NFL Power Rankings after Week 3: Bills survive, Eagles stay pefect with blocked FG, Packers get stunned

Weird and wild stuff. Week 3 of the NFL season was unlike any that we have seen in recent history. There were walk off field goals, walk off blocked field goals (we’ll call those block offs), massive second half comebacks and some big upsets across the board in a week in which everything got turned on it’s head. The top two teams from last week held serve despite a couple of scares in Buffalo and Philly, outside of the top two teams chaos captivated us in Week 3.

Here is our Power Rankings after Week 3.

1) Buffalo Bills (3-0) last week: 1

It wasn’t perfect for the Bills on Thursday night against Miami. It’s not always going to be, especially in a primetime division game on a short week. Luckily Josh Allen is usually perfect even when his team isn’t. That’s what MVPs do. They pick their team up and carry them to victory. It wasn’t the blowout that everyone was expecting, but the Bills made it seven straight over Miami and three straight to start the season. Not much more you can ask for from the top team in the league, so far.

2) Philadelphia Eagles (3-0) last week: 2

What have we said about the Eagles through the first two weeks of the season? This is a team that finds a way to win no matter how much is going wrong. They needed to pull the rabbit out of the hat again after going down 26-7 to LA at home. All of the sudden everything that wasn’t working through 35 minutes started clicking. Jalen Hurts threw his first TD pass of the season, and ended up adding two more before the day was done. The defense started to buckle down, but it was the special teams that really turned up. Not one, but two straight blocked field goals led the Eagles to victory and into the pages of the NFL history book. How many more ways are left pull out wins before the Eagles run out of ideas? So far it’s working.

3) Los Angeles Chargers (3-0) last week: 5

It was another professional outing from the LA Chargers who did what they do best. They came out and took the lead in the first possession of the game. The defense held strong out of the gate, holding Denver to a couple of three and outs. There was a point in time where it looked like they lost control of the game at the end of the 2nd quarter and beginning of the third, but this team showed they can handle adversity and for the second time in three weeks Herbert proved that he is ready to put the cape on and carry his team to victory when the game is on the line.

4) Green Bay Packers (2-1) last week: 3

We built them up so much over the first two weeks, that the fall from grace will be followed by a crash landing. The Packers woke up on Monday morning with a humbling dose of reality served up by the league’s best defense. You’d be hard pressed to find anything that the Packers defense did wrong, holding Cleveland off the board for the first 57 minutes of the game. Even with the struggles moving the ball, they still had the game won. They literally had to throw the game away to lose, but that’s what Jordan Love did with an ill advised throw on an ill advised play call late in the 4th quarter. Even still they had the game in their pocket, but a FG block turned to a game winning field goal for Cleveland, and the Packers stood there stunned wondering how in the world they just lost that game. Take nothing away from what Cleveland did, but the Packers did just about everything they could do to lose that game in the final few minutes of the fourth quarter.

5) Detroit Lions (2-1) last week: 7

There aren’t many teams that go into Baltimore and beat the Ravens on their home turf. Even fewer teams go into Baltimore and ram the ball down their throats with the ground game. Dan Campbell and the Lions beat the Ravens at their own game, and they did it on the shoulders of David Montgomery. While all the focus surrounded Sonic and his flashy, dynamic runs out on the edge it was Knuckles who battered Baltimore. Then with the game on the line, Jared Goff iced the Monday night match up with one of the prettiest high pressure throws you’ll ever see on fourth down. This team slipped up in Week 1, but since then they have been flawless. Typical bounce back from a Dan Campbell coached team.

6) Indianapolis Colts (3-0) last week: 8

Shame on those who thought the Colts were going to go into their division rivals house and struggle in Tennessee. The first TD of the early slot of games came from the Colts defense less than a minute into the game, and that silenced those doubters in a hurry. Indy went up 17-3 in the first quarter, and with a defense and run game like they have they cruised to victory. There is still a lot to prove for this undefeated Colts team, but they have a QB that has been reinvigorated and rehabilitated and most importantly relocated out of New York. They have the leagues’ leading rusher in Jonathan Taylor. And they have a coach they believe is capable of leading this team into the contender conversation in the AFC.

7) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-0) last week: 6

The Bucs don’t like making anything easy. Maybe it’s because they know they have a QB who plays his best with the game on the line or maybe it’s because they took their foot off the gas when it seemed like an easy win at home was finally coming. Whatever the reason for the let up on Sunday, it will be a learning lesson that they won’t have to pay the price for because Baker Mayfield led a third straight game winning drive after TB gave up a 23-6 lead heading into the 4th quarter. They have beaten the Falcons, which after this week we have no idea what that means, the Texans, who aren’t looking too good either and the Jets with a back up. They are 3-0 and that’s something, but there is still a lot of work to be done for this team.

