Week 3 NFL Power Rankings: Who Is Leading The Pack?

After last week’s mockery of power rankings, I decided to ditch the coverage and put my own rankings together. If nothing else, I’d finally have a power ranking I could believe in even if it also doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things. There will also be some who disagree with me, but it’s the Internet so what can you do?

The basis for my ranking is simple – wins and records matter. My most common complaint is that reputation and expectations mattered far more than the actual on-the-field product, so my rankings are heavily influenced by current records. I also throw in a twinge of how impressive/mediocre/embarrassing a team has looked in those wins and losses along with a dash of how much I believe in their future.

Without further adieu...

1. Green Bay Packers (2-0) – No matter how they play, The Reigning Champ is still here and undefeated. It’s a sign of respect for Mr. Rodgers’ bunch. If they can’t get their defense together then they’ll plummet soon enough....unless Aaron Rodgers continues to destroy defenses with a mere thought.

2. Detroit Lions (2-0) – And this is our sign that this power ranking is for this season. No one’s won more impressively than the Lions this season. A healthy Matthew Stafford has made Calvin Johnson unstoppable.

3. New England Patriots (2-0) – If they tighten up their defense then this team is legitimately scary. I mean, Tom Brady can't throw for 400 yards every weekend, right?

4. Buffalo Bills (2-0) – Who knew Ryan Fitzpatrick versus Tom Brady would be a marquee match-up? Sunday’s game should provide a lot of points (now it’ll be a defensive struggle because I said that).

5. Houston Texans (2-0) – Wade Phillips can truly become a miracle man if his defense can slow down the New Orleans offense on Sunday. It would also vault Houston up to take down a contending team.

6. New York Jets (2-0) – Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Mark Sanchez blah blah blah still throws bad passes blah blah blah holding the Jets back blah blah blah Ryan Fitzpatrick looks a lot better.

7. Washington Redskins (2-0) – Rex Grossman said they could win the division. A win in Dallas to start 3-0 would be all the convincing I need...this week.

8. Philadelphia Eagles (1-1) – Injuries are a part of the game, but if Vick doesn’t go down then they roll Atlanta. That said, key playmakers on this team are already starting to get nicked up.

9. New Orleans Saints (1-1) – The defense gets a test this Sunday against the Houston offense. I’m sure Saints fans are hoping it’s week 2’s defense that shows up not the one from the season opener.

10. Chicago Bears (1-1) – Two games, 11 sacks allowed, and Clay Matthews comes into town on Sunday. That’s a bad formula for Jay Cutler. 

11. Baltimore Ravens (1-1) – Road game after a demolition of a bitter division rival. Let down game or a sign of an inconsistent team?

12. Atlanta Falcons (1-1) – Maybe they should’ve kept those draft picks and shored up their defense.

13. Oakland Raiders (1-1) – If this were the 1970s and 80s, the Raiders would dominate behind a dynamic running game and active defensive line. Their secondary will lose them games like they did on Sunday.

14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1) – A nice comeback win on the road for Tampa’s kids. Sunday’s game against Atlanta should be telling as to where the Bucs are in the NFC South pecking order.

15. San Diego Chargers (1-1) – Wake them up when September ends.

16. Dallas Cowboys (1-1) – The Cowboys go back under the prime-time lights. Will Tony Romo choke under the pressure in another national game?

17. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) – Beating Seattle and taking on Indianapolis will not answer anyone’s questions about this team.

18. New York Giants (1-1) – No jokes about the Giants, just a big game Sunday for early divisional positioning against the Eagles.

19. San Francisco 49ers (1-1) – If Alex Smith were better the 49ers could run away with the division.

20. Arizona Cardinals (1-1) – If the Cardinals defense were better they could run away with the division.

21. Tennessee Titans (1-1) – When are we allowed to ask if Chris Johnson is worth the big contract he signed? Is it before or after his home fans boo him during a win?

22. Cincinnati Bengals (1-1) – In the shadow of Newton, Andy Dalton’s having a quietly good start to his career. By quietly good, I mean Dalton’s got a quarterback rating of 105.7 – 8^th best in the NFL.

23. Cleveland Browns (1-1) – If Cleveland can keep Miami undefeated, I’ll still stick to my playoff dark horse prediction that I made for them. A loss and we’ll just tab them as next year’s breakout team once they get some experience and another impact playmaker.

24. Denver Broncos (1-1) – Just make Tim Tebow an H-Back or trade him and be done with it.

25. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-1) – They beat Tennessee, but Sunday’s game was a mega-flop. I could hear David Garrard laughing maniacally all the way in my apartment. 

26. St. Louis Rams (0-2) – Luckily, the Rams play in the NFC West because no one is good enough to run away with the division.

27. Miami Dolphins (0-2) – If the offense and defense could show up in the same week this would be a true contender. Oh well, looks like Reggie Bush may lose his job to Daniel Thomas....that’s the joke, as McBain would say.

28. Minnesota Vikings (0-2) – Two games, two late leads, and two losses. I’d expect this from a young team, but not a veteran bunch like the Vikings.

29. Carolina Panthers (0-2) – I’ll let you know what I think about Cam Newton’s future after his rough October slate. For now, he should shred a bad Jacksonville secondary with some more deep passes.

30. Indianapolis Colts (0-2) – Kerry Collins showed some improvement against Cleveland. I would say that improvement will keep being seen, but no one will be watching that Sunday slaughter night game against the Steelers.

31. Seattle Seahawks (0-2) – Are they sucking for [Stanford quarterback Andrew] Luck or simply bad enough for [USC quarterback Matt] Barkley?

32. Kansas City Chiefs (0-2) - Kansas City’s key players keep dropping, the team keeps getting blown out, and 0-16 is not an exaggeration with how bad they’ve played.