Welcome to the Week 3 Power Rankings. We’re still in what I would consider the most lawless and enjoyable part of this exercise—when we can, thanks to limited sample size, act with a wanton disregard for convention and spill these teams all over the place like a diet coke left out on the counter.
I can say that this week’s theme was seeing the door get shut on a few once-promising contenders who will now inevitably plummet. We also saw second life gained by teams that once appeared irreparably damaged. And, again, at least for another week, we can completely overreact to that occurrence in a very problematic, rage-baiting way.
I love you all. It’s a long season. Let’s stick together.
1. Philadelphia Eagles (3–0)
Last week’s ranking: No. 2
Last week’s result: beat Rams, 33–26
This week: at Tampa Bay
As I wrote this weekend, I don’t think the Eagles fundamentally altered their season or reinvested in the pass. They simply found a team that would counter their big and fast wideouts with thin and slow cornerbacks. Worried that Saquon Barkley is going to fall by the wayside? Don’t be!
2. Buffalo Bills (3–0)
Last week’s ranking: No. 1
Last week’s result: beat Dolphins, 31–21
This week: vs. New Orleans
Letting the Miami Dolphins get too close for comfort costs the Bills just enough in my hidden, unspoken fractional scoring system, which I do not disclose or speak about other than to say that I wield my power joyfully but also sometimes irresponsibly and harshly. Please let the Eagles and Bills play in the Super Bowl as I predicted. It’s the only satisfying outcome.
3. Detroit Lions (2–1)
Last week’s ranking: No. 5
Last week’s result: beat Ravens, 38–30
This week: vs. Cleveland
Look out, Andy Reid. The Lions are also capable of retrofitting grainy 1927 plays into their arsenal.
4. Baltimore Ravens (1–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 4
Last week’s result: lost to Lions, 38–30
This week: at Kansas City
The King Henry fumbling subplot is a fascinating one. Henry looked like someone on the sidelines Monday that was positively unsure what was happening to him. After such a long stretch of effortless (looking) dominance, does this moment have any sort of lasting effect on the team’s second-most critical offensive skill position player?
5. Los Angeles Chargers (3–0)
Last week’s ranking: No. 6
Last week’s result: beat Broncos, 23–20
This week: at N.Y. Giants
When I saw that Justin Herbert had one of the highest snap to throw times in the NFL in Week 3, I couldn’t wait to watch this game and see why. I learned it was because he was running for his life and still managing to effectively move the ball against a defense that will finish the season as a top 10 unit. I don’t know if the Chargers can ultimately overcome the breadth of these injuries, but they will be the toughest of outs all year.
6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3–0)
Last week’s ranking: No. 11
Last week’s result: beat Jets, 29–27
This week: vs. Philadelphia
I can talk about the nuance of Tampa Bay seeming to have a nose for the football and winning a critical turnover battle against the Jets this week, but I’m still pretty blown away with this note from colleague Albert Breer about the development of their offensive line depth under Jason Licht. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
7. Los Angeles Rams (2–1)
Last week’s ranking: No. 7
Last week’s result: lost to Eagles, 33–26
This week: vs. Indianapolis
I think that the Rams and Eagles are destined to do this again and I really hope that’s the case. Both of these teams have such a depth to their Swiss army knife, meaning that there’s always another gear. These are not showy offenses, just coldly effective ones. If the Rams can somehow solve their depth issue on the offensive line over the coming weeks, they’ll solidify legitimate Super Bowl aspirations.
8. Seattle Seahawks (2–1)
Last week’s ranking: No. 14
Last week’s result: beat Saints, 44–13
This week: at Arizona
I pushed the Seahawks way up this week, not just because of the team’s trouncing of the Saints, but because they were long overdue to be considered a top 10 team in the NFL. I think this club is merely cresting the surface and that’s with the understanding that Seattle has the most explosive passing plays in the NFL thus far.
9. San Francisco 49ers (3–0)
Last week’s ranking: No. 8
Last week’s result: beat Cardinals, 16–15
This week: vs. Jacksonville
Ricky Pearsall and Chrsitian McCaffrey are pure first-down eaters. At the end of the day, with so many component parts stripped away from this offense, its ability to get these two an opportunity in the passing game with some room to run is going to keep the 49ers relevant despite everything else working against them. Pearsall taking in a shot play after quarters of stagnancy on Sunday against the Cardinals says it all.
10. Indianapolis Colts (3–0)
Last week’s ranking: No. 12
Last week’s result: beat Titans, 41–20
This week: at L.A. Rams
Colts-Rams becomes a massive game for Indianapolis, though Indianapolis has already bought itself the all-too-critical luxury of breathing room. The Houston Texans are a full three games back. The Jaguars, while 2–1, have looked decidedly low octane on offense. If Indy can leave this game against a better team with its vibes intact, that’s all that matters.
