NFL Power Rankings entering Week 2: What do we make of the Rams without Myles Garrett?

NFC East: Cowboys | Giants | Eagles | Commanders NFC North : Bears | Lions | Packers | Vikings NFC South: Falcons | Panthers | Saints | Buccaneers NFC West: Cardinals | Rams | 49ers | Seahawks

AFC East: Bills | Dolphins | Patriots | Jets AFC North: Ravens | Bengals | Browns | Steelers AFC South: Texans | Colts | Jaguars | Titans AFC West: Broncos | Chiefs | Raiders | Chargers

The Los Angeles Rams losing a weird game in Australia, for which they gambled that an aggressive travel plan wouldn't affect them but were obviously wrong, isn't that bad. They played terribly but it's fine to excuse it to having to play across the world.

But then, after not posting a single stat in a quiet Rams debut, Myles Garrett said his knee wasn't feeling well. A few days later, it was reported that Garrett was having knee surgery. On Monday, Rams head coach Sean McVay said there's no timetable for Garrett's return . He'll be out at least four weeks on injured reserve.

The Rams came into the season as the clear Super Bowl favorite , and that's already in question. It's not just losing Garrett, the best defensive player in the NFL. Matthew Stafford is 38 and he looked awful in the opener. When Rich Gannon won his first NFL MVP at age 37, like Stafford did last season, he threw only nine touchdowns the rest of his career. The age cliff finds everyone. Davante Adams, at 33, was a non-factor in the opener against the 49ers. The defense around Garrett didn't play well. Maybe it was all Australia. Maybe not.

Going forward without Garrett for however long is scary for this defense. The Rams had to trade Jared Verse to Cleveland in the Garrett deal, so they now have a big hole at defensive end. Aaron Donald being a force after returning from two years off is a lot more questionable without Garrett around to command double teams. The 49ers gained 379 yards and had no problems in the air or on the ground. Again, maybe that's just fatigue from a long trip, but we don't know yet. We also don't know if the long trip will impact the Rams for a few weeks to come. The Rams face the Giants on Monday night in Week 2, and that matchup doesn't look so easy after the Giants played well in their opening-game win against the Cowboys.

It's typically not a good idea to overreact to Week 1. The Raiders won at New England in last season's opener. Las Vegas went 3-14 and the Patriots went 14-3. Weird things happen in the beginning. However, there should be concern about the Rams. Not enough to send them way down the rankings, but enough that their standing as the clear Super Bowl favorite, or even the favorite in the NFC West, is in question. It's a top-heavy team and there are significant worries about their stars just one week into the season. We might not get a clear picture of who the Rams are until Garrett returns and shows he's back to his normal self. Whenever that will be.

Here are the NFL power rankings after Week 1 of the NFL season:

Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley said success wouldn't be defined by wins or losses but development, and while he got a hard time for saying it, it's true for the 2026 Dolphins. In that way, it was good to see rookies like linebacker Jacob Rodriguez (a game-high 14 tackles and he played all 68 defensive snaps) and receiver Caleb Douglas (five catches, 94 yards) play well. This team still has a significantly insufficient roster, hence why it is in this spot even though it didn't embarrass itself like the …

An argument can be made that the Titans deserve to be No. 32. No team looked worse in Week 1. Against a Jets team that was 3-14 last season, the Titans had seven first downs and three points before their final possession, when they trailed by 20 points. Tennessee forced one punt and zero turnovers in the first three quarters. If you get dominated by the Jets at home, it could be a very long season. It probably explains the booing that fans gave the Titans. "When you lose, you're a loser," head coach Robert Saleh bluntly said afterward , acknowledging the discontent. Could more be on the immediate horizon? Up next for the Titans is a home game against the Eagles.

The Browns' defense is supposed to keep them in games, even with Jared Verse replacing Myles Garrett. That wasn't the case in the opener as the Browns looked like they really missed Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator. Trevor Lawrence had four touchdowns and Jacksonville had 31 points with 12:08 left in the third quarter. If Cleveland's defense is bad, there's no hope at a respectable season.

It's hard to get too excited about the start of the season when Cooper Rush is QB1. Head coach Kevin Stefanski gave no update Monday on who'll be the starter for Week 2 vs. the Panthers. Michael Penix Jr. might return soon, but will that fix much? Atlanta's defense played well in the Falcons' loss at Pittsburgh, but that probably has more to do with the Steelers' offense that was held to 3-of-13 on third downs and 0-for-2 on fourth. Despite the quagmire everywhere around him, Bijan Robinson still managed 83 rushing yards and 90 receiving yards. So there, Falcons fans have one reason to be excited.

