NFL Week 3 Power Rankings

Five Quick Hits

* The Jets really missed Kris Jenkins on Monday night. Jenkins left the game early in the first quarter with a back injury.

* We all learned on Monday night that Brett Favre has never led a 14-point comeback. Not that those are commonplace, but after 250 games, you'd think a guy with Favre's reputation would have done it at some point.

* No one in the NFC East has lost to anyone from another division.

* Week 3: Revenge of the 0-2's. The Dolphins, Jags, Chargers, Vikings, and Seahawks all got off the schneid, while Oakland and Cincinnati played well in defeat. The Lions, Rams, Browns, and Chiefs continued to suck. In fact, the Chiefs look worse every week.

* Someone please rescue Tyler Thigpen from his coach. The kid cannot play in the NFL right now. Don't make him try.

***

Could the 2-1 Eagles be the best team in football? If the defense plays the rest of the season the way it did against Pittsburgh in Week 3, you bet they could. The Steelers rushed for 33 yards with a 1.7 average, got sacked 9 times, barely completed half their passes, committed three turnovers, and didn't score a touchdown. Everyone's talking about those sacks, but Philadelphia has the top rush defense in the NFL, by a wide margin of almost 20 yards per game and ½-yard per carry.

The Eagles' pass rush was obviously phenomenal on Sunday, but their success was as much a function of Pittsburgh's deficiencies as it was of Philadelphia's good play. As early as Week 1, pass protection seemed like a potential weak point for the Steelers. Jim Johnson, the Eagles' superb defensive coordinator, decided to test it early and often this weekend, and he almost got Ben Roethlisberger killed. I've never seen Big Ben so rattled and off his game, and I don't blame him.

Part of the blame goes to Ben and his coaching staff, who needed to make adjustments to protect Roethlisberger, but most of it falls on the offensive line. It may not be fair to single anyone out, since the whole line was abysmal, but center Justin Hartwig looked totally lost. The Eagles were dropping people into coverage, and Hartwig kept committing to them, so he wouldn't end up blocking anybody. Again, though, there's blame to go around, and plenty of credit to Philadelphia's defense. Johnson deserves a ton of praise for his aggressive strategy. Remember, it was Johnson who gave the rest of the league a blueprint for dealing with New England last season, too.

Let's get on to the power rankings. Brackets show previous rank.

1. Dallas Cowboys [2] — Last week, I dropped them from the top position because of their weak defensive performance against Philadelphia. After they handled the Packers, they're back on top. This offensive line is incredible. I do think Washington has the potential to give them trouble in Week 4.

2. Philadelphia Eagles [3] — The primary concern has to be Brian Westbrook's health. Their offense didn't look the same after he left Sunday's game, and with three tough games coming up before the bye, the Eagles need him. Rookie WR DeSean Jackson continues to impress, but he made another stupid play this weekend, running out of bounds when the Eagles were trying to run out the clock.

3. New York Giants [1] — I hate leaving them this high after they needed overtime to beat Cincinnati, but I don't know who else to move up. I'd like to see a little more from Eli Manning. He was great in the playoffs last year, and if the Giants are going to be competitive in the NFC East this season, he needs to be great like that. "Pretty good" isn't enough.

4. Tennessee Titans [6] — Am I underestimating a great defensive team? It's certainly possible. But the teams they've beaten have a combined record of 1-7. If they win against Minnesota and at Baltimore in their next two games, I will be plenty impressed, and that will show up in a top-three ranking.

5. Green Bay Packers [4] — Outclassed against the Cowboys, but two players really stepped up to the challenge. Defensive lineman Cullen Jenkins was everywhere on Sunday night, while cornerback Charles Woodson, playing with an injured toe, effectively shut down Terrell Owens. The other starting corner, Al Harris, may miss the rest of the season with a ruptured spleen. Injuries are starting to mount in the defensive backfield, and Harris is a major loss. I'm not at all sure they should still be ranked this high, but their Week 4 matchup with Tampa should tell us a lot about both teams.

6. Pittsburgh Steelers [5] — The defense is terrific, but the offense needs to clean up those pass protection issues immediately. Big Ben has been sacked 17 times in his last three meetings with Baltimore, whom the Steelers will face in Week 4. John Harbaugh and Rex Ryan are not going to call off the dogs, and if Pittsburgh's blocking isn't better, Roethlisberger and Byron Leftwich are going to get hurt.