11. Green Bay Packers (2–1)
Last week’s ranking: No. 3
Last week’s result: lost to Browns, 13–10
This week: at Dallas
The Dallas Cowboys are missing Tyler Booker with a high ankle sprain for the Micah Parsons reunion, in addition to CeeDee Lamb. Parsons has been sprinkling that A and B gap pressure into his repertoire this season in small bursts. It may be time to really pick it up to embarrass his former bosses.
12. Kansas City Chiefs (1–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 10
Last week’s result: beat Giants, 22–9
This week: vs. Baltimore
A George Karlaftis revival—can we call it that against the Giants, when the quarterback seems to be running contact in the pocket?—was one of the happy underpinnings of a get-right game against the Giants. If enough of these little turnarounds take place, can it cover up the fact that some of the bigger issues, like Travis Kelce, may linger?
13. Washington Commanders (2–1)
Last week’s ranking: No. 9
Last week’s result: beat Raiders, 41–24
This week: at Atlanta
While this may seem like a massive setback for the Commanders, there have simply been an influx of quality teams into the top 13 this week. I am always curious as to what Marcus Mariota’s career may have looked like if he was drafted by someone like Kliff Kingsbury into a more modern NFL that was ready to utilize him correctly.
14. Minnesota Vikings (2–1)
Last week’s ranking: No. 16
Last week’s result: beat Bengals, 48–10
This week: at Pittsburgh
The return of Harrison Smith has been a game-changer for this defense and absolutely ripped apart a quality backup in Jake Browning. I wrote about Smith, and one of the most spectacular defensive plays I’ve seen in a long time, right here.
15. Pittsburgh Steelers (2–1)
Last week’s ranking: No. 20
Last week’s result: beat Patriots, 21–14
This week: vs. Minnesota
A great note from my colleague Albert Breer: Mike Tomlin did not tell the Steelers what the Ireland schedule would be until after they beat the Patriots. If there is one thing I despise less than international European travel, it’s … doing it without knowing when and where the hell I’m going.
16. Denver Broncos (1–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 13
Last week’s result: lost to Chargers, 23–20
This week: vs. Cincinnati
I think the most stunning part of Denver’s early season woes has been the team’s pronounced struggles on third down. I understand that these numbers tend to even out over time, but the Broncos netted four yards—four!—on the opening three drives of the game. Each of these drives was, obviously, a three and out.
17. Arizona Cardinals (2–1)
Last week’s ranking: No. 21
Last week’s result: lost to 49ers, 16–15
This week: vs. Seattle
I looked back at Trey Benson’s career game log wondering why everyone was treating his arrival as RB1 in Arizona with such indifference. Then, I realized that he’s never had more than 11 carries in a game, which, while exactly how much he averaged on a per-game basis in college, may just not be enough to help him attain a rhythm at the next level.
18. Chicago Bears (1–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 25
Last week’s result: beat Cowboys, 31–14
This week: at Las Vegas
The idea that this Ben Johnson offense was not a Ben Johnson offense—even though that’s what I’d been told time and time again—is thrilling to me. If John Morton can keep it up in Detroit and we start to develop a tree of these beautifully aggressive, shot-taking playcallers, the league will be in a wonderful place.
19. Cincinnati Bengals (2–1)
Last week’s ranking: No. 15
Last week’s result: lost to Vikings, 48–10
This week: at Denver
The AFC North is an absolute mess. The Bengals have one of the worst point differentials in the NFL but are theoretically leading a division in which the Ravens are tied for last place. I have a feeling that we will be in a very different place with all of this a few weeks from now.
20. Jacksonville Jaguars (2–1)
Last week’s ranking: No. 24
Last week’s result: beat Texans, 17–10
This week: at San Francisco
While I recognize that I cannot praise the Eagles for willfully ignoring A.J. Brown for half the year and dog the Jaguars for Brian Thomas’s struggles early in the season, it feels like Trevor Lawrence doesn’t trust his top wideouts and is passing them up in critical situations. It happened multiple times against the Texans, which got patched over thanks to a critical win.
21. New England Patriots (1–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 23
Last week’s result: lost to Steelers, 21–14
This week: vs. Carolina
I think we’re conflating the idea of more TreVeyon Henderson touches versus better TreVeyon Henderson touches. Think first-year Jahmyr Gibbs, which is why Rhamondre Stevenson might not be done yet.
