NFL Power Rankings entering Week 3: Are the Vikings the best team in the NFC North?

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

A wellness check on the NFC North after two weeks doesn't give particularly optimistic results. The Detroit Lions ' defense is in major trouble and the issues might not be easily fixable. The Chicago Bears ' defense isn't much better, and the offense feels a little more vulnerable after scoring only three points in Week 2. The Green Bay Packers ' defense has been average but the offense might be falling apart at the seams.

The Vikings are undefeated despite getting 11 snaps from Kyler Murray so far this season. He is expected to return from a concussion in Week 3 . At this point it might not matter who the quarterback is.

The Vikings allowed three points to a Bears offense that was the talk of the NFL after scoring 59 in Week 1. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores is proving to be a mad scientist. He blitzed Caleb Williams on 27 of his 33 dropbacks (81.8%), according to Next Gen Stats. A week ago, the Vikings blitzed on 40 of Jordan Love 's 46 dropbacks (86.9%), according to Pro Football Focus. At this point opponents should assume Flores is blitzing at about an 80% rate, which is astonishing in the NFL. But it has been successful.

The Vikings' offense hasn't been good. It's last in the NFL in yardage gained. But presumably Murray will be better than Carson Wentz . And the Vikings are 2-0 with both wins coming in division games already as their offense catches up.

There's a lot of season to go, but the Vikings are in good shape. Don't forget they were 14-3 two seasons ago with competent quarterback play and 9-8 last season without it. Perhaps everyone should have taken the Vikings more seriously coming into the season. If Murray can play at an average level, perhaps Minnesota is surprisingly the best team in the NFC North? They're certainly in the best shape early this season, even if by default.

Here are the NFL power rankings after Week 2 of the NFL season:

The Dolphins are the only team in the NFL that has not led at any point through the first two weeks of the season, according to Doug Clawson of CBS . On Sunday, they trailed the 49ers 35-6 before a meaningless touchdown in the final three minutes. The Dolphins were fairly competitive in the first half, trailing just 14-6 at halftime, but were outscored 21-0 in the third quarter.

"We didn't coach well enough in the second half," Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley said . "We didn't play well enough. I thought we had a great week of preparation. I thought we were ready to play better. Second half, not good enough in any phase."

The Dolphins' next three games are against 2-0 teams: vs. Chiefs , at Vikings, vs. Bengals .

The Falcons' passer rating through two games is 38.2. If a team threw incomplete on every single play, their passer rating would be 39.6. Michael Penix Jr. has not been a good quarterback yet in his young career, but compared to what the Falcons have put on the field there might be a parade in Atlanta upon the news that he'll start this week against the Packers . Perhaps Penix will play well. He'll certainly be better than Cooper Rush or Jack Strand, and he'll make Atlanta at least watchable on offense. The Falcons play their next three games in prime time for some reason, including Thursday night at Green Bay. There's a lot of time for the Falcons to salvage their season, but it's overly optimistic to believe Penix is a savior. Atlanta's biggest problem has been quarterback, but it's not the only problem.

The Titans aren't in the business for moral victories, but at least they were way more competitive in Week 2 against a talented Eagles team. They led until the Eagles scored the game-winning touchdown with nine seconds left. There will be many regrets. The Titans had first-and-goal at the 9-yard line with 2:37 left on the clock and the game tied, and right tackle JC Latham got immediately beat by Jalen Carter for a 9-yard sack. Tennessee settled for a field goal, giving the Eagles an opening to steal the win. At least everything looked better, including Cam Ward (13 of 20, 183 yards) against a very good defense.

"I think what encouraged me the most was that we were able to get some explosive offense," Ward said .

