NFL Power Rankings after Week Three

Week three of the NFL season saw some crazy results that have caused massive changes up and down the Power Rankings. From 70-20 scorelines to inept quarterback play, this season has been nothing short of incredible so far. Where does your favorite team rank after week three?

This is a franchise in crisis. One of the oldest team and most storied teams in NFL history, the Bears have been a team without an identity for some time. The current issues seem far deeper than poor play from Justin Fields but whatever is going on behind the scenes is affecting the on-field product. The worst team in the NFL, undeniably so.

The Broncos don’t seem to make much sense at the moment, Russell Wilson is playing better than last season, the roster looks competent on paper, yet they lose 70-20 against the Dolphins. There doesn’t seem to be a plan for the future either, so this could be a bad team for some years yet.

The Giants are devoid of confidence, at least that’s how it looks from the outside. There is some talent on the roster, yet they can’t get anything going. Not overly surprising given who their quarterback is but that’s of their own doing, so they will get no sympathy.

Andy Dalton started under center for the Panthers with Bryce Young missing through injury, and immediately the team looked more competent. Young has not shown enough so far in his starts to get the fanbase excited, he has enough talent to improve but early signs have not been encouraging.

The Raiders are starting to fall apart at the seams rapidly. Josh McDaniels has shown almost nothing to suggest he can convert his success as an offensive coordinator to a head coaching role and the money they gave to Jimmy Garoppolo looks like a worse investment every week.

Gardner Minshew showed why it’s important to have a good backup quarterback as he deputized for the concussed Anthony Richardson. The Colts look to have a good coaching setup, with Shane Steichen continuing to showcase his talents as one of the best playcallers in the business. A couple more wins and we need to start keeping an eye out for the Colts in a battle for their division.

The Vikings rode their luck the entirety of 2022 and it was amazing to watch. This time around luck has not been on their side as they have slipped to 0-3. That being said, it’s not just luck that has betrayed them, a bad defensive unit has put too much pressure on Kirk Cousins and the offense to bail them out, which, so far, they have been unable to do.

The Rams have Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald, and Sean McVay’s coaching. Outside of that trio the rest of the pieces are inexperienced or nice, complimentary players. That’s not enough to win in the NFL with any consistency, so after a brief rise, the Rams look to be settling back to what we expected from them in preseason.

Maybe it’s time we all eat a little crow for our preseason takes on the Cards after they pulled off a dominant win against the Cowboys. The Cardinals are still going to be in contention for the number one overall pick in next year’s draft but fans have something to get excited about with this coaching team which is confounding expectations in the best possible way.

Another team that is not talented enough to be competitive week in and week out, despite some great coaching. They were absolutely shellacked by the Browns, unable to get anything going on offense and conceding 27 to a team that had barely got off the ground in previous games. Maybe time to move on from Tannehill at QB.

The Texans went all in on the 2023 draft, selecting C.J. Stroud second overall before trading up to get Will Anderson at three. So far there can be no complaints about either selection, with Stroud looking the best rookie QB and Anderson putting himself in the DROY mix. Finally some real, tangible building blocks for a franchise that has mostly been awful since its inception.

Surely they move on from Zach Wilson now? He is almost single-handedly ruining what could have been a great season. Ultimately this on the coaches and front office not acquiring a competent backup to Aaron Rodgers, and that can all change if they decide to roll the dice. For now, their offense is stymied and stud wideout Garrett Wilson is screaming at Wilson on the sideline. Not good.

Like so many teams already discussed, the Commanders are severely lacking at quarterback. Sam Howell has a competitive nature that is fun to watch but he is taking sacks like they’re going out of business and hamstringing a team that could well be better than this. Don’t be surprised to see Jacoby Brissett under-center before too long.

The Bucs got hammered by the Eagles on Monday Night Football with Todd Bowles’ vaunted defense conceding 472 yards against the Birds. Somehow it was only 25 more points but that was more due to a wasteful offensive performance than anything the Bucs did. Baker Mayfield was pressured all night and couldn’t get anything going.

The Falcons are amongst a group of teams that aren’t going to be that bad, but they’re not great either. A middle-of-the-pack team that will cause some upsets along the way and maybe sneak into the seventh seed come playoff time. Bijan Robinson is a stud but even he couldn’t get anything going against the Lions on Sunday.

