NFL week three power rankings: Patterns emerging

We are only two weeks into the 2024 NFL season and so far it’s safe to say things haven’t gone as expected to start the season. Let’s take a look at where every team ranks as we head into week three.

This is a mess of a franchise, Bryce Young stinks, the offense lacks talent, and now they’re relying on Andy Dalton to take them forward. Could they be drafting another QB next year?

The Giants are lucky the Panthers exist, as they are perhaps the most incompetent franchise outside of Carolina in the league. They decided not to sign a backup kicker after Graham Gano suffered an injury on Saturday, forcing their hand in late-game situations that should have been an easy PAT or go-ahead field goal. Awful.

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We were quite high on Bo Nix before the draft, which could be a difficult take to look back on unless the former Oregon Duck rapidly improves. We just don’t see where Denver's wins will come from.

The Commanders’ blushes were saved only by the aforementioned incompetence of their opponents, the Giants. Jayden Daniels has looked OK so far, but he needs to learn to avoid contact, or his career could be over before it really begins.

Brian Callahan called a Will Levis fumble “dumb” after Sunday’s loss, per Yahoo Sports. While that is accurate, it’s not a great sign for their coach-quarterback relationship. Levis looks like a QB who’s never going to get it in the NFL, which is a bad sign for the Titans.

We were never as high on the Rams as some others in the media, but we didn’t expect them to look this bad. Arizona ran and threw all over a defense that is lacking Aaron Donald’s impact. Now, almost every member of their team is injured, which doesn’t help.

Is it time to consider Trevor Lawrence isn’t that good? The Browns possess an elite defense, but everything just looked labored for Jacksonville. Could it be time for a coaching change?

Per SportingNews, the Colts gave up “213 yards rushing in Houston, only to give up 261 yards rushing in Green Bay,” which is just unsustainable. Anthony Richardson needs to find some consistency, but there’s only so much he can do when his defense is giving up yards like that.

The Pats’ decision to start Jacoby Brissett looks to be paying off so far, given his experience and competence as a starter in the NFL. This still isn’t a team that will win many games, but there are flashes of Jerod Mayo’s group looking like a real NFL football team.

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Caleb Williams looks like a rookie NFL quarterback, which is understandable, as he is. Perhaps C.J. Stroud’s incredible year last season set expectations for rookies too high, so let’s adjust what we can hope for from Williams and let him develop.

The Raiders winning in Baltimore probably ruined thousands of survivor pools across the nation, but what it did do was show Las Vegas can match up with the big boys. They’re not going to win them all, but there is enough talent to stay in most games.

The Packers got a win against the lowly Colts, but they didn’t look good. Malik Willis played a good game and as Yahoo Sports writes, “Anyone who doubted LaFleur being one of the NFL's best coaches has found out otherwise,” but it wasn’t a sustainable winning style. Green Bay should be hoping and praying for Jordan Love’s swift return.

If Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals continue playing like they did against the Rams on Sunday, they could well shoot up these rankings. For now, we are going to wait another week or too before overreacting, but the Murray to Marvin Harrison Jr. connection has us excited!

Tua Tagovailoa is not looking to retire and is not going to be placed on injured reserve as things stand, per Marca. Tua’s status (and long term health) should be the main concern for the Dolphins. Playing better defense should be second.

It does seem a bit ridiculous to have an 0-2 team sitting above so many 1-1 teams, but given how well the Bengals played against the Cheifs, it’s safe to say they could be back amongst the contenders come season end.

The Browns are 1-1, and we still don’t know if they’re any good or not. Defensively, they look as good as we expected, but the Deshaun Watson rollercoaster is a stomach-churning ride.

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J.K. Dobbins averaged nearly 8 YPC against the Panthers on Sunday per Pro Football Reference, which is a remarkable stat but probably unsustainable. We were hoping to see more from Justin Herbert to start the season, but plenty of football left to play.

The Falcons didn’t look good against the Eagles on MNF until about 1:30 left in the game, when Kirk Cousins et al. marched down the field as if there wasn’t an opposing defense. If Cousins finds his rhythm, this could become a good team.

Can Sam Darnold continue to play at such a high level? Almost certainly not. Still, that was an impressive win against San Francisco and showcased a defense that will be hard to score against all season.

We aren’t ready to anoint the Steelers as part of the NFL’s elite, despite their 2-0 start. According to Bleacher Report, they are, “the third team in NFL history to be 2-0 with one or fewer touchdowns,” which will catch up to them even if they have one of the best defenses in football.

The Jets got the win against Tennessee, but to call it convincing would be an overstatement. Aaron Rodgers seems to be finding his groove, however, which could be worrying for other teams looking to contend in the AFC.

The Seahawks have beaten the Broncos and Patriots so far, which isn’t anything to write home about. They do look like a good team, though, and Mike Macdonald’s defense is only going to get better as the season goes on.

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The Eagles were one of our preseason favorites for the Super Bowl, but their late-game capitulation against the Falcons will reopen some wounds from their end of season collapse last year. Nick Sirianni is coaching for his job and so far isn’t doing a great job.

The Cowboys were humiliated by the Saints in week two and need to do some soul-searching before welcoming the Ravens into Jerry World in week three. Suddenly, the NFC East looks a much weaker division than we expected.

The Bucs look amazing so far, which is weird, but we’re just going to go with it. Baker Mayfield is making quick decisions and finding open receivers with regularity. Suddenly the NFC South looks like one of the more exciting division contests in the league

Derek Carr for MVP? If he can keep up his performances so far, why not? The Saints have been one of, if not the best offense in football so far this season with offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak looking like the latest offensive genius to enter the league.

The Ravens are 0-2, and we have them sixth, which even we don’t love, yet we get the feeling they’re going to work things out. Lamar Jackson has played well so far even if he hasn’t hit the MVP-level heights of last season, if he can, they’ll be fine.

The Lions struggled against the Bucs with Jared Goff throwing a couple of awful picks, which is always a possibility with him. Per Yahoo Sports, the Lions still outgained the Bucs 463-216, which illustrates the importance of turnovers.

Per Fox Sports, Deebo Samuel is set to miss at least two weeks with a calf strain, and suddenly the vaunted Niner’s offense looks a lot weaker with Christian McCaffrey also out. We’re not overly worried as this is still a great team.

The Bills often feel underrated by NFL fans, even though they consistently churn out wins. At some point, they are going to get the luck they need in the big moments and win a Super Bowl, could it be this year?

We debated between the Bills and the Texans for the second and third spots in our rankings, ultimately going with Houston as the second-best team in football so far. Per Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Media, Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter combined for 17 quarterback pressures against the Bears, which is ridiculous and enough to win games by itself.

The Chiefs are the best team in football. There’s not too much else to write here, they faced off against the Bengals, who played a near-perfect game and got the win anyway.

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