFL. Jameis Winston starts his Saints’ career with 5 touchdown passes and an exceedingly easy 38-3 rout of the Packers in Jacksonville. That’s certainly how head coach Sean Payton would’ve like to start the post-Drew Brees era. We know that Winston has the talent and it showed, especially without Michael Thomas, who’s still on injured reserve, but for New Orleans to be a contender, Winston will have to be consistent. How bad was it for Green Bay? Aaron Rodgers went 15-28 for 133 yards and 2 interceptions.
3. San Francisco 49ers (1-0)
Jimmy Garoppolo threw a touchdown pass. Trey Lance threw a touchdown pass. The 49ers rolled to a 24-point lead before holding on for an 8-point victory over the Lions. At the end of the day, it’s a win, but the injury bug is already hitting the 49ers again. Cornerback Jason Verrett is out for the season with a torn ACL and RB Raheem Mostert, who was previously scheduled to be out up to 8 weeks with chipped cartilage in his knee, joins him Tuesday after opting for season-ending knee surgery.
2. Kansas City Chiefs (1-0)
Same ol’ story for the Chiefs. They were down 22-10 to the Browns. Ho hum. Patrick Mahomes rallies the troops and holds on with a late interception of Baker Mayfield to win 33-29. They are the best in the AFC. In September, Mahomes is now 11-0 with 35 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Pretty. Pretty good. Their offensive line, with five new starters, is a work in progress and will get better as they play together. Barring a major injury, the Chiefs should be regular players at the top of our weekly power rankings.
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0)
To the Champs go the spoils. But it wasn’t as easy as we thought it was going to be as the Bucs needed a final-minute drive from Tom Brady (379 yards passing, four touchdowns) and a last-second field goal from Ryan Succop to garner the 31-29 victory. Think about it, the Cowboys rolled up 451 yards of offense, won the turnover battle 4-1, had the ball 12 more minutes than Tampa Bay and the Bucs still won. Plain and simple, TB12 and crew got it done when needed. That’s why there are the defending champs and odds-on-favorites to repeat.
Games to watch this week:
Raiders at Steelers (Sunday 1 pm) – Winner leads the AFC at 2-0
Patriots at Jets (Sunday 1 pm) – Loser is 0-2 in AFC East
Chiefs at Ravens (Sunday 8:20 pm) – Mahomes vs. Jackson. Enough said.
Lions at Packers (Monday 8:15 pm) – Loser goes to 0-2 in NFC North. Can Aaron Rodgers rebound?