The Cardinals' longest reception Sunday was 9 yards. That's a stat about the Seahawks more than anything, but it was the first time since Oct. 11, 1987 that the Cardinals didn't complete a pass for at least 10 yards, via Theo Mackie of the Arizona Republic . That game came with replacement players during a player strike. That won't be Arizona 's offense all season, but it is weird how the Cardinals refuse to use Jeremiyah Love more. The third overall pick of the NFL Draft had nine carries for 29 yards, Tyler Allgeier has 22 carries this season and Love has 20. Love might be limited due to a high ankle sprain in preseason, but it makes very little sense why the Cardinals would use that kind of draft capital on a running back and then underutilize him. There's hope for Love emerging, which might not the case for Marvin Harrison Jr. , who has one catch in two games.

There wasn't a great chance that Geno Smith was going to drive the Jets for a win in 50 seconds if Aaron Glenn called a timeout and forced the Packers to punt near the end of regulation. But his explanation, that he was worried about being pinned deep after a punt, doesn't make much sense either.

The Jets are clearly better than last season. They won at a Titans team that was much more competitive in Week 2 against the Eagles, and they led the Packers 17-7 in the fourth quarter. They held the Packers to 199 yards and that counts overtime. But the Jets need to close these games out or Glenn's job security will continue to be an ongoing conversation.

It's strange to see Dan Quinn get criticized for Jayden Daniels dislocating his elbow on the final play of the first half because he went for the touchdown and not the field goal. Going for the touchdown at the 1-yard line when you trail 17-10 is a reasonable football decision. What's unreasonable is calling a game worried about your quarterback getting hurt every play. What happened to Daniels was unfortunate but that's football. The tough part is it's quickly becoming a big part of Daniels' career arc. Since a historic rookie season he played just seven games last season and now is dealing with a dislocated elbow again. The Commanders are 0-2, looked bad on defense against the Cowboys, and now might have to try to save their season with Marcus Mariota presumably filling in for Daniels for a bit.

The last time a team had a start to the season like the Chargers, it was 1926 and that team disbanded one game later. More on those 1926 Racine Tornadoes and the history they now share with the 2026 Chargers, from OptaSTATS:

You don't need 100-year-old comparisons to see the Chargers have been the NFL's most disappointing team so far this season. While one of Justin Herbert 's interceptions Sunday came on a dropped pass that was batted in the air, he has two touchdowns and three interceptions to start the season. Offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel hasn't transformed the offense as expected. And now the Chargers have a brutal upcoming schedule . A 2-7 midseason record — or worse — is not off the table.

"I'm angry, but being angry doesn't fix anything," Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. said . "Being angry doesn't fix the problem that we have. We have to get it fixed."

The Buccaneers were 6-2 at their bye week last season, and had a win at Seattle on their résumé. They are 2-9 since and one win came last season against a Cardinals team that went 3-14 last season. Sunday's loss to a Browns team that lost to Jacksonville 34-10 the week before is a new low for Todd Bowles, who suddenly has to be the top candidate to be the first head coach fired this season. The Buccaneers are too talented to lose nine of 11 games since the middle of last season.

"We've dealt with adversity before," Bowles said, via the team's site . "This is an adverse situation again, first time at the beginning of the season but we're 0-2 right now. We've got to pull ourselves up by our boots and we've got to win."

If that seemed like Deshaun Watson 's greatest moment with the Browns, it was, statistically speaking. It was his top EPA per dropback in any game for Cleveland.

Watson had a good second half with the Browns' running game doing nothing. Removing Watson's 22 yards on seven rushes, the Browns rushed for 22 yards on 16 carries. Watson and the Browns' defense were the drivers of this win. Watson clearly did enough to keep his job for another week , and the reaction to him from Browns fans at the home opener will be interesting. At least it's coming off a win and a good performance.

The Steelers' offense was bad against the Patriots and afterward, Aaron Rodgers had what was perceived as a bit of a shot at his coaches.

"In a game like today where there wasn't a lot of flow to it, we need to be better and it starts with me," Rodgers said . "At, like, making sure Mike [McCarthy] knows what's working, what's not working, our coaches know, so we can call stuff we feel like has a better chance."