8) Baltimore Ravens (1-2) last week: 4

I think it’s unfair to start signaling the best running back of this generation for the Ravens two losses this year. Has Derrick Henry fumbled in all three games, and has he played a big part in his team’s two losses? Oh yeah. But on Monday night the Ravens couldn’t stop the run and that’s a big problem for a team that prides themselves on being a rough and rugged squad. They are 1-2 for the second straight year, and they know how to bounce back, but they also understand how key these early season losses are when you are fighting for playoff positioning come December and January.

9) San Francisco 49ers (3-0) last week: 10

Players keep dropping but the Niners keep winning. This week it was Nick Bosa who went down and won’t be back this year after tearing his ACL, but the defense and Eddie Piniero did just about enough to overcome the injuries and the fact that San Fran went 1/4 in the red zone. Mac Jones moved the ball, but there is still some fine tuning needed inside the 20 yard line. They are surviving with hand they have been dealt so far, and maybe just maybe they get Purdy back next week.

10) Los Angeles Rams (2-1) last week: 11

I don’t think I was the only one chomping at the bit to leapfrog the Rams into the Top 5 or maybe even the Top 3 of the NFL Power Rankings after they came out in the second half, forced a fumble, scored a TD and led 26-7 over the Eagles. So what do we take from that game? The first 35 minutes, or the last 25? They can play with the Eagles, they showed that on the road, in Philly. That’s saying something. But what it tells me more than anything is that this team isn’t there yet. They had a chance back in January and they had a hell of a chance on Sunday. LA couldn’t do it, but boy do I hope we see these two teams square off again in the postseason, because it’s must see TV.

11) Seattle Seahawks (2-1) last week: 13

The sneaky Seahawks have put together an impressive last couple weeks. They went to Pittsburgh and controlled the Steelers for most of that game, and then they got to tee off on the Saints from Lumen Field on Sunday. Tory Horton had the biggest day for Seattle, taking a punt return for a TD and catching another TD from Sam Darnold. Darnold didn’t put up big numbers because he didn’t need to but he did go 14/18 for 2 TDs before taking the rest fourth quarter off and allowing Drew Locke to finish up the game.

12) Washington Commanders (2-1) last week: 12

No Jayden Daniels, no problem. Marcus Mariotta came in and manned the ship with maturity with efficiency and without mistakes. To make it even sweeter the ground game went for 200 yards just a week after Austin Ekeler went down with a season ending injury. A 90 yard punt return wrapped up a complete game on all facets for Dan Quinn who was the only one on the Commanders who got beat up when Mariotta came crashing into him on the sideline. Let’s see how long it takes for Daniels to come back from injury. They don’t want to rush him back, and with a game in Atlanta next week they will have to weigh their options.

13) Minnesota Vikings (2-1) last week: 17

It’s hard to tell if the Vikings played better with Carson Wentz under center, and you can thank Isaiah Rodgers for that. He had a pick six and a scoop and score on a forced fumble he created. Right after the 2:00 minute warning it was 24-3 and Wentz had only thrown 8 passes, connecting on five of them. His shift was then cut short because the Vikes were up 48-3, so we didn’t get a great look at him but Wentz ended the day 14/20 for 173 yards and 2 TDs.

14) Denver Broncos (1-2) last week: 14

For the second straight week, the Denver Broncos lost on a last second field goal. The worst they have looked this season is in their only win of the year against the Titans back in Week 1. Aside from that they had chances to beat the Colts and the Chargers, both 3-0 teams. It’s true that Bo Nix and the offense can get a little stagnant from time to time, but with a defense like the Broncos have, they still stay in games until the end. Nix needs to start spreading the ball around because right now the passing game looks a little too one dimensional.

15) Kansas City Chiefs (1-2) last week: 9

Some plays win you MVPs. Some play win you games and some plays save your season. For Patrick Mahomes, MVP plays aren’t in the conversation right now after starting the season 0-2, but he had a game saving play in NY on Sunday night that might have saved the season. It wasn’t a pin point accurate pass or a sensational scramble. It was a tackle he made to rip the ball away from a Giants defender who recovered a backwards pass that could have been taken for a TD. Mahomes not only kept points off the board but got the ball back for his offense and would eventually lead his team to their first win of the season. A win over the Giants isn’t going to make Andy Reid too proud of his team, but there is a big difference from going 1-2 and 0-3 through the first three weeks.

16) Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1) last week: 16

The Steelers turned over the Pats five times, that must mean the defense is back after two terrible weeks to start the season. WRONG. They did force five TOs, two of those in the red zone, but this game could have got real ugly for Pittsburgh if the Pats didn’t literally hand them the game. The defense made some big plays, but Aaron Rodgers and the offense only manage 203 total yards and only pulled ahead with 2:16 left in the game. It’s a win, and the Steelers are currently 2-1 but it should have been a blowout considering the self inflicted mistakes made by NE. Steelers fans should feel lucky they are above .500 but worries about what’s to come if nothing changes.

17) Jacksonville Jaguars (2-1) last week: 18

The Jags went into the coaching market and brought in a QB coach that they hoped would guide Trevor Lawrence into stardom like Liam Coen did with Baker Mayfield. That hasn’t quite happened yet, but the Jags are good at a couple things. They are good at running the ball, and they are good at creating take aways. Once Lawrence and Coen get on the same page this could be a pretty complete team, but how long will it to take for Coen to make a star out of Lawrence?

18) Arizona Cardinals (2-1) last week: 19

Arizona was finally put to the test against a good team in Week 3, sort of. They played the Niners, who are 3-0 and are favorites in the NFC West, but they are terribly banged up. The Cardinals couldn’t take advantage on the road. They were held to field goals all game, and to top it all off they saw James Connor go down with a likely season ending injury. It was a nice start in the desert, but the oasis is drying up and reality is about to set in.

19) Cleveland Browns (1-2) last week: 26

It was everyone’s hot pick of the week. Cleveland to cover the spread against the Packers who came into the game looking like one of the best teams in the league. Let this serve as a reminder of that if you have a good defense you have a chance in any game. We saw it against the Bengals in Week 1. We saw it for three quarters in Baltimore, and we saw it in their win over Green Bay on Sunday. Even still they needed some big breaks to beat GB, but a terrible throw from Jordan Love led to a TD, and then the blocked field goal to set up their game winning field goal as time ran out. Don’t count out the Browns. They have played three tough games to start the season, and could just as easily be 2-1 as 1-2 after three weeks.

20) New England Patriots (1-2) last week: 25

Five turnovers, 14 points ripped off the scoreboard thanks to giveaways on the doormat of the Steelers endzone. That will no doubt drive Mike Vrable up a wall, but in the aftermath of the game against the Steelers there are things to take solace in. Even though they gifted Pittsburgh five TOs, they still almost won. The defense held strong, holding the Steelers to just over 200 yards, and if Drake Maye can limit turnovers he is going to turn into the QB Pats fans have been desperately waiting to see. That won’t make anyone sleep any better looking at their record after three weeks.

21) Atlanta Falcons (1-2) last week: 15

Back to the drawing board for the Atlanta Falcons who took the Bucs down to the wire in Week 1 and pushed the Vikings around on Sunday night last week. So what the hell happened on Sunday in Carolina? Well it starts with them cutting Younghoe Koo who has been nothing but clutch for them over the years and new kicker Parker Romo missed two FGs in the first quarter. That was a gut check, but the Falcons weren’t out of the game going into halftime. The second half was flat out embarrassing. Two interceptions, two turnovers on downs and a fumble completed the debauchery in Charlotte, and this serves as a reminder that the game against the Panthers was only Micahel Penix’s sixth start. Growing pains are still coming in Atlanta.

22) New York Jets (0-3) last week: 22

There was a point in time where Red Zone stopped playing the Jets game. That was because the Bucs were up 23-6 and the Jets had back up QB Tyrod Taylor under center. Taylor waited until the 4th quarter to turn it on throwing 2 TD passes to Garrett Wilson and Allen Lazard, then a blocked field goal returned for a TD put the Jets in the lead just 8 minutes after NY put the first TD on the board. Aaron Glenn was jacked, the Jets were back, but Baker Mayfield had time to build a game winning drive, and that’s exactly what he did.

23) Chicago Bears (1-2) last week: 28

It took a few weeks, but Ben Johnson finally let loose and dug down into his playbook. He pulled out his bag of tricks and let Caleb Williams sling it around the field. He looked loose. The offense looked loose and the Bears looked like a team that is growing in confidence the more familiar they get with the system. Unfortunately for Williams and the Bears, they don’t get to play the Cowboys defense every week.

24) Las Vegas Raiders (1-2) last week: 24

If you look at the final 41-24 score, maybe it looks a little respectable but what that doesn’t tell you is the Commanders were playing with a back up QB and 14 of LV’s points came when the game was already long over. The Raiders couldn’t stop anything. They couldn’t stop back up QB Marcus Marriota, they couldn’t stop the run and they couldn’t stop Washington on special teams. Samuel had a 69 yard kick return and Jaylin Lane took a punt return to the house.

