The Los Angeles Rams rebounded from a Week 1 stumble with a dominant performance in Week 2 over the New York Giants. That doesn't mean they rose higher in the power rankings heading into Week 3, though.
The consensus across the football media landscape reflects a team that's shaken off the season-opening jet lag and reasserted itself as a legitimate Super Bowl contender, even with Myles Garrett and Puka Nacua both banged up. They're still clearly a top-five team, but no longer the clear-cut No. 1 squad in the NFL.
Here's a roundup of top expert power rankings heading into Week 3.
USA Today Sports: 4
Throwback uniforms, throwback DPOY. Forthcoming coach. All seems well after their Week 1 mulligan.
ESPN: 4
Stafford and the Rams' offense struggled in the season opener, but wide
receiver Davante Adams said the team's Week 2 offensive performance was closer to what the group expects to look like this season. On Monday night against the Giants, Stafford, the reigning MVP, completed 22 of 31 passes for 327 yards with four touchdown passes and an interception. He had that success without wide receiver Puka Nacua, who is dealing with soreness in his groin.
Sports Illustrated: 5
There is nothing like not playing in Australia, is what I always say. In all seriousness, I think that everyone posting "Aaron Donald looks gassed" online are going to be among the silliest looking internet humans in our universe four weeks from now. He got so much better even over the course of this game. Myles Garrett can't return soon enough.
CBS Sports: 8
They bounce back in a big way against the Giants. The offense came alive, which it had to do.
Fox Sports: 5
OK, so maybe it was the jet lag in Week 1. The Giants were no match after Jaxson Dart's injury, but the Rams have at least started to flex their superteam muscles with an impressive performance on Monday night.
The Athletic: 5
The first-round quarterback has yet to play, but none of their rookies are doing anything. Tight end Max Klare was at least active Monday night, but he did not contribute. Simpson is on the Rams' 53-man roster as the third quarterback behind Matthew Stafford and Stetson Bennett, and it remains unclear what the long-term future holds for him. Puka Nacua's presence on the inactive list (hip injury) Monday night was a reminder that the Rams could have used that pick to get some wide receiver depth.
Yahoo Sports: 4
It wasn't outrageous to worry a little about Matthew Stafford after a really poor outing for him in Week 1. He is 38 years old, after all. After Rich Gannon won his first MVP at age 37, like Stafford did last season, he threw only nine more touchdowns the rest of his career. But Monday night looked like vintage Stafford, with 327 yards and four touchdowns. That was without Puka Nacua, who was inactive with a hip injury. The entire performance by the Rams should ease any concerns that might have come up when they were dominated by the 49ers in Australia.
Bleacher Report: 6
Maybe the Los Angeles Rams' poor performance in Week 1 really was a byproduct of their unorthodox travel decisions.
Myles Garrett is on injured reserve, and Los Angeles didn't have star wideout Puka Nacua on Monday night. However, the Rams appeared to be a tier or two above the New York Giants in almost every facet.
Davante Adams did a tremendous job of filling the No. 1 receiver role, and Matthew Stafford looked much more comfortable in the pocket than he did against San Francisco. L.A. was also able to batter the Giants with their backfield tandem of Kyren Williams and Blake Corum.
The defense, meanwhile, looked like the championship-caliber unit it was advertized to be during the summer. Even without Garrett, the Rams' defensive front was a problem all night. Having Aaron Donald made a difference, as did New York's loss of Jaxson Dart, who exited early with a knee injury.
A bounce-back game isn't enough to cement the Rams as the best team in the NFL, but this does look like a team that can challenge in the talented NFC West.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Week 3 power rankings: Rams maintain top-5 status after win