Even if his words are being twisted, the big problem is the Steelers are trusting a 42-year-old quarterback way too much. The Steelers have 81 passing attempts, which is third in the league, and they're passing about 65% of the time despite not being in pass-only mode much of the season. The Steelers never trailed by more than four points in Week 1 and the game didn't get away from them Sunday until a Rodgers fumble was returned for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Mike McCarthy has just made a decision to pass it over and over like it's 2011 with Rodgers. Pittsburgh has one offensive touchdown in eight quarters with that approach.

Bryce Young is second in the NFL with 648 passing yards through two games, only 14 yards behind Tyler Shough for the league lead. Young was also tied for first in the NFL through Sunday's games with six touchdown passes. It has helped to play hapless defenses like the Bears and Falcons, but the production is undeniable. It helps that Jalen Coker was one of five receivers through Sunday's games with more than 200 yards through two weeks. Young is under contract through the 2027 season, and he's starting to make a case for the Panthers to give him a lucrative second contract.

The question is whether Shane Steichen should have gone for it in overtime. In hindsight, giving the ball to Patrick Mahomes when all he needed was a field goal to win was not the right call. But it wasn't an easy call. The Colts had a fourth-and-8 and came out hoping to go for it but got a defensive look that was not conducive to them getting the first down. So Steichen called timeout and took the field goal, hoping his defense could get a stop.

Steichen said he told quarterback Daniel Jones , before the timeout: "If you love it, man, let's go at it. Let's go win this thing. But if it's not the right look ... let's kick the field goal here."

He'll be second-guessed for it after the Colts lost a hard-fought game in overtime. Steichen is under a lot of pressure to show progress and keep his job, and an 0-2 start with a questionable coaching decision isn't an ideal beginning.

Nothing looks good for the Packers right now, especially on offense. The line is beyond banged up and Green Bay lost right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele to a potentially season-ending injury. Receiver Jayden Reed went down with a back injury on the Packers' first drive Sunday. The running game is non-existant without Josh Jacobs . MarShawn Lloyd has been a non-factor and got just six carries Sunday before he was essentially benched after a fumble. Jordan Love had just 145 passing yards against a Jets secondary that was historically bad last season and didn't have Minkah Fitzpatrick . The Packers won in overtime Sunday, coming back from a 17-7 fourth-quarter deficit. If they didn't rally, the panic would be ramped up even more. The Packers are lucky the hapless Falcons are next on the schedule because they have a lot of issues to work through.

The Texans ' run game was dreadful Sunday when it had to carry the offense with receiver Nico Collins out. The Texans had a putrid 6.7% success rate on runs against the Bengals. Only one team has a mark under 20% in a game this season, and that was the Raiders at 18.5% in Week 2. It's stunning that the Texans have not fixed their offensive line issues over multiple offseasons despite it being an obvious liability.

"For us just collectively as a team, the one key to this victory was controlling the front and from an offensive perspective and we did not control their front," Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans said, via Texans Wire. "We got outplayed up front. We couldn't run the ball well. That forced us into a lot of passing situations."

The Texans bounced back from an 0-3 start to make the playoffs last season, but they're in a big hole after losing two home games to begin this season.

Klint Kubiak's offense will get a lot of credit for the Raiders' 2-0 start. While that side of the ball is playing well, it's more notable what Vegas' defense is doing. The Raiders' defense is first in the NFL in EPA allowed per play, and by a wide margin . Part of that (and part of the reason the Raiders aren't higher in the rankings yet) is they've played a Dolphins team that might be on 0-17 watch and a Chargers team that has looked as bad as anyone through two weeks. If the Raiders keep playing like this on both sides of the ball, they'll move up fast. And already, it seems like the free-agent and draft additions have made significant improvements on both sides of the ball.

