Wednesday, September 13, 2023

New England Patriots Week 2 NFL Power Rankings Roundup

Throughout the 2023 NFL season, we will compile a consensus NFL Power Rankings that averages the rankings of all 32 NFL teams.

Below you will find a Week 2 roundup for the New England Patriots in our consensus 2023 NFL Power Rankings.

ESPN -- Rank: 17

Best debut performance: CB Christian Gonzalez
Week 1 stats: 7 tackles, sack, 1 pass defensed

The 2023 No. 17 overall pick had a tough opening assignment against Eagles receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, and he was competitive in coverage. Gonzalez started and played all 66 defensive snaps and looks like he has a chance to be CB1 if he continues on his current path. "We didn't get the outcome we wanted, but there's a lot to learn from it," he said after the game. -- Mike Reiss

NFL.com -- Rank: 25

The Week 1 loss to the Eagles felt eerily similar to the Patriots' late-season defeat to the Bengals in 2022, in which New England fell behind 22-0 before coming up just short in a 22-18 final. Against Philadelphia, the early deficit was 16-0, and the final margin was 25-20. To me, these are testaments to Bill Belichick and his staff game-planning for a top-tier opponent very effectively, but they're also coming up short because of the talent differential. Yes, the Patriots were one Kayshon Boutte foot from perhaps winning the game. And though the Pats made up for lost time offensively, they must quickly find a way to avoid slow starts, or this team could find itself in holes it can't dig out of.

CBS Sports -- Rank: 27

The defense did some good things against the Eagles, but it took a while for the offense to get going. They did rally from 16-0 down early to make a game of it, which showed some fight.

USA Today -- Rank: 19

QB Mac Jones looked effectively resurrected as New England gave the highly touted Eagles all they could handle. If the run game gets going — and if things are as bad as they seem in New York — you wonder if the Pats might just be back in 2023.

The Athletic -- Rank: 20

Tommy Who? On a day when the Patriots welcomed back Tom Brady, New England quarterback Mac Jones threw 54 passes and three touchdown passes. Brady threw more passes than that only 11 times in a 20-year career in New England. Of course, Brady won a lot more than Mac.

FOX -- Rank: 16

There's nothing for the Pats to hang their heads about. This game started about as poorly as possible, only for New England to spend the rest of the day taking it to the reigning NFC champs. Moral victories aren't good enough in the long run, but it's refreshing that Mac Jones looked like a quality quarterback for the first time since his rookie year.

Yahoo! -- Rank: 15

The Patriots played pretty well. They contained Jalen Hurts, as Hurts passed for just 170 yards. The offense put up more than 300 yards passing. They outgained a very good Eagles team 382-251. New England put itself in a big hole with two enormous turnovers in the first quarter and nobody wants to hear about a moral victory, but keep in mind going forward that the Patriots pretty much outplayed the Eagles. Even in a loss, that's not a bad sign for them.

PFT -- Rank: 22

Moral victories don't count in the race to catch Don Shula.

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