Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #2: New Top Team, Chiefs Ascend, Eagles Fall?

Transcript

#2: New Top Team, Chiefs Ascend, Eagles Fall? · NFL Power Rankings

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Welcome to NFL Power Rankings. I'm your host, Colleen Wolfe,
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: here with the man, the myth. It is Nick Schuch.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Even though we've only had one week of games, this
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: is technically the week two Power Rankings. You can check
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: out his article weekly on NFL.com slash Power Rankings or
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: on There's a QR code too, so you can scan it.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: So you never have to miss it and you can
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: send him all of your love letters. Let's take a
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: look at teams one through eight here. We have a
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: new number one in town. It is the Seattle Seahawks
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: up two spots, followed by the Bills, the Ravens, the Bengals. Okay,
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: AFC North. We got the Jags, the Broncos at six,
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: tumbling four spots. The Rams, they fell six spots. And
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: then the Bears are up three at eight. So let's start.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: With the reigning Super Bowl champs, the Seattle Seahawks, at
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: number one, they lose Sam Darnold to a soft tissue
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: glute injury. But Drew Locke comes in, plays really well,
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: and why are they still your top team? Just because,
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: you know, they won the Super Bowl and they look
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: so good?
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: I mean, of course, right? And all my belief in
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: Drew Locke. No, it's actually a combination of what they
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: did in week one and how I think that they
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: can set up for week two, which is week one
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: they won with their identity. After a really slow start
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: and a really quiet situation in Seattle at Lumen Field,
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: where there was basically no energy and the Patriots were
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: kind of not really dominating but had the advantage in
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: this game, the Seahawks became the Seahawks again. Their defense
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: forced three takeaways. They were able to capitalize the long
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: Jackson Smith and Jigba touchdowns. and they come away victorious
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: by getting one last defensive stand, which is exactly who
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: they are and why I still believe in them. It's
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: also a product of movement by default because the two
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: teams in front of them both went down the rankings,
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: and I couldn't quite justify moving anybody else up. So
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: I feel good about them, even with Drew Locke, a quarterback.
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: They also play the Cardinals. Sneaky surprise in week one,
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: in week two on the road.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: I know. Listen, the Cardinals, we'll get to them in
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: a little bit, but they really surprised everyone, I think,
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: this past week. Let's get, though, to number two. The
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: Bills up two spots. They beat Houston. What an unbelievable
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: game this was. What, 67 combined points in this one?
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: So how impressed were you with Josh Allen and Joe Brady,
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: their ability to just go after this Texans defense?
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: You know, I picked Josh Allen as my MVP going
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: into the season. I did not expect him to get
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: off to such a hot start in week one. I mean,
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: this is a guy who really has had struggles in
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: Houston in the past years. They had lost last year.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: He had been sacked a career high amount of times.
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: It seemed like the Texans were his boogeyman, and yet
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: he overcame it really in his own fashion in week one,
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: which was Two rushing touchdowns, a wild scramble for a
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: score was one of them. He hits DJ Moore on
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: that long pass for a touchdown. Nice little kindling of
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: a connection there between those two guys. And overall, you know,
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: they end up scoring 36 points on a D'Amico Ryan's defense,
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: which is the most he's given up as a coach
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: of the Texans since 2023, when he became the coach
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: of the Texans. So that's a really impressive way for
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: the Bills to start this season. And then they go
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: into week two with another test on a short week.
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: against Detroit, but they're opening that new stadium, so they
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: got a lot of momentum.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I just think about Josh Allen, the fact
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: that the last time he faced this Houston defense, he
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: was sacked eight times. Like, this was a completely different performance.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: They completely flipped the script. on the Texans. So we'll
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: see how they do next week. Let's go to number three.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: We have the Ravens up three spots. They beat the Colts.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: How impressed are you with this Declan Doyle offense?
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: We have a new Ben Johnson. We have a new
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: hot coordinator who's going to get a bunch of looks
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: after one week, one performance. The Ravens offense was absolutely
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: fantastic in week one. They could do no wrong, whether
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: it was Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, the ageless wonder running
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: through this defense, Zay Flowers piling up 150 yards and
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: then just quietly exiting the game due to a hamstring injury.
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: They looked incredible. Defensively, they were awesome, too. Are they back?
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: Is the defense back?
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't go that far. Tavares Robinson was like their
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: most effective pass rusher, not Trey Hendrickson, but they were
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: really good in coverage, which is really important to me
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: when you come to the overall strength of this team.