That's more of what we expected from the Cowboys. Dak Prescott threw four touchdowns, breaking Tony Romo 's franchise record for career TD passes . The offense came alive but the defense is still a question after giving up 389 yards despite Jayden Daniels missing half of the game due to an elbow injury. The Cowboys didn't have a sack. They have two sacks in two games, and the only player with more than a half-sack is safety Caleb Downs . Things will be fine if the Cowboys' offense is putting up 37 points like Dallas did Sunday, but it's hard to win that way in the NFL. It's easier to attack those issues after a win, and team owner Jerry Jones is optimistic.

"We're better than we've been in the last two years on defense," Jones said, according to the team's site . "And offensively, we saw some really impressive things tonight."

The Giants had a scare when Jaxson Dart hurt his knee Monday , and while Jameis Winston is one of the better backup quarterbacks in the NFL, he is also capable of throwing his team out of any game with inopportune interceptions. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that initial exams on Dart indicated he has a sprained MCL, which could cause him to miss some time. If he does, the Giants will be much more volatile. Monday night's loss at the Rams was ugly, as the Giants were outgained 481-182, but losing Dart early affected the whole operation. We shouldn't forget how good they looked against the Cowboys in Week 1.

The Saints are a 2-point conversion away from being 2-0 with road wins over the Lions and Ravens . Given the issues elsewhere in the NFC South, the Saints look like they're the best team in the division. They were the best team in the division over the second half of last season too. There was controversy over whether Tyler Shough scored on a fourth-and-goal quarterback sneak that gave the Saints the lead — it was ruled a touchdown on the field though it wasn't clear Shough broke the plane and was not reversed after a replay review — but the comeback in the fourth quarter on the road against a good Ravens team made it a well-earned win. The next step for New Orleans is not falling behind early and having to make a big comeback.

The fear over Caleb Williams' injury has subsided since it seems like a fairly minor hamstring injury, and yes his extremely distressed reaction to a hamstring strain was odd. At least it wasn't a major injury. What needs to be addressed is how the Bears' offense was inept just one week after putting up 59 points at Carolina. The Bears scored three points against Minnesota and that was with Williams playing three-and-a-half quarters. It would have been better had it not been for a D'Andre Swift fumble at the 1-yard line and a blocked field goal. The rainy weather was certainly an issue, but it's not like the Bears won't be playing more bad weather games. They're still having trouble getting Luther Burden III , Rome Odunze and Colston Loveland (14 combined catches in two games) involved. One bad game doesn't mean the Bears are in trouble on offense, but one great game might not make them the highest scoring offense in NFL history either.

"The weather was a major factor in this game," Bears head coach Ben Johnson said, according to the team's site . "It was the big story of this game. Both defensive coordinators did a great job making it very challenging for the opposing offense. I thought that was the tale of the tape."

The Lions have given up 658 passing yards, which is second-most in the NFL, with only the Colts being worse. They are decimated due to injuries, which is why they were working out defensive backs like Jordan Fuller and Jalen Mills on Monday, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. Safety Avonte Maddox is the latest to go down; he'll miss the rest of the season due to a foot injury. Since halftime of the season opener, the Lions have given up 71 points and 804 yards. Facing Josh Allen in Week 2 factors into the defensive problems, but it's still alarming.

"Defensively, we knew it was a tall task, but we gave up too much," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said . "There were some things in there that we have to get cleaned up. You have to play your best ball to have a chance to reduce points against that team and that quarterback, and we did not do that. We had a hand in helping them out there a little bit, and it wasn't good enough. It's not good enough."

The good news is the Lions still have an easy schedule, and there are winnable games coming up against the Jets, Panthers and Cardinals. Detroit needs to win those games to quell some fears, especially about its defense.

