NFL Power Rankings 2016: Week 3 Edition

The second week of the 2016 NFL schedule is over. Now it’s time to see how all 32 teams stack up. Let’s dive right in to this week’s edition of NFL Power Rankings. For reference purposes, here’s a link to last week’s order.

WEEK 3 POWER RANKINGS

1 – Denver Broncos (Last Week: 1) – The reigning Super Bowl champions are still on top after starting out the season 2-0. Denver’s defense still looks great.

2 – New England Patriots (LW: 2) – The Patriots got out to a big enough lead that it didn’t matter they lost Jimmy Garoppolo to an in-game injury. Now the Patriots are heading into Thursday Night Football with rookie Jacoby Brissett starting against the undefeated Texans.

3 – Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 3) – Pittsburgh is 2-0 despite missing Le’Veon Bell and Martavis Bryant.

4 – Carolina Panthers (LW: 4) – Cam Newton threw four touchdowns in Carolina’s blowout win over the 49ers.

5 – Arizona Cardinals (LW: 10) – A week after losing to the short-handed Patriots, the Cardinals blew out the Buccaneers. The Cardinals still figure to be one of the best teams in the NFC.

6 – Minnesota Viking (LW: 8) – Sam Bradford played well in his Vikings debut. Minnesota’s defense forced Aaron Rodgers into one of the worst games of his career.

7 – Houston Texans (LW: 12) – The Texans’ defense looks formidable which makes up for their offense looking meh.

8 – Green Bay Packers (LW: 5) – Had the Packers not converted a miracle Hail Mary against the Lions last season, Green Bay would be 4-8 in their last 12 regular season games.

9 – New York Jets (LW: 15) – The Jets only lost by one point in Week 1. Then they went into Buffalo and dropped 37 points on the Bills.

10 – Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 7) – Kansas City hasn’t lost a game by more than one score since Oct. 4, 2015.

11 – Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 9) – Cincinnati couldn’t avenge the playoff loss they choked away last season to Pittsburgh. Still only the second best team in the AFC North.

12 – Seattle Seahawks (LW: 6) – Seattle’s defense is still one of the best units in the NFL. They’ve allowed 19 points in two games. The Seahawks’ offense, however, is a real concern. They’ve only put up 15 combined points against the Dolphins and Rams. It’s clear Russell Wilson isn’t 100%.

13 – Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 17) – The Eagles currently own the best point differential in the NFL. It helps that they’ve played two of the bottom teams in the league, but that shouldn’t completely take away from what they’ve done. Rookie quarterback Carson Wentz is looking like the real deal early on.

14  – Baltimore Ravens (LW: 13) – The Ravens might be the least impressive 2-0 team in the league. They squeaked out a win over Buffalo in Week 1 and needed a major comeback to beat the Browns, who were playing with an injured quarterback, in Cleveland.

15 – New York Giants (LW: 18) – Through two games, the Giants’ defense looks improved. The same can’t be said for their offense, which scored 20 points in Week 1 and only 16 against a suspect New Orleans defense.

16 – Oakland Raiders (LW: 11) – The Raiders’ defense has allowed 69 points through two games. Not very nice.

17 – San Diego Chargers (LW: 26) – The good news is the Bolts are 1-1 after blowing out the Jaguars. The bad news is the Chargers lost another key offensive player. After putting Keenan Allen on injured reserve after Week 1, now Danny Woodhead is done for the season.

18 – Detroit Lions (LW: 14) – There were a ton of penalties in the Lions-Titans game: 29 in total. Jim Caldwell’s side accounted for 17 flags for a total of 138 yards. More discipline is needed.

19 – Buffalo Bills (LW: 19) – The Bills’ defense allowed 37 points, so naturally Buffalo fired their offensive coordinator: Greg Roman. Head coach Rex Ryan (and his brother Rob Ryan) could be on the hot seat in Buffalo.

20 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 16) – Jameis Winston looked really impressive in Week 1. Not so much this week. The 22-year-old threw four interceptions in a 40-7 loss to Arizona.

21 – Atlanta Falcons (LW: 27) – Color me surprised to see the Falcons get a win on the road. Atlanta’s offense was able to take advantage of the Raiders’ leaky defense.

22 – Dallas Cowboys (LW: 25) – Dak Prescott still hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass but he played well in the Cowboys’ first win of the season. Ezekiel Elliott, meanwhile, only averaged four yards per carry and got benched after his second fumble of the day.

23 – Indianapolis Colts (LW: 23) – The Colts lost to the Broncos by a final score of 34 to 20, but it was a three point game with four minutes left. Indianapolis showed some good fight on the road against a really tough defense.

24 – New Orleans Saints (LW: 22) – A blocked field goal returned for a touchdown doomed the Saints in a close game against the Giants. Starting to wonder: is Sean Payton still a top coach?

25 – Miami Dolphins (LW: 21) – The Dolphins were down big against the Patriots before Garoppolo got knocked out of the game and Miami scored some points in garbage time.

26 – Tennessee Titans (LW: 29) – It was surprising to see the Titans go into Detroit and get a comeback win. Former Eagles quarterback Marcus Mariota looks good.

27 – Washington Redskins (LW: 20) – There hasn’t been a repeat winner in the NFC East since 2004. Washington isn’t off to a good start in trying to buck that trend. Kirk Cousins is struggling and his team is 0-2. Washington desperately needs to beat the Giants this week or else they’ll fall to 0-3 with two division losses.

28 – Los Angeles Rams (LW: 32) – This is what I wrote on Saturday: “The Rams looked downright awful in their opening game. It would be so Jeff Fisher of the Rams to somehow win this game, but it’s hard to count on that actually happening.” Well, it did actually happen. The Rams are still very much the Rams.

29 – Chicago Bears (LW: 28) – Jay Cutler and the Bears offense isn’t overly threatening while Chicago’s defense is vulnerable due to a lackluster secondary. Not a great mix for the Bears.

30 – Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 24) – The Jaguars’ patience with Gus Bradley doesn’t seem to be paying off. Jacksonville was down 35-0 in San Diego before scoring two garbage time touchdowns.

31 – San Francisco 49ers (LW: 30) – Chip Kelly’s offense is averaging 4.4 yards per play, which is second worst in the NFL. On the other side of the ball, San Francisco’s defense allowed 46 points and 529 yards this week.

32 – Cleveland Browns (LW: 31) – It looked like the Browns might actually not be so terrible when they got off to a 20-0 lead. Then the Browns blew the game after Josh McCown got hurt and tried to play through injury. Now the Browns are on to their third starting quarterback in as many weeks. It’s looking like Cody Kessler time in Cleveland.