NFL Power Tiers: Week 2, 2026

A little late (expect that...this dad stuff is tough on me) but week 2 has come and gone and here's where Zach Danielz stands with his NFL Power Tiers. It's still a little chaotic because it's still early, not everything is set in stone yet. 

Juggernauts

Not much has changed here except for one team falling off. All 4 of these teams won this week and all looked good doing it.

Thursday Night Football kicked off the week with a banger of a debut, with the Bills winning a crazy game in Detroit.

The Chiefs had a dog fight with a team I still think is underrated in Indy. The Seahawks dominated an inferior division rival and JSN has become the unquestioned WR #1 currently in the league in my book.

The 49ers may have played one of our bottom tier teams, but they did what they had to. So they are going to have to stay there until someone makes them look human again. Brock Purdy looks better and better every year.

You could argue...these 4 teams (2 AFC and 2 NFC) could be a potential Conference Championship weekend of matchups.

Scary Good

Here's where the movement in rankings begins.

The Rams on Monday Night with no Puka Nacua or Myles Garrett looked like the juggernaut team we expected them to be. But we'll have to see if they can sustain it.

The Ravens are our first demotion. They blew a lead to the Saints and Lamar Jackson couldn't come up clutch to try and take it to OT. Ugly game that everyone agrees looked very much like a classic John Harbaugh loss. They are still a highly talented team, it will take a lot for them to fall below this tier.

The Lions lost, but same as the Ravens, very tough to demote them. They scored 31 trying to come back against the beastly looking Bills. They stay here again purely on what we know already...but its been a shaky start to the season because of that defense.

Bengals won their games and the Bengals looked incredible against what we think is a tough Texans D, thus they get the promotion.

The Eagles struggled greatly against the lowly Titans...but yet again, Jalen Hurts is the coolest QB in the league. And again: Until they stop finding ways to keep winning...they are a scary team to face. 

Maybe its bias, but I think results do matter. They certainly are flirting with a demotion if they lose to a Bears team with no Caleb Williams.

Frisky

It's getting hairy now as we go down. This is where teams jump around early in the season.

The Saints shocked the Ravens, the Panthers decimated the Falcons, and the Raiders are a completely different team this year and it shows. Ol' man Kirk Cousins still got it it seems (for now).

All these teams won this week EXCEPT the Jaguars who lost to fellow Frisky team, the Broncos. This shouldn't be a knock on them but...they did look rather pedestrian against the Broncos. They could jump back into Scary Good soon enough with a bounce back performance.

Gotta Get It Together

This is the tier of teams that gotta get it together because as far as we know, they have good rosters, but have not at all lived up to expectations.

The Patriots beat the hell out of the Steelers, but I am still not over how certain things played out in this game regarding their offense. Will Rhamondre Stevenson ever stop fumbling the ball?

The Texans didn't exactly have an easy open to the season with the Bills and Bengals back to back, however....that defense that carried them all last year is looking either tired or not prepared. As for the offense, they took a major step back this week after a decent week 1.

The Packers for the first 7 quarters of the season have been rather discombobulated. They're lucky a certain team in the next tier allowed them to storm back and win in OT. But things don't look right with them.

Something's Wrong Here

These are teams that to be honest, are more about me than they are about them or the opinions around the league. These are teams I had slightly different perspectives and expectations on than many others would have.

We start with the Colts. NTS Cohost Tommy Joe may not agree with this, but I actually had high hopes for them, and I still do. More than just rebounding from a rough collapse...but making the playoffs in a Wild Card spot or even potentially winning the division!

Similar to Houston though, they had a rough first 2 opponents in the Ravens and Chiefs. However, after the Ravens beat them pretty handily, they gave the Chiefs hell in very tough Arrowhead Stadium. Maybe now they find a little confidence and go on a run.

The Bucs and Steelers....maybe I overrated them a little bit. But I like Baker Mayfield and while Aaron Rodgers is a polarizing figure, I am still holding on for some nice little run at the playoffs in his final year in the league, and just trying to remember all the good things he did *on the football field*.

Then there's the Jets, who I have become somewhat a satellite fan of because I simply want to see the torture end. Year in, year out I think they make the correct moves to improve their roster, and either I am dead wrong, injuries occur or pure unlucky nonsense befalls them...so there's always something wrong there. Hope they find some footing after a tough defeat.

Cowboys

Fuck the Cowboys!

Your QB is Hurt

Our 2 entries here are NFC Northerners, the Vikings and the Bears.

The Vikings lost Kyler Murray in week 1....yet they are 2-0 behind Carson Wentz...I don't know how to read that one because while Wentz has been playing it safe, their defense is insane. Who did that second win come against though?

The Bears...the other team here, because what helped the Vikings win was Caleb Williams going down to an AGONIZING and POTENTIALLY LIFE THREATENING hamstring injury. He should be back in a few weeks though to try and get the Bears back on track, I do not expect much from Tyson Bagent.

Caleb did give us an absolutely incredible meme template for minor injuries and inconveniences

Your QB is Hurt But I Think You Suck Regardless

I think I made this as simple as possible.

Falcons absolutely stink regardless who their QB is. Apparently Michael Penix can start this week...woohoo?

Jayden Daniels suffered yet another ugly looking elbow injury that even got Tom Brady to cuss live on TV. But even with him, it felt like it was either Jayden running with his legs or praying Scary Terry makes a nice catch.

I actually hate the Giants more than the Cowboys, and I truly never want their fans to feel happiness. In regards to football though, I think this team has a lot of potential IF THE RIGHT GUY IS THE QUARTERBACK. It certainly seemed like Jaxson Dart showed a little promise in year 1, but he sadly will not see the rest of year 2 as he will be undergoing knee surgery after getting sandwiched on the first drive against the Rams on Monday night.

Terrible luck for the Giants, considering now all 3 of their exciting young skill guys; Dart, Skateboo and Nabers have all suffered season ending leg injuries in just 2 seasons. At least we get to watch Jameis Winston again!

SUPER ASS

Not much has changed here to be honest.

The Titans put up a valiant effort against the Eagles....but looked foolish talking all that smack and then Jalen Hurts pulling out some heroics to shut them up...you stay in SUPER ASS.

I do not care that the Browns won. My thought is still this team stinks...however, that Denzel Boston kid looks pretty nice...maybe they do have some pieces on offense I'm not fully aware of. They also need to not have Deshaun Watson suck ass.

Cardinals looked how I thought they would look against the Seahawks, even with Drew Lock as the Seattle QB. The Dolphins looked exactly how I thought they would look against the mighty Niners.

The Chargers are an absolute shit heap. From their super overrated social media QB stinking up the joint, to a defense that is unremarkable at best to a total turnstile at worst. This is apparently the first team in NFL history to start a season 0-2 with back-to-back losses against teams that lost 14 games (or had a sub-.200 win percentage) the previous season with their losses to the Cardinals and Raiders.

Straight up embarrassing.