What a finish in Indy on Monday night. And what a week of players falling to injury.

Week 2 is just barely in the books, and we're already talking about all the hurt players, from Jamaal Charles to Knowshon Moreno to A.J. Green to DeSean Jackson to Vernon Davis ... we could literally go on and on. And thus, ranking teams today means considering who is out tomorrow.

Making the process even more difficult: There were upsets and close contests galore, one of which included a third-string quarterback starting for the first time -- on the road, no less -- and delivering a big W for a Rams team that so desperately needed it. While Austin Davis' adventure in Tampa flew somewhat under the radar, the weather there sure as heck didn't; that story is below. And we have a new No. 1. So take a long look -- and share your take (@HarrisonNFL is the place, peeps).

Let the dissension commence ...

(Note: Arrows reflect change in standings from the most recent Power Rankings.)

RANK 1 2-0 BRONCOS 1 Raise your hand if you live in Denver and expected Sunday's matchup to become a one-score game in its final moments, with the ailing Chiefs threatening. Anyone? No?



Nice pass deflection by Broncos defender Terrance Knighton on that fourth-down stop at the end; it must have felt good, if for no other reason than because the play stood. Hey, some wins ain't pretty, but they'll all count when this club is 13-3.

RANK 2 2-0 BENGALS 3 Message delivered. I thought I might have had the Bengals a bit high last week, placing them within the top five -- and then they went out and destroyed the Falcons. Impressive win, to say the least.



Consider this just a whisper, but after watching his performance in the preseason and in Week 2, is it possible that Cincinnati rookie Jeremy Hill is more effective running the football than second-year pro Giovani Bernard? (Let me know what you think @HarrisonNFL.)

RANK 3 2-0 EAGLES 1 Monday night's performance shows what a threat Philly can be, considering Nick Foles missed some wide-open receivers, the club fared quite poorly in the first half -- and the Eagles still won. I honestly thought the game was over when Philadelphia cornerback Bradley Fletcher let a would-be interception slip right through his hands in the end zone, giving Indy a chance to go up 20-6 in the third quarter.

RANK 4 2-0 PANTHERS 2 Well. Those who think Carolina doesn't have what it takes to compete for a Super Bowl should consider that the Panthers' defense has forced six turnovers, given up 21 points and allowed opposing quarterbacks to gain a little more than 5 yards per attempt through two games. That is a certifiable championship-caliber unit, folks.

RANK 5 2-0 CARDINALS 3 Maybe Drew Stanton didn't light it up -- OK, he really didn't light it up at all -- but that was a nice win for a veteran backup quarterback placed in a tough spot. He got a lift from the Cardinals' run game, which posted 124 yards against the Giants, and from the fact that Andre Ellington didn't put the ball on the turf. Oh, and after Arizona's Ted Ginn fair-caught several punts despite having about 20 yards of open space around him in Week 1, he actually fielded one against the Giants, and went on to reward himself -- and his team -- for it. Good return.

RANK 6 1-1 CHARGERS 8 Big-league win over the Seahawks. How the 34-year-old Antonio Gates still gets open is absolutely, utterly amazing. Can you imagine what his combine numbers would be now? It doesn't matter; he's still good and shifty in a way that only the 55-year-old who embarrasses you at the rec center can be. I got this dude wearing the sports goggles from 1985 and the tube socks and the Waylon Jennings concert tee, you think, before he pulls a jump hook with a hairy arm all up in your grill.



Yeah, so that's what the Seahawks' linebackers felt like on Sunday ... probably.

RANK 7 1-1 SEAHAWKS 6 Guessing the "perfect season" stuff can come to a merciful end. Seattle looked fatigued in the San Diego heat and in those dark blues. Give the Chargers credit for a) making the Seahawks wear those insulated heat packs and b) outplaying them in all three phases of the game. Percy Harvin's fumble on a second-quarter kick return was a huge play in a quality early-season matchup.

RANK 8 1-1 PACKERS 1 For Aaron Rodgers, it's another feather in the cheesehead, which had been looking a bit moldy following a poor kickoff-night performance. Lost in all the highlights against the Jets and Randall Cobb's two scores were the two bills Jordy Nelson put up for Green Bay. How about this stat line: Nine catches for 209 yards and a big touchdown?



Would you believe that in the 94-year history of the Packers -- which includes the great years of Don Hutson, Carroll Dale, James Lofton, Sterling Sharpe and Donald Driver -- Don Beebe has the third-most receiving yards in a game? Don freaking Beebe?! He put up 220 yards against the 49ers in a fantastic Monday night thriller in 1996, a 23-20 overtime win in Week 7 -- and went on to finish the season with 699 yards. I must find this contest on VHS for my collection. Any of you fans have it? Hit me up @HarrisonNFL.

