NFL Week 3 Power Rankings

1: Baltimore Ravens - They certainly didn't prove that they deserve to drop from my top spot. They manhandled the Browns this week.

2: New York Jets - They did well to come back after blowing a big lead. That defense is phenomenal, and that's what it takes to win.

3: New Orleans Saints - They looked sluggish before putting up 17 points in the 4th quarter to seal the deal. They move up because their defense is starting to look good. Uh-oh, NFC.

4: New York Giants - Maybe they're a better team than 4th in the league. They made it look easy against a hapless Tampa Bay team. I still wonder about their secondary, though. Plus, I just plain don't like them. Never have.

5: Indianapolis Colts - These guys made Arizona look silly at home on Monday night. I was reminded of just how scary good Peyton Manning is.

6: Philadelphia Eagles - The dominated the Chiefs. That isn't particularly hard to do, but I feel more comfortable moving them up after seeing two pretty impressive weeks out of Kevin Kolb.

7: Minnesota Vikings - They probably deserved to lose that game. Can someone please explain to me why they came out throwing? At least they showed they can when when Adrian Peterson is more or less neutralized by a surprisingly good 49ers team.

8: New England Patriots - They had a tough opponent this week and handled it well. Their run defense looked a lot better. Tom Brady still doesn't look quite the same. The receivers weren't as stellar as usual. They'll be happy to have Wes Welker back.

9: Atlanta Falcons - They went on the road and lost to the New England Patriots. I'll give them a mulligan for that one. They really didn't play that poorly...

10: Denver Broncos - They look worthy of a top 5 spot so far. They are playing great defense and protecting the ball well on offense. The only thing keeping them down at number 10 is their underwhelming strength of schedule thus far.

11: San Francisco 49ers - They deserved to win that game. They contained Adrian Peterson, made Brett Favre look old, and Shaun Hill had a pretty good day throwing to make up for Frank Gore's injury.

12: San Diego Chargers - They looked pretty good this week. Philip Rivers can get it done without a running game. They may be a bit concerned with having to settle for all those field goals when they get down near the end zone. Those should be touchdowns.

13: Cincinnati Bengals - These guys may be for real. They didn't look great against a tough Steelers team, but they got the job done. Carson Palmer's health is the key for the season.

14: Dallas Cowboys - They beat the Panthers, but looked pretty ugly in doing so the first half. So far this year, they just haven't been that impressive.

15: Pittsburgh Steelers - How bad do they miss Troy Polamalu? The defense has given up too many uncharacteristic game-winning drives. They've got to clamp down on those. Giving up 2 fourth down conversions on that final one this week stings.

16: Chicago Bears - Jay Cutler is settling in and playing well. As long as he avoids his turnover habits, they will win plenty of games.

17: Jacksonville Jaguars - The defense still doesn't look too good, but they found a way to bear down and hold on for the win. Maurice Jones-Drew is where it's at.

18: Green Bay Packers - They made plays when they needed to, and Aaron Rodgers had a pretty good day, but they just didn't look as in control of the Rams as they would have liked to have been. We'll find out if these guys are for real or not next week against the Vikings. Watch out, Favre.

19: Houston Texans - The offense is playing pretty well, and they managed to get the running game going this week. The defense completely sucks.

20: Tennessee Titans - I hate to rank them this low, but at 0-3, it's tough to cut them much slack. Kerry Collins wasn't very good, and the defense just isn't as physical as it was last year. The 4th quarter of that game was awful.

21: Arizona Cardinals - The Colts made them look pretty bad. They are starting to look like the Cardinals from last year (the defense isn't stopping much).

22: Buffalo Bills - They hung around for awhile, but imploded at the end. The offense really should have put up better numbers against the Saints. This team seems to be plagued with bad luck of every kind.

23: Miami Dolphins - This is another team that I'm surprised is 0-3. The passing game was sickly this week, but they continue to run the ball fairly well. They just look all out of sorts.

24: Carolina Panthers - They played well in the first half, but the defense let them down in the second, with the Cowboys running for almost 200 yards. Jake Delhomme simply isn't effective enough throwing the football for them to play catch-up all the time.

25: Seattle Seahawks - Seneca Wallace didn't look too bad, especially in the start. Olindo Mare is the goat, missing 2 field goals. The pass defense looked pretty bad. Getting Hasselbeck back should help them out.

26: Detroit Lions - VICTORY!! I thought they were going to give it up towards the end, but they held on. The defense needs some work still, but they finally seem like a competent football team.

27: Washington Redskins - How bad does it feel to be the first team the Lions beat in two years? They move the ball well, but don't score enough. The defense isn't as dominate as they thought it would be, plus Albert "$100 Million" Haynesworth is hurt.

28: Kansas City Chiefs - 0-11 on third down conversions is the critical stat of the week. Cassel needs to throw down field more. More importantly, he needs more protection. The Eagles harassed him all day. Larry Johnson is a nonfactor.

29: Oakland Raiders - Is there a worse starting quarterback out there than JaMarcus Russell? Everything they did out there was terrible. McFadden fumbled 3 times, and Russell had a grand total of 1 passing yard in the entire second half.

30: Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Here's another team that can't figure anything out. They couldn't run the ball, they couldn't pass the ball, they couldn't stop the run, and they couldn't stop the pass. That's how you get shutout.

31: St. Louis Rams - Kyle Boller looked not-too-shabby, and Steven Jackson was productive. They still simply don't have enough talent to compete.

32: Cleveland Browns - Holy smokes. Brady Quinn gets benched, so what does Derek Anderson do? Throws 3 picks in 25 minutes. This team has issues at every position. It is going to be a long year in the Dawg Pound.