Rick McGlothlin, Senior Writer, Drafftek.com

Two quarterbacks, both named Manning, lead their team to victory in front of a vast television audience on back to back nights, including the Giants ruining of the opening game party of Jerryworld in Dallas. Mac’s NFL Power Rankings see a bit of a shuffle with the loss of the defending champs in Chicago, the defeat of New England to rival New York and the Ravens big win in San Diego.

Keep in mind it’s only week two and this season has all the markings of a topsy-turvy one that could see several different combinations in the top ten all year long. Here’s the week two rundown.

1. New York Giants (2-0) – The GMen and Eli Manning ruin the party at the palace with a last-second win to move them to 2-0 on the year. Once unheard of wideouts are coming through for Manning on a regular basis, while the running game still requires defenses to play honest. But it was the passing game in full force Sunday night with both Steve Smith and Mario Manningham stepping up big time against the Cowboys, helping Manning to pass all over the field against the Dallas defense. Speaking of defenses, the Giants were without Justin Tuck for much of the night and he was missed. And what a game by rookie CB Bruce Johnson with an pick-6 for the Giants

2. Baltimore (2-0) – One of the most incredible defensive plays I’ve ever seen by a guy who has made many. The stop by Ray Lewis on Darren Sproles to thwart the Chargers game-winning effort will be legend one day. It was amazing and capped a rather un-Raven like shootout with San Diego. But that’s what makes this team more interesting than usual. While the defense stopped a running back from rushing for 100 yards for the 27th straight time, the offense has put up 30+ points in back to back games. Unheard of for Baltimore in recent history. Joe Flacco looks extremely confident and has thrown as many touchdowns this season as he did the first 8 games as a rookie. Meantime, the Raven running attack is helping chew yardage and time.

3. Minnesota (2-0) – The Vikings aren’t really the 3rd best team in the NFL. But at the present time, they will deserve this ranking because they’ve done what they needed to do – win games. Favre is looking a more and more comfortable with his receiving corps, and even though the Vikes fell behind early to the Lions, no one panicked or lost their bearing. The defense shut down Detroit after the 10-0 score and the offense reeled off 27 unanswered points to put the game away. Better get the hatches battened down Vike fans….cause the up and coming 49ers visit next.

4. Atlanta (2-0) – How valuable has the off-season grab of Tony Gonzalez turned out to be for Atlanta? And Michael Turner continues to be the same in his second Falcon season. Matt Turner, meanwhile, stays strong at the QB position throwing for over 200 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Falcons hold off divisional foe Carolina. Now we’ll see what they can do handling the media hype associated with traveling to New England to face one of the AFC’s best.

5. New Orleans (2-0) – Like a hot knife through butter, Drew Brees led the Saint offense up and down the field all day long. The defense did a good enough job making Kevin Kolb miserable and returning the ball back to the offense for another scoring drive. A road trip to Buffalo (hey, at least it’s in October and not December) plus a home game with the Jets are next up for the Saints. At the end of week 4,we’ll see if New Orleans can stay in the top 5.

6. N.Y. Jets (2-0) – Sure, it’s probably just temporary, but with two big wins to start off the season and the rookie QB doing so well in the metropolis, you can’t help but enjoy the success the Jets have had in their first two games. And one thing different about this team than in recent years – the defense looks smothering. Ask the Patriots. If they can continue to lock down teams with that defense, keep the running game going and allow Mark “Sanchise” to get even more comfortable as a pro QB, then the J-E-T-S, JETS,JETS, JETS are a team that could make a run.

7. Indianapolis (2-0) – After watching the Colts allow Miami to stay on the field all night long, it’s hard to move the Colts into the top 3 or 4 right now. There are times when winning ugly is so overused that it’s just trite, and then there are times when it is absolutely spot on. The latter was true of the Indianapolis Colts victory over Miami, as the Colts touched the ball on offense 13 times in the second half, while the defense was turning into butter in Landshark Stadium. While it seemed to take forever for Miami to score, Manning and the Colts score 14 of their 27 points in under a minute. Next up is a trip to Arizona.

