It’s still way too early to know for sure who’s going to contend for a berth in Super Bowl 50, but we’re starting to get a pretty good idea.
The NFL wrapped up Week 3 on Monday night in Green Bay, where the Packers cruised to a win over the Kansas City Chiefs. The Packers, in the process, improved to 3-0, one of seven teams to start the season with a perfect record.
It’s becoming more and more clear, however, that only a few of those undefeated clubs are legitimate contenders — at least for the time being. Let’s get into the NESN.com Week 3 NFL power rankings to see who those teams are and where they fall.
1. New England Patriots (Last week: 1): What else is there to say right now? The Patriots are a really good team that beats really bad teams to smithereens.
2. Green Bay Packers (Last week: 2):Â Aaron Rodgers leads the NFL with a 135.4 passer rating, despite the Packers’ banged-up receiving corps. He’s pretty good.
3. Arizona Cardinals (Last week: 3): Not to be that guy, but the Cardinals’ three opponents so far this season are a combined 1-8. Of course, the retort to that is they’ve won those three games by an average of almost 26 points.
4. Denver Broncos (Last week: 4): Pretty simple plan of attack here: Have Peyton Manning complete three of every four passes and force a handful of turnovers on defense. Rinse and repeat.
5. Cincinnati Bengals (Last week: 7): The Bengals won a big divisional game on the road Sunday. In the process, they’ve put themselves in a great position to contend for the AFC North title.
6. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last week: 6): This ranking will surely drop if Ben Roethlisberger’s injury is either worse than initial reports indicate or the Steelers fall apart in the time he misses.
7. Carolina Panthers (Last week: 9): It’s early, but betting on Cam Newton to win the NFL MVP at +5,000 seems like a decent little wager judging by what we’ve seen through three weeks and knowing the lack of supporting cast he has.
8. Atlanta Falcons (Last week: 10): We live in an NFL world where two NFC South teams are in the top 10, which might also be a byproduct of me being an idiot.
9. Dallas Cowboys (Last week: 5): The Cowboys looked primed for a great win in their first week without Tony Romo and they promptly blew that opportunity.
10. Seattle Seahawks (Last week: 12): On paper, the Seahawks’ 26-0 win over Chicago was nice, sure, but it still doesn’t look right. If Jimmy Graham, who scored a touchdown Sunday, gets going, then it might start to be a different story.
11. Buffalo Bills (Last week: 16): The Bills look like they’re going to be a team we look at and ask “Who are they really?” They were flat-out dominant Sunday in Miami, but the memory of their Week 2 loss to the Patriots still is far too fresh to ignore.
12. Minnesota Vikings (Last week: 14):Â The Vikings have found the key to success, which is to play every game at home and have Adrian Peterson average 6.3 yards per carry. It’s that simple!
13. Indianapolis Colts (Last week: 18):Â Look, winning on the road in the NFL is really hard. But it’s still a little weird to see Chuck Pagano basically break down in tears during his post-game speech after his previously underachieving team barely beats the Tennessee Titans. Whatevs.
14. Kansas City Chiefs (Last week: 8):Â The Chiefs had the unenviable task of playing the Packers at Lambeau Field, but you have to like what they did offensively in the second half, as they actually got a wide receiver or two involved for once.
15. Philadelphia Eagles (Last week: 20): All the Eagles had to do was play without DeMarco Murray, apparently.
16. St. Louis Rams (Last week: 17): Let’s be honest: You’re not here to read anything about the Rams. Moving on.
17. Miami Dolphins (Last week: 13): What an embarrassment this team has been to start the season. If Joe Philbin’s seat hasn’t heated up yet, there’s something wrong in Miami because all this team’s done since he took over is underachieve.
18. New York Jets (Last week: 11): Ryan Fitzpatrick has been serviceable through three weeks, but when he’s throwing the ball 58 times, that’s not really a winning recipe.
19. New York Giants (Last week: 28): When Victor Cruz returns, the Giants are going to have a pretty dynamic receiving corps with the likes of Cruz, Odell Beckham and Reuben Randle, who’s fresh off seven catches for 116 yards and a touchdown.
20. San Diego Chargers (Last week: 15): The Chargers have one of the worst run defenses in the league through three weeks. That’s tough, especially when you’re basically unable to win on the road like the Chargers seem to be.
21. Baltimore Ravens (19): The Ravens are pretty much done, as they’re 0-3 now. When your tackling attempts look like this, though, what do you expect?
22. Oakland Raiders (Last week: 24): The Raiders finally won a road game — their first since 2013 — and Derek Carr (and his 102.4 passer rating through three games) should give Raiders fans some optimism moving forward.
23. Detroit Lions (Last week: 22): This pretty much sums up the Lions’ season thus far.
24. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last week: 24): They move up in the rankings despite losing, because they didn’t suck as hard as the rest of the teams below them.
25. Houston Texans (Last week: 31):Â The Texans look destined for seven or eight wins because their defense will shut down bad teams (like Tampa Bay), and they’ve proved they can run the ball, no matter who’s in the backfield, as Alfred Blue picked up 139 yards on 31 carries Sunday.
26 Cleveland Browns (Last week: 21):Â The Raiders hadn’t won a game in the Eastern time zone since 2009. Naturally, the Browns were the ones to help them end that streak.
27. Washington Redskins (Last week: 25): Full disclosure: I didn’t watch a second of their game Thursday night because I have better things to do.
28. New Orleans Saints (Last week: 27):Â Luke McCown did all you could ask in that situation — completing 31 of 38 passes and not throwing a pick — but Rob Ryan’s defense is still a joke.
29. San Francisco 49ers (Last week: 23): At one point Sunday, Colin Kaepernick was 5-for-10 passing with four interceptions — two of those were returned for touchdowns.
30. Tennessee Titans (Last week: 30): The Titans had the Colts on the ropes, and they couldn’t deliver the knockout punch. This probably won’t be the last time I describe this situation this season.
31. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last week: 29): I thought the Jaguars had a chance to cover, which was stupid when you consider Blake Bortles is still the Jaguars’ quarterback.
32. Chicago Bears (Last week: 32):Â Congrats if you have Bears punter Pat O’Donnell — and his 10 punts Sunday — on your fantasy team.
Thumbnail photo via Jeff Hanisch/USA TODAY Sports Images