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: And so I feel good about them. I'm worried about
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: Zay Flowers and his status with his hamstring injury. I
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: think they're deep enough to be able to make up
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: for it, and they still have Lamar Jackson, who was
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: excellent in this game as well.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the defense with head coach Jesse Minter, they forced
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: two turnovers. And they were able to just have these
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: short fields for the offense over and over again to
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: kind of put the game out of reach for the Ravens.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: So let's go to your number four team here. We
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: have the Bengals up three spots after they beat up
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: on the Bucs. Now, the Bengals, they were your AFC
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: choice to be in the Super Bowl during the preseason.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: So talking about the defense, which we just did for
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: the Ravens, is the defense back for the Bengals? No.
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: Look, sometimes we go through an offseason and we have
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: these great storylines. Best shape of my life.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: Always.
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: This defense is going to be completely redone. The Bengals,
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: it came true for at least one week. All their
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: new contributors made a difference. Boye Mafe making a big play.
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: It was Barrett Carter splitting a sack on a forced
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: fumble that Demetrius Knight took back for a touchdown. And
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: what was most important to me about this Bengals performance
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: defensively was that they played cohesively. They played aggressively. They
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: looked like they knew what they were supposed to do.
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: They didn't get caught out of position. Yes, they forced
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: a bunch of fumbles. They capitalized as well. And I
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: know they didn't force a punt, but look, a fumble
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: is a stop. And when you get four of them
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: in a game and you turn most of them into points.
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: I'm feeling pretty good about them. We know what they
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: have offensively. It wasn't the most explosive performance for them offensively,
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: but I'm feeling good about where they are going into
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: Week 2.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: So offensively, in Week 2, they're playing the Texans. Now
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: we just saw and talked about what the Bills did
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: to the Texans. How do you think this offense for
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: the Bengals will look against that defense?
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: Well, they're going to need more of a contribution from
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: Jamar Chase than they got last week. He was basically
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: nonexistent for the most part. And credit to the Buccaneers
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: for taking him away. Tee Higgins also, another guy that
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: you know they can count on, in the passing game.
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: And Chase Brown quietly had a very good game on
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: the ground. It's just that all this needs to come
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: together and be more of a factor than it was
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: in week one. Again, it didn't really need to be
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: because they got some short fields, but they're going to
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: need all hands on deck against this Texas team because
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: they're going to come into this game looking for a point.
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: They got a point to prove after losing that game
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: to Buffalo last week.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: For sure. Okay, so that game in Houston. Let's go
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: to your number seven team. And that is the team
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: that was number one for you last week, the Rams.
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: They fell six spots after what happened in Melbourne. That's
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: how everyone pronounces it there.
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: You were there. You were there. You've learned.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: And what a game this was because the Niners just
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: came out and flatlined them. It felt like from the jump.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: There was no energy whatsoever on that sideline during the game.
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, yeah. And a lot of Week 1 comes down
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: to how are we overreacting to the results of just
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: one game? It doesn't matter in the bigger picture, right? But...
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: There's some issues with this Rams team that I'm concerned about.
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: Starts with Miles Garrett, his knee surgery going to be
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: on IR. He's not going to be a factor there.
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: That's taking away a big influence. I'm curious to see
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: the whole status of Aaron Donald and whether he'll participate
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: in this game. And I don't want to take away
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: too much from their lack of energy because of the
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: travel and everything else. Maybe, maybe not because of the travel.
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: It looked like it certainly had something to do with
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: the travel. It's more about being prepared and they just
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: didn't look like a unit that really understood exactly what
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: they wanted to do from play to play. I know
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: the script affected that in the second half because of
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: the way that the game was flowing and the fact
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: that they were down by multiple scores. So I need
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: to see them bounce back. And look, on paper going
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: into this season, we would see, oh, week two against
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: the Giants. Okay, that's a good little bounce back. Giants,
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: maybe tougher than we thought. So Rams got to prove
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: something this week.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: They do. And just looking at their first four games
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: of the season, it's four different time zones that they
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: will be playing in. So obviously they were in Australia.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: Then they're back home against the Giants. They have the Broncos,
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: Mountain Time. Then I think they're in Philadelphia, East Coast Time.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: So this is a team that's going to be dealing
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: with a lot of different time changes and a lot of,
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: I think, extra energy that they're going to have to
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: figure out. You know, that's tough on your body.
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: And the jet lag, it is real. I can tell
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: you that firsthand experience.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: You're still dealing with it. For sure.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: We're going to go to the number eight team, the Bears,
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: up three spots. Ben Johnson, I mean, when he talks
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: about having the most prolific offense, he delivers for sure.