The Broncos' turnaround after six poor quarters to start the season might have been as simple as figuring out how to get Jaylen Waddle and Jonah Coleman involved. Waddle was mostly invisible in Week 1 with just 2 yards, but he had 138 in Week 2. He won't go off like that every week, but that should be closer to his normal production. Coleman, a rookie, took advantage of injuries to JK Dobbins and RJ Harvey and had 39 yards rushing and 19 yards receiving, and generally looked good. It could become difficult for the Broncos to keep him off the field. The offensive output from Waddle and Coleman, and a much-improved effort from the defense, led to a win over the Jaguars that avoided what would have been a miserable 0-2 start.

"When the sky was falling, I was like, 'Look, this is correctable,'" defensive lineman Zach Allen said, via the team's site .

The Patriots won and they got some downfield passing going, but Drake Maye is still in a slump. He didn't throw a touchdown Sunday and had only 208 yards. His Week 1 struggles can be excused because the Seahawks' defense is incredible. The Steelers' defense isn't on that level and the Patriots were still underwhelming on offense. The Patriots are still figuring out their receiver rotation without A.J. Brown, but the passing offense needs to do more. Maye is 19th in adjusted EPA per play and 10th in success rate, which isn't that bad considering half of his season so far was against Seattle, but it's nowhere near his MVP form of last season.

"You got to be excited and enjoy the win," Maye said, according to Yahoo Sports' Jori Epstein . "But at the same time, you realize that playing like this isn't going to end up with offensively us leading our team to wins."

Edge rusher Dallas Turner seems to be having a breakout in his third season. He leads the NFL in pressures (20), QB hits (8) and PFF's pass rush productivity score. With the Bears at the 12-yard line, trailing 9-3, Turner had a sack on the final play of the game to seal the win. Turner was the 17th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft and he is playing up to that draft status.

"DT being our closer, finishing the whole thing," Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell said after Sunday's win . "DT just keeps showing up."

The Eagles needed to stop a 2-point conversion to beat the Commanders and a last-minute drive with a touchdown in the final seconds to beat the Titans. Those are two of the worst teams in the NFL so far. Life is better at 2-0 but it still has been an uneven start for the Eagles. It's not just an offense learning a new scheme either. The defense is just 22nd in EPA per play allowed and 14th in success rate allowed. The offense is 14th in EPA per play and 27th in success rate. It has been a very mediocre team that made the plays it needed to win two close games. It's early in the season and 2-0 is obviously fine, but don't ignore these warning signs.

There's nothing wrong with losing on the road to a desperate Broncos team. It's tough in the altitude early in the season, and that might have played a factor in the Jaguars blowing a 13-3 second-half lead. Between last season and Week 1, the Jaguars have earned the benefit of the doubt that they're still a very good team despite one loss to a team that went 14-3 last season. One shining light is that receiver Parker Washington has carried over a strong finish from last season. Washington is second in the NFL in target share to only Jaxon Smith-Njigba, according to PFF . Washington is getting 37.5% of the targets despite some good receiver teammates around him. He has turned that into 18 catches for 181 yards through two games. Washington is a rising star.

Rashod Bateman and Mark Andrews both had productive days, but the Ravens missed Zay Flowers in their home loss to the Saints. The Ravens were ahead 17-9 but couldn't put the game away in the fourth quarter and lost in the final two minutes. Taking a deep shot on third-and-1 in a tie game rather than handing it to Derrick Henry didn't work and has been criticized. This type of loss has become a flaw for Baltimore. The Ravens have a league-leading 15 losses after they held a double-digit lead since 2018, the team's site said . That's disappointing but there are positive signs for the Ravens through two weeks. They just need to get their receiver room healthy and do a much better job closing games.

"This is a different team [with] different energy," Andrews said, according to transcripts . "This is not par for the course. We are going to learn from this and continue to be better and capitalize when we need to capitalize."

