NFL Power Rankings - Week 3
Well, Week 3 of the NFL season was a shit show, huh? A lot of the top teams fell to really shitty teams and I had no idea how to rank them. I am not pleased with these rankings, but life isn’t easy, so I will suck it up and move on. REMINDER: These rankings mean everything, more than each team’s record, so please remember to let me know how angry you are that I wronged your team below. Thank you!
This is not a “Who Do I Think Will Win The Super Bowl” Rankings, it is a Power Rankings of where the teams currently reside in this part of the season.
Congratulations Arizona, you have slid down into the bottom spot of my power rankings. They almost came back against the Bears and had a chance to win the game late following a blown early 14-point lead. Regardless, they’re still 0-3 and finally switching to their rookie quarterback Josh Rosen. Their run game, no thanks to their offensive line, has been brutal, with star running back David Johnson only rushing for 116 yards and one touchdown through three games.
Through three games, it’s clear that the Raiders either do not know how to close games or just don’t have enough firepower to do so. I can’t look past the fact that they clearly need a good pass rusher and only dealt Khalil Mack a few weeks ago. With cash flow being a big reason why they couldn’t re-sign him, Raiders fans must hate to see $100 million-man Jon Gruden in endless commercials every Sunday.
The Texans have to be the most disappointing team so far this season, right? With the return of Deshaun Watson, the hype was pretty big following his monster, albeit shortened, rookie season. They have lost all three games by seven points or less but look like a skeleton of the team many people expected to compete for a playoff spot.
With only 34 total points to start the season, it’s pretty obvious that the Cowboys’ offense is terrible. Dak Prescott still hasn’t passed for more than 200 yards since Week 15 of last season. The Cowboys got beat pretty soundly by a Seahawks team that isn’t what they used to be. It sounds like Jason Garrett won’t be making any offensive changes, but they better get going or he will be forced to do something.
This is where the fun begins for these power rankings, because a bunch of the next few teams, including the Lions, beat some good teams this week. The Lions, as you know, beat the shit out of Tom Brady and the Patriots. Because the Patriots haven’t quite clicked yet, and the Lions’ poor first two-week performances, this is the highest I can rank them. I need to see Matt Patricia do this against a team he didn’t use to work for before I believe in the Lions turning their season around.
Damn, talk about a great win and debut for Josh Allen as a starter. As expected, the Bills didn’t totally let Josh Allen go wild, as he only threw 22 passes, but he was efficient and moved the offense pretty well. He racked up three total touchdowns, with two of them coming via his feet. The defense of the Bills deserves the most praise, though, as they forced four fumbles, recovered two, picked off Kirk Cousins once, broke up 10 of his passes and sacked him four times. For a team that looked like the worst in the league, it was an impressive way to crawl out of the bottom of the power rankings.
Things have begun to come back down to Earth for the Jets following Sam Darnold’s electric Week 1 debut. While the Browns’ defense is pretty solid, Darnold turned in a pretty bad Week 3 game, completing only 15 of 31 passes for 169 yards and two interceptions. The defense looked good against the Browns… well, at least until Baker Mayfield came into the game and forced them to change their game plan. The defense still has some talent, but the team will only go as far as Sam Darnold grows throughout the year.
The team that came away from Week 3 feeling the worst was surely the San Francisco 49ers. Losing Jimmy Garoppolo for the season was a devastating blow to a team that hadn’t gotten off to a great start but was using the year to build a future winner. There were rumors that the 49ers might even get in on the LeVeon Bell sweepstakes, but that might not be an option anymore following the Garoppolo injury.
The Giants gave up some late points to the Texans but otherwise looked pretty solid in their first win of the season. The first two weeks saw the Giants drop games against the Jaguars and Cowboys by a combined 12 points. Despite the fact I think they should be thinking about a Top 10 quarterback in next year’s draft, the Giants seem to be focused on winning. Eli Manning was very efficient and Saquon Barkley had a bounce back game on the ground, rushing for 82 yards on 17 attempts and a touchdown.
With the exception of the Browns, no team might be closer to 3-0 than the Colts. A late fumble on a game-winning drive sealed a loss in Week 1 and a stalled-out drive inside the 5-yard line sent them to another loss this past weekend in Philadelphia. While the weather was bad, Andrew Luck was not good at all in the Colts’ Week 3 loss, completing only 25 passes on 40 attempts and averaging 4.1 yards per completion. Luck’s injury issues may also be more serious than we thought, too, as the team pulled him on the last Hail Mary of the game from their own 40-yard line.
The Seahawks grabbed their first win of the season with the help of a great ground game from Chris Carson (32 carries for 102 yards and touchdown) and a stellar defensive effort. Earl Thomas’ two interceptions helped power a Seahawks team that opened the season with two close losses. The Cowboys aren’t very good, so I won’t put too many eggs in the Seahawks basket, but their fans have to be somewhat encouraged.
