NFL Power Rankings Week 3: Chaos At The Bottom

Green Bay Packers. 1. team. 49. Green Bay is looking good.With Seattle in the rear view, the Packers have just 3 or 4 games left that look like challenges.. (2-0). Previous:

team. 47. New England is another team that has gotten through their early schedule unscathed. They still have road games in Denver, Indy and New York (for both the Jets and Giants) ahead, but the schedule also includes home matchups against Jacksonville, Tennessee and Washington as well as a Week 5 road trip to the now thoroughly banged up Dallas Cowboys.. (2-0). Previous: . New England Patriots. 2

Denver Broncos. 3. team. 45. For as much flack as Peyton Manning has received, the Broncos have an elite defense and a capable offense. They could be 6-0 heading into November. That’s when we’ll have to watch this team as the schedule doesn’t allow for any breaks after their bye week.. (2-0). Previous:

123. Call me crazy, but I don’t expect Dallas to move up in these power rankings any time soon. First they lose Dez, now Romo’s out for 8+ weeks. Just brutal.. (2-0). Previous: . Dallas Cowboys. 4. team

44. It’s really hard to keep from getting excited about this Falcons team. They won close matches with Philly and the Giants in the first two weeks and the schedule really opens up now. After a road game this week against the Cowboys, Atlanta plays Houston, Washington, New Orleans, Tennessee, Tampa and San Francisco. This team could seriously be 9-0 before we know it and the schedule ends with four division games sandwiched around a road trip to Jacksonville. Week 2 has just ended and the Falcons may be a playoff lock.. (2-0). Previous: . Atlanta Falcons. 5. team

Seattle Seahawks. 6. team. 36. Seattle dropped another tough road game to the Packers, but they have two home games in the next two weeks that should help them bounce back. While the schedule doesn’t really lighten up this year, they’ll still be able to compete in a tight division and there’s no harder place to play than Seattle.. (0-2). Previous:

Previous: . Arizona Cardinals. 7. team. 32. Arizona is a team that a lot of people aren’t expecting to win a division that the Seahawks have owned recently and a lot of that likely has to do with Carson Palmer and his inability to stay healthy. We’re two weeks into the season and Palmer has the Cardinals flying high. If he can stay on the field, the Cards may provide a legitimate challenge for the NFC West crown.. (2-0)

The Bengals beat the Raiders and the Raiders beat the Ravens. The Bengals beat the Chargers and the Chargers beat the Lions. I don’t know what either of those things mean, but the Bengals are 2-0 and on top of the division.. (2-0). Previous: . Cincinnati Bengals. 8. team. 56

Previous: . San Diego Chargers. 9. team. 13. The Chargers followed up a near-500 yard performance Week 1 with another solid offensive outing (354 total yards) but they just couldn’t find the end zone. I don’t think San Diego is going anywhere, at least not in my power rankings.. (1-1)

Carolina Panthers. 10. team. 87. Carolina jumps up into the top 10 this week after another good showing against the Texans. It’s hard to tell how the Panthers measure up, having played the Jags and Texans, but we’ll know soon how they measure up in the division. The Panthers have the Saints and Bucs on the schedule next.. (2-0). Previous:

55. One thing is for sure, the Steelers’ offense is straight up deadly. The defense hasn’t been great, but if the offense can keep it up there’s no reason to think they can’t win the division.. (1-1). Previous: . Pittsburgh Steelers. 11. team

(0-1). Previous: . Philadelphia Eagles. 12. team. 54. It sounds like the sky is falling according to Philly fans and the national media but I think Chip Kelly isn’t ready to be written off just yet. The offense needs to figure out how to run the ball, for sure, but let’s give this team a break. They lost a nail biter against Atlanta and Dallas is formidable, even if they’re nicked up.