What a performance from Justin Herbert against the Vikings, going 40/47 for 405 yards and three TDs. If he can keep playing at that level, the Chargers will rapidly rise through the ranks so far they have been a little too ‘Chargers-y’ to put them any higher than 18.

The Pats did what they do best against the Jets, completely stifle their offense and do just enough offensively to win the game. Gone are the days of dominant offensive victories in New England but Bill Belichick can scheme up some tough-to-beat defensive game plans.

Derek Carr’s injury knocks the Saints down a place or two on these rankings as it’s tough to trust Jameis Winston not to throw pick after pick while he deputizes. The Saints have said Carr is week to week with a shoulder sprain so fingers crossed for Saints fans he won’t miss too many games. This is still one of the best defensive units in the league despite surrendering a big lead late in the fourth quarter.

The Jags have started the season poorly, defensively they look a mess and the offense hasn’t quite clicked in the way most expected. Doug Pederson needs to get this turned around quickly. The AFC South is so bad they are still comfortable favorites to win the division, but they need to improve if they want to get out of the wildcard round.

The Steelers aren’t an especially good team, with no real offensive focal point and a defense that is entirely reliant on about three players. When you have Mike Tomlin as your head coach, none of this seems to matter. He has never had a team finish below .500 and somehow that streak may continue this season.

The Bengals were able to halt their losing streak in week three, which must be a relief for everyone in the building. Joe Burrow gutted it out against the Rams on MNF doing just enough to get the win despite not looking anywhere near his best. There’s still plenty to improve on but you have to imagine they work it out.

The Browns demolished a hapless Titans team on Sunday with Myles Garrett exploding for three and a half sacks and Amari Cooper reminding the league why he is so highly thought of. In a competitive AFC North, the Browns have a chance to keep themselves in the playoff hunt all year, and with this defense, it wouldn’t be a team anyone would want to play.

After a disappointing week one, the Seahawks are back to winning ways after putting up 37 on the Panthers. The defense has been dealing with myriad injuries, giving a number of young players and deputies a chance to step up and showcase their talent. Geno Smith is starting to find his rhythm which makes this passing attack look deadly.

It took a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback to secure the win against the Saints. Jordan Love looked uncomfortable all game until late on when he suddenly found a new gear and led the team to an 18-17 victory.

Coming in just one spot ahead of their NFC North rivals, the Lions are looking like the team many expected they would be in preseason. Second-round pick Brian Branch could well be the best draft pick they made back in April, showcasing great ball skills and serious physicality in the Lions’ win against the Falcons.

The Cowboys sat atop our rankings through weeks one and two after some hugely impressive performances. Then they lost to the Cardinals and they’ve tumbled down to seven. There’s no need for panic just yet, but losing Trevon Diggs is a tough blow for the defense whilst the offense could only put up 18 with Dak Prescott not playing his best game.

The Ravens lost to the Colts in slightly bizarre circumstances, seemingly throwing away a series of opportunities to win the game. The best teams beat up on the bad teams, so it is a little worrying to see the Ravens slip up here but so long as they start performing again soon, it shouldn’t be an issue.

Josh Allen is back. After a slippery week one and an up-and-down week two, the Bills QB was back to his alien-like self against the Commanders. Some of the throws he made are essentially impossible for most other QBs, if he could stop throwing picks that would be nice, though. The defense feasted against Sam Howell, collecting nine sacks for their efforts.

The Chiefs are still very much on track to go back-to-back but it doesn’t feel right to have them ahead of any of the undefeated teams, so for now they will sit fourth. Mahomes is still the best QB in the league and Travis Kelce was able to show off for a certain special someone in the crowd.

The Eagles are somehow looking both dominant and like there is much more to come through three weeks of the season. Jalen Hurts hasn’t looked his best (he was rumored to be ill on Monday) but he did start to find some rhythm in Tampa Bay. Defensively this unit looks formidable, Jalen Carter has the inside track to DROY and is one of about 8 guys who can get to the QB regularly.

The Niners roll on. Brock Purdy is no man’s Patrick Mahomes but he is able to operate this offense with remarkable efficiency. There are so many talented offensive weapons, it’s a ‘pick your poison’ decision for opposing defenses. This is one hell of a team.

It can’t be anyone else. The Dolphins put up 70 (seventy!!) points against the Broncos, scoring from all over the field. It was a remarkable performance, showcasing the very best of Mike McDaniels’ team. So far no one has quite worked out how to stop them and there doesn’t seem to be anything obvious defenses can do to even slow them down at this point.