Saints, Bills Rise, Birds, Bears Fall – NFL Power Rankings After Week 3

Frank Doyle ranks ‘em after Week 3 – the Saints, Lions and Bills are on the rise, while two birds and the Bears slide down the scale.

1 (-). Green Bay Packers. (3-0, 2-1-0 ATS.)
Unquestionably the best team in football. Aaron Rodgers is playing at the height of his powers. He has a quarterback rating of 120.9 for the season so far, the best in the league.

2 (+3). New Orleans Saints. (2-1, 2-1-0 ATS.)
The Saints are the best of the one loss teams because their loss was against the Packers. They have worries on defense, but New Orleans is far from alone in the NFL 2011 in that regard.

3 (-1). New England Patriots. (2-1, 2-1-0 ATS.)
Remember what we were saying about issues on defense? New England have caught a break with their timing as the Red Sox’s implosion overshadows their own in Buffalo in Boston.

4 (-1). New York Jets. (2-1, 1-2-0 ATS.)
Whatever about losing at Oakland, a Ryan coached defense shouldn’t give up 234 yards rushing. That goes for Rex Ryan, Buddy Ryan or Jeri Ryan.

5 (+2). Baltimore Ravens. (2-1, 2-1-0 ATS.)
The Ravens will be a top three team if they can win at the Jets this weekend.

6 (-). Houston Texans. (2-1, 2-1-0 ATS.)
Lots more teams will lose at New Orleans, but an opportunity has been lost to answer people who questioned Houston’s heart. If the Texans lose at home against Pittsburgh, those questions will ring out as loud as ever.

7 (+3). Detroit Lions. (3-0, 2-1-0 ATS.)
The Lions are 3-0 and life is good in Motown, but they dodged a bullet at Minnesota. Big game at Dallas on Sunday.

8 (+4). Buffalo Bills. (3-0, 3-0-0 ATS.)
The Bills are one of only two teams in the league who have covered the NFL betting line in all three games. They’ll be caught one of these days, but now isn’t the time to worry about that.

9 (-). Pittsburgh Steelers. (2-1, 1-2-0 ATS.)
Whisper it, but could be watching the Steelers going over the hill?

10 (-6). Philadelphia Eagles. (1-2, 1-2-0 ATS.)
Building a dream team is harder than it looks.

11 (-). Washington Redskins. (2-1, 2-1-0 ATS.)
Rex stays in the city, but that fumble brings all the old doubts back. The level of scrutiny Rex Grossman endures isn’t fair, but that’s how it is.

12 (+2). Oakland Raiders. (2-1, 2-1-0 ATS.)
They’ve seen a lot of false dawns in Northern California in the past decade. Let’s see how the Raiders do against the Pats before hailing another one.

13 (-). San Diego Chargers. (2-1, 0-3-0 ATS.)
The Chargers have yet to cover a number. That’s not good news for bettors.

14 (-6). Chicago Bears. (1-2, 1-2-0 ATS.)
The Bears will get better and could still challenge for the playoffs, but they have to restore confidence with a good home win against Carolina this weekend.

15 (-). Tampa Bay Buccaneers. (2-1, 2-1-0 ATS.)
Tampa Bay got a big win against a divisional rival on Sunday and look like New Orleans’ biggest challenge in the NFC South.

16 (+6). New York Giants. (2-1, 2-1-0 ATS.)
That was a huge win for the Giants at Philly. Early season divisional wins are precious commodities.

17 (-). Dallas Cowboys. (2-1, 1-2-0 ATS.)
The Cowboys aren’t pretty, but they’re showing a lot of guts.

18 (+3). San Francisco 49ers. (2-1, 3-0-0 ATS.)
The five time Super Bowl champions have had more storied wins in their history, but none of them mean as much to Jim Harbaugh as last Sunday’s.

19 (+5). Cleveland Browns. (2-1, 1-2-0 ATS.)
Hard to know what the hell to make of Cleveland.

20 (-). Cincinnati Bengals. (1-2, 2-1-0 ATS.)
The Bengals are limited but they’re playing as hard as they can.

21 (-5). Atlanta Falcons. (1-2, 1-2-0 ATS.)
The Falcons have a big fat problem and it’s called the offensive line. They can’t protect Matt Ryan and they can’t establish the run for Michael Turner. There is no future in that.

22 (+3). Tennessee Titans. (2-1, 2-1-0 ATS.)
Matt Hasselbeck is showing the value of a veteran quarterback in the National Football League.

23 (-5). Arizona Cardinals. (1-2, 1-1-1 ATS.)
Larry Fitzgerald will always be a threat but the Cards are limited on either side of the ball.

24 (-5). Jacksonville Jaguars. (1-2, 0-3-0 ATS.)
The Jags might have done well running between the tackles in the 1950s, but the lack of a deep threat doesn’t work in the 21st Century.

25 (-2). Denver Broncos. (1-2, 1-2-0 ATS.)
The Broncos are trying hard. They’re just not very good.

26 (+2). Carolina Panthers. (1-2, 2-0-1 ATS.)
Cam Newton didn’t throw for 400 yards this weekend, but the Panthers prefer the win.

27 (+4). Seattle Seahawks. (1-2, 1-2-0 ATS.)
Seattle is offensively limited, but a win is a win.

28 (+1). Indianapolis Colts. (0-3, 1-2-0 ATS.)
The Colts showed a lot of heart against Pittsburgh. Good for them.

29 (-3). Miami Dolphins. (0-3, 1-2-0 ATS.)
Miami isn’t very good.

30 (-). Minnesota Vikings. (0-3, 2-1-0 ATS.)
Three leads, three losses. Come on now.

31 (-4). St. Louis Rams. (0-3, 0-3-0 ATS.)
The Rams are in free-fall.

32 (-). Kansas City Chiefs. (0-3, 1-2-0 ATS.)
At least they covered. It’s closer between the Rams and Chiefs at the bottom than the Packers and Saints at the top.