Chiefs rise to the top after impressive opener
1. Kansas City Chiefs
(9): They’ve probably been unfairly overlooked until now. Alex Smith, Kareem Hunt and Justin Houston ensure they won’t be any longer after statement win.
2. Green Bay Packers (5):
The game ball goes to DT Mike Daniels, who had 11⁄ sacks and 2 stripped Russell Wilson at his own 6-yard line to set up Pack’s first TD.
3. Oakland Raiders (8):
Defense was their biggest issue, but it held a capable Tennessee offense in check on the road. Very positive start.
4. Atlanta Falcons (2):
Predictably, Kyle Shanahan-less offense wasn’t same in opener. But we now know why Matt Ryan has been talking up sophomore TE Austin Hooper.
5. Pittsburgh Steelers (4):
Since stats became official stat in 1982, T.J. Watt is first rookie to debut in Week 1 with 2 sacks and INT. Brother J.J. Watt has never had such a game.
6. Dallas Cowboys (6):
Dallas caught the Giants without OBJ and exploited New York’s shaky O-line. But give young, beleaguered Cowboys D credit for starting strong.
7. New England Patriots (1):
Panic button? Start Garoppolo? Can Belichick? Definitely. Oh, by the way, Pats won Super Bowl last 3 times (’01, ’03, ’14) they lost in Week 1.
8. Seattle Seahawks (3):
Russell Wilson was sacked 3 times and hit 7. The running backs gained 53 yards, averaging 3.5 per carry. Yeah, that O-line is still horrendous.
9. Denver Broncos (15):
For most of Monday, they resembled their 2015 championship form, playing suffocating defense with Trevor Siemian leading efficient offense.
10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
(12): Promising season got off to scary start, and Bucs didn’t even play. At least they can move forward after Tampa avoided direct hit from Irma.
11. Baltimore Ravens (18):
If Joe Flacco only has to throw 17 times a week, there won’t be any need to put this decimated but battle-hardened team on his injured back.
12. Tennessee Titans (7):
They didn’t live up to the hype in Week 1, failing to establish the run or convert in the red zone against Oakland’s defense.
13. Detroit Lions (23):
Can
$135 million be well spent on a QB? Matthew Stafford had a record 8 4th-quarter comebacks last year. He’s on pace to have 16 in
2017.
14. Carolina Panthers (14):
Offensively, what we expected — limited exposure of QB Cam Newton’s and lots of touches for Christian McCaffrey. Resurgent D a nice surprise.
15. Minnesota Vikings (17):
QB Sam Bradford, RB Dalvin Cook and WR Adam Thielen looked like quite a set of triplets with blocking to help them.
16. Philadelphia Eagles
(19): LeGarrette Blount caught a TD pass Sunday. Why is that noteworthy? He’d only done that one other time in his eight-year NFL career.
17. Los Angeles Chargers
(13): They showed a lot of grit in Monday’s 4th-quarter comeback. They also suffered the type of lapses that swung the outcome in Denver’s favor.
18. New York Giants (10):
If an offense with this many offensive weapons is that dependent on Odell Beckham Jr., then this evidently isn’t a very good football team.
19. Los Angeles Rams (24):
QB Jared Goff notched first career W and 300-yard game. The offense scored 30 points, which Rams did once in 2016. Even better, the D scored 16.
20. Miami Dolphins (20):
Can’t catch a break. Numerous camp injuries, then Irma throws huge wrench into their schedule and lives. At least they catch Bolts on short week.
21. Jacksonville Jaguars
(26): No Jag has had 10-sack season since ‘06. Yet they had 10 collectively Sunday, including 4 from newbie Calais Campbell. Helps mask their QB issues.
22. New Orleans
Saints (21): The defense still stinks. The offense had empty-calorie production. And Adrian Peterson looked like a woeful fit for this scheme.
23. Arizona Cardinals (11):
The injury to David Johnson is catastrophic given how offense now runs through him. Maybe Kerwynn Williams (5.4 career ypc) can hold fort.
24. Chicago Bears (30):
Could rookie Tarik Cohen’s stellar start (113 scrimmage yards) and Jordan Howard’s killer drop in clutch significantly alter RBs’ share of touches?
25. Washington Redskins
(22):
Not a $24 million performance from Kirk Cousins (INT, 2 fumbles), unless you count his team-high 30 rushing yards. (You shouldn’t count that.)
26. Houston Texans (16):
Given what they went through with Harvey, a letdown is probably understandable. But they need direction at QB and definitely need LT Duane Brown.
27. Buffalo Bills (28):
Nifty start for rookie coach Sean McDermott, who unexpectedly has long-suffering Bills alone in first place. Next up, team he knows well — Carolina.
28. Cleveland Browns (29):
Rookie QB DeShone Kizer had encouraging debut (pass/rush TD), and defense limited imposing Steelers offense to 290 yards. Factory of happiness?
29. Indianapolis Colts (27):
Nice job by QB Scott Tolzien, who threw 2 TD passes, while filling in for Andrew Luck. Oh wait, Tolzien’s TD passes were to the Rams. NVM.
30. Cincinnati Bengals (25):
Andy Dalton was picked off 4 times, lost a fumble, was sacked 5 times and hit on 3 occasions. Maybe Cincy will invest in O-line in future.
31. San Francisco 49ers
(31):
To all of those pundits who urged you to look out for the Niners as a sleeper, we now remind you to cover your eyes as we’d warned all along.
32. New York Jets (32):
Whew, that was close. Nice effort in Buffalo nearly cost them inside track on No. 1 pick. But Josh McCown got memo and tossed 2 4th-quarter INTs.
(Previous rank in parentheses)