NFL Power Rankings Week 3: Patriots look beatable, but so do Broncos

1.

New England Patriots

Record 2-0. Tom Brady seems to be able to score whenever he needs to in order to stay ahead of the competition. The New England Patriots are good, but it looks like they have some chinks in their defensive armor. The defending Super Bowl champions are 2-0, but both games were hard fought contests. I suspect its going to be that way all year long for a franchise everyone loves to hate for their long history of cheating and dishonesty. To which I say, "Good".

2.

Green Bay Packers

Record 2-0. Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers got their revenge from the NFC Championship game by beating the Seahawks 27-17 on Sunday Night Football. At 2-0 they are easily the best looking team in the NFC right now, with the Arizona Cardinals nipping closely at their heels. The Packers have a fairly difficult schedule over the next six games, but at least they have the tie breaker with the Seahawks.

3.

Denver Broncos

Record 2-0. I have heard pundits both hail the Denver Broncos for their resilience and great play against the Kansas City Chiefs and them questioning the Broncos and putting the blame on the Chiefs for not taking advantage of opportunities. Well for those people on the latter, the Broncos denied those opportunities with superior play. There are questions about the offence, but how good will this team be once Gary Kubiak and Peyton Manning figure things out? After all, the offensive line will only get better as the season progresses. For now, join the dark side of the Chiefs fan base.

4.

Arizona Cardinals

Record 2-0. The Arizona Cardinals are ballin' early in 2015. After dropping 31 on the New Orleans Saints in Week 1, the Cardinals exploded for 48 against the Chicago Bears. Carson Palmer threw for just 185 yards, but added four touchdowns to that number. David Johnson added another rushing touchdown to give the offense five touchdowns in this game, but Johnson also returned the opening kickoff 108 yards for another touchdown. Defensively, the Cardinals added a nice pix six off of Jay Cutler in the second quarter. The Cardinals look like the class of the NFC West right now.

5.

Cincinnati Bengals

Record 2-0. The Cincinnati Bengals found out on Sunday that beating the Oakland Raiders on the road isn't quite the same as beating the San Diego Chargers at home. Andy Dalton had an up and down game, but the Bengals offense made just enough plays to stave off a late Chargers comeback attempt. At 2-0, the Bengals are in sole possession of the AFC North. I'm willing to bet the Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens will beat up on each other pretty good down the stretch.

6.

Atlanta Falcons

Record 2-0. The Atlanta Falcons are back. Well, the offense is back anyway. Matt Ryan has a plethora of weapons at his disposal, which is going to make the Falcons a tough out for any team in the NFL. The defense is still a bit suspect, but Dan Quinn will likely need more time to shore up that side of the ball. Still, the defense came up big to stop Eli Manning from bring the New York Giants back in the final minutes of the game on Sunday. I think my outlook for the Falcons is rising fairly rapidly in 2015.

7.

Dallas Cowboys

Record 2-0. Tony Romo went down with a broken clavicle and Dez Bryant could be out more than 4-6 weeks with a broken foot. The Dallas Cowboys season is about to come completely unhinged, leaving the door open for one of the NFC East teams to sneak into the playoffs. Though the Cowboys are 2-0, our outlook on their future should be significantly poor with Brandon Weeden at the helm.

8.

Kansas City Chiefs

Record 1-1. For all the junk I have been talking since 2013 about the Kansas City Chiefs, this is the year they finally look like a legitimate threat to the Denver Broncos stranglehold over the AFC West. Fortunately for us Broncos fans, the Chiefs blew their only chance to make a game of winning the division by crapping the bed on Thursday Night Football. The Broncos are at their weakest now, so it looks like the Chiefs will need to try for it again in 2016. It's amazing how that statement could be true after just two regular season games. Chiefs fans have been waiting a very long time for a playoff win...

9.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Record 1-1. I dropped the Pittsburgh Steelers far too much from the Top 5 ranking I had them before the start of Week 1, but I knew people would complain about them being ranked above teams that won their game in Week 1. It seems silly to look at records after one game, but I acquiesced in this case. I think its safe to say now that my original assessment of the Steelers was correct. This is a good football team that lost to the defending Super Bowl champions on the road. Antonio Brown is a freak of nature out there.

10.

