By Paul Imig Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Sep 24, 2015 at 4:36 PM

The Indianapolis Colts are ... bad? The New York Jets are ... good? The Cowboys are 2-0, but also down their two best players. It's been a crazy two weeks of football, and here's your weekly NFL power rankings to try to make sense of it all. 

1. New England Patriots (Record: 2-0; Previous Rank: 1)

After an impressive Week 1 win for the Steelers, they followed it up by scoring 40 points on the road against a high-quality, Rex Ryan-led Bills defense. New England is the reigning Super Bowl champions and remain the team to beat in the NFL so far this season.

2. Green Bay Packers (Record: 2-0; Previous Rank: 2)

The Packers finally got a win over Seattle, albeit eight months later than they would’ve liked. Aaron Rodgers showed why he’s the league MVP, dominating the Seahawks’ defense despite constant pressure and limited healthy weapons alongside him.

3. Arizona Cardinals (Record: 2-0; Previous Rank: 3)

Both of Arizona’s wins are against 0-2 teams (New Orleans and Chicago). But the Cardinals easily disposed of both of them, leading the NFL in point differential at plus-37.

4. Denver Broncos (Record: 2-0; Previous Rank: 5)

Peyton Manning’s arm looks like it’s just about done, and Denver’s offense hasn’t been good as a whole. However, through two weeks, there hasn’t been a better defense in the league than the Broncos.

5. Seattle Seahawks (Record: 0-2; Previous Rank: 7)

An 0-2 team ranked fifth? Yes. Because like the Packers in the past three seasons, a slow start doesn’t always mean a bad team. Now the Seahawks have Kam Chancellor back and get to face the Bears and Lions in consecutive weeks.

6. Atlanta Falcons (Record: 2-0; Previous Rank: 10)

Neither were decisive wins, but Atlanta beat two NFC East teams (Eagles and Giants) to begin their season. Julio Jones has been the NFL’s best wide receiver through two weeks.

7. Pittsburgh Steelers (Record: 1-1; Previous Rank: 16)

The Steelers followed up their Week 1 loss at New England by destroying San Francisco, 43-18. And now Pittsburgh gets Le’Veon Bell back.

8. Cincinnati Bengals (Record: 2-0; Previous Rank: 14)

The Bengals have been good on both sides of the ball in their opening wins over Oakland and San Diego. They could improve to 3-0 with a road win against struggling Baltimore.

9. Kansas City Chiefs (Record: 1-1; Previous Rank: 8)

Kansas City’s defense has been great through two weeks. The Chiefs will have had 11 days off between games when they travel to Lambeau Field on Monday night.

10. St. Louis Rams (Record: 1-1; Previous Rank: 6)

The Rams followed up their very impressive Week 1 win over Seattle by losing at Washington by 14 points. Huh? Either way, St. Louis is poised to dominate on defense most weeks.

11. New York Jets (Record: 2-0; Previous Rank: 21)

The Jets have outscored their opponents 51-17 so far this season. Who saw that coming?

12. Buffalo Bills (Record: 1-1; Previous Rank: 4)

That Week 1 win for the Bills over Indianapolis doesn’t look as good now that the Colts struggled again. Buffalo seemed overmatched against the Patriots in Week 2.

13. Carolina Panthers (Record: 2-0; Previous Rank: 20)

Carolina could easily be 4-0 soon with upcoming games against New Orleans and Tampa Bay. But would wins against those opponents, plus the Panthers’ two wins over the Jaguars and Texans, really make anyone believe Carolina is a major threat in the NFC?

14. San Diego Chargers (Record: 1-1; Previous Rank: 15)

San Diego has been the definition of average through two games. That includes their score differential of 0 (52 points scored, 52 points allowed).

15. Dallas Cowboys (Record: 2-0; Previous Rank: 9)

If you want to believe in a Brandon Weeden / Matt Cassel duo at quarterback for the next two months (especially when they don’t have Dez Bryant to throw to), go ahead. The Cowboys’ defense is good enough to keep them in games, though.