13. team. 31. The Giants got to play the Cowboys at their best and then followed that game up with the Falcons. Both of those games were tight. They ought to be able to right the ship against Washington and they still have a fair number of winnable games on the schedule ahead.The way the NFC East is shaking out, they may be primed to pounce.. (0-2). Previous: . New York Giants

Previous: . Buffalo Bills. 14. team. 16. The Bills put a lot of effort into showing the Patriots they won’t just lay down. They still lost. Will they bounce back or will they be deflated by the Patriots’ loss? Get it? Deflated? Because Deflategate? Hahaha…*hurriedly shuffles off stage*. (1-1)

Previous: . Indianapolis Colts. 15. team. 46. Boy, does everything look broken in Indy. The defense is bad, but that was expected. The offense is putrid and it’s not on any one group. The OL, RBs, WRs, and most importantly the QB need to improve.. (0-1)

team. 60. The Vikings welcomed Detroit to Minnesota by smacking them in the mouth for 60 minutes. They continuously brought pressure and the offense had its moments. Bridgewater looked a lot better this week. Can we chalk Week 1 up to jitters or did he look better simply by playing the Lions?. (1-1). Previous: . Minnesota Vikings. 16

Previous: . Baltimore Ravens. 17. team. 26. The Ravens suddenly find themselves in a 2 game hole and dead last in the division. That’s not likely to stay that way but it’s been an ugly start for a team many thought would win the division.. (0-2)

(1-1). Previous: . Miami Dolphins. 18. team. 59. Not to bag on the Jags, but how did the Dolphins lose that game?! A complete lack of pass rush was the most obvious culprit. A defensive line that features Olivier Vernon, Cameron Wake and Ndamukong Suh should be able to piece together more pressure.

(1-1). Previous: . Kansas City Chiefs. 19. team. 124. The Chiefs look awful good despite the epic meltdown against the Broncos last Thursday. If that’s what it takes to beat Kansas City, there should be a lot of Ws coming their way.

(2-0). Previous: . New York Jets. 20. team. 30. Ryan Fitzpatrick is not great. Fortunately he doesn’t have to be with the defense he plays along with. The Jets’ D is a turnover machine, forcing 9 turnovers through two games. All this offense has to do is be competent.

21. team. 51. I think the Rams got caught looking in the rear-view. After an upset victory against the Seahawks the Rams came out flat against Washington. The defense won’t have a chance to rest though. They’ll have to bounce back against the Steelers, Cardinals and Packers in the next three weeks. Luckily they should be getting Gurley back soon.. (1-1). Previous: . St. Louis Rams

team. 50. The Lions have some serious issues up front along the offensive line and the defense is leaking like a sieve. If they keep it up, they’ll be 0-5 and out of the playoff race before they have a chance to put a run together.. (0-2). Previous: . Detroit Lions. 22

23. team. 35. Mariota had a great debut in Week 1. This past week he came back down to earth a bit but he still managed 257 yards and 2 touchdowns without an interception while going 21 of 37. Pretty impressive.. (1-1). Previous: . Tennessee Titans

28. Carr led a nice comeback victory against the Ravens at home. Cooper looks like a real threat in the receiving game and Oakland has a lot to be excited about.. (1-1). Previous: . Oakland Raiders. 24. team

Previous: . New Orleans Saints. 25. team. 15. The Saints have now lost their last 6 home games averaging over 30 points allowed per game in that span. So long home field advantage.. (0-2)

team. 42. The 49ers looked good against the Vikings Week 1. They got steamrolled by the Steelers in Week 2. I’m not sure if the 49ers defense is bad and got lucky Week 1, or if they had a bad outing Week 2, but I know which performance I’d put my money on them repeating.. (1-1). Previous: . San Francisco 49ers. 26

Jacksonville Jaguars. 27. team. 52. Jacksonville looked good in its win over the Dolphins this week. Bortles had a clean pocket to throw in all afternoon and he and Allen Robinson connected for a pair of scores. The defense held firm against a last-ditch effort by Miami too.. (1-1). Previous:

Houston Texans. 28. team. 10. What’s going on in Houston? Nobody expected this team to win 10 games, but I doubt a lot of people had them starting 0-2. With Tampa Bay coming to town, the Texans better be ready to add one to the win column on Sunday. Maybe they can try out JJ Watt at QB.. (0-2). Previous:

Chicago’s defense has given up 79 points in two games and Jay Cutler is expected to miss at least a couple of weeks due to injury. Bears fans may be excited to see what Jimmy Clausen has to offer, but I doubt they’ll be impressed. The rebuilding year is under construction just two weeks in.. (0-2). Previous: . Chicago Bears. 29. team. 57

Jameis got his feet under him as he connected with Vincent Jackson on a 22 yard score in a 26-19 upset over the Saints. No interceptions this week either.. (1-1). Previous: . Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 30. team. 48

Previous: . Cleveland Browns. 31. team. 53. Johnny Football may have found a new best friend in Travis Benjamin. The pair connected three times for 115 yards and 2 touchdowns.. (1-1)