1. Buffalo Bills
Despite the loss to Miami, I still believe Buffalo is the best team in the league. They
outplayed the Dolphins for the majority of the game, running more than twice as many
plays. That and the fact that teams below them didn’t look good either keeps Buffalo at
#1.
2. Green Bay Packers
A tough, gritty win for Green Bay in a style that maybe we’re not used to seeing from
that. Regardless, beating a very good Bucs team deserves a lot of praise.
3. Philadelphia Eagles
Philly has been one of the most efficient teams so far, ranking 4th in offense and 7th in
defense. The only thing keeping me from putting them 1st is the lack of a win against a
Super Bowl contender, with their best win coming against Minnesota.
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa’s offense might be in shambles right now, but there’s no question that the
defense is elite. A 2-point loss to the Packers doesn’t drop them too much in the
rankings.
5. Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City played a little better than the score suggests, but the special teams errors
(flukes or not) cost them the game against a significantly worse opponent.
6. Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins easily have the best resume so far this season, going 3-0 with wins against
Buffalo and Baltimore. However, I still need to see more to move them up into the top 5.
7. LA Rams
It’s not as pretty as it was a year ago, but the Rams are still here and they’re going to
quietly grind out a lot of wins. Stafford just played his best game of the season, posting
an 82.7 PFF grade.
8. Baltimore Ravens
Pay the man! Lamar has been the best QB in the league through the first 3 weeks, and
the Ravens would be 3-0 if not for the defense collapsing against Miami.
9. Denver Broncos
Amid all the criticism about the coaching and offense, Denver is 2-1 with one of the best
defenses in the league and a primetime win over San Francisco. I haven’t moved much
on Denver in my rankings this season.
10. Cincinnati Bengals
I know it’s the Jets, but we did see glimpses of the 2021 Bengals this week. Burrow had
his best game of the year, and the defense has been a quiet top 5 unit this season. The
Bengals are probably a little better than the 1-2 record suggests.
11. San Francisco 49ers
So much for Jimmy G fixing all the Niners’ offensive struggles. On the bright side, the
defense looks like it did in 2019. And to be fair, the Broncos D has been making every
offense look bad.
12. Minnesota Vikings
That game looked like it could’ve been an absolute disaster for Minnesota, but they
rallied back and beat a division rival on the road. Kirk was okay, the defense was okay,
an overall decent performance from the Vikings.
13. LA Chargers
The biggest faller of the week is the Chargers. I know Herbert wasn’t 100%, but losing to
Jacksonville by 4 touchdowns is unacceptable. Maybe when they get healthier it’ll be a
different story, but right now it doesn’t look like the Chargers are the Super Bowl
contenders that we predicted they would be before the season.
14. Cleveland Browns
Cleveland is just going to quietly grind out wins while Watson is out. Brissett has been
playing excellent, and the defense looks to be improving slightly. Big question is what
happens to that unit without Myles Garrett, who was recently hospitalized.
15. Arizona Cardinals
It would be great to see a Kingsbury team come out in the first half and actually look like
they were prepared to play, but here we are. Constantly trailing and the offense lacks rhythm, but Arizona has gotten better on the defensive end each week, and they’ve
found a way to claw back into games.
16. Jacksonville Jaguars
Biggest riser of the week is the Jaguars. Trevor Lawrence has arrived. Ranking as my
2nd best QB performance of the week, Lawrence tossed 3 TD passes as the Jaguars
steamrolled the Chargers on the road.
17. Indianapolis Colts
Didn’t think I’d be saying this, but even after a win over the Chiefs, I’m still not impressed
by the Colts. The offense did pretty much nothing all game and was blessed by some
special teams errors from KC. Regardless, a win brings them closer to the division lead
and gives them a decent shot at the playoffs.
18. Washington Commanders
Washington was just completely outclassed and out-coached in every way on Sunday.
The 24-8 score doesn’t do it justice, as this game was over at halftime.
19. Las Vegas Raiders
There’s one 0-3 team in the NFL and it's the Raiders. But obviously they’re a little better
than the record suggests. The offense looks okay, it’s the defense that concerns me.
26th in EPA/play allowed this season.
20. New England Patriots
I don’t know the extent of the Mac Jones injury, but if he misses significant time then
New England would drop several spots. I don’t know what this team does well, they’re
just below average at everything.
21. Dallas Cowboys
Cooper Rush is now 2-0 this year as the Cowboys starting QB, with wins over the
Bengals and Giants. But this is mostly the defense doing the work, as Parsons looks like
the DPOY front-runner at the moment.
22. Tennessee Titans
Alright they got a win. Maybe don’t panic yet? I don’t know how to evaluate this team.
Tannehill looks okay, the defense is average, but I just don’t see a very high ceiling for them.
23. Detroit Lions
That was a game that felt like it slipped away from Detroit, who was in control for the
majority of it. The offense stalled down the stretch and the defense continues to be
atrocious.
24. Carolina Panthers
Don’t get me wrong this is still a bad team, there’s a clear drop off after the 23 teams
above Carolina. But the defense is playing very well right now, so I’ll give them the credit.
25. New Orleans Saints
What a surprise. The Dennis Allen-Jameis Winston combo isn’t working. I wonder which
one of them gets benched/fired first, and if this turns to a complete dumpster fire.
26. Pittsburgh Steelers
Once again, the offense is just so sad to watch. I think we’ll see Kenny Pickett in there
soon, as they really have nothing to lose at this point. Playoffs are not a realistic
possibility.
27. New York Giants
There we go. I no longer have to refer to them as the undefeated Giants. 2-1 with a
negative point differential and negative EPA differential, all while playing one of the
easiest schedules in the league. Daniel Jones has silenced none of the doubters
28. Chicago Bears
Same as the Giants. The 2-1 record is very misleading, this is a bad football team. Fields
has yet to complete double-digit passes in a game. Luckily for them, they play NYG next
week so one of them is going to be 3-1 somehow.
29. New York Jets
Maybe it’s too early, but Robert Saleh’s seat might be getting a little warm. Not all his
fault though. Joe Flacco was the lowest-graded QB this week via PFF. Will hopefully be
good to get Zach Wilson back next week.
30. Atlanta Falcons
A win over the 32nd-ranked team moves Atlanta to 30. I still have very little faith in this
team and they’ll probably be in contention for the first overall pick.
31. Houston Texans
Looks like Davis Mills won’t be the franchise QB after all. Texans will almost assuredly
be in the top 4 of the draft, and they should be looking at QBs.
32. Seattle Seahawks
Geno is starting to fall back to earth after his hot start, and the defense is starting to
separate themselves as the worst in the league. The Seahawks, many people’s
preseason pick for worst team, are bad. Shocker.
