NFL Power Rankings Week 1: Lions show they might be NFC favorites after bullying Rams into submission

Tabulating power rankings for the NFL after just one week of play is always an interesting exercise.

You’re trying not to overreact to mediocre performance because it looks like just about everyone is knocking off some measure of rust. This sentiment is especially true for the slow-starting Cincinnati Bengals, who are somehow routinely forgetting to put something in their backpack. At the same time, it’s hard to overlook teams who are seemingly primed and in midseason form from the jump. Amongst a cavalcade of struggling quarterbacks like Daniel Jones, you realize it would be silly not to reward the “haves” for coming to class prepared.

This is exactly where we stand after one week into the 2024 NFL season.

It’s so early, but the Kansas City Chiefs seemed poised for a three-peat after dispatching the Baltimore Ravens with relative ease on opening night. Elsewhere, the Houston Texans and C.J. Stroud certainly feel like the No. 1 contender to the Chiefs’ throne in the AFC. On Sunday night, the Detroit Lions fought through an uneven back-and-forth battle to make a defining statement to the Los Angeles Rams. It is this Detroit squad that, honestly, makes me most intrigued about matching up with Kansas City. I’m not sure there’s another NFC team that can match the Lions in the trenches. Shoot, that idea probably applies to the entire league. If the Lions want to bully you, they will.

And let’s not get it twisted: Jameson Williams is a gift.

Week 1 in the NFL is a fickle and confusing place. Let’s try to make sense of it all in For The Win’s opening NFL power rankings for the 2024 season.