RANK 12 1-1 49ERS 9 Multiple turnovers, 16 penalties and a huge drop at the end, to boot. How the Niners blew that Sunday night matchup with the Bears after jumping out to a 17-0 lead is beyond me, but that first sentence is probably a good place to start.

RANK 16 0-2 SAINTS 5 At some point, the Saints' defense is going to have to make plays when it matters, or this team will have little chance to compete for another Super Bowl. Was the unit terrible in Cleveland on Sunday? No. But could Browns receiver Andrew Hawkins have gotten any more open on the crucial last-minute reception that set up the clinching field goal?



It's not panic time yet, but the red button is blinking and ready to be pushed.

RANK 19 1-1 LIONS 4 Looks like we're dealing with the same old Detroit Lions ... well, at least after two weeks. Jim Caldwell's club purred in the second half of Sunday's loss to the Panthers, ultimately posting a turnover differential of minus-three. Whether you're the Lions of 2014 or 1935 -- the championship-winning group that allowed a scant nine points per game -- you can't win that way. Matthew Stafford dropped back 52 times and failed to reach 300 passing yards. No bueno.

RANK 21 1-1 COWBOYS 7 So much for the cursed road blues theory. Maybe that was something reserved for the years of Don Meredith, Craig Morton, Roger Staubach, Danny White, Steve Pelluer, Troy Aikman ... actually, that pretty much covers it.



Nice win in Nashville for the Cowboys. Dez Bryant needs to sport more gold under that jersey, though.

RANK 23 1-1 VIKINGS 4 Tough "home" opener for the Vikes against the Patriots. Defenders have a better shot of putting their hands on a receiver without a flag being thrown than Matt Cassel does of evading pressure right now. Holy cow. #pocketawareness

RANK 24 2-0 TEXANS 2 Pretty sure Texans coach Bill O'Brien realizes the best way to win is to get Arian Foster going. Foster had yet another solid outing against the Raiders, toting the rock 28 times for 138 yards and a touchdown, and adding two catches. So much for the bad back. What a damn good player he is when his body is right.



And major props to the Houston Texans, who have already matched last year's win total. Of course, all of their losses in 2013 came after Week 2. We need to see a victory against someone other than the Redskins and Raiders before we get all kittens and rainbows with this club.

RANK 26 0-2 CHIEFS 3 I'll tell you what, that Alex Smith has some serious athletic pride. The final aerial numbers might not have been phenomenal (26-of-42 passing for 255 yards), but the 42 yards he provided on the ground -- along with some big throws -- kept the Chiefs in the game against the Broncos. No. 11 isn't perfect, but when you look at what he's playing with (especially now that he'll be without Jamaal Charles for a while), you realize the quality of his work.

RANK 27 1-1 REDSKINS 3 It's rare that a team has a better shot of winning when the backup quarterback comes in. We haven't seen that since Doug Flutie was the understudy for Rob Johnson (who, by the way, is one of the many who have played quarterback for Washington since Y2K). So I guess you know where I'm headed with this. Can you blame me? Kirk Cousins' day against the Jaguars, with Robert Griffin III out: 22-of-33 passing for 250 yards and two touchdowns. That said, now Washington has little depth at QB if Cousins falters. Tough to put this team higher for now.

RANK 28 1-1 RAMS 3 Strange football game to play in, strange football game to win. Bilbo had a better chance at taking on Smaug than Austin Davis had of winning this one, and yet, the kid delivered. Next up: the Cowboys. Let's hope the Rams tackle DeMarco Murray this time around.

RANK 29 0-2 BUCCANEERS 5 What a terrible ending to an un-entertaining game. Do those two negatives make Sunday's loss to the Rams a positive for Lovie Smith's Bucs? No. Like, not at all. No team in pro football had a setup like Tampa Bay, which should have had an easy go of it, starting the season with two home games against backup quarterbacks -- and yet the Bucs are 0-2, having fallen prey to the likes of Derek Anderson and Austin Davis. And while we understand the spirit of the 10-second runoff rule, it sure seemed like the Bucs were punished for Mike Evans getting hurt. #sucks

RANK 30 0-2 GIANTS 5 Lost opportunity for the Giants, facing a Drew Stanton-led Cardinals team in front of the home crowd in MetLife. This deal has 5-11 written all over it. Of course, we've said that kind of thing about Tom Coughlin-coached teams before. Perhaps we should wait ... like a week or so.

RANK 31 0-2 JAGUARS 4 Hmm. Uh ... Looking for something to type that is nice. Ah, to hell with it. When do we get to see Blake Bortles? (Quarterback strategy aside, to blame Sunday's loss on Chad Henne would be seriously misguided.)

RANK 32 0-2 RAIDERS The promise shown in Week 1 went the way of the dodo bird awful quickly against the Texans -- in Oakland, no less. Still, I love the way rookie Derek Carr is out there competing. Frankly, I find myself rooting for him.

Follow Elliot Harrison on Twitter @HarrisonNFL.