Everyone still chasing Patriots Vikings, Ravens rise Browns plummet

Amaking s it does every year, Week 1 of the football season has the habit of

us all out to be fools. You have the option of sweeping your failed predictions and doomed hot takes under the rug, never to be spoken of again. You delete the tweets, scrub the text chains, tell your friends they simply misheard you when you said the Jaguars would make Patrick Mahomes look like Tyler Thigpen. You escape... unscathed.

But the teams still have to deal with the ramifications of their openers, make adjustments and tweaks in game-plans for their remaining 15 contests.

Here are our NFL power rankings, post Week 1 edition:

1. New England Patriots: If they’re 30 points better than Pittsburgh before bringing Antonio Brown into fold, who’s going to derail them going forward? (AB himself, right?)

2. Kansas City Chiefs: Appears they’ll get nice boost from a pair of ex-Bills – RB Shady McCoy and WR Sammy Watkins. KC definitely looms as most significant threat to New England.

3. Minnesota Vikings: Suffocating defense and a relentless run game with QB Kirk Cousins almost in a complementary role – exactly the type of team that Mike Zimmer wants.

4. New Orleans Saints: This time they avoided heartbreaking loss on national stage, but secondary has work to do if New Orleans is to celebrate 10-year Super Bowl anniversary in style.

5. Baltimore Ravens: QB Lamar Jackson looked like an MVP. New-look defense appeared up to Baltimore’s perennial standards. But was it all a Miami mirage?

6. Los Angeles Chargers: To recap – RB Melvin Gordon isn’t collecting a paycheck while looking utterly expendable during his holdout. This seems to be backfiring.

7. Dallas Cowboys: Slightly overshadowed

by QB Dak Prescott’s sublime opener and RB Zeke Elliott’s new paycheck was strong debut of new OC Kellen Moore.

8. Tennessee Titans: Slightly overshadowed by QB Marcus Mariota’s sublime opener and TE Delanie Walker’s inspiring return was strong debut of new OC Arthur Smith.

9. Los Angeles Rams: Quite a start by LBs, Dante Fowler and Clay Matthews combining for three sacks while Cory Littleton tied for league lead with 14 tackles.

10. Philadelphia Eagles: Took a half to knock rust off, but then QB Carson Wentz showed form everyone expects. Foot injury to DT Malik Jackson a tough setback.

11. Green Bay Packers: Defensive acquisitions apparently jelling quickly, good news for team that may have to rely on DC Mike Pettine’s group as offense settles.

12. Seattle Seahawks: Better learn from wholly unimpressive opener given miles about to mount up – three of Hawks’ next four road games are 1 p.m. ET kickoffs.

13. Chicago Bears: Matt Nagy’s playsheet has a reminder: “BE YOU.” If you followed advice, Matt, scrap it. If you didn’t, heed it fast after that eyesore.

14. Atlanta Falcons: No run game, no defense, too much reliance on Matt Ryan – looked a lot like Atlanta’s recent flawed teams in ugly opening effort.

15. Pittsburgh Steelers: Big Ben wasn’t very good between lines Sunday. But he was nails on postgame podium, uttering “Whatever” when asked about AB joining Pats.

16. Houston Texans: Superb performance by QB Deshaun Watson in defeat. Let’s hope there are more given he’s already on pace to suffer 96 sacks, which would be a record.

17. San Francisco 49ers: Defense that had two INTs all of 2018 comes out of chute with pair of pick-sixes in Week 1 victory. It does help facing Jameis Winston.

18. Carolina Panthers: QB Cam Newton looked far from MVP-caliber – and didn’t get much help aside from Christian McCaffrey – after shoulder operation No. 2.

19. Indianapolis Colts: RB Marlon Mack (100-yard rusher in three of last four outings), sticky-fingered S Malik Hooker may emerge as stars for team that needs some.

20. Buffalo Bills: It rarely seems pretty with QB Josh Allen, but give him points for resilience after overcoming his four turnovers vs Jets.

21. New York Jets: Ousted GM Mike Maccagnan’s free agent signings – RB Le’Veon Bell, WR Jamison Crowder, LB C.J. Mosley – looked good. A shame he didn’t re-sign K Jason Myers.

22. Cleveland Browns: Systemic failure with all three phases flopping in what should be a loud wake-up call. Recalibration needs to start with better O-line play.

23. Oakland Raiders: Who needs Antonio Brown when you’ve got Tyrell Williams, Darren Waller and Josh Jacobs? Give Oakland points for perseverance post-AB.

24. Jacksonville Jaguars: Rookie QB Gardner Minshe surprisingly solid in relief of Nick Foles. Minshew must step up further with consecutive AFC South games on tap.

25. Cincinnati Bengals: Very early returns suggest new Cincinnati boss Zac Taylor a stronger limb of Sean McVay coaching tree than former colleague Matt LaFleur.

26. Arizona Cardinals: More worrisome than QB Kyler Murray’s struggles Sunday was amount of punishment he took. Maybe he can run this offense, but can he survive it?

27. Detroit Lions: OLB Devon Kennard (league-best 3 sacks in opener) quietly becoming nice player under Matt Patricia. Too bad his effort didn’t translate to a W.

28. Washington Redskins: Hope Dwayne Haskins was watching closely as QB Case Keenum made lemonade from lemons in impressive Week 1 showing – just not quite enough.

29. New York Giants: Gotta feel for QB Eli Manning to some degree. No matter what he does, just feels like twotime Super Bowl MVP is on very borrowed time.

30. Denver Broncos: Looks like this could be another long year with another quarterback not named Peyton Manning taking this proud franchise nowhere.

31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

Same old Bucs, even under Bruce Arians. Well, maybe not – RB Ronald Jones’ 75 rushing yards exceeded entire rookie output (44 yards).

32. Miami Dolphins: They opened as 19-point underdogs at home for Week 2 date against New England. Doesn’t seem like nearly a large enough spread. (USA Today/TNS)

On TV: NFL Week 2: Sunday: New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins (live on METV at 8 p.m.); New Orleans Saints at LA Rams (live on METV at 11 p.m.); KC Chiefs at Oakland Raiders (live on Sport5+Live at 11 p.m.); Philadelphia Eagles at Atlanta Falcons (live on Sport5 at 3:30 a.m.). Monday: Cleveland Browns at NY Jets (live on Sport5 at 3:30 a.m.).