16. Minnesota Vikings (Record: 1-1; Previous Rank: 23)

Week 2 looked a lot more like Week 1 should’ve looked, with Adrian Peterson getting 29 carries rather than 10. Minnesota’s win over Detroit should establish (at least for now) the Vikings as the second-best team in the division.

17. Miami Dolphins (Record: 1-1; Previous Rank: 11)

On paper, the Dolphins should be better than the way they’ve played. That means they’ll either under-achieve all season, or they’ll soon get it together and start a winning streak.

18. New York Giants (Record: 0-2; Previous Rank: 19)

Yes, the Giants are 0-2. But they’ve lost by a total of five points to two teams that are 2-0. 

19. Washington (Record: 1-1; Previous Rank: 29)

A 14-point victory over St. Louis was a quality win for Washington in Week 2. 

20. Jacksonville Jaguars (Record: 1-1; Previous Rank: 31)

The Jaguars bounced back from an ugly Week 1 performance to beat the in-state rival Dolphins.

21. Indianapolis Colts (Record: 0-2; Previous Rank: 12)

The Colts won’t be this bad all season, right? With Andrew Luck behind center, Indianapolis should soon snap out of its funk.

22. Tennessee Titans (Record: 1-1; Previous Rank: 25)

Marcus Mariota gets the headlines, but Tennessee’s defense has proven thus far to be quite good. 

23. Detroit Lions (Record: 0-2; Previous Rank: 22)

Both of Detroit’s losses have come on the road. But the Lions could easily fall to 0-5 as their schedule now presents the Seahawks, Broncos and Cardinals. 

24. Oakland Raiders (Record: 1-1; Previous Rank: 30)

Oakland began its season by trailing 33-0 to Cincinnati. But a Week 2 win over the Ravens suggests the Raiders have a chance to be a decent team this season.

25. San Francisco 49ers (Record: 1-1; Previous Rank: 17)

After a somewhat surprising Week 1 dominant performance over Minnesota, the 49ers fell back to Earth hard by losing to the Steelers by 25 points.

26. Cleveland Browns (Record: 1-1; Previous Rank: 32)

Josh McCown suffers a concussion. Johnny Manziel gets Cleveland a Week 2 win. McCown clears concussion protocol and gets the starting job back. Let’s see where this goes for a while.

27. Philadelphia Eagles (Record: 0-2; Previous Rank: 13)

Panic time in Philadelphia? The Eagles’ offense was embarrassed on national television in Week 2. 

28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Record: 1-1; Previous Rank: 28)

Jameis Winston got his first NFL win. All things considered, though, the Buccaneers don’t look like a good team yet this season.

29. Baltimore Ravens (Record: 0-2; Previous Rank: 18)

A surprising 0-2 start for a usually dependable team. Allowing 37 points to Oakland and losing that game was obviously a disappointment for the Ravens.

30. New Orleans Saints (Record: 0-2; Previous Rank: 24)

Drew Brees is banged up, and the Saints don’t look like they’re going anywhere this season.

31. Houston Texans (Record: 0-2; Previous Rank: 26)

Houston’s offense has been bad regardless of who’s at quarterback. 

32. Chicago Bears (Record: 0-2; Previous Rank: 27)

The Bears started the season by losing two home games. Now, they continue on for a couple weeks without an injured Jay Cutler. Hey, at least Chicago seems to be in good shape to get the No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft.

Paul Imig Special to OnMilwaukee.com
Paul Imig spent the past five years working for FOX Sports WI. He began by covering the Milwaukee Bucks and Milwaukee Brewers before taking over the Green Bay Packers beat in 2011. In addition to his writing, Paul also made television appearances nationwide on FOX Sports 1. He can be heard on the radio statewide on The Bill Michaels Show and can be seen on Time Warner Cable's Roundtable show with Dennis Krause. Paul is the 2015 recipient of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's award for Graduate Of the Last Decade (GOLD).