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah, he set his goal. He wants to rewrite the
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: record books this year, and that's a heck of a
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: way to start, putting 59 points on the Carolina Panthers.
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: It's a good way to start, 552 total yards, but
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: what was most impressive to me First off, I mean,
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: we love watching Caleb Williams. I know I love watching
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: Caleb Williams. The things that he does on a week-to-week basis,
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: the throws that he makes are unique to only him,
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: and then you add in the escapability and the scrambling threat,
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: the two rushing touchdowns, both long, both just bailing out
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: of pockets and making the most out of a situation
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: that would have been a disaster for a lot of
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: other quarterbacks. That's a weapon. But what I like the
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: most about them is that they stayed true to their identity,
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: a sneaky identity from last year. They ran for 291
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: yards on the ground. DeAndre Swift, Kyle Menungai, Caleb throws
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: in a nice little chunk as well. This offense is
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: extremely explosive. Now, I do have concerns.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: And I know they climbed, but that defense.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: That's what I was going to ask you about. Yeah.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: The defense. I mean, come on. You're going to give
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: up 37 points?
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: 37 points!
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: And I think a better team probably hangs with them
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: and makes it one of the all-time great shootouts, kind
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: of like Rams Chiefs from like seven years ago.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: I'll never forget it.
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: No knock on the Panthers and Bryce Young, who had
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: a great game. But a bigger test in the weeks ahead,
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: I think, will really show whether this defense can hold up.
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: Or if this is just a team that has to
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: outscore everybody all year.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, their secondary was completely depleted, too. And I think
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: that's something to keep an eye on, but also... Kind of,
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: it's a caveat when you look at the score and
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: how many points that they gave up. So coming up,
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: where are Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the rankings
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: after their monster win over the Broncos on Monday night?
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: And what about the Birds? Where are the Eagles, Shook?
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: That's all coming up. You might not be happy.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: No?
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: Come on.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: Am I never happy? taking a look at nick shook's
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: teams 9 through 16 the niners up eight spots huge
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: win over the rams abroad you have the chiefs right
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: behind them the eagles down six spots we'll get to
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: that Texans down two, Lions at 13, the Bucs up
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: four spots at 14, the Giants, huge movers, gigantic movers,
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: you might say, plus 11 spots, and then the Packers
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: at 16. Now let's get to our team of the week.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: It's the San Francisco 49ers. They went to Melbourne. They
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: shocked the world beating up on the Rams. And the Niners,
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: Brock Purdy, he looked great. Three touchdowns. They were incredible
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: on the ground. It's just they had all of the
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: energy in the stadium and it showed on the field.
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: Three touchdowns to three guys all over 30 years old,
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: which is quite an accomplishment. Shout out to Debo Samuel
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: in getting that done.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: Mike Evans, too, looking incredible.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: Well, I mean, when it's goal to go, you throw
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: it to Mike Evans.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: That's an easy one.
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: That's just what you're supposed to do. But this is
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: kind of a correction of sorts from where they were
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: before because I think I just underrated them because going
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: into this season, the talk with them was, oh, injuries,
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: so many injuries. How are they going to overcome it?
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: And then they go to Australia. They have the week
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: to prepare. They look like they're more energized and ready
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: team than the Rams. And they dominated them. They flat
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: out dominated them physically, schematically. Kyle Shanahan was in his
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: bag all game. And defensively, they did a great job
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: as well and really shut down the Rams. So I
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: give them the respect that they deserve, and they climb up.
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: And because it's week one, these rankings will be a
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: little more volatile because we only have one week's worth
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: of games. Now, I do think that they're just going
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: to build on this because week two is the most
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: favorable matchup in the entire NFL, which is no offense
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: to Dolphins fans. They're playing Miami. Yeah, so we're going
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: to see more of them.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: Okay, how about the impact, too, of having their defensive
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: stars back and healthy, Fred Warner and Nick Bosa?
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: I thought it was a tale of two different types
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: of players at this stage of their return from injury because...
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: Bosa didn't play. He played under 60% of the defensive snaps.