It shouldn't be a surprise that the Cardinals looked good on offense. Their quarterback situation isn't ideal but they have good skill position players. The surprise of their season-opening upset win was Arizona's defense. The Chargers got just 268 yards, they sacked Justin Herbert three times and had an interception and fumble recovery. Andrew Wingard, who had the interception of Herbert, had something he partially got off his chest postgame. "Everyone has been trashing this defense, trashing coach [Nick] Rallis," Wingard said of his defensive coordinator . "It's like … I'm going to be polite and not say what I want to say, but — it's not gratifying because it'd only be gratifying if you cared about it, but I'm just happy for all these guys." Arizona was eighth in EPA ( expected points added ) allowed per play through Sunday's Week 1 games. The Cardinals were projected to have one of the NFL's worst defenses this season, but that wasn't the case in the opener. A matchup against the Seahawks now looks more interesting.

We'll likely look back at the Jets' Week 1 win and realize the Titans really are that bad. However, allowing 195 yards to any NFL team is impressive. The Jets gained 367 yards and generally looked sharp in all ways on offense. Head coach Aaron Glenn needs to show improvement this season and he's off to a great start, even if it was against Tennessee.

The focus was on the Bears' offense , but the Panthers' defense was part of that story. Carolina had never allowed more than 52 points in a game before allowing 59 on Sunday. The Panthers spent big on the defense in the offseason and the results for Week 1 were awful. They wasted a fantastic performance by Bryce Young, who had 361 yards and three touchdowns passing and rushed for another score. Defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero might be on the hot seat early this season. "Like I said, it's embarrassing, but ultimately, I'm taking a really positive outlook from this because we can only get better from here," Panthers outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips said, via the team's site .

The Raiders can thank the schedule makers. Getting Miami at home to start the season was great for a team that had so many changes, including a new head coach in Klint Kubiak. They still had to execute no matter the opponent and the Raiders did just that, winning 27-13. It was without tight end Brock Bowers, who will hopefully be back soon from a meniscus trim in his knee. It was a good start, though the Raiders had a good start last season with a win at New England. This time they have to build on it.

Daniel Jones returning for Week 1, a little more than nine months after tearing his Achilles, always felt aggressive. And Jones didn't play well in Week 1. He was 28th among 30 qualified quarterbacks in adjusted EPA per play through Sunday's Week 1 games. Pair that with a defense that allowed 506 yards to the Ravens, and there should be plenty of concern in Indianapolis after just one game.

The Saints have a rightful complaint that a defensive touchdown was taken off the board due to a convoluted explanation of why Jared Goff's pass that went backward was actually incomplete. With that play, the Saints probably win a game that they eventually lost in overtime. Still, being a 2-point conversion away from beating a talented Lions team on the road is a positive sign for the season.

Everything was labored with Jayden Daniels and the Commanders' offense . The line didn't protect well but Daniels often held the ball too long, perhaps because his receivers weren't getting open. He averaged 3.41 seconds per throw, the slowest among all QBs through Sunday's games, per Next Gen Stats. ( H/T to reporter Tashan Reed for pointing that out .) The Eagles have a good defense and that led to some of the issues. But the opener wasn't a good omen, especially for new coordinator David Blough. At least he has Daniels in his corner. The QB defended the shovel pass play that the Eagles stuffed on a 2-point conversion attempt, preventing a tie in the final minute of regulation. "It was the right call," Daniels told reporters postgame . "Anything Blough calls, man. I'm with him. Regardless, however everybody else might want to view it, man, I'm with Blough 100%."

The Buccaneers played well enough to win at the Bengals but they turned it over four times, one of which was returned for a touchdown and another that came at the Bengals' 4-yard line. You can't ignore that because it's a continuation of the sloppiness that cost the Bucs a division title last season. The good news for the Bucs is the division is still just as bad. Every NFC South team is 0-1.

The Steelers got a win but it wasn't pretty. Facing a Falcons team down to its third quarterback, the Steelers led by just three points in the fourth quarter before T.J. Watt had an interception return for a touchdown. Particularly troubling was the offense, which had the worst success rate in the NFL for Week 1. The run game really struggled, with 2.8 yards per carry. And that's against a Falcons defense that wasn't projected to be very good.

