The NFL has completed its second week of action, which means it is time for Week 3 NFL Power Rankings. Tuesday is power rankings day and we'll look through some of them as they are posted, but for now I thought I'd whip together some rankings of my own.
Although it's only be, we can start to make some modest conclusions about teams, although I'm sure many of them will be proven wrong within a couple more weeks. There are currently seven teams sitting at 2-0 and I would bet good money that at least one of them will not make the playoffs. On the other hand, we have seven 0-2 teams and I think one of them could make the playoffs.
Rather than break down every single decision in this power ranking, I thought i'd give you some of my general philosophies. For example, you see Tennessee a notch ahead of Jacksonville when both are 1-1 and the Jaguars edged out Tennessee in week one. Well, a two point win isn't enough to overcome the impressive nature of the Titans victory over Baltimore. My rankings are not just how well somebody is performing right now, but a look at their entire body of work mixed in with a healthy dose of subjective bias on my part.
If you see these rankings and question any aspect of them, please tweet me @sbnbayarea. I enjoy friendly debate via Twitter so feel free to tweet to me about how a twit I am. This is my first NFL power ranking of the year so in the future I'll include the previous rankings in parenthesis.
We might as well start with the Bay Area's own. The Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers are attached at the hip for now because they've had similar performances in week one and two. Both teams won their opener after doing what they could at times to blow it. On the other hand, they both blew sizable leads late and lost in heart-breaking manner. I give the slightest of edges to the Raiders because they've looked stronger in a variety of areas.
I've left the Packers at the top because they remain the champs. The world champs upcoming schedule is quite evenly balanced with apparent cup-cakes (versus Denver, versus St. Louis) and then some grinders (@Chicago, @Atlanta). I don't think they're at the top of these rankings in a month, but maybe they run that little gauntlet.
The most surprising appearances in the upper echelon of the rankings are Buffalo and Washington. I'm not stunned by Detroit starting strong, although we'll see how it holds up in the coming weeks. Buffalo and Washington though are surprising me for now. The Bills could prove to be the most entertaining team in the NFL when you combine high flying play with actual victories (I'm looking at you Carolina Flyin Newtons). Who knows how long it'll last, but the Bills are fun to watch for now.
The Redskins are a team that I see crashing to Earth eventually, but for now I like rewarding their start. The Giants win looks better after Monday Night Football, but they probably had no business beating the Arizona Cardinals.
As for the bottom of the rankings? I think most of that speaks for itself. So, go ahead and shoot me a tweet @sbnbayarea. Let's get some discussion going.
On to the Week 3 NFL Power Rankings:
1. Green Bay Packers (2-0)
2. New England Patriots (2-0)
3. Detroit Lions (2-0)
4. Houston Texans (2-0)
5. Philadelphia Eagles (1-1)
6. Buffalo Bills (2-0)
7. New Orleans Saints (1-1)
8. New York Jets (2-0)
9. Chicago Bears (1-1)
10. Washington Redskins (2-0)
11. Baltimore Ravens (1-1)
12. Atlanta Falcons (1-1)
13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1)
14. San Diego Chargers (1-1)
15. Dallas Cowboys (1-1)
16. New York Giants (1-1)
17. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1)
18. Oakland Raiders (1-1)
19. San Francisco 49ers (1-1)
20. Arizona Cardinals (1-1)
21. Tennessee Titans (1-1)
22. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-1)
23. Carolina Panthers (0-2)
24. Cleveland Browns (1-1)
25. St. Louis Rams (0-2)
26. Miami Dolphins (0-2)
27. Denver Broncos (1-1)
28. Cincinnati Bengals (1-1)
29. Kansas City Chiefs (0-2)
30. Minnesota Vikings (0-2)
31. Seattle Seahawks (0-2)
32. Indianapolis Colts (0-2)