Yes, I know the Denver Broncos are 2-1 right now, but I just do not think they’re all that good. The ground game for the Broncos didn’t do much and Case Keenum had his second consecutive game with no touchdowns and one interception. Throughout his first team games in Denver, Keenum has tossed only three touchdowns to five interceptions. Keenum isn’t going to survive in the AFC West with those numbers, especially with high-octane offenses in Kansas City and Los Angeles.
With the Baker Mayfield era officially underway, the Browns find themselves in a positive spotlight for the first time in a very long time. The sick thing as a fan is knowing that this team should really be 3-0 right now. Between the kicking issues and some late-game interceptions from Tyrod Taylor, the Browns have been better than their 1-1-1 record indicates. They’re underdogs against the Raiders this upcoming Sunday and you know that is a spot that Baker Mayfield loves to be in.
The performance from the Chargers in Los Angeles against their cross-town rivals the Rams disappointed me a little bit. Philip Rivers didn’t have a great game for a Chargers offense that had been very solid to start the season, but it was serviceable against a tough Rams defense. The real issue has been the defense, which has given up the second most points in the NFL (93) and is in the bottom ten in yards allowed. They have played the two best teams in the league to start the season, so they might be able to get going with a fairly light schedule in the coming weeks.
The Ravens might be a hair under-ranked here, especially considering they’ve given up the least number of yards in the NFL. However, I just can’t put them much higher until they knock off a better team than the Bills or Broncos. Joe Flacco hasn’t been all that bad, despite a three-turnover night in Cincinnati, but the running game needs to get going for the Ravens to sustain success. Their three running backs, Alex Collins, Buck Allen and Kenneth Dixon, are only averaging 3-yards per rush through the first three weeks of the season.
It was a tough loss for the Falcons on Sunday, who weren’t able to close out the Saints and then lost in overtime. After a terrible start to the season against the Eagles, Matt Ryan has been incredible, completing 78% of his passes for 646 yards and seven touchdowns. Rookie wide receiver Calvin Ridley had a coming out party this past weekend, catching seven passes for 146 yards and three touchdowns. The Falcons’ defense? Not great, Bob. They have given up 61 points in the last two weeks and lost defensive back Ricardo Allen for the season.
The Bengals had a bit of a disappointing week after starting the year with back-to-back 34-23 wins. Their defense got gashed on the ground by the Panthers, yielding 230 yards and two touchdowns. As always, this team will be good if Andy Dalton is able to crank out efficient games. He tossed four interceptions against the Panthers and bogged down what could have been a win for Cincinnati.
Another team that could claim that they are close to a 3-0 start is the Tennessee Titans. Their only loss came at the hands of the Dolphins in a game that had multiple weather delays and took almost an entire Sunday to finish. A win against a top five team in Jacksonville is very impressive, but now their attention turns to the quarterback position. Marcus Mariota, who was not supposed to play, was effective but not flashy in the win. Will he heal quick enough with Blaine Gabbert now on the injury report? It remains to be seen.
Pittsburgh is… back? Don’t burn me here Steelers, as I am a believer again in this team. After a drama filled week for their offensive stars, the Steelers jumped out and trounced the Buccaneers early. Both Big Ben and Antonio Brown were great, and it seems as though the Steelers are slowly moving on from LeVeon Bell. The defensive did have another tough showing and has allowed 90 points through the first three weeks of the season. Four of the next five games for the Steelers come against division opponents, so this stretch will determine a lot of their potential success for the rest of the season.
Do I have them too high? Do I have them too low? As I write this, Big Cat hasn’t walked into the office yet, so I need to wait for his official comment. What we do know is that the Bears’ defense is very good. The defense will keep them in games all season and has a chance to launch the team to the top of the league if the offense can find its footing with Mitch Trubisky.
As I said last week, moving the Patriots down in power rankings during the beginning of the season is always a risky move. You never want to be someone who doubts the Patriots, only for them to burn you as the playoffs approach. But I really can’t put the Patriots any higher, because they have not looked good at all to start the season. Between their offensive flow, body language during the game and defensive lapses, the Patriots seem to be off to one of their patented slow starts. I imagine Tom Brady will turn it around once Josh Gordon gets into the offense.
This Panthers team is pretty good when Cam Newton and Christian McCaffrey get going on offense. The defense is stout and forced four turnovers this past Sunday against a Bengals team that had been rolling. With the NFC South being possibly the best division in football, there’s no doubt that the Panthers really can’t avoid any slip-ups. The team is relatively unhealthy and if they can maintain a good record as guys like Greg Olsen return, they have a real shot to make a run against this season.
