Three weeks into the season the NFL is turned upside down. Preseason favorites like the Eagles and Falcons have seriously underwhelmed, while perennial punching bags like Detroit and Buffalo are doing some punching of their own. We're also seeing a trend among the top teams of really good offenses and not great defenses. Of the top five teams in our ranks, only the Lions can boast a top 5 defense. Two other top five teams, Green Bay and New England, actually have bottom five defenses...
1) Green Bay Packers - Went into Chicago and took it to the Bears. It is a huge bummer that they do not play Detroit until week 11. We need that game now!! LW (2)
2) Detroit Lions - l gave them serious consideration for the top spot this week. However, I'm not sure whether I should be really encouraged or slightly worried about the fact that they had to come back from 20 down to beat the Vikings. On one hand, that's an amazing feat on the road. On the other hand, why are down 20 to the Vikings? (LW 3)
3) Buffalo Bills - The Bills still own the highest scoring offense in the NFL and now they have a big signature win under their belt. Huge win against New England to finally get that money off their back. (LW 5)
4) New Orleans Saints - New Orleans has had a rough schedule to start the year and has come out 2-1. They can score on anyone, but their defense is very suspect. (LW 6)
5) New England Patriots - Mistake filled loss in Buffalo after a dominating start to the season. For years the Pats have enjoyed racking up wins in one of the worst divisions in the NFL, but suddenly there's two other contenders to deal with and frankly the Pats have not fared well in their own division dating back to the end of last season. LW (1)
6) Baltimore Ravens - They crushed St Louis, but then again Sam Bradford and co are making a serious claim for the worst team in the NFL. That said, they played really well and bounced back from their letdown against Tennessee. (LW 9)
7) Pittsburgh Steelers - So are the Colts not as bad as we thought or is Pittsburgh a bit overrated? Probably a bit of both. The Steelers did get a win this past week, but only barely over a Colts team who is arguably the worst in the NFL. (LW 10)
8) Houston Texans - Losing on the road in New Orleans isn't the worst thing in the world, but it did some expose some flaws in their new "revamped" defense. (LW 7)
9) San Diego Chargers - Much like the Steelers, the Chargers struggled to beat one of the worst teams in the NFL. They're 2-1 and they're talented, but the Chargers haven't actually looked good once this year. (LW 14)
10) New York Giants - They got a great win over Philly, finally breaking that six game losing streak against them. Even though this was a much closer game, they actually played better than they did in the blowout of the Rams last week. (LW 15)
11) Dallas Cowboys - Got a very ugly win over the Redskins last night in which all their scoring game from six FGs. Much like the Chargers, this is a team with talent and is 2-1, but hasn't actually looked good even once this year. (LW 16)
12) New York Jets - Oakland isn't a bad team, but the Jets fancy themselves as not just mere contenders but as true Super Bowl favorites. That wasn't a Super Bowl performance. (LW 4)
13) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - It wasn't pretty, but the Bucs got a big division win over the Falcons in Tampa this week. They actually have a favorable schedule over the next couple weeks where they could put some wins together. (LW 17)
14) Washington Redskins - The Redskins defense looked really good against Dallas this week and actually did not allow a TD. Unfortunately their offense was terrible. Rex Grossman has quickly erased the early optimism and the Tim Hightower hype train has derailed. (LW 12)
15) Oakland Raiders - I really don't know what to make of this team. They've got some big play capability and they've got an opportunistic defense. What they could really use is consistency. (LW 19)
16) Chicago Bears - The Bears are now 1-2 with two losses to NFC playoff rivals. They've had a brutal schedule to start the year, but unfortunately it doesn't get a whole lot easier over the next four or five weeks. (LW 13)
17) Tennessee Titans - They ground out another win, but lost Kenny Britt in the process. With Chris Johnson off to a terrible start, it's getting hard to see where the Titans are going to get offense from going forward. (LW 22)
18) Atlanta Falcons - The Falcons offense goes back to struggling this week as they scored just 13 points in Tampa. Atlanta gave Matt Ryan plenty of weapons, but apparently neglected to give him anyone capable of protecting him. Sam Baker has to among the worst starting OTs in the NFL right now. (LW 11)
19) Philadelphia Eagles - A nightmare game against the Giants where the Eagles were poor is just about eery facet of the game. The Eagles offense is probably going to fine with Michael Vick healthy, but their defense is just flat out bad. Not sure what can be done to fix it either. It really can't be understated how bad of a loss that was to the Giants and now the Eagles face a pretty tough schedule after this week. (LW 8)
