NFL Power Rankings Week Three: A Sharpening Tool

Week three in the NFL rolls along and a bunch of teams will be missing a bunch of players. The lack of any preseason games has been evident throughout this early part of the regular season.

Teams maintaining a healthy roster is a big part of the success they may or may not have. Then again, teams that can overcome injuries might have the upper hand on everyone else.

 

1. Baltimore Ravens (2-0)
The Ravens have allowed only 22 points total throughout two weeks of play. They will get a huge threat to that number on Monday night when they play the Chiefs.

2. Kansas City Chiefs (2-0)
Is any lead safe versus Kansas City’s offense? They just keep chipping away when they’re down and they seemingly don’t stop until they’ve pulled the win out.

3. Green Bay Packers (2-0)
The Packers are quietly throttling their opponents, averaging 42.5 points per game. Maybe the most impressive thing is that they have nine offensive touchdowns against zero turnovers in two games.

4. Seattle Seahawks (2-0)
Russell Wilson has played two spectacular games in his bid for his first ever MVP award. He has nine touchdown passes and only eleven incompletions on the season.

5. Buffalo Bills (2-0)
Josh Allen is averaging 364.5 passing yards per game with six touchdowns and zero interceptions. His improvement makes Buffalo a very dangerous team going forward.

6. Tennessee Titans (2-0)
Funny enough, Tennessee has zero rushing touchdowns on the season. They also have zero turnovers and zero losses on the season too, so I guess it all works out for the undefeated Titans.

7. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-0)
The Steelers have recorded ten sacks and 22 tackles for a loss so far this season. They allow an average of 305.0 total yards per game.

8. Los Angeles Rams (2-0)
The Rams are moving the ball on offense and stopping their opponents from scoring. A great formula for winning by any means.

9. Arizona Cardinals (2-0)
Kyler Murray is averaging 258.0 passing yards and 79.0 rushing yards per game with five total touchdowns. Arizona has allowed only 35 points in two games this season.

10. Chicago Bears (2-0)
The Bears’ defense has not given up a ton of points, even if they don’t get to the quarterback as often as they would like. The offense is averaging 22.0 points per game and will need to continue pour it on.

11. Las Vegas Raiders (2-0)
Jon Gruden has his Raiders looking like a well oiled machine in the first couple of weeks of the season. Derek Carr seems to have a full repertoire around him on offense and the defense stands tough.

12. New England Patriots (1-1)
Cam Newton was one play away from starting his Patriot career 2-0. In any event he’s proving why he is a former league MVP and why New England made the right choice. Julian Edelman continues to make big plays no matter who is throwing to him.

13. New Orleans Saints (1-1)
Can anybody step up with Michael Thomas sidelined due to injury? Drew Brees looked much better on Monday night, but his longest pass play was all of 29 yards.

14. San Francisco 49ers (1-1)
The injury list is so long for San Fransisco that I swore I saw Joe Montana and Jerry Rice on it. No but seriously: it will be tough for the 49ers to overcome the amount of injuries they have suffered so far this season.

15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1)
We knew it wouldn’t take long for Tom Brady to crack into the win column in his new uniform. What’s surprising is the amount of turnovers we are seeing from a Brady-led team.

16. Dallas Cowboys (1-1)
Dak Prescott engineered two fourth quarter touchdown drives to lead the Cowboys to one of the most improbable wins in NFL history. He threw for 450 yards and had four total touchdowns (three rushing).

17. Los Angeles Chargers (1-1)
I can’t tell what was more impressive about Justin Herbert’s first NFL start. It could be him going 22-33 for 311 passing yards and a touchdown. Maybe it’s the fact he took hit after hit and got right back up ready to throw another pass like nothing can faze him.

18. Indianapolis Colts (1-1)
The Colts are allowing a league low 208.0 total yards per game. Rookie running back Jonathan Taylor rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown in his first start.

19. Cleveland Browns (1-1)
The Browns looked much better on offense Thursday night behind a strong performance from Nick Chubb. The defense has now given up 68 points and eight touchdowns in their two games this season.

20. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-1)
The Jaguars are three or four points away from being undefeated. Doug Marrone has his team playing very hard and focused, despite losing a huge chunk of talent this off-season.

21.  Washington Football Team (1-1)

Chase Young has recorded at least 1.0 sack in both of his games so far this season. He’s becoming the same disruptive force he was at Ohio State and the rest of the defense will benefit from his play.

22. Atlanta Falcons (0-2)
The Falcons couldn’t have played a better game in the first three quarters of their game Sunday. The fourth quarter showed they suffer from a real lack of focus and the coaching staff has to take a big part of the blame.

23. Houston Texans (0-2)
Houston is averaging a lowly 18.0 points per game. They do a good job of scoring in the red zone but they’ve only made five red zone visits this season.

24. Miami Dolphins (0-2)
The Dolphins’ winless record is a somewhat familiar sight to most NFL fans but it’s not a real indication of how they’re playing overall. A few different plays here and there and we could be talking about an undefeated team.

25. Minnesota Vikings (0-2)
Kirk Cousins is averaging 186.0 passing yards per game to go along with two touchdowns and four interceptions. I could say the defense is bad, already allowing 71 points in two games, but there’s no need to pile on.

26. Philadelphia Eagles (0-2)
The Eagles have scored a mere four offensive touchdowns and have turned the ball over six times this season. They are allowing 32.0 points per game.

27. Denver Broncos (0-2)
Injuries to wide receiver Courtland Sutton and quarterback Drew Lock will make the Broncos looks like a totally different team going forward.

28. Carolina Panthers (0-2)
The Panthers have been playing decent despite their slow start to the season. The defense will have to play better than the 32.5 points per game average they’ve allowed this season.

29. Cincinnati Bengals (0-2)
The Bengals’ defense has allowed 370 rushing yards in two games and that won’t get the job done. Joe Burrow looks to better every time he steps on the field, delivering passes with great accuracy and velocity.

30. New York Giants (0-2)
Two losses in the conference is pretty bad as far as an outside playoff chance. The loss of Saquon Barkley puts them in a precarious position in the running game.

31. Detroit Lions (0-2)
Detroit is allowing 34.5 points per game and they haven’t forced a turnover this season. Matt Patricia can throw his name on the short list of coaches already on the hot seat.

32. New York Jets (0-2)
The Jets seem to not be playing with any intensity or urgency in their two games this season. Head coach Adam Gase has come under heavy fire for not having this team prepared and for an overall mismanagement of talent.