What the fuck happened, Minnesota? The Vikings allowed the biggest NFL upset to happen in years Sunday as they got their ass kicked by the Bills. Maybe it was a hangover from the tough tie with the Packers the week before? The Vikings could easily be 1-2 right now if not for the roughing the passer call they drew on Clay Matthews in Week 2. I still think this team will end the season in the top five, but there’s no denying, following their stagnant turnover fest against Buffalo, that the Vikings have hit a very small early bump in the road. Things don’t get easier, as they go to Los Angeles to take on the Rams Thursday night.
The Packers also followed up their Week 2 tie with a pretty big letdown performance. Adrian Peterson feasted on the Packers again and ran them right out of Maryland. All of that aside, the big issue for Green Bay is, and will remain, Aaron Rodgers’ knee injury. It’s tough to judge the team all that much until Rodgers fully heals. You’d have to think that there is a concern he may not reach full strength this season following his nearly-devastating injury.
Is the honeymoon over for Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Bucs? Even with a late surge to pull the Bucs within three points of the Steelers, and a chance to tie or take the lead late, Fitzpatrick looked nothing like he did in the first two weeks of the season. His pick-six was an early dagger in the team’s first loss of the season. All eyes are on Jameis Winston, who is eligible to make his return this upcoming weekend against Chicago. The decision at quarterback will likely determine how Tampa Bay’s season plays out.
It’s hard to judge the Redskins right now, but with the help of my anonymous committee here in the office, I decided they need to be in the top ten. They dominated the Cardinals in Week 1, had a letdown against the Colts in Week 2 and looked great against the Packers in Week 3. The constant in all of their games is pretty obvious so far: if Adrian Peterson plays well, this team has a good chance to win.
One of three remaining undefeated teams, I struggled putting the Dolphins in the top five, but recognize they needed to be firmly in the top ten. The Dolphins haven’t done anything overly impressive yet and their three wins are over the Titans, Jets and Raiders, but a 3-0 start is still nothing to shake your head at. Ryan Tannehill has been great following a two-interception season opener, with a 73.9% completion percentage, 457 yards passing, five touchdowns and zero interceptions the last two weeks. With the Patriots lurking to eventually wake up, the Dolphins need to keep on chugging and try and build a lead in the AFC East.
If you’re the defending Super Bowl Champions and winning football games, you have to be in my top five, those are the rules. The Eagles actually came only a few yards away from dropping the home game to the Colts, but the victory is all that matters, especially considering this was Carson Wentz’s first game back in months. The quarterback looked pretty solid, despite one interception and should only get more into a groove as the season goes on. The run game was pretty solid and the defense, as usual, came up big when needed.
What a disappointing slip-up for the Jaguars after an impressive thumping of the Patriots in Week 2. Jacksonville didn’t make any trips to the red zone and can thank their dynamic defense for keeping them in the game right up until the clock hit zero against Tennessee. I guess these are the type of performances to expect from Blake Bortles now and then. He had a 376-yard performance against the Patriots but combined for only 331 yards in two games against the Giants and Titans. Regardless, this team is good, and their defense will win them plenty of games this season.
I am banking on the Saints’ offense to really start rolling week-after-week following their big overtime victory in Atlanta. The defense leaves a lot to be desired, for sure, but the Saints typically get off to some slow starts. New Orleans’ schedule is one of the toughest in the NFL, but I expect Drew Brees, who has yet to throw an interception, to keep plugging away. Alvin Kamara hasn’t been amazing on the ground, but he has 30 receptions for 289 yards to start the season. Don’t forget that Mark Ingram will return soon for the Saints as well.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ defense is pretty awful, but the fact the offense can’t stop scoring means that it might not even matter. Eric Berry’s eventual return will help the Chiefs’ offense, but, for now, all anyone needs to care about is Patrick Mahomes. The quarterback out of Texas Tech has already thrown for 900 yards passing, 13 touchdowns and no interceptions. That’s lunacy and it all has happened with Kareem Hunt being mediocre to start the season. Maybe the Chiefs’ defense will find its way, but the offense is so good right now that this is clearly a top two team in the league. The Kansas City Chiefs are, without question, for real.
I don’t think you can dispute that the Los Angeles Rams are the best team in the NFL. This team is scary good, has scored the third most points in the NFL and has given up the least amount of points. Both Jared Goff and Todd Gurley have been great, with the exception of a tough game against Arizona for the running back that the Rams still won 34-0. The only bad news so far this season all came on Sunday, however. Stud cornerback duo Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib suffered injuries and are expected to miss some time. Talib will be out for about a month and it sounds like Peters will miss the Rams’ shortened-week matchup against the Vikings on Thursday night.
–
Okay, see you next week.