1. San Francisco 49ers (2-0) – They are the NFL’s most complete team. They dismantled the Packers, a very good team, on the road in Week 1. And had no trouble beating the Lions, a solid team, in Week Two.

2. Houston Texans (2-0) – I would like to see them be a little more aggressive in the passing game, but the Texans are another one of those complete teams. And they can win in a variety of ways.

3. Philadelphia Eagles (2-0) – The Eagles are probably a little better than I thought they would be at this point. And to think they are 2-0 so far despite turning the ball over 9 times. The reason they are winning? The defense is much improved—and it might be one of the best in the NFL, even after two weeks.

4. Atlanta Falcons (2-0) – The loss of starting CB Brent Grimes, perhaps the team’s best defensive player, will show up more as the season progresses. However, I like the defensive adjustments that DC Mike Nolan has made so far. And the offense looks very explosive.

5. New England Patriots (1-1) – Had QB Tom Brady been a little more accurate last week, the Patriots would have beaten the Cardinals rather handily. But the loss of TE Aaron Hernandez certainly is a factor. They can’t run their two-TE offense until he comes back.

6. Green Bay Packers (1-1) – The concerns are two-fold for the Packers: Can they be a little better on offense or more consistent? And can the defense play as well the rest of the season as it did against the visiting Bears last week? There are some inconsistencies that need to be corrected in order for the Packers to be a Super Bowl team.

7. Baltimore Ravens (1-1) – The lack of a pass rush from the defense clearly is an issue, which we all knew would be happening once OLB Terrell Suggs went down with his Achilles injury. But the play calling by OC Cam Cameron still needs improvement. There was no need to be passing so much with a 17-7 lead in the third quarter. That's the time to run the ball with RB Ray Rice to salt the game away as the team approached the fourth quarter.

8. New York Giants (2-1) – What an incredible performance on the road against the Panthers. And what's even more impressive is the way they dominated even without several key players. Just when you thought they were in trouble, the Giants proved why they’re the defending Super Bowl champs.

9. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) – The Steelers continue to deal with some tough injuries on defense, but once they get OLB James Harrison and SS Troy Polamalu back, they’ll be one of the NFL’s best teams again.

10. San Diego Chargers (2-0) – The Chargers haven’t faced anywhere close to a good team yet, but I’ve been very impressed with DC John Pagano’s scheme so far. And the players have executed very well. IT’s also good to see QB Philip Rivers back on track despite having to work with a lot of new players.

11. Arizona Cardinals (2-0) – The Cardinal defense has been much better than expected so far, but what might keep the team from making the playoffs is its inability to move the ball on offense. A big test will come this Sunday against the visiting Eagles.

12. Seattle Seahawks (1-1) – The Seahawks might have the NFL’s best secondary and defensive line, but they are going to have trouble scoring most weeks. That’s why they probably won’t be a playoff team. It’s a passing league; the rules pretty much dictate that you’ll need to throw the ball to win over the long haul.

13. Denver Broncos (1-1) – While QB Peyton Manning’s lack of ideal arm strength might be an issue, the problems for this team really aren’t on offense. Rather, for the Broncos to be a playoff team, they’re going to have to take it up a notch on defense.

14. Detroit Lions (1-1) – The concern with the Lions continues to be with the secondary. But the good thing is they’re on the mend there with the injury situation at cornerback. And it would be good if they could run the ball better. Hopefully the return of RB Mikel Leshoure form his two-game suspension will provide immediate results in that area.

15. Dallas Cowboys (1-1) – Did you buy that the Cowboys would be a very good team after their road win against the Giants in Week One? I didn’t. There’s an inconsistency from this team that hasn’t gone away. There’s a lot of potential and upside, but whether they can put it all together remains to be seen.

16. Chicago Bears (1-1) – If the coaches can devise a better way to protect QB Jay Cutler, the Bears might be a playoff team this season. The defense looks like it’s going to be very good -- at least through two weeks.