20) San Francisco 49ers - The Niners are actually 2-1 and honestly I don't know how. This really does not look like a good team. (LW 21)
21) Arizona Cardinals - What an awful loss on the road to a bad Seattle team. The Cards really could have made a statement of intent in that division and they failed. (LW 21)
22) Cincinnati Bengals - Managed just 8 points this week, the second least of any team. Andy Dalton has regressed quickly. (LW 20)
23) Denver Broncos - Another poor outing from Kyle Orton, although he's not getting much help it is hard to see what Denver is hoping to gain by sending him out there. (LW 23)
24) Carolina Panthers - Cam Newton didn't throw for many yards this time out, but he did limit his mistakes and got his first career win as a result. (LW 24)
25) Cleveland Browns - Winning ugly still counts as winning. The Browns are a young team, I just don't know if I see the makings of a contender anytime in the next couple years. (LW 28)
26) Miami Dolphins - Miami had a tough schedule to start the year but were at least competitive. Then they go to Cleveland and look terrible. (LW 25)
27) Jacksonville Jaguars - Blaine Gabbert was "meh" in his debut, but that's ok. This year is all about him learning for the Jags at this point. (LW 26)
28) Seattle Seahawks - Seattle gets their first win last week, but at this point you have to wonder whether that's a good thing. You need more suck if you want more Luck. (LW 30)
29) Indianapolis Colts - After some really awful games to start the season, Indy was at least competitive at home playing in primetime against the Steelers. (LW 31)
30) Minnesota Vikings - If NFL games were only 2 quarters long, the Vikings would be great. Games are four quarters long however and the Vikings stink. (LW 29)
31) Kansas City Chiefs - The Chiefs fall to 0-3 but are at least competitive for the first time this season. Plus, their offense made it to double digits! (LW 32)
32) St. Louis Rams - We've got a new worst team in the league this week as the Rams get blown out for the 3rd straight week. The Chiefs are probably less talented, but they at least had a shot. The Rams have not been in any game late this year and it's scary to see how Sam Bradford has regressed. Rams fans will certainly be hoping it's just a sophomore slump. (LW 27)
Three weeks into the season the NFL is turned upside down. Preseason favorites like the Eagles and Falcons have seriously underwhelmed, while perennial punching bags like Detroit and Buffalo are doing some punching of their own. We're also seeing a trend among the top teams of really good offenses and not great defenses. Of the top five teams in our ranks, only the Lions can boast a top 5 defense. Two other top five teams, Green Bay and New England, actually have bottom five defenses...
1) Green Bay Packers - Went into Chicago and took it to the Bears. It is a huge bummer that they do not play Detroit until week 11. We need that game now!! LW (2)
2) Detroit Lions - l gave them serious consideration for the top spot this week. However, I'm not sure whether I should be really encouraged or slightly worried about the fact that they had to come back from 20 down to beat the Vikings. On one hand, that's an amazing feat on the road. On the other hand, why are down 20 to the Vikings? (LW 3)
3) Buffalo Bills - The Bills still own the highest scoring offense in the NFL and now they have a big signature win under their belt. Huge win against New England to finally get that money off their back. (LW 5)
4) New Orleans Saints - New Orleans has had a rough schedule to start the year and has come out 2-1. They can score on anyone, but their defense is very suspect. (LW 6)
5) New England Patriots - Mistake filled loss in Buffalo after a dominating start to the season. For years the Pats have enjoyed racking up wins in one of the worst divisions in the NFL, but suddenly there's two other contenders to deal with and frankly the Pats have not fared well in their own division dating back to the end of last season. LW (1)
6) Baltimore Ravens - They crushed St Louis, but then again Sam Bradford and co are making a serious claim for the worst team in the NFL. That said, they played really well and bounced back from their letdown against Tennessee. (LW 9)
7) Pittsburgh Steelers - So are the Colts not as bad as we thought or is Pittsburgh a bit overrated? Probably a bit of both. The Steelers did get a win this past week, but only barely over a Colts team who is arguably the worst in the NFL. (LW 10)
8) Houston Texans - Losing on the road in New Orleans isn't the worst thing in the world, but it did some expose some flaws in their new "revamped" defense. (LW 7)