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: He had one pressure. He wasn't that much of a factor.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: Fred Warner, on the other hand, was magnificent. He was
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: all over the field. He was playing like his hair
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: was on fire. Early on, he's like diving in. I
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: thought he was like almost headhunting for a second. No,
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: I come to realize he's going for the ball. He's
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: punching for the ball. He finally forced a fumble. It
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: all worked out for him in the fourth quarter. He
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: is a massive boost to this defense. We know how
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: important he is as a player. And I think having
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: him back and being the heart of the defense elevated
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: everybody else.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: That's the look of a guy who has been waiting
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: to get back on the field like no other. And
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: then he finally had his chance and he was ready
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: to go. Just like the Chiefs were ready to go
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: on Monday Night Football, beating the Broncos 31-10. What did
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: you like from what you saw from the Chiefs? Because
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: it looks like they finally, after decades, have.
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: A ground game.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: What?
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: Since the days of Jamal Charles or even Priest Holmes,
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: the Chiefs have a star. Well, Kareem Hunt, I'll give
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: you credit, Kareem Hunt, as well. He was actually the
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: last 1,000-yard rusher, and that was, I think, eight years ago.
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: So it's been a long time since they've had a
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: legitimate ground game, and they've needed it. They're going to
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: need it more this year than ever because of Patrick
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: Mahomes coming back from the ACL. and he looked not
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: quite like Patrick Mahomes, which is typical of somebody coming
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: back from the ACL injury, but it didn't matter because
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: Kenneth Walker went nuts. 23 carries, 173 yards, a touchdown,
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: running through tackles. The Broncos tackled poorly throughout this game,
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: and the Chiefs took advantage. They looked so prepared and
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: so ready to another game with a divisional rival. prove
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: that point, that yes, we saw the Broncos win the division,
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: they took our throne, but we're not about to just
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: let them have it this year.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: No, 173 yards, you said, for Kenneth Walker.
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: It's so funny, because there was a sideline report during
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: the game mentioning how Walker was ready to move on
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: and get the opportunities that he felt he didn't get
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: in Seattle because he was kind of a tandem with
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: Zach Charbonnet. Let's talk about capitalizing on your opportunity the
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: first time out. I'm going to go set a career
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: high in my next game after winning Super Bowl MVP. Yeah, exactly.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: That's a really nice first impression for Kenneth Walker in
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: Kansas City. So we move on to number 11, Shook,
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: and it is the Eagles.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: Here we go.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Who fell six spots, even though they beat the Commanders.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: But I know it was not a really convincing win.
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: Colleen, do you think that Philly Radio was really happy
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: on Monday after the Eagles managed to.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: 94 WIP? I can't imagine.
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: I can't either. In fact, you can kind of feel
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: it coming in the second half of this game when
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: they were letting the commanders hang around. And I give
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: a lot of credit to the commanders for battling in
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: this game. And I give a lot of credit to
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: Jalen Hurts for carrying this offense because they needed him to.
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: The Shawn Manion offense, we expected to be better than
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: it was under Kevin Petullo. And to a degree, it
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: was better than it was under Kevin Petullo. But they
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: still don't run block well. Saquon Barkley, for his 83 yards,
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: half of it basically came on one carry. On his
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: other 14 carries, he was contacted behind the line of
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: scrimmage on half of them. That's concerning. Now, I did, again,
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: like what Jalen Hurts did. with his kind of new
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: look receiving core. He also connected with Dallas Goddard very
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: successfully in this game. And the defense, the one thing
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: that we know we can count on with the Eagles,
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: did well and they stood up when they needed it most.
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: But it's too close for comfort for a team that
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: I expect much more out of in week one. Week
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: one's crazy, but that's why they dropped because they let
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: the commanders hang around.
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: And they're at home, they're at the link. They went
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: three and out five times over 12 drives. This was
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: not a very fun game to watch either, but... Hey,
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: the Eagles, they pulled it out, and they will be
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: facing Tennessee.
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: Coming up next week.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: There we go. Let's go to the Lions, who they
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: could also kind of use a bounce back a little bit,
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: even though they narrowly beat the Saints this week. They
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: blew a 21-point lead and almost lost to the Saints.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: So how worried are you about the team and the
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: offense right now?
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: Not too worried about the offense other than the fact
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: that they really relied on Jameer Gibbs. I think he
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: had 34 total touches in this game. That's too many
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: for one guy. I'm sorry. You need to distribute a
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: little bit more, and I think they will. Jared Goff
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: looked fine. The passing game looked decent, especially early on.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: I mean, this is a 21-0 game at one point.
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: Look at the Lions were going to run away with it.