17. New York Jets (1-1) – It’s always an adventure trying to figure out which Jets’ team will show up from week to week. And the same can be said about QB Mark Sanchez. So there’s no reason to think that this team will be a playoff team unless it can find more consistency.

18. St. Louis Rams (1-1) – The Rams are yet another team that might be better than first thought. And most of the reason is because the defense looks to be much improved over last season. But they will have trouble scoring most weeks due to a lack of quality passing options other than WR Danny Amendola.

19. Washington Redskins (1-1) – Those two losses on defense – OLB Brian Orakpo and DE Adam Carriker – are going be potentially devastating as the season progresses. They’ll have to stay on schedule with the running game in order to have any chance of having a record of 8-8 or better.

20. Cincinnati Bengals (1-1) – The Bengals need some help at WR and lack enough qulaity pass rushers, which is why I thought they’d be an 8-8 team this season. Nothing that I’ve seen so far in two games would make me change my mind.

21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1) – They might be a little better than I thought, especially in the front-seven. But it was a bit troubling how much success the Giants had last week against their secondary.

22. Buffalo Bills (1-1) – The loss of slot WR David Nelson certainly is a concern, but the improvement from the offensive line so far has been a nice surprise. The defense needs to be more consistent for this to be an 8-8 team or better.

23. Indianapolis Colts (1-1) – The Colts might wind up being a little better than most thought this season for two reasons: QB Andrew Luck is way ahead of schedule and the defense might not be as bad as first thought. Still, that doesn’t mean they’ll win more than 5-6 games.

24. Carolina Panthers (1-2) – I can’t recall a team playing as badly at home during a nationally televised game in many years. I thought the Panthers would be an 8-8 team this season, which would be an improvement over last season, but now I’m not so sure. What an embarrassment they were against the Giants. They’ll have 10 days to figure it all out.

25. New Orleans Saints (0-2) – I did pick the Falcons to win the NFC South, but I expected more from the Saint defense so far. However, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s scheme took a while for the players to learn during the Giants’ Super Bowl season of 2007. So maybe there’s still some hope that they can turn it around. And the offense hasn’t exactly been up to its normal standard so far, either. 

26. Minnesota Vikings (1-1) – The defense, which was supposed to be the strength of the team, has been anything but that through two games. The good news is RB Adrian Peterson looks to be all the way back from his ACL surgery. But the team has to find a way to get more explosive plays on offense.

27. Miami Dolphins (1-1) – Gotta give RB Reggie Bush credit for what he has accomplished thus far. But his resurgence could be actually be first noticed last season. Bush has finally understood that to be successful as a starting back in the NFL, you have to be willing to run inside—and he’s done that this season. And the other nice surprise has been the defense, which has been very dominant up front. Still, the WR corps and lack of experience at QB could hold this team back from winning more than four or five games.

28. Cleveland Browns (0-2) – The good news is the Browns have been very competitive so far despite some injury and suspension issues. And with the improvement from rookie QB Brandon Weeden last week, the Browns should have a good chance of beating the visiting Bills on Sunday.

29. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2) – QB Blaine Gabbert struggled badly last week with defenders around him in the pocket. And for the team to have a realistic chance of winning 5-6 games this season, he will have to play much better. The defense surprisingly couldn’t stop the run last week vs. the Texans, which is a really bad sign.

30. Kansas City Chiefs (0-2) – I’m as surprised as anyone that the Chiefs have looked this bad through two games. Can it get any worse? The offense hasn’t been terrible, but the defense sure has.

31. Oakland Raiders (0-2) – Well, those Raider fans on Twitter who gave me hell for my 5-11 season prediction, where are you now?  Truth be told, I expected the offense to be much better than it has been. And the defense has been well less than average so far. The only saving grace is the AFC West isn’t a very good division.

32. Tennessee Titans (0-2) – They are who we thought they were….well at least I thought the Titans would be a bad team. They can’t run the ball at all with any success, which really hurts QB Jake Locker. The second-year pro needs to have a good running game and good defense to help him stay on schedule. And he looked awful last week vs. the Chargers.