There's nothing good to say about the Chargers' Week 1 loss. It was so dispiriting that head coach Jim Harbaugh lamented sitting his starters for most of the preseason . The offense, with new coordinator Mike McDaniel, had two plays longer than 15 yards against an Arizona defense that isn't expected to be good. ( Don't tell Andrew Wingard I said that .) The defense, without last year's star coordinator Jesse Minter, allowed points or a missed field goal on seven of 10 possessions before a kneel-down at the end. The Chargers' early-season schedule is brutal , and the Cardinals game was supposed to be a rare easy win.

Nobody in Wisconsin wants to hear about how many yards Green Bay had or that the Packers outplayed the Vikings for most of the game. They want to know why the Packers, who lost five straight games last season, including multiple blown second-half leads, keep failing late in games. The Packers were outscored 22-0 in the fourth quarter. There has to be better answers for why the Packers are collapsing late. "It'll be a topic of conversation for all you guys until we do it," Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said . "That's the bottom line."

The Vikings won and that's a great way to start the season, but it's not like they played well. They were outgained 419-239. The Packers had 6.3 yards per play to just 3.9 for the Vikings. Minnesota won a game in which it lost Kyler Murray in the first quarter to a concussion, so squeezing out a victory is still a very good result but improvement needs to be made, and a lot of that will depend on Murray's status.

No team had a better EPA on offense than the Giants in Week 1 — which means no team had a worse EPA on defense than the Cowboys. Maybe team owner Jerry Jones was right to be "nervous" before kickoff Sunday night. Maybe everyone was too quick to assume that the Dallas' exhaustive defensive issues from a season ago were fixed. Despite new personnel and a new coordinator, the same communication issues that led to blown coverages showed up again in the loss to New York . Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones took a measured view of the wreckage, telling 105.3 The Fan (via The Athletic's Jon Machota ): "Felt really good and still do about our football team. We just probably had a little unrealistic expectations in terms of what we could do, especially on the defensive side of the ball with all the new faces and a brand new coordinator." Indeed, nobody should completely overreact to Week 1. But after a horrendous performance in the season opener, the Cowboys' defense now has to show evidence, starting Week 2 vs. the Commanders, it's any better than it was last season.

A lot will be made of coordinator Davis Webb taking over play-calling from Sean Payton and the Broncos' offense looking terrible in his first game doing it. That's not all that was wrong with Denver. The defense was rock solid last season but was miserable Monday night against the Chiefs. There were numerous missed tackles as the Chiefs rushed for more than 200 yards. The Broncos were very unlikely to replicate a 14-win season, but there was good reason to believe they were still capable of winning the AFC West again. They'll have to play far better on both sides of the ball if they want to keep the division race competitive this season.

No team had a better offensive EPA per play through Sunday's Week 1 games than the Giants. Not even the Bears, who scored 59 points. What stood out was the impact new tight end Isaiah Likely had. He led the Giants with eight catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns. If the Giants' offense stays mostly healthy, perhaps this can be a surprise playoff team.

The defense should be fine when it's not facing Josh Allen. If that's the case, the positive about the loss to the Bills is that the offense looked good. Houston ranked ninth in offensive success rate through Sunday's games behind an improved rushing attack with David Montgomery and quarterback C.J. Stroud playing better. Stroud had 274 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. If that carries over, Houston is going to be good this season.

The Bengals' defense looked better. The Bucs' offense scored just 20 points and had fewer than 300 yards. Turnovers aren't guaranteed to carry over week to week but the Bengals forced four, including one that was returned for a touchdown. Cincinnati isn't going to be great on defense, but there have been some good teams to live off having a great offense and a defense that takes chances and makes a few game-changing plays. Maybe the Bengals can be that type of defense. That would be enough.

The overreaction directed at Drake Maye proves that the hate of the Patriots hasn't died just because Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are long gone. Maye didn't play well in the opener and didn't have a good postseason either. He played elite defenses in almost every game though. Maye is going to be good. He's just not able to overcome a middling supporting cast — A.J. Brown was out for the second half and TreVeyon Henderson was inactive in the opener — against great defenses as a third-year player. He's not nearly as bad as you'll read on social media.