25) Cincinnati Bengals (2-1) last week: 20

Seeing Joe Burrow go down for the foreseeable future hurt everyone in Cincinnati. It was mix of frustration, and misfortune that blanketed the city with a big dark cloud of depression. Unfortunately for Cincy fans, that wasn’t rock bottom. On Sunday in Minnesota, Bengals fans hit depths that they haven’t felt since they were the Bungels back in the 1990s. A first quarter pick six, two three and outs and THREE STRAIGHT FUMBLES in back-to-back-to-back possessions spiraled into a 31-3 halftime scoreline that served as a trailer of the movie Bengals fans are going to have to sit through until Burrow comes back, in December at the earliest.

26) Dallas Cowboys (1-2) last week: 21

I don’t take any pleasure in ripping teams on our weekly edition of Power Rankings. Sometimes I do take pleasure in ripping ignorant team owners like whatever that guys name in Carolina is, and in this case I couldn’t wait to get to the Cowboys/Jerry Jones section of the Rankings. The fact that it’s their defense getting torn apart after letting Micah Parsons go a week before the season is perfectly poetic. Look at last week. They gave up 37 to the Giants who scored just one combined TD in their other two games. This week they let allowed Caleb Williams to tie a career high 4 TD passes, and worst of all didn’t even come close to sacking the most sacked QB in the league last year. You know who could have helped pressure Williams? A guy who is playing defensive end in Green Bay.

27) Carolina Panthers (1-2) last week: 32

Last week we talked about the Panthers not being good enough to spot teams a big lead in the first few minutes of the game like they did against the Cardinals in Week 2. I’m not sure they are going to wax every team 30-0 like they did to the Falcons, but things get a lot easier when you aren’t having to climb up hill from the first quarter. The Falcons made a lot of mistakes, but give credit to the defense for forcing some of those mistakes, and to the offense for taking advantage of those turnovers.

28) Houston Texans (0-3) last week: 23

What in the world is going on in Houston? They are the lowest scoring team in the league at 12.7 points per game, and have scored three TDs in three games. On top of that they have five give aways which is third most in the league. That’s a perfect recipe to lose games. The worst part of it, is their defense is one of the best units in the league. Bobby Slowick was fired as offensive coordinator last year, but things have gone from bad to worse under new play caller Nick Caley.

29) Miami Dolphins (0-3) last week: 30

We expected the Dolphins to get steam rolled like roadkill in Buffalo on Thursday night. No team was more disappointing than MIA in the first two weeks of the season and no team looked better than BUF after two weeks. So what did the Dolphins do? They fought. They made it a game. They played even with the Bills for three quarters and some change. Then the Dolphins did what the Dolphins do best this year. With the game tied in the 4th, the defense held strong, and forced a punt, but a roughing the punter flag gave Buffalo a fresh set of downs and Josh Allen another chance to take the lead. Of course he capitalized. And that was that. Miami dropped to 0-3, and no matter how much fight they showed, this season is seeming like a lost cause already.

30) New York Giants (0-3) last week: 27

Forget about it (Sopranos accent). Russell Wilson the savior of New York after his mammoth game against the Cowboys? FORGET ABOUT IT! The Giants were held under 10 points once again, and the red zone problems really floated to the surface especially on the final possessions with 3:00 minutes left. Down two scores and needing a TD, Wilson threw it 3 times and didn’t come close to giving a receiver in the end zone a chance once. The Giants 37 points against the Cowboys was more of an indictment on the Dallas D then it was a sign of the Giants sorting out their scoring issues.

31) New Orleans Saints (0-3) last week: 29

The Saints played their first two games close despite being desperately overmatched by a Cardinals team that has looked average at best and a Niners team that was banged up. They played both of those games at home, so take that with a pinch of salt, but they travelled out west and trailed Seattle by 21 before the first quarter came to an end. It’s going to be a long season for the Saints, who may already by lining themselves up for the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The March for Arch might be underway in the Big Easy.

32) Tennessee Titans (0-3) last week: 31

Cam Ward was getting progressively better through the first two games, and people thought that he was on the way to leading the Titans to a win over Indy. Think again. Ward threw a pick less than a minute into the game, and Tennessee had to chase the game from the very beginning. The defense which has been one strength of this team couldn’t stop a Colts team that only punted once all day. Ward will get better, but the Colts game started in nightmare fashion and Ward never really woke up until the game was over.

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