22. Atlanta Falcons (1–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 17
Last week’s result: lost to Panthers, 30–0
This week: vs. Washington
I addressed this in the Weekly Grades column, but unraveling the mystery of this offense has been fascinating to me. Since the publication of that post, Zac Robinson has been moved from the booth to the sideline with headset issues as a kind of ancillary explainer. But it would seem that Raheem Morris wants more out of his coordinator—even though I’m seeing some answers provided that Michael Penix simply isn’t taking.
23. Las Vegas Raiders (1–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 22
Last week’s result: lost to Commanders, 41–24
This week: vs. Chicago
This Ashton Jeanty stat is absolutely mindblowing and hopefully instructive for Raiders fans who keep wondering why he isn’t being force-fed 35 times a game. One hundred and one percent of his rushing yards this season have come after first contact.
One. Hundred. And. One.
24. Houston Texans (0–3)
Last week’s ranking: No. 18
Last week’s result: lost to Jaguars, 17–10
This week: vs. Tennessee
This Texans offense looks irreparably broken. While some of my gripes about the construction of the offense are also problems, it’s a vicious combination that has to somehow solve itself in real time. That Jacksonville loss was the kind of ugly that tends to stick with a unit.
25. Dallas Cowboys (1–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 19
Last week’s result: lost to Bears, 31–14
This week: vs. Green Bay
The deep passing defense—a continuation of the Matt Eberflus effect—is beginning to cause serious concern in Dallas with the multifaceted shot-taking Green Bay Packers coming to town. This is just about the worst opponent to have coming to town while trying to keep the season on the rails.
26. Carolina Panthers (1–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 32
Last week’s result: beat Falcons, 30–0
This week: at New England
While the Falcons seemed interested in beating themselves in a blowout loss to the Panthers, this was a more toolsy-looking Bryce Young. Young’s mobility was especially impressive and shows just how effective he can be amid chaos.
27. Cleveland Browns (1–2)
Last week’s ranking: No. 29
Last week’s result: beat Packers, 13–10
This week: at Detroit
While it’s a bummer that the same Cleveland Browns regime keeps getting a wild amount of draft capital to build these attractive young rosters, only to eventually self sabotage, the collection of Mason Graham, Quinshon Judkins, Carson Schwesinger and Harold Fannin Jr. is really something. All of them were instrumental in a season-saving win over the red-hot Packers.
28. New York Jets (0–3)
Last week’s ranking: No. 26
Last week’s result: lost to Buccaneers, 29–27
This week: at Miami
I am going to challenge the notion that Sunday’s Buccaneers loss was foundational in some way, shape or form. Effort, in the free agent era, is no longer solely dependent on the creation of a culture. But I do think that taking a “hot hand” approach at quarterback when Justin Fields is healthy would be truly damaging to the culture here and symptomatic of a bygone era of incompetence.
29. Miami Dolphins (0–3)
Last week’s ranking: No. 31
Last week’s result: lost to Bills, 31–21
This week: vs. N.Y. Jets
There is something oddly satisfying about the Jets and Dolphins—both 0–3—squaring off on this week. Miami is clinging with dear life to the narrative that Thursday’s Bills loss represented progress. The Jets are hanging dearly to the narrative that two near losses to the Steelers and Buccaneers represent progress. Someone is going to leave awfully disappointed—and 0–4!
30. New Orleans Saints (0–3)
Last week’s ranking: No. 28
Last week’s result: lost to Seahawks, 44–13
This week: at Buffalo
The hallmark of the Kellen Moore offense through three weeks is a kind of hesitance to let it learn. Multiple times, Moore has folded in the wings and settled for kicks despite having a kind of devil-may-care gunslinger at quarterback who, in the middle of an expectedly dreary season, can absolutely make some highlight plays worth remembering.
31. New York Giants (0–3)
Last week’s ranking: No. 27
Last week’s result: lost to Chiefs, 22–9
This week: vs. L.A. Chargers
The Giants’ goal line sequence in which Russell Wilson didn’t throw a single pass into the end zone against the Chiefs, which followed a game two weeks prior with similarly disastrous results, juxtaposed with a Lions team that scored a rushing touchdown on Monday where one running back option tossed to another, is truly something. Cam Skattebo will be this year’s Tommy DeVito at least.
32. Tennessee Titans (0–3)
Last week’s ranking: No. 30
Last week’s result: lost to Colts, 41–20
This week: at Houston
At this point, with Brian Callahan facing questions about backing out of play-calling duty, it feels like there is an inevitability to the demise. The question for the organization is: how can the team make this a healthy environment for Cam Ward in the meantime, and avoid the kind of Baker Mayfield turbulence that led Cleveland to get rid of a superior quarterback?