The Bears are going to be fun to watch . The offense was fantastic against a Panthers defense that isn't great but not that bad (22nd in defensive DVOA last season). They put up 59 points, a franchise record for a season opener, and 552 yards. That's great. They also allowed 37 points and 478 yards against a Panthers offense that was 25th in DVOA last season. Every game might be a pinball machine. And the Bears' offense might be so good it doesn't matter how much the defense allows. It's why they're not higher in the top 10.

The Lions almost blew a 21-0 lead. They held on when they forced an incompletion on a 2-point conversion in overtime. Detroit's defense had played very well in building that lead, then let the Saints back in the game. Lions head coach Dan Campbell blamed the offense's inefficiency for the lead slipping away. "I'm like, man, we've got to be more efficient on offense," Campbell said . "We kind of spit and sputtered there and then they … had some tempo going."

The Lions face a very tough Week 2 game against the Bills, who will host their first regular-season game in their new stadium Thursday night.

The first look at new coordinator Sean Mannion's scheme wasn't great. Only the Steelers' offense had a lower success rate than the Eagles through Sunday's games. Jalen Hurts made some big plays, many of which were him creating something when nothing was open, and that saved the win. There's a long way to go for the offense.

Kenneth Walker III was excellent and will transform the Chiefs' offense. He had 173 yards rushing. Patrick Mahomes will be better as he get further removed from a torn ACL. He had just 184 yards passing and was off on many throws, but that didn't take away from a successful return. But one of the best stories of the opener was left tackle Kahlil Benson. He is an undrafted rookie out of Indiana who got no guaranteed money to sign with the Chiefs and did not play left tackle in college. He was forced into the lineup due to a Josh Simmons injury and there was rightful concern over him protecting Mahomes' blindside. But Benson, the first undrafted rookie to start Week 1 on the offensive line since Terence Steele with the Cowboys in 2020, played well and the Broncos rarely got any pressure on Mahomes. Offensive linemen don't get too much attention, but Benson deserves a lot of credit for stepping up when he had to.

The Jaguars were fantastic last season. There was nothing fluky about their season. Then they looked dominant in Week 1. They led 31-0 early in the third quarter and if they wanted to run it up, the final score could have been really ugly for Cleveland. Jacksonville was one of two teams in the NFL in the top six of EPA per play and EPA allowed per play through Sunday's Week 1 games (Baltimore was the other). The Jaguars deserve respect.

Few teams looked better than the 49ers in Week 1. It remains to be seen how the 49ers react to coming back from Australia, but their next two games are at home against the Dolphins and Cardinals. That helps. It's hard to buy that the 49ers can stay healthy — exciting rookie De'Zhaun Stribling suffered an ankle injury that will keep him out at least a month — but if they can then San Francisco showed it can be as good as anyone.

We can't throw out everything we know because of one game. Maybe the Rams will be a huge disappointment this season, but it's too early to proclaim that. The Rams were the second-best team in the NFL last season and had a good offseason even before the Myles Garrett trade. Throughout the rankings, you'll see some teams that didn't move very much due to a great or bad Week 1. It's a one-game sample size for now.

Had it not been for the Bears, we'd be talking more about how good the Ravens' offense looked. They gained 502 yards, and that was with a conservative second-half approach after losing receivers Zay Flowers and Ja'Kobi Lane to injuries. New offensive coordinator Declan Doyle was Ben Johnson's coordinator last season and the Ravens seem to have made a great hire with him. Keeping Lamar Jackson healthy is important, and the early receiver injuries are concerning, but the Ravens looked like a Super Bowl contender in Week 1.

More disrespect for the Seahawks to not be No. 1. Your anger is understandable, Seattle fans. But the Sam Darnold injury sets the Seahawks back a bit until he returns. But there's no question about Seattle's defense, which was excellent against the Patriots and carried the team to a win. Maybe that's enough to carry the team as long as Drew Lock is at quarterback.

Had Bills-Texans happened in prime time, as it should have, we'd be even more excited about what Josh Allen did against a very good Houston defense. The 36 points the Bills put up was the most against Houston since 2023, which was DeMeco Ryans' first season as head coach. Allen threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 23 yards and two touchdowns. That win was a statement. The fact that it happened in the 1 p.m. Eastern window just means the Bills won't get as much hype as they should. That might change Thursday night when they face the Lions.