Buffalo Bills

Record 1-1. The Buffalo Bills mounted an impressive comeback in Week 2, but I think we all saw the ceiling for Tyrod Taylor and the Bills. They might be good enough to sneak into the playoffs in 2015, but they are not good enough to win the AFC East outright from the Patriots. Still, they were good enough to move themselves into the Top 10 today.

11.

Carolina Panthers

Record 2-0. As a Greg Olsen fantasy owner, I can't stand Cam Newton. The dude is so inconsistent throwing the football to the point of driving one to madness. Fortunately, Olsen finished the second half with at least some respectable production. As for fantasy points, Superman kept them all for himself as the Carolina Panthers staved off a late comeback to beat the Houston Texans. In other news, I picked Newton up as my backup quarterback.

12.

New York Jets

Record 2-0. Oh my God, the New York Jets might actually be good! Perhaps Geno Smith getting punched in the face was the best thing that could have happened for the Jets playoff aspirations. Ryan Fitzpatrick appears to enjoy having two legitimate wide receivers to target in Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker who together combined for 15 catches for 200 yards and two touchdowns on Monday Night Football.

13.

Seattle Seahawks

Record 0-2. The Seattle Seahawks defense looks completely human out there. Can they pull things together and get out of the cellar in the NFC West?

14.

San Diego Chargers

Record 1-1. Phillip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers mounted a nice comeback to defeat the Detroit Lions in Week 1, but they fell short in their comeback attempt against the Cincinnati Bengals. After two weeks, I think it's safe to say these are the same old Chargers. They will probably make the playoffs this year by winning their final four games to finish 9-7 or 10-6. It must be frustrating to constantly be a fan of a team that underachieves. Which reminds me, so glad Jay Cutler is a Bear.

15.

St. Louis Rams

Record 1-1. I had a feeling the St. Louis Rams would lay a turd a week after such an emotional win over the Seattle Seahawks and a turd they did lay. The Rams defense was torched by Kirk Cousins and Nick Foles looks like a back up quarterback playing starter. I think it is safe to assume the Rams are not a playoff team. Sure they can get up and play a team they despise, but they cannot get up and play the Washington Redskins.

16.

Baltimore Ravens

Record 0-2. Whoa! Didn't see that one coming. The Baltimore Ravens, after playing the Denver Broncos tough on the road, got themselves into a shootout with the Oakland Raiders. Starting 0-2 in that AFC North could spell disaster for this team. I had them second to the Pittsburgh Steelers in that division, but I am ready to significantly downgrade that prediction after they lost to one of the worst teams in football.

17.

Indianapolis Colts

Record 0-2. It's nice to receive some validation for a change. I have been saying the Indianapolis Colts are a terribly run franchise for like decades and it weren't for first Peyton Manning, now Andrew Luck, the Colts would be drafting terrible players each and every year as they rack up more losses than any Raider fan could dream of. Somehow Luck, like Manning before him, will carry his team into the playoffs. However, I suspect Luck will suffer a similar playoff fate that Manning has for most of his career. Ownership matters in the NFL, so here's to John Elway somehow becoming the crown prince of the Denver Broncos in the near future.

18.

Miami Dolphins

Record 1-1. That is two games in a row where the Miami Dolphins did not play very well against supposedly bad football teams. Either the Washington Redskins and Jacksonville Jaguars are significantly better than they have been over the last few years, or the Dolphins have regressed. I'm not sure how that bodes for them for the rest of this season, but now they get Tyrod Taylor and the Bills coming to town.

19.

Detroit Lions

Record 0-2. Wow, the Detriot Lions are awful. Matthew Stafford looks like a below average quarterback and the Lions running game is atrocious. How Ameer Abdullah isn't on the field for every offensive snap is beyond me as the guy has the making of an explosive talent. At 0-2, the Lions will be desperate for a win when the Denver Broncos come to town. Not good. Peyton Manning and the crew need to come to play in Week 3. Update: Stafford hurt his ribs and chest - great, now I feel like a jerk.

20.

San Francisco 49ers

Record 1-1. Ah, there is the dumpster fire we all expected to see. The San Francisco 49ers were completely inept for most of the game and only began scoring touchdowns when the Pittsburgh Steelers were already up by nearly 30 points. Unfortunately, this is the 49ers team most experts expected to see after such a tumultuous offseason.

21.

