There's no bigger mess than NFL power rankings heading into Week 2.
The Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts are winless. The New York Jets and Tennessee Titans are undefeated. Everyone is sprinting back to the drawing board, planning Peyton Manning's retirement party and Marcus Mariota's Hall of Fame induction.
Nothing fools the masses like a microscopic sample size. At the same time, fans also can't completely ignore Seattle's leaky offensive line, Manning's sluggish start or Mariota's historic debut. They happened, and no season is shorter than the NFL's 16-game schedule.
After one week of action, let's try to compartmentalize the important lessons learned with the randomness that won't last.
Week 1 Winners
Rather than pressing the panic button on top contenders, let's whirl a positive spin on Week 1. While everyone enters the season with a blank slate, all 32 teams can't realistically harbor Super Bowl expectations.
These squads weren't viewed as major players, and they have a ways to go before breaking into the postseason conversation. Yet they certainly opened 2015 on a strong note, creating buzz that didn't necessarily exist a week ago.
St. Louis Rams
For the second straight year, the St. Louis Rams conquered the Seattle Seahawks at home.
Without Todd Gurley, Tre Mason and Brian Quick, St. Louis generated 352 offensive yards against last year's premier defense. In an inspiring team debut, Nick Foles averaged 11.0 yards per pass attempt, a clip topped only by Mariota.
Contrary to the 34-31 result, inflated by Seahawks scores on a punt return and fumble recovery, the Rams defense met the growing hype. In addition to limiting Marshawn Lynch to 73 yards—and ending the game on a 4th-and-1 stuff—it sacked Russell Wilson six times.
"It was our job to hold them for the win," Aaron Donald said, per ESPN.com's Nick Wagoner. "That’s the way you want to end games and we did it."
Last year's Defensive Rookie of the Year demolished Seattle's offensive line all day, making an early case to ascend into Defensive Player of the Year territory. Pro Football Focus gave him Week 1's highest grade among all players at 10.1.
With Donald leading the dominant defensive line, the Rams can make some noise with competent quarterback play from Foles. An easier Week 2 tilt at Washington gives them a golden opportunity to start 2-0, keeping them in good shape while waiting for Gurley's arrival.
Just don't anoint them NFC West champions just yet. An upset over Seattle marked no more than a footnote on last year's 6-10 campaign.
San Francisco 49ers
What just happened? After losing Frank Gore, Anthony Davis, Mike Iupati, Patrick Willis, Chris Borland, Justin Smith and Aldon Smith during a doomsday offseason, the San Francisco 49ers' 2015 outlook matched their all-black uniforms debuted on Monday night.
Despite dressing for their funeral, the 49ers instead returned from the dead, gutting the Minnesota Vikings in a 20-3 stomping that encapsulated everything about the former perennial Super Bowl contenders.
A rebuilt defense stymied Adrian Peterson to 31 rushing yards on 11 carries, limiting Minnesota to 4.6 yards per play. Viewers expecting bulldozing runs from No. 28 got them instead from Carlos Hyde, who brightened the mood around a seemingly dreadful offense.
In the team's first game without Gore since 2010, his replacement stole the show with two touchdowns, one obtained with a spin move out of Madden. NFL's Twitter page relayed the highlight play:
Displaying excellent elusiveness and agility, the 23-year-old proved impossible to tackle. As noted by ESPN Stats & Info, he compiled ample yardage after evading defenders:
Along with six hard-nosed NFC West matchups, San Francisco must combat the AFC North and NFC North this season. Many of those carry superior run-prevention units than the Vikings, who ranked No. 25 in rushing defense last year. Those teams also now know which name to circle when formulating a strategy.
It's too early to say San Francisco has successfully proved the doubters wrong, but this squad no longer looks like a disaster waiting to happen.
Tennessee Titans
Hey, somebody had to win between the Tennessee Titans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. (Well, not really. They could have tied, but you get the point.) One win over another basement-dwelling team doesn't wash all of the Titans' worries away, but Mariota's sparkling debut provided their best possible start.
In his first taste of NFL action, the No. 2 overall draft pick went 13-of-16 for 209 passing yards and four touchdowns. A dual-threat star in Oregon, Mariota only needed his arm to torch the Titans with rousing efficiency. Tennessee bragged about its new quarterback:
They won't maintain their first-place standing inside the AFC South, but the Titans could follow the Houston Texans' path from 2-14 to 9-7. Along with two games against the Jacksonville Jaguars, they'll get treated to the New York Jets, Oakland Raiders and the NFC South this season. They have a strong shot at matching last year's win tally this weekend against the Cleveland Browns.
A winning record is a bit ambitious, as those same teams are looking back at the Titans as a potential victory. Last year's No. 27 defense, which dodged a bullet when Buccaneer Mike Evans sat out, still has to face Andrew Luck (twice), Drew Brees, Matt Ryan and Tom Brady this season.
Left tackle Taylor Lewan doesn't want to hear any hype around a team that hasn't made the playoffs since 2008. “Don’t start that. Please, dear God, no buzz,” Lewan told the Tennessean's John Glennon. “We’re still the Tennessee Titans and people still think we’re an Arena League team. Let us be and let us try to win games.”
For his sake, let's keep this in perspective. Mariota won't carve up defenses with ease all season, and the Titans will prey on opposing newcomers dealing with more typical growing pains. With a promising quarterback and exploitable schedule, there's at least hope for progress, even if that merely means escaping last place with seven wins.
via http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2567097-nfl-power-rankings-2015-predicting-post-week-2-standings
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