Like any great week in the NFL, Week 1 featured some surprising performances and comebacks. You've already started to see quarterback and team power rankings pop up, and inevitably you are feeling unreasonably high or low about your team based on the relatively innocuous standings of 0-1 or 1-0.
Nevertheless, it's important for all fans to keep their cool and remain focused on the end result. So here is a breakdown over the previous three seasons of the top five and bottom five teams as ranked by ESPN in their power rankings heading into week 2.
2011 ESPN Week 2 Power Rankings
Team Wk 2 Rank Wk 2 Record Wk 18 Rank Wk 18 Record Postseason
Packers 1 1-0 1 15-1 NFC Championship (lost to NYG**)
Patriots 2 1-0 4 13-3 Super Bowl (lost to NYG)
Eagles 3 1-0 15 8-8 ----
Ravens 4 1-0 5 12-4 AFC Championship (Lost to NE)
Jets 5 1-0 19 8-8 ----
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Broncos 28 0-1 14 8-8 AFC Divisional (lost to NE)
Panthers 29 0-1 23 6-10 ----
Bengals 30 0-1 11 9-7 AFC Wild Card (lost to HOU)
Seahawks 31 0-1 21 7-9 ----
Browns 32 0-1 28 4-12 ----
**New York Giants Week 2 ranking: 17th
It's pretty clear that ESPN was all over the place with their predictions in 2011, as a few teams were changing their fate heading into their next few seasons. This includes the Bengals who were beginning the Andy Dalton era, and the Broncos who made their improbable run to the AFC divisional game on a hail mary from none other than Tim Tebow. Yes, Tebow was mostly a fluke but their impressive receiving core and solid defensive line were attractive enough to lure in Peyton Manning. The rest is [a lot of regular season record-breaking] history.
2012 ESPN Week 2 Power Rankings
Team Wk 2 Rank Wk 2 Record Wk 18 Rank Wk 18 Record Postseason
Patriots 1 1-0 4 12-4 AFC Championship (lost to BAL)
49ers 2 1-0 3 11-4-1 Super Bowl (lost to BAL)
Ravens 3 1-0 10 10-6 Won Super Bowl XLVII
Texans 4 1-0 9 12-4 AFC Divisional (lost to NE)
Packers 5 1-0 6 11-5 NFL Divisional (lost to SF)
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Vikings 28 1-0 12 10-6 NFC Wild Card (lost to GB)
Jaguars 29 0-1 31 2-14 ----
Dolphins 30 0-1 20 7-9 ----
Browns 31 0-1 24 5-11 ----
Colts 32 0-1 7 11-5 AFC Wild Card (lost to BAL)
Another year in which two teams from the bottom five ranked teams going into Week 2 ended up making it to the playoffs. Only this time ESPN was fairly dead on with their top five picks. At this point, the Texans were establishing themselves with a dynamic if inconsistent offense and a brutal defense featuring JJ Watt, and the Packers were still riding their high-flying offense to the playoffs despite a defense devoid of any strengths. But it was the Colts who no one saw coming. Let's suffice it to say that ESPN hasn't underestimated Manning's successor since.
2013 ESPN Week 2 Power Rankings
Team Wk 2 Rank Wk 2 Record Wk 18 Rank Wk 18 Record Postseason
49ers 1 1-0 4 12-4 NFC Championship (lost to SEA)
Seahawks 2 1-0 1 13-3 Won Super Bowl XLVIII
Broncos 3 1-0 2 13-3 Super Bowl (lost to SEA)
Falcons 4 0-1 26 4-12 ----
Patriots 5 1-0 5 12-4 AFC Championship (lost to DEN)
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Buccaneers 28 0-1 27 4-12 ----
Bills 29 0-1 25 6-10 ----
Browns 30 0-1 28 4-12 ----
Raiders 31 0-1 30 4-12 ----
Jaguars 32 0-1 29 4-12 ----
Outside of the quick demise of the Atlanta Falcons, this was ESPN's best showing over the past years. Very obviously it is a result of the rise of the NFC West, featuring the 49ers and Seahawks perenially at the top of the defensive leader boards. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have also done their part for the ESPN ranksters, making it a fair bet to put their teams in the top five every year.
Taking all of this into consideration, take a look at this year's Week 2 Rankings.
2014 ESPN Week 2 Power Rankings
Team Wk 2 Rank Wk 2 Record
Seahawks 1 1-0
Broncos 2 1-0
49ers 3 1-0
Eagles 4 1-0
Bengals 5 1-0
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Redskins 28 0-1
Browns 29 0-1
Jaguars 30 0-1
Raiders 31 0-1
Rams 32 0-1
It's pretty hard to hard to argue with the bottom five teams. They all lack any significant quarterback consistency and are still struggling to get out from underneath the woes they faced last season. As far as the top five goes, I'm still not sold on the Eagles. What have they really done to earn our faith besides barely eek their way into the playoffs last year? Sure, Nick Foles had an improbably good debut and had a fantastic second half in week 1, but what about that first half? Just jitters? Hard to tell. Chip Kelly clearly has the team going in the right direction, but they still have some proving to do. Just look up to the 2011 rankings to remind yourself of just how quickly the Eagles can fall when they have high expectations early in the season.
On the other hand, the Bengals have seemed perched on the precipice of elite status for two seasons now, and are current favorites to come out of the AFC North. Dalton still has to work on his accuracy though, so I consider their place as the fifth best NFL team after Week 1 as optimistic. I have to think that their spot on the list is due to the week 1 losses by the Saints, Patriots, Packers and Colts.
What do you think about 2014's Week 2 rankings? Comment below and throw in your two cents in the poll!