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: And then the Saints woke up and found a way
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: to move the football basically out of desperation. Tyler Shuck
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: looked very good, and it also kind of reminded us
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: that maybe this Lions defense still has some concerns. So
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: while they're up two spots because they win, it's also
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: kind of a product of some of the teams moving
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: around them. I still feel good about them, and I
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: don't know if I'll feel so good about them after
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: this week because they have to go to Buffalo for
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: the opening of new Highmark Stadium and face the Buffalo Bills,
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: a team that could very much expose this defense. We're
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: going to learn a lot about them this week.
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: Okay, so the baptism of the new Highmark Stadium between
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: the Lions and the Bills. That's must-see TV. That is
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: a great Thursday night matchup. Let's talk about the biggest
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: power mover of the week, and it is the Giants.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: They're up 11 spots. Sunday night football, they just housed
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: the Cowboys.
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: They did. And when I shuffled these rankings around, I thought,
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: am I being too nice to the Giants? Am I
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: giving them too much.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: Credit for the fashion?
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: Maybe you are.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: Maybe you should slow down, Shook.
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: You know, maybe I should just pump the brakes a
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: little bit on the New York Giants. But Giants fans,
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: I mean, they saw their team taking their triumphant photos
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: afterward and posing. I mean... If this team gets very good,
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: they're going to be very annoying on social media. I'll
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: say that. No question. But look, they earned the right
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: to do that with the way that they won this game.
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: They took it to the Dallas Cowboys. They were the
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: tougher team. They were the more creative team schematically, especially offensively.
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: And the way that they closed this game. I mean,
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: they dominated time of possession in the fourth quarter. It
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: was 12 and a half minutes to two and a half.
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: The Cowboys just needed the ball back with an opportunity
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: to tie the game. And the Giants said, we're not
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: giving you the ball back. We're going to rely on
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: our hard runner in Cam Scadaboo. We're going to let
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: Jackson Dart find Isaiah Likely, our new addition this season,
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: and continue to move the football. Malik Nabors got involved
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: after there were some concerns about whether he'd be ready
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: for the start of the season. I mean, look, it's
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: only one week and I don't want to overreact, but
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: John Harbaugh, his arrival is already making a difference with
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: this group. And I think what was most important to
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: me was the way that they ran block, like run
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: block with authority. They were able to pull guys out
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: in front. Pat Ricard, Chris Collinsworth talked about him a
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: lot on the broadcast, and I can't blame him because
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: Pat Ricard is one of the most enjoyable players to watch.
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: This is a guy who's 300 pounds, plays fullback, also
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: has moonlighted as a defensive tackle during his time in Baltimore. Oh,
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: my God. He follows Harbaugh to New York, and he's
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: just doing a little bit of everything, clearing lanes for
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: a bruiser behind him in Scataboo. I like what they
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: did in week one.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: If they continue on this path, it's definitely giving the
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: Jeremy Shockey Giants a hold. I mean, as a Philadelphian.
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: Do I need a full sleeve for that?
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: I know.
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: I know.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: Yes, they're very talented. Now, will that continue when they're
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: not playing a Cowboys defense? I don't know. We will
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: get answers to that, though. Let's go to the Packers,
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: who are at 16-11. down four spots they lost to
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: Minnesota after giving up what 29 unanswered points this.
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: Was a game in which the Packers looked like they
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: were going to walk away with a win that they
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: could be proud of they looked like the better team
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: and Jordan Love was doing everything within his power to
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: keep them just a step ahead of the Vikings because
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: there was no running game to speak of obviously Josh
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: Jacobs is not on the field Marshawn Lloyd is the
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: lead back 13 for 37 is not going to get
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: it done but Love was taking advantage of some of
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: the over-aggression on Brian Flores' defense in the first half.
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: He had Christian Watson on a long catch-and-run touchdown. And
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: he worked with Tucker Craftwell to move the ball down
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: the field. So everything looked fine until it wasn't. One
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: sequence in the second half in which a couple of
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: bailout penalties give the Vikings fresh sets of downs start
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: this collapse. And it's a collapse that's so familiar to
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: Packers fans because this is a team, for everything that
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: they did in the offseason, to try to become a
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: more resilient group and kind of get rid of some
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: of the drama and everything else. They collapsed in the
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: fourth quarter because they couldn't deal with the adversity again.
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: Once things started going against them, it just snowballed. And
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: then Brian Flores was able to unleash the dogs after
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: Jordan Love. Turnover, turnover. Vikings run away with a 17-point
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: victory that never felt possible.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: Prior. Yeah, well, collapsing defensively to a Carson Wentz-led defense
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: is pretty brutal. So, yeah, they take on the Jets
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: coming up next week. They're at New York for that one.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: But coming up, the rest of Nick Shook's Week 2
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: Power Rankings, everybody. Where do the Cowboys, Steelers, and Raiders land?