9) San Diego Chargers - Much like the Steelers, the Chargers struggled to beat one of the worst teams in the NFL. They're 2-1 and they're talented, but the Chargers haven't actually looked good once this year. (LW 14)
10) New York Giants - They got a great win over Philly, finally breaking that six game losing streak against them. Even though this was a much closer game, they actually played better than they did in the blowout of the Rams last week. (LW 15)
11) Dallas Cowboys - Got a very ugly win over the Redskins last night in which all their scoring game from six FGs. Much like the Chargers, this is a team with talent and is 2-1, but hasn't actually looked good even once this year. (LW 16)
12) New York Jets - Oakland isn't a bad team, but the Jets fancy themselves as not just mere contenders but as true Super Bowl favorites. That wasn't a Super Bowl performance. (LW 4)
13) Tampa Bay Buccaneers - It wasn't pretty, but the Bucs got a big division win over the Falcons in Tampa this week. They actually have a favorable schedule over the next couple weeks where they could put some wins together. (LW 17)
14) Washington Redskins - The Redskins defense looked really good against Dallas this week and actually did not allow a TD. Unfortunately their offense was terrible. Rex Grossman has quickly erased the early optimism and the Tim Hightower hype train has derailed. (LW 12)
15) Oakland Raiders - I really don't know what to make of this team. They've got some big play capability and they've got an opportunistic defense. What they could really use is consistency. (LW 19)
16) Chicago Bears - The Bears are now 1-2 with two losses to NFC playoff rivals. They've had a brutal schedule to start the year, but unfortunately it doesn't get a whole lot easier over the next four or five weeks. (LW 13)
17) Tennessee Titans - They ground out another win, but lost Kenny Britt in the process. With Chris Johnson off to a terrible start, it's getting hard to see where the Titans are going to get offense from going forward. (LW 22)
18) Atlanta Falcons - The Falcons offense goes back to struggling this week as they scored just 13 points in Tampa. Atlanta gave Matt Ryan plenty of weapons, but apparently neglected to give him anyone capable of protecting him. Sam Baker has to among the worst starting OTs in the NFL right now. (LW 11)
19) Philadelphia Eagles - A nightmare game against the Giants where the Eagles were poor is just about eery facet of the game. The Eagles offense is probably going to fine with Michael Vick healthy, but their defense is just flat out bad. Not sure what can be done to fix it either. It really can't be understated how bad of a loss that was to the Giants and now the Eagles face a pretty tough schedule after this week. (LW 8)
20) San Francisco 49ers - The Niners are actually 2-1 and honestly I don't know how. This really does not look like a good team. (LW 21)
21) Arizona Cardinals - What an awful loss on the road to a bad Seattle team. The Cards really could have made a statement of intent in that division and they failed. (LW 21)
22) Cincinnati Bengals - Managed just 8 points this week, the second least of any team. Andy Dalton has regressed quickly. (LW 20)
23) Denver Broncos - Another poor outing from Kyle Orton, although he's not getting much help it is hard to see what Denver is hoping to gain by sending him out there. (LW 23)
24) Carolina Panthers - Cam Newton didn't throw for many yards this time out, but he did limit his mistakes and got his first career win as a result. (LW 24)
25) Cleveland Browns - Winning ugly still counts as winning. The Browns are a young team, I just don't know if I see the makings of a contender anytime in the next couple years. (LW 28)
26) Miami Dolphins - Miami had a tough schedule to start the year but were at least competitive. Then they go to Cleveland and look terrible. (LW 25)
27) Jacksonville Jaguars - Blaine Gabbert was "meh" in his debut, but that's ok. This year is all about him learning for the Jags at this point. (LW 26)
28) Seattle Seahawks - Seattle gets their first win last week, but at this point you have to wonder whether that's a good thing. You need more suck if you want more Luck. (LW 30)
29) Indianapolis Colts - After some really awful games to start the season, Indy was at least competitive at home playing in primetime against the Steelers. (LW 31)
30) Minnesota Vikings - If NFL games were only 2 quarters long, the Vikings would be great. Games are four quarters long however and the Vikings stink. (LW 29)
31) Kansas City Chiefs - The Chiefs fall to 0-3 but are at least competitive for the first time this season. Plus, their offense made it to double digits! (LW 32)
32) St. Louis Rams - We've got a new worst team in the league this week as the Rams get blown out for the 3rd straight week. The Chiefs are probably less talented, but they at least had a shot. The Rams have not been in any game late this year and it's scary to see how Sam Bradford has regressed. Rams fans will certainly be hoping it's just a sophomore slump. (LW 27)