7. Denver Broncos [8] — Their offense is ranked second in the NFL, passing and rushing effectively, but the defense seems vulnerable. They've played two good offenses in the last two games, but giving up 30 points twice in a row is always cause for concern, and opposing QBs have a 114.9 passer rating against this defense. The good news for Denver is that, looking at the schedule, I'm not sure when their defense going to be seriously tested.

8. San Diego Chargers [9] — Norv Turner tried to give this game away. After their first series in the third quarter, the Chargers ran the ball on every first down, usually into the middle of the Jets' line, and San Diego played prevent defense throughout the second half. Turner even iced his own kicker! The Chargers' offense looks great, but their kick coverage and defense do not. San Diego's 94 points allowed are worse than everyone but Detroit and St. Louis. That's bad company to keep.

9. Buffalo Bills [11] — Apparently, I had them ranked too low last week, because no one deserves to move up after needing a last-second field goal to beat the Raiders. What's strange is that Buffalo so utterly dominated the game, without showing it on the scoreboard. They out-gained the Raiders by over 100 yards, had more than twice as many first downs, and had a nine-minute edge in time of possession. The problem? Turnovers. Cut those out, and the Bills could be a contender in the wide-open AFC.

10. Washington Redskins [17] — The Saints and Cardinals have exceptional passing attacks, and in the last two weeks, Washington's defense effectively contained both of them. I am quickly becoming a big believer in this defense. It's nice to see Jason Campbell running with the football; that's a real strength of his, and it should open up additional opportunities in the passing game. Washington is a league-best +5 in turnovers.

11. Minnesota Vikings [16] — They're 1-2, and ranked ahead of a Colts team that beat them at home last week. Part of the reason they're this high is because I believe this is a different, better team with Gus Frerotte at quarterback, but their victory over Carolina had little to do with Frerotte. Minnesota's defense held the Panthers to 2.4 yards per carry, sacked Jake Delhomme five times, and returned a fumble for a touchdown.

12. Jacksonville Jaguars [15] — Finally looked like last year's Jags, attacking a weak run defense and putting up big numbers, as Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew both ran for over 100 yards. David Garrard continued to struggle, and now has 4 interceptions with only 1 touchdown.

13. Carolina Panthers [10] — Committed 12 penalties against Minnesota. Jake Delhomme has not looked good this season. I know the team fell apart without him last year, so I'm not sure how much of this is his fault, but Carolina's passing game has really not been productive. Delhomme has a 74.7 passer rating and has only thrown for 1 touchdown.

14. Indianapolis Colts [12] — They've played against three good defenses, but it seems clear now that Peyton Manning is not 100%. His completion percentage is down, his yards per attempt are down, he has more interceptions than touchdowns, and his passer rating is 73.1. It's too early to cry fire, but the Colts had better hope that an early bye does their team some good.

15. Arizona Cardinals [13] — I am not giving up on the Cardinals. I still think this is a pretty good team, and I still believe it's going to win the NFC West. Pass defense does look like an area of concern.

16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers [19] — Brian Griese threw 29 incomplete passes and 3 interceptions, they only rushed for 47 yards, the defense allowed over 400 yards, and they won. Wait, what?

17. Chicago Bears [14] — Close losses are not moral victories in the NFL, and they've followed up their opening-night win over the Colts with a pair of heart-breaking three-point losses. Rookie RB Matt Forte continues to impress, and despite what Griese's 407 yards might lead you to believe, the defense looks great. The problems are a combination of bad luck, lack of killer instinct, and deficiencies in their pass attack. Kyle Orton isn't Dan Marino, but some blame goes to the offensive line and receiving corps, too. The Bears have lost at least one game they should have won.

18. New Orleans Saints [18] — Reggie Bush is starting to look a lot like the player he was hyped to be out of USC, but he only plays on offense, and this defense needs a lot of work.

19. Baltimore Ravens [23] — The defense is wonderful and fantastic and smells like pretty flowers, and all of that. But they're going to beat the Steelers with a passing game that went for 129 yards and two interceptions against Cleveland? There are going to be about a million sacks when the Ravens travel to Pittsburgh this week. I think it will be a close game, and the Steelers are going to have real problems with their passing attack, but at least they have a passing attack. I'm not sure Baltimore does.