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: And who claims the bottom spot? Who's lucky enough to
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: come in last? Find out next. Welcome back to Power Rankings.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: Look here at teams 17 through 24. And as you
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: can see, hey, the Cardinals, they are the darling of
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: this group. Up six spots, along with the Jets, who
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: are up four spots. But it's the Cowboys at 17, Patriots, Cardinals, Chargers.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: Then you have the Saints at 21, the Vikings, the Steelers,
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: and then the Jets. So let's go here to the Cowboys.
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: And at 17, down nine spots. Looks like They didn't
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: do a whole lot to their defense in the offseason.
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: No, but they hurt me, and I think that's why
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: they slide. They hurt a lot of people, I think.
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: It's America's team, so they hurt America.
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: Look, I took the bait, okay? I bought into the
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: whole revamped defense, and I was like, all right, Christian Parker,
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: Vic Fangio School of Defense, it's all going to work out.
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: And then it didn't. They gave up 9 of 11
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: third-down conversions to the Giants. They didn't get the ball
• 21:24
  Speaker 3: back in the fourth quarter. They gave up multiple passes
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: to the flats and never adjusted. And they got beat
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: up front in the physical game. And that's just so
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: disappointing for me because they need to be better on
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: that side of the ball. And then their offense wasn't
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: able to keep pace, in part because they had the
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: ball twice in the second half. Unacceptable for the Cowboys.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: I was going to say, I think the Cowboys' defense
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: is still on the field.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: Yes, exactly. They didn't get on the plane. They weren't
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: allowed to.
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: No, exactly. Let's go to number 19. The Cardinals up
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: six spots after pulling off the shocking upset over the Chargers.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: What did you like most in this win for them?
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: You know, I don't think it's that often that we
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: see a new coach come in and have the team
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: completely buy in to the point that They end up
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: winning the physical battle. They win the effort battle. What
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: about John Harbaugh? Yes, they look, I guess that's true.
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: But the Cardinals just look so much better defensively than
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: I anticipated. We knew that they had weapons on offense.
• 22:13
  Speaker 3: We knew that Jacoby Brissett would find Trey McBride. He'd
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: find Marvin Harrison Jr. down the sideline for a big grab.
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: Jeremiah Love would be involved. All that would be involved.
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: But the defense, the way that they were opportunistic, the
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: way that they got after Justin Herbert, the fourth down
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: stop in the red zone, early in that game really
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: set the tone. The interception, Andrew Winger deep down the
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: field in the fourth quarter really just kind of capped
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: a performance that nobody saw coming. and makes me give
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: them a lot more respect than I thought I would
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: going into this year.
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: So next week, they will be playing your number one
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: ranked team, the Seahawks.
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: And that's when we really learn who they are. Exactly.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: How do you think that will go?
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: I have a hard time buying in just yet. I
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: think I'll probably be picking the Seahawks in that game,
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: but it'll be closer than we thought. I know. Wow.
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: NFC West. Okay, we see you. Let's go to teams
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: 25 through 32. I call this the sad zone. But, hey,
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: the Commanders, they're at the top of it. They're on
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: the bubble at 25. We got the Colts, Panthers, Falcons,
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: Raiders at 29, the Dolphins at 30, and then the
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: Titans and the Browns down at 32. But the Commanders,
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: you want to give them a little shout-out here. It's
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: not too sad for them.
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I heard Commanders fans get after me in my
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: mentions for ranking them 31st last week, and you know what?
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: You're right. I disrespected them. I underrated them, and they
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: impressed me with the way that they battled with the
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: Eagles in this game. Their offense wasn't really working all
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: that well, but Jaden Daniels was able to make things
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: happen here and there, especially in big spots. And the
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: defense was so much better than I thought it would be,
• 23:40
  Speaker 3: save for the touchdowns that they gave up to Dallas Goddard. Look,
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: a lot of these new additions, I think that they
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: came together a lot faster than I anticipated. Dan Quinn
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: leading them. I'm excited to see how they play over
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: the next month.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a really good loss.
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: Yes, which we don't take moral victories. You get integrity
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: and gold star. We'll go with that. No moral victories,
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: but it's fine. Okay, fine.
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: Great job, Shook. We'll be back next week with your
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: week three rankings, but that is it. Thanks for checking
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: out NFL Power Rankings presented by Energizer. Everybody enjoy the week,
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: and I hope your team wins this week.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.