8. San Diego (1-1) – With a decimated offensive line and LT out for the game, it’s a wonder the game was still within reach for San Diego. And that speaks volumes about the capability of Phillip Rivers and the Charger offense. However, Rivers is also trying to do too much and making some silly mistakes. Like that silly heave to the middle of the field that was intercepted. But it is the defense that continues to frustrate the Charger faithful, especially the sedcondary, this time allowing 30+ points to the normally low-scoring Ravens. And the loss of NT Jamal Williams is a serious setback. Miami visits next (so we’ll see how they do against the Wildcat) and then it’s a trip to Blitz-burgh.

9. Pittsburgh (1-1) – Certainly there are some components missing for the defending Super Bowl champs thus far in 2009. Namely Troy Polamalu. Without him, that defense looks pretty decent. WITH him, they’re so much better. But Troy doesn’t play offense and the Steelers needed more production at key times against Chicago and could not make it happen. Jeff Reed’s two misses were killers as the Steelers had put together two long drives in the final quarter, but came away both times empty handed after Reed missed. Still way too early to count these guys out of anything and will most certainly rebound soon. Why? They have the Bengals, Lions and Browns in 3 out of their next 4 games.

10. San Francisco (2-0) Yes, yes….I know, this might be too high for the Niners, but it’s still very early and they ARE undefeated. And they haven’t played Cleveland or Detroit either, so it’s not like they’re squeaking by some lesser ballclubs by the skin of their teeth. Love what Singletary is doing with that defense and also that Shaun Hill continues to impress while flying under the radar. Big game next week at Minnesota. If they can spring the upset in the Twin Cities, watch out.

Best of the rest:

11. New England (1-1) – Someone got into Tom Brady’s head prior to Sunday’s game vs the Jets. And they never got out of it until the game was over. Sure, Wes Welker’s absence didn’t help, but it wasn’t as if he didn’t have a top wideout to hit or capable runners to hand off ( or throw the screen to) out of the backfield. The Pats are a Leodis McKelvin fumble away from 0-2. The Falcons and then the Ravens come to the Razor in successive weeks and so 1-3 is a distinct possibility if they can’t find their offense soon. The defense is still a little questionable too with injuries playing a part in that area.

12. Chicago (1-1) – Looks as if Jay Cutler got the message and understands what he did (or didn’t do) last week in the loss to Green Bay. He looked much more relaxed and the receivers were running a much crisper route than they had in week one. Put that together with a pretty solid effort by the defense, and the Bears upend Pittsburgh….which, historically, that’s the way it usually goes for the Bears at home vs the Steelers. 11-1 all time against Pittsburgh playing in Chicago.

13. Philadelphia (1-1) –  Until McFive gets back and Michael Vick is being given some plays in the wildcat, Philly won’t win with that offense. It just doesn’t click without Donovan in there. What’s worse was the Philly D just looking plain while the Saints carved them up all day long. It seemed like they never really had anyone putting pressure on Brees, which is fatal, and it was fortunate the Saints didn’t put a 50-spot on them. The Chiefs, a bye week and the Bucs will help calm things down for awhile until “normalcy” returns. Maybe.

14. Dallas (1-1) – Tony WOE-mo probably felt better in his uniform during the game than he did afterwards sitting in the office of Jerry Jones getting that butt-chewing. I mean, how is it that he continually chokes away games of import and still keep his job? If he was Tavaris Jackson they would have run him out of town on a rail after the botched FG two years ago. Three picks and another turnover cost the Cowboys 24 of the Giants points. Remember now, this off-season they got rid of “the problem” (T.O.), so no more pressure, right Tony? I guess not. That one will come back to haunt Dallas – mark my words. It was fortunate that Dallas had a solid running game or it would’ve been a blowout. Now everyone is looking closely for the injury report concerning both Marion Barber and DeMarcus Ware.

15. Tennessee (0-2) – Best winless team in the NFL. But if they don’t start closing out the close games, they could go in reverse order of one year ago when they started 10-0. At the Jets, Jags and Patriots with the Colts at home prior to the New England journey. That could be a quick 0-5 if they aren’t careful.

All that said, don’t you just love watching Chris Johnson run the rock? Or should I say jet down the field with the rock? Amazing speed on that guy.

16. Buffalo (1-1) – Should be 2-0 right now, but after starting out that way a year ago, perhaps it’s better that they not get off to a flying start this time around. Little more trouble with Tampa Bay than many figured, but they snapped out of it in time to secure the win. Will be interesting to see how the return of Marshawn Lynch affects the club, not to mention the playing status of Fred Jackson, who had done exceptionally well the first two weeks.