Kenneth Walker might have the second-biggest impact of anyone in the NFL through two weeks, behind Josh Allen. In Week 1, Walker set a career best by forcing 14 missed tackles. In Week 2, he forced 15 missed tackles . When the Chiefs needed a game-winning drive in overtime, he was involved in five of their six offensive plays. Included in that was a 22-yard gain on a catch that got the Chiefs into easy field-goal range. For the first time in a while, the Chiefs have balance on offense and that's helping Patrick Mahomes.

"It's fun for me, just him running the ball, our offensive line driving off the ball the way that they're driving off," Mahomes said . "It's making defenses have to account for that. I mean, if not, we're going to run the ball for 200 yards or whatever we did the week before, and so you want to be able to do it all."

Is Cincinnati's defense good? It was impressive against Houston. The Bengals paid a big price for defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II, giving up the 10th overall pick of the draft to the Giants for him. It looks like he might be worth it. Lawrence had a fantastic game Sunday, including a huge fourth-down stop on RB David Montgomery. The Bengals completely shut down the Texans' run game and Lawrence was the biggest element in that.

The Bengals are fourth in EPA allowed per play. If the defense is going to play anywhere near that level, everyone knows the offense is going to heat up and be among the NFL's best. This is the mix the Bengals have been looking for.

It wasn't outrageous to worry a little about Matthew Stafford after a really poor outing for him in Week 1. He is 38 years old, after all. After Rich Gannon won his first MVP at age 37, like Stafford did last season, he threw only nine more touchdowns the rest of his career. But Monday night looked like vintage Stafford, with 327 yards and four touchdowns. That was without Puka Nacua, who was inactive with a hip injury. The entire performance by the Rams should ease any concerns that might have come up when they were dominated by the 49ers in Australia.

"Obviously we executed at a higher clip, had some explosive plays, which is nice," Stafford told ESPN's Lisa Salters after the game. "To be honest with you, I felt like we could have been more efficient. We had some plays we left out there that I know we can make."

The 49ers got a good runout to start the season. They got the Rams in Australia, when Los Angeles practically blew off that trip by landing the day before the game. Then they got the Dolphins, who have the worst roster in the NFL. They blew out both teams, which shouldn't be taken for granted in the NFL. Their point differential of +42 is dominant. They have had only two negative plays all season, not counting kneeldowns, the fewest for a team this century through two games, according to Doug Clawson of CBS . Brock Purdy is playing well, keeping the offense afloat despite receiver injuries already piling up, and the defense has given up only one touchdown to the Rams and another TD to the Dolphins when they were leading by 29 points in the final minutes. It has been an impressive start.

"Obviously, the scoreboard's been great the last two weeks, but there are so many things we can always get better at and our standard is going to continue to rise," 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey said, via 49ers Web Zone . "That's really what we're focused on."

The Seahawks' defense might be even better than last season, and last season's group was phenomenal. Seattle has allowed 17 points in two games. The Seahawks didn't allow a catch longer than 9 yards against the Cardinals in Week 2 and only one run of 10 yards or longer. On the offensive end, Sam Darnold missed Sunday's game and the running game is still in a weird spot with Jadarian Price not fully taking over the RB1 job. It didn't matter because Jaxon Smith-Njigba was fantastic, with 155 yards and three touchdowns.

"We're sitting over there on the sideline, and when he catches the ball, we're just like, 'Man, this guy's a wizard,'" defensive tackle Leonard Williams said about JSN, via the team's site .

It seems like Josh Allen has simply decided that he's going to have a historic season . Allen has at least two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in each game to start the season. That's only the second time in NFL history a player has scored multiple rushing and passing touchdowns in consecutive games. The first time was Allen in 2024, according to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press . Having a healthy Dalton Kincaid seems to have unlocked a new level in the offense. Kincaid has played well at times but injuries have held him back. Now that he's healthy, he's third in the NFL with 225 receiving yards. Assuming DJ Moore's shoulder injury isn't serious, there's no reason Allen can't set career-high marks this season. And we're talking about a player who has accounted for at least 39 touchdowns in six straight seasons.