20. San Francisco 49ers [24] — How on earth was Sunday the first time I have heard someone call Frank Gore "The Inconvenient Truth?" I think that's my new favorite nickname in the NFL. In my fantasy draft, Gore was taken right after Clinton. Portis. That looks funny on a spreadsheet.

21. New England Patriots [7] — Tom Jackson nailed it: "They gonna play anybody tougher than the Miami Dolphins in New England?" If they can't beat the Dolphins at home, can they count on beating anyone? New England has yet to score 20 points in a game this season.

22. Seattle Seahawks [25] — The Rams have lost by 35, 28, and 24 (to Seattle). I'm not sure how much this victory really tells us about the Seahawks, but it's a lot better than getting blown out in your opener or losing in overtime to a division rival. Most teams don't like early byes, but Seattle's comes at a good time. It's worth sacrificing whatever momentum they got from beating the Rams in order to get some of those receivers ready to play.

23. New York Jets [21] — If you turned off the tv right after the game on Monday night, you missed a pretty good discussion of the game from Emmitt Smith and Steve Young. One of their more interesting topics was Favre's poor play while the game was still close. His decent stats for the game are misleading, because he was efficient in garbage time. Favre had 159 yards and a 64.3 passer rating in the first three quarters. When San Diego had the game comfortably in hand at 38-14, Favre threw for another 112 yards and a 132.5 passer rating in the fourth quarter.

24. Cleveland Browns [20] — Offense is ranked 32nd in both yards and points. Derek Anderson, a Pro Bowler last year, has a dismal 43.5 passer rating. Is it time to bench him for Brady Quinn? No. Give Anderson one more week. If he still can't produce against the Bengals, bench him and get Quinn ready during the Week 5 bye.

25. Houston Texans [22] — Losses to Pittsburgh and Tennessee are nothing to be ashamed of, but getting blown out twice in two games (outscored 69-29) is cause for pretty serious concern. Matt Schaub is off to a miserable start (1 TD, 5 INT).

26. Atlanta Falcons [26] — They have two blowout wins, but beating the Lions and Chiefs doesn't even count right now. Their preseason victory over Tennessee is more impressive. Matt Ryan and Michael Turner are off to really nice starts, and John Abraham has been a beast on defense, but I don't believe that the Falcons will be successful against real teams.

27. Miami Dolphins [29] — The Patriots lost to the Dolphins, the Dolphins lost to the Jets, and the Jets lost to the Patriots. What does it mean? It means these are probably three pretty evenly matched teams, and I think they're all pretty bad. I suspect that Sunday's game told us a lot more about the Patriots than the Dolphins. All the same, I wouldn't want to be Ted Cottrell in Week 5, trying to prepare for that crazy offense Miami showed this week.

28. Oakland Raiders [27] — They've shown real life the last two weeks, smoking Kansas City and taking Buffalo to the wire. But the uncertainty concerning Lane Kiffin's head coaching job needs to end. For all I know, he's been fired by the time you're reading this. Either Al Davis should publicly commit to Kiffin through at least the end of the season — and that seems like the most reasonable course of action at this point — or he should fire him and be done with it. The constant speculation has a sideshow feel to it.

29. Cincinnati Bengals [30] — I don't know what came over them in Week 3. They certainly didn't seem like the Bengals we saw in the first two weeks of the season. It's often said that good teams find a way to win even when they have a bad day. The Bengals are a bad team that found a way to lose even when they had a good day.

30. Kansas City Chiefs [28] — Ugh. Really, couldn't they be 32nd? I have them ahead of Detroit and St. Louis because they were actually competitive in one of their games, but they're basically an F+. It's still failing.

31. Detroit Lions [31] — To pick out one of many problems, consider that they committed 9 penalties on Sunday, including three that gave the 49ers first downs. I'm not sure there is anything good about this team. I guess Calvin Johnson looks all right, but Detroit's culture of losing is going to suck him in and ruin him. Fire Matt Millen.

32. St. Louis Rams [32] — The good news is that the teams they've lost to are pretty good, except for maybe the Seahawks. The bad news is everything else. They're 31st in offense and dead-last in defense and they have yet to lose by less than 24.