17. Arizona (1-1) – Now THAT was the Arizona Cardinals we’ve been accustomed to seeing in the past couple of seasons. Warner just dismantled the Jags missing on just two passes out of 26 attempted. However, methinks the braintrust allowed the fellas to get a little to lax after going up 31-17. Imagine if the Jags Nate Hughes had caught that pass for a TD and made it 31-24 early in the final quarter.

18. Green Bay (1-1) – Not sure what to make of this loss. There was no reason why the Pack should’ve had to turn a late on-side kick into a tying score (which they failed to do anyway) because this team is much better than the Bengals. Not on this day they weren’t. But I will say this: If the Green Bay offensive line continues to allow Aaron Rodgers to get used as a pinata, he won’t be there by November. And I’m not sure where the running game went…is the Bengals D that good?

19. Denver (2-0) – Yes, they’re unbeaten, but …..well, okay, let’s give ‘em a push up the ladder for now. But I just can’t lift up too much further than this because they are still struggling on offense. Defensively, they’ve been impressive thus far – and how about Elvis Dumervil’s big day crushing the quarterback!? And for all the Orton haters, I heard Shannon Sharpe on the live telecast tell Bronco fans that if they boo Orton, they need to boo the receivers too. Why? He said that they rarely get open. Ouch.

20. Miami (0-2) – They did everything but win the game.  In my opinion, they never should’ve even attempted a pass all night. Had they kept running the ball, mainly out of the wildcat, they could’ve won. However, when they needed a late scoring drive the Dolphins couldn’t produce. Why is Miami still at #20? Because their two losses have come to the Atlanta Falcons and Indianapolis Colts by a total of 16 points.  I should move them ahead of Denver, but I’ll wait till next week what each team does.

21. Houston (1-1) – Big win and a gutty comeback (several, in fact) by the Texans. All looked dismal after Chris Johnson blew downfield for a 91 yard TD, but Houston failed to pack their bags and head home. The defense still has some serious problems but the offense pulled through in critical situations to put the Texans in 2nd place in AFC South.

22. Seattle (1-1) – Seahawk fans hope Hasselbeck is able to return soon, but the defense was gashed by Frank Gore and the Niners via the run. Chicago and Indy are up next, so no time to rest.

23. Washington (1-1) Thus far the multi-million dollar acquisition isn’t paying dividends in terms of definitive domination. And to make things worse, where has the offense gone? 0 for 5 in the redzone vs St. Louis.

24. Carolina (0-2) – Better played game than a week ago, but mistakes still plagued the Panthers offensively.

25. Jacksonville (0-2) – The Jags are looking pretty rusty thus far in 2009 but did do a good job trying to mount a game-tying comeback late.

26. Tampa Bay (0-2) – The Bucs aren’t able to shut down teams defensively like the good ‘ole days, so the running game isn’t going to be the force it once was if they continue to start from behind.

27. Oakland (1-1) – Not pretty at all for Jamarcus Russell, but for the 2nd time in as many games, he leads an important go-ahead scoring drive in the waning moments. Can’t move them up further just yet.

28. Cincinnati (1-1) – Big win at a time when many (like me) were thinking the Bengals were in the last throes of relevance in the NFL. Let’s see if they can do anything with this victory, like beat the Steelers next before moving them up a notch or two.

29. St. Louis (0-2) – Tip ‘o the hat to the Rams for going into D.C. and playing the Skins to a near draw.

30. Kansas City (0-2) – Question. How does one team have a 3-1 edge in total offense, 2-1 edge in time of possession, and still lose by a 13-10 score? I guess the same way Miami does. ( And at home like the Dolphins, too.)

31. Cleveland (0-2) – Horrendous. The Dawg Pound can’t even stand the smell. One TD for the offense in the last 8 games?  And no, it’s not only Brady Quinn stinking it up folks….everyone is taking ownership right now. 

32. Detroit (0-2) – 19 “L’s” in a row now….but things were looking bright with that 10-0 lead late in the 2nd Qtr. This is definitely not the winless schmucks of a year ago, so look for a “W” for the Lions before Turkey Day. Speaking of Thanksgiving and football, the Packers are going to be a bit nervous going to Motown for that game.