NFL Power Rankings, Week 2: Biggest risers and fallers after Week 1

6. Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles shook off some rust against the Green Bay Packers in a win down in Sao Paulo, Brazil, a rare Friday night game here at the beginning of the NFL season.

And under the Friday night lights, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense got humming against the Green Bay Packers, especially newcomer Saquon Barkley. Barkley was stolen away from the rival New York Giants in free agency, and had a whopping three touchdowns in his Philadelphia Eagles debut. 

As exciting as the debut of Saquon Barkley was, the Eagles have some eerily similar stuff to overcome that we saw really plague them throughout the course of last season. First of all, Jalen Hurts threw a couple of bad interceptions in this game. Second, the Eagles were 4-of-14 on third downs.

Third, and maybe most importantly, the Eagles gave up 29 points to the Packers in this one. There were times it looked like the Packers could seemingly score at will. That Vic Fangio defense needs to start taking steps forward in a hurry for this Eagles team to be a viable threat in the NFC again this season.

5. Detroit Lions

Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions opened the 2023 season with a win in prime time, and they do the exact same in 2024. This time, instead of doing it on the road in Kansas City, they did it in front of their home fans in one of the more dramatic games of the week.

The Lions allowed the Rams to come back from a big deficit and take the game to overtime, but David Montgomery was running like a man possessed in the overtime period and Detroit would not be denied a walk-off touchdown to win 26-20.

The Lions buckled a little bit in the second half, but the defense overall looked vastly improved from what we had seen last year. This team looks ready to compete in the NFC this season and there just aren’t many flaws on the roster as a whole.

Especially if we continue to see Jameson Williams step up as a big-time threat like he was against the Rams, racking up 121 receiving yards on just five receptions.