The NFL Blog: 2010 Power Rankings (After Week 3)

Power Rankings After Week 3

1. Pittsburgh 3-0 (6th)
2. Indianapolis 2-1 (3rd)
3. Baltimore 2-1 (4th)
4. New Orleans 2-1 (1st)
5. New York Jets 2-1 (7th)
6. Green Bay 2-1 (2nd)
7. Atlanta 2-1 (11th)
8. Kansas City 3-0 (13th)
9. New England 2-1 (8th)
10. Cincinnati 2-1 (9th)
11. Houston 2-1 (5th)
12. Miami 2-1 (10th)
13. Chicago 3-0 (21st)
14. Minnesota 1-2 (14th)
15. Philadelphia 2-1 (17th)
16. Dallas 1-2 (18th)
17. Tennessee 2-1 (19th)
18. San Diego 1-2 (12th)
19. Washington 1-2 (15th)
20. New York Giants 1-2 (16th)
21. Seattle 2-1 (27th)
22. Tampa Bay 2-1 (22nd)
23. Arizona 2-1 (24th)
24. St. Louis 1-2 (28th)
25. Detroit 0-3 (23rd)
26. Oakland 1-2 (29th)
27. San Francisco 0-3 (20th)
28. Jacksonville 1-2 (25th)
29. Denver 1-2 (26th)
30. Cleveland 0-3 (30th)
31. Buffalo 0-3 (31st)
32. Carolina 0-3 (32nd)

-Previous week’s rankings in parenthesis;

A New #1. With the Saints and Packers going down in week 3, the obvious choice for the #1 spot this week was Pittsburgh. The Steelers have won all of their games by at least 6 points and they are 2-0 on the road. Their opponents are 6-0 against teams other than the Steelers. The Steelers climbed 5 spots in my rankings this week from 6th to 1st.

Saints Fall. Although the Saints could have easily held off the Falcons last week, I still moved them down 3 spots from 1st to 4th. The Saints have not been as good so far this season as they were last year, particularly on offense. They could easily be 0-3.

Giant Leaps. Several teams made significant climbs in my rankings this week. The Bears made the biggest move, jumping up 8 spots in my rankings from 21st to 13th. Some may find it indefensible that I still have the Bears ranked all the way down at #13, but I wasn’t a big believer in Chicago going into the season, and then in week 1 they should have lost to Detroit at home. In the last 2 weeks they have beaten Dallas and Green Bay, and my regard for them has definitely grown, but I’m still a bit skeptical.

The Seahawks climbed 6 spots in my rankings this week from 27th to 21st. Seattle has now won twice, beating the 49ers and Chargers at home. Begrudgingly, I’m starting to admit that they might a better team than I expected.

The Chiefs also rose significantly in the rankings this week, making a 5 spot climb from 13th to 8th. I was not a member of KC’s bandwagon going into the year, but they are 3-0, and it’s getting harder and harder to deny that they are for real.

Whoosh! A number of teams fell significantly in my rankings this week. The 49ers took the biggest fall, dropping 7 spots from 20th to 27th. The Niners are now 0-3, and they’ve been hammered in each of their road games. They’ve now fired their offensive coordinator. Suddenly Mike Singletary looks like a fool again.

Houston and San Diego both dropped 6 spots in my rankings this week. Houston probably never should have been as high as 5th, but the Texans were handled by Dallas at home this week and I dropped them to #11. San Diego lost again this last week and plummeted from 12th to 18th in my power rankings.

The Bottom Three. Only 5 teams stayed exactly in place in my rankings this week, and 3 of those were the #30, #31, and #32 teams in my power rankings. The Browns put up a fight against the Ravens, but they are now 0-3, and they will have to pull off a significant upset to avoid starting 0-9. Buffalo was surprisingly competitive against the Patriots last week, and the Bills have played a tough schedule, but they look destined for their worst season since 2001. At this point, Carolina is by far the worst team in the entire NFL. The Panthers have lost all 3 of their games by 13 points, and they have scored exactly 7 points in each of their last 2 games, both of them at home.