Top teams heading into Week 2 of the NFL

After a long and eventful offseason, Week 1 of the 2024 NFL regular season is finally in the books, and what a week it was. There were massive upsets, close games galore and exciting finishes around the league making NFL predictions tough to call.

What will NFL Week 2 do for an encore? Well, it should begin with a massive matchup, as Thursday Night Football features the Buffalo Bills heading to Miami to take on the Dolphins in a pivotal early-season AFC East clash.

But before we can get into the Week 2 slate, it’s time to rank the top five teams in the NFL following Week 1. Each of these teams has established itself as an early-season Super Bowl contender, and there isn’t much separation between most teams near the top of the league. Let’s get into it.

#5 - Houston Texans

To close out this list of top teams, the Houston Texans deserve some respect after breaking through last season and backing up the offseason hype in Week 1.

This team got a ton of buzz heading into the season, thanks to the tremendous success of quarterback CJ Stroud in his rookie campaign, plus the addition of Stefon Diggs at the #3 wide receiver spot. 

The Texans had serious expectations placed on them for the first time in years, but Stroud and company picked up right where they left off a season ago in a thrilling 29-27 victory over an upstart Colts team in Indianapolis. 

In a game featuring explosive plays from both passing offenses, Houston's ground game was led by Joe Mixon (30 carries for 159 yards) and proved to be the difference last Sunday. That is a very encouraging sign for a Texans team that couldn’t run the ball at all a season ago.

As of now, Houston is clearly the favorite in the AFC South and has Super Bowl upside if its young, talented players take another leap forward and things can break right in the conference standings.

#4 - Baltimore Ravens

Even in a loss to the Chiefs, the Baltimore Ravens acquitted themselves well enough to make this list of top teams. 

Lamar Jackson was fantastic, tallying nearly 400 yards of offense by himself and almost willing his team to a dramatic comeback victory. If tight end Isaiah Likely’s toe wasn’t on the out-of-bounds line in the back of the end zone on the game’s final play, the conversation around the Ravens might be very different this week. 

At the end of the day, this is a Ravens team that deserves to be among the elite in the AFC. The offense looks to have improved this year with Derrick Henry in the fold at running back and Likely taking a massive step forward as a weapon at tight end. 

Defensively, losing former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald to the Seahawks hurts, but Baltimore always has solid defenses under head coach John Harbaugh, so the Ravens can still expect to boast a top-10 unit by season’s end. 

When healthy, the Ravens are one of the best teams in the NFL, even after failing to beat the Chiefs in Week 1.

#3 - Detroit Lions

One of the more impressive wins in Week 1 might’ve come from the Detroit Lions, as Dan Campbell’s team didn’t have anywhere close to its finest showing against Matthew Stafford and the Rams. However, this gritty Lions group was able to tie the game late and take care of business in overtime, scoring a touchdown on the opening drive to seal the victory.

Detroit is undoubtedly entering this season with a ton of confidence after coming within a few plays of knocking off the 49ers in their building and making the Super Bowl a season ago. 

It was also a fruitful offseason for the Lions, as they worked to improve a secondary that was the only thing potentially holding Detroit back from a chance at the title last season. On the defensive line, the Lions looked as strong as ever in Week 1, including a massive sack from Aidan Hutchinson to send the game to overtime. 

Offensively, Detroit did operate in a bit of fits and starts against the Rams, but this team still has a ton of firepower and can beat you in multiple ways.

With a beneficial schedule that features plenty of indoor games, don’t be surprised if the Lions end up as the top seed in the NFC this January.

#2 - San Francisco 49ers

It wasn’t the easiest offseason for the San Francisco 49ers. There were contract disputes, trade requests, injury scares and even a frightening incident where their rookie wide receiver was shot in an attempted robbery. 

It would be fair to suggest that San Francisco might start slow this season, given how the offseason and end of last season went. However, that was not the case. 

Once the 49ers took the field against the Jets on Monday, it was the same old Niners. For the majority of the contest, San Francisco completely dominated New York, holding the Jets to 13 non-garbage time points and making Aaron Rodgers and company look extremely pedestrian in the passing game. 

More importantly, the San Francisco run game was excellent without Christian McCaffrey, as the 49ers ran all over the vaunted Jets defense to the tune of 180 yards on the ground. 

It’s clear that despite all of the distractions, San Francisco is still one of the elite teams at the top of the sport.

#1 - Kansas City Chiefs

After a tumultuous regular season in 2023, the Kansas City Chiefs simply did what they do best in the playoffs; own the big moments. Patrick Mahomes and company won close games against the Bills, Ravens and 49ers en route to a third Super Bowl title in five seasons, further cementing his status as an all-time great.

Last Thursday, Kansas City opened its quest for a three-peat with a highly-anticipated game against the Ravens, and the Chiefs won another close game, surviving a furious late rally from Lamar Jackson and company to start their season with a victory over an AFC foe.

There are more questions on the defensive side of the football for Kansas City, and those concerns revealed themselves a bit in the secondary now that all-pro cornerback L'Jarius Sneed is in Tennessee. 

With that said, it’s still only one week into the season, and the Chiefs offense looked strong enough to overcompensate for any defensive miscues. 

This team is the Super Bowl favorite for a reason, and they should be a major factor in the race for the #1 seed in the AFC.

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