Minnesota Vikings

Record 1-1. Adrian Peterson does not look like the same running back and if he puts the ball on the ground in the red zone like he did against the Detriot Lions, then the Minnesota Vikings are going to be paying for in heaps of losses in 2015. Teddy Bridgewater made some moves in the pocket that even juked me out of my jock strap sitting here watching NFL Red Zone.

22.

New York Giants

Record 0-2. So I am still convinced the New York Giants are a good football team and they are literally two head-scratching clock mismanagement sequences away from a 2-0 record. Tom Coughlin needs to get that under control before their entire season gets flushed down the toilet. Eli Manning is looking good and has the offensive weapons to win enough games to challenge for the NFC East, but they have got to start winning some football games - especially against other NFC opponents.

23.

Washington Redskins

Record 1-1. Hmm, that's two impressive defensive efforts in a row for the Washington Redskins. If they keep that up, they might win more than five games in 2015. Running back Matt Jones led the way with a monster 19 rushes for 123 yard day with two touchdown runs. That will help the Redskins control the tempo of games if he can keep that up moving forward. Maybe this team is on the way up...

24.

Oakland Raiders

Record 1-1. I live in California, so right now its already "Super Bowl mania" in the Raider Nation. So sad... I still hate Jack Del Rio for losing on purpose to get this job.

25.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Record 1-1. Blake Bortles and the Jacksonville Jaguars are looking like they might just be building a competitive football team. The AFC South is starting to look more competitive, but they are still a few years away from putting it all together. Their 23-20 win over the Miami Dolphins is exactly the kind of game the Jaguars would have lost in years past.

26.

Cleveland Browns

Record 1-1. Johnny Manziel is a very Tim Tebow like player. The excitement and drama is incredible and though he looks like he might be able to translate his game to the NFL better than Tebow could, Johnny Football is never going to be an elite quarterback. If I'm wrong, I'll own it, but of the two quarterbacks I saw on the field on Sunday, I'd take Mariota every day of the week and twice on Sunday in the long term.

27.

Tennessee Titans

Record 1-1. Rookie quarterbacks are both exciting and frustrating to watch. Marcus Mariota is going to be a star in the NFL. You can see it from how he carries himself even as a rookie. The Tennessee Titans may just fight their way to six to eight wins and the Indianapolis Colts better take notice. They cannot keep having a disastrous front office and rely on Andrew Luck for the next 15 years, because the Titans look like they might have a future.

28.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Record 1-1. After a terrible start to his NFL career, Jameis Winston got the job done on the road against the NEw Orleans Saints, moving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of the "worst team in football" danger zone and into the win column. Winston was an efficient 14/21 for 207 yards and a touchdown pass. He also added a rushing touchdown to his stat total to lift the Bucs to a win. The worst team in the NFC South is now the Saints. Yikes!

29.

Chicago Bears

Record 0-2. John Fox is quickly learning that Peyton Manning is a winner. Jay Cutler is not. Fox's tenure with the Bears could be in jeopardy by the end of this season if he doesn't right the ship. The Bears are a mess in all three phases of the game. The one positive is that Cutler's only incompletion before injuring his hamstring was that aforementioned pick six. Remember when the Bears had a good defense? Yeah, me neither.

30.

Philadelphia Eagles

Record 0-2. The Philadelphia Eagles are in complete disarray and Chip Kelly is suddenly in the hot seat. He jettisoned most of the Eagles best talent over the last two years and brought in his own guys. As Broncos fans, we have seen a new head coach do that before in Josh McDaniels. One has to wonder if Chip Kelly is headed towards a similar fate as the McDummy. The Eagles need to find offensive production in Week 3.

31.

Houston Texans

Record 0-2. The Houston Texans bounced back offensively as Ryan Mallet looks like a legit NFL quarterback. The Texans are still a really bad football team, but they might get five or six wins this year. J.J. Watt is a fantastic talent, but he cannot win games all by himself.

32.

New Orleans Saints

Record 0-2. Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints are not looking very good in 2015. The Saints defense is quite terrible, but the offense cannot seem to put together very many quality drives either. Not being able to get it done against a quality team like the Cardinals on the road is one thing, but to lay a stinker against the lowly Bucs at home is quite another. The Saints are in big trouble, especially now that it appears that Brees is going to miss some games.