Atlanta Falcons Moving Up in ESPN's Week 2 NFL Power Rankings

The Atlanta Falcons were home underdogs last weekend to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and fell 23-20 in a game that came down to the wire.

First-year starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. built on his three-game cameo from 2024 and engineered two fourth-quarter drives that gave the Falcons the lead and put them in position to tie as time expired.

They outgained the Buccaneers by nearly 100 yards (358 to 260), were even on the turnover battle, and kept the ball for almost 10 minutes longer. They went toe to toe with a team ranked above them.

Now, this doesn't matter in the standings, but power rankings are like college football; they're a perception, not standings. It never made sense to me to move a team down in the rankings for losing a nail-biter to a team ranked ahead of them.

Evidently, ESPN agreed this week, because they moved the Falcons up two spots in their power rankings from No. 19 to No. 17 after Week 1, while Tampa Bay moved up three spots from No. 13 to No. 10.

ESPN doesn't provide commentary on why they've ranked teams the way they do in their weekly releases. Instead, they go with a different theme. This week, it was the best newcomer for each team. For the Atlanta Falcons, they chose linebacker Divine Deablo, who shone in his Falcons debut.

"When the Falcons signed Deablo, formerly of the Raiders, it barely registered a blip," Marc Raimondi wrote on ESPN. "But his length and speed impressed in training camp, and he won a starting inside linebacker job. Against the Bucs, the former third-round pick had a half sack, combined on six tackles, notched a tackle for a loss, and even had a pass breakup against Mike Evans.

"New defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich had a clear vision for Deablo as a versatile contributor in the middle of the field, and he has executed so far."

Other teams of note in ESPN's NFL Power Rankings are the New Orleans Saints, bringing up the rear at No. 32 after their 20-13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Then there's the Carolina Panthers, checking in at No. 30 after losing 26-10 to the Arizona Cardinals.

While the Falcons rose in a loss, their next opponent, the Minnesota Vikings, dropped three spots from No. 10 to No. 13 after three quarters of uninspired football against the Chicago Bears on Monday night.

However, new quarterback J.J. McCarthy ended up being a quick learner (throw the ball to Justin Jefferson) and accounted for three touchdowns in the fourth quarter in the Vikings' 27-24 win.

The Falcons likely won't get the benefit of the doubt in next week's power rankings, so they'll have to move up the old-fashioned way - winning.

Atlanta travels to take on Minnesota for Sunday Night Football with kickoff scheduled for 8:20 p.m. EST on NBC. On Tuesday morning, the Falcons are listed as a 4.5-point underdog.