NFL Power Rankings, Week 3: Confidence in Bears beginning to fade

Some big questions still remain, which make these power rankings harder than last week's. Questions like "Are the Saints really this good?" or 'Did the Panthers make a mistake in and those need to be taken into account when making these rankings.

1. Kansas City Chiefs (Last week: 1)

Until someone beats Kansas City, they keep the top spot.

2. Buffalo Bills (Last week: 7)

Any concerns about a regression year for Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills are all but gone, thanks to their dominant win over Miami last Thursday. Despite losing some big names in the offseason, they appear as dangerous as ever.

3. Houston Texans (Last week: 8)

The Texans survived a scare against the underdog Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football, hanging on for a low-scoring 19-13 win. Fortunately for Houston, Chicago will likely be the toughest defense they face for a while.

4. Atlanta Falcons (Last week: 10)

Now that's more like it. After an underwhelming Week 1 performance, the Falcons marched into Philly's house and beat the Eagles on primetime, with Kirk Cousins engineering a masterful go-ahead drive in the game's final seconds.

8. San Francisco 49ers (Last week: 2)

The injury bug has bitten the Niners hard so far. Not only was Christian McCaffrey placed on IR this week, but Deebo Samuel is now expected to miss some time. After dropping a very winnable game against Minnesota, they'll have to make that up somewhere in the schedule.

9. Baltimore Ravens (Last week: 3)

Don't look now, but the Ravens are still winless. After a razor-thin loss to the reigning champs in Week 1, the Ravens followed this up with a bad loss to a mediocre Raiders team and are in danger of starting the season 0-3. Next up is a trip to Dallas to face off against a humiliated Cowboys team looking for redemption.

10. Cincinnati Bengals (Last week: 14)

Sure, they're 0-2, but they rebounded nicely from a bizarre Week 1 loss to New England by nearly taking down the Chiefs. That's good enough to get them back in the Top 10.

11. Dallas Cowboys (Last week: 6)

Speaking of the Cowboys, they went from handing out a beatdown in Week 1 to taking a 44-19 loss to the New Orleans Saints. Once again, the Cowboys are making it difficult to understand who they really are: contender or pretender.

12. New Orleans Saints (Last week: 22)

One of the most surprising teams so far this season, the Saints are 2-0 and are averaging an insane 45.5 points per game through two weeks. In Week 1 you could wave away that performance as a fluke win over a terrible Panthers team. But doing that against a strong Dallas Cowboys defense? We can no longer ignore what the Saints are doing.

13. LA Chargers (Last week: 13)

While they haven't exactly blown anyone away, the Chargers are still 2-0 in the Jim Harbaugh era and continue to handle their business. Their offense will face a tough test against the Steelers this week, and we should get more answers on who they are.

14. Minnesota Vikings (Last week: 18)

Before the season started, most analysts picked the Vikings to be the worst team in the NFC North, yet here they are after Week 2, leading the division at 2-0, including an impressive win over San Francisco. If they can take down the Texans in Week 3, we might have to have some interesting conversations about Sam Darnold.

15. Philadelphia Eagles (Last week: 12)

They're 1-1, but I don't trust the Eagles this year. They make everything look harder than it needs to be on offense, and I think it won't be long before head coach Nick Sirianni's seat heats up.

16. Miami Dolphins (Last week: 11)

With Tua likely headed to IR following another scary concussion, the Dolphins are in big trouble. The offense is loaded, but can Skyler Thompson distribute the ball well enough against a tough stretch of defenses? We'll see.

17. Arizona Cardinals (Last week: 25)

Welcome to the NFL, Marvin Harrison Jr! After a forgettable debut in Week 1, Harrison pulled in four catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns as the Cardinals dismantled the LA Rams. Kyler Murray finally looked like his old self again, too. Watch out for the Cards.

18. Chicago Bears (Last week: 16)

The Bears appear to have gone back in time to 2006, as they are fielding an elite, playoff-worthy defense currently held back by an anemic offense. Hopefully, a trip to the listless Colts in Week 3 will be the kind of "get-right" game Caleb Williams and Co. desperately need.

19. Green Bay Packers (Last week: 21)

It may not matter whether Jordan Love is an elite quarterback or not, Matt LaFleur can get wins with just about anyone at quarterback. Sure, the Colts are a team teetering on a full-on collapse, but winning with a former backup quarterback who just recently joined the team is impressive.

20. LA Rams (Last week: 9)

The Rams take the biggest tumble this week, and it may get even worse. Injuries are killing this team, as both Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp are set to miss several weeks. That would be bad enough if it were just those two, but they are merely the latest in a long line of Rams players who are IR candidates. Sorry, Rams fans, but this looks like a repeat of the 2022 season.

21. Seattle Seahawks (Last week: 24)

The Seahawks have gotten off to a nice start in 2024 but haven't faced a real test yet. After defeating the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots, their point differential is only +9.

22. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last week: 23)

The Steelers have just one offensive touchdown through two weeks, which came against a bad Broncos team. Whether it's Justin Fields or Russell Wilson starting for Pittsburgh, they're not a team you can trust right now.

23. Las Vegas Raiders (Last week: 26)

It may be a fluke, but beating the Baltimore Ravens is impressive. The Raiders get a small, well-earned bump for this week.

24. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last week: 20)

I'll let Trevor Lawrence summarize the Jags" season so far.

25. Indianapolis Colts (Last week: 15)

Through two games the Colts are 0-2 and have given up a whopping 474 rushing yards. To make matters worse, star defensive tackle DeForest Buckner left Sunday's game and will likely miss Week 3's tilt with the Bears. The only silver lining right now is that Chicago's run game has been abysmal, giving Indy's defense a chance for a "get-right" game.

26. New England Patriots (Last week: 27)

After defeating the Bengals and nearly toppling the Seahawks, I think we can begin to consider that maybe we were wrong about the Patriots this year. Thursday night's matchup against the Jets should give us some definitive answers.

27. Washington Commanders (Last week: 29)

The Commanders picked up their first win of the season on Sunday, but it wasn't pretty. All 21 of their points came from field goals. That won't cut it against tougher competition than the Giants, who seem to be circling the drain already.

28. Tennessee Titans (Last week: 19)

As good as their defense is playing, there's no way they can beat a serious team with Will Levis under center. The way head coach Brian Callahan has talked about Levis, you have to wonder if the Titans are already contemplating a quarterback change.

29. Denver Broncos (Last week: 28)

That was an ugly loss to Pittsburgh, but the Steelers' defense has laid low much better teams than the 2024 Broncos. Unfortunately for Denver, the schedule doesn't get any easier in Week 3 as they take a trip to Tampa Bay to face the unbeaten Buccaneers.

30. Cleveland Browns (Last week: 31)

The Browns got their first win of the season, but quarterback Deshaun Watson was still dreadful. Make no mistake: this is still a bad team, and it will be for as long as Watson is their starter.

31. New York Giants (Last week: 30)

It takes a truly special team to lose a game in which the offense scored three touchdowns while the opponents couldn't get the ball across the goal line once, but that's what the Giants did. Daniel Jones' days as the starting quarterback are numbered.

32. Carolina Panthers (Last week: 32)

Is there a way to make the Panthers lower than 32? This is a team with no direction, no present, and no discernable future. Bryce Young has been bad, but benching him two games into the Dave Canales era doesn't make much sense in the grand scheme of things, and it doesn't help that Canales refused to reveal how much sway David Tepper, the notoriously micromanaging owner, had over that decision.