Phil Agius
Show Bio
Week 2 is always prove-it week in the world of NFL power rankings, where the teams that flashed in Week 1 either back it up or take a step back. We do not have a new team on top of the Pickswise Power Rankings heading into Week 3, but it was close!
Among the teams moving up the board this week are the Titans, Buccaneers and Steelers, while the Browns, Giants and Patriots find themselves heading in the wrong direction.
You can also check out our early pick for NFL Week 3 and look at the latest NFL odds any time you like. Now, let’s get to this week’s rankings.
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Pickswise NFL Power Rankings for Week 3
1 (-) Philadelphia Eagles
We have the same top 4 teams as last week, just in a slightly different order. There’s no change at the top, though, with the Eagles getting the win over the Vikings way back in the first game of the week last Thursday. It was not a fully convincing performance, however, and with New England letting down the form of the Eagles’ opening win, Nick Sirianni’s team are under pressure in top spot.
2 (up 2) Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys have risen 8 places in the first 2 weeks thanks to a pair of dominant defensive performances that have given them a points differential of +60 after just 2 games. Micah Parsons has feasted against both New York teams, but we’ll have to wait a little longer to find out how they fare against elite opposition as they have the Cardinals this week.
3 (down 1) Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs fall 1 place despite getting their first win on the board as they still don’t look quite back to their best despite the returns of Travis Kelce and Chris Jones and a decent road win against the Jaguars. The Chiefs are only #3 here, but FanDuel has them as +600 odds Super Bowl favorites.
4 (down 1) San Francisco 49ers
Please don’t get too upset about moving back 1 place following a second road win of the season, 49ers fans, because there’s very little between the top 4 now and top spot is within your grasp. No further falls are expected any time soon with the Giants and Cardinals on deck. DraftKings has certainly been impressed and has the 49ers as its +650 Super Bowl favorite, with all our top 4 teams at +750 or lower odds.
5 (up 2) Buffalo Bills
The Bills regain 2 of the 3 places they lost in Week 1 after a much-improved effort to stomp the Raiders at home. The Bills are second favorites for the AFC East at FanDuel (+140 odds comparted to -105) but just staying ahead of the Dolphins this week.
6 (up 3) Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins should get a good reception from their home fans after opening with road wins over the Chargers and Patriots. The victory in New England was a lot more dominant than the final score of 24-17 made it look, too.
7 (down 1) Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars found Kansas City too tough a test at this stage of the season, but made Andy Reid’s team work for the win. They are -120 favorites for the AFC South at FanDuel.
8 (down 3) Cincinnati Bengals
These are power rankings, remember, not power standings. so we can still have a 0-2 team in the top 10, but patience is wearing thin with the preseason AFC contenders, who are already 0-2 in their division. If Joe Burrow’s calf injury proves to be a long-term issue, they will be heading in only one direction. They finished 12-4 after starting 0-2 last year, and we’ll see on Monday night against the Rams how likely that is to happen again.
9 (up 3) Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens are on the rise into the top 10 as the only 2-0 team in the AFC North. They are FanDuel’s -110 favorites to win a brutal division in which every team has already suffered some notable injuries.
10 (-) Detroit Lions
The Lions hold onto a top 10 spot despite an overtime loss to the Seahawks and they are joint-9th in FanDuel’s Super Bowl odds list, too. They face a couple of teams close behind them in the rankings in their next 2 games (Falcons and Packers), so some head-to-head results should determine who comes out on top after those NFC showdowns.
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11 (up 3) Green Bay Packers
The Packers and Falcons are both moving up after Atlanta stole a win in their meeting on Sunday despite Green Bay leading by 12 points heading into the 4th quarter. The Packers (+195) are FanDuel’s 2nd favorites for the NFC North behind the +115 Lions.
12 (down 4) Cleveland Browns
The Browns suffered little short of a disaster in Pittsburgh on Monday, losing star running back Nick Chubb to a devastating knee injury. They had enough chances to win the game despite that, and outgained the Steelers 408-255 but a shaky offense and in particular 14 points from the Steelers defense turned the tide.
13 (up 2) Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons can make a case to be higher as a 2-0 team and it was nice that someone introduced Desmond Ridder to Drake London before this game, while Bijan Robinson added to his fast-growing highlight reel. The Falcons could be in line to swap places with the Lions if they can win in Detroit this week, but the sportsbooks aren’t yet convinced either and they are joint-14th in DraftKings’ Super Bowl odds.
14 (down 3) New York Jets
Well the Jets were okay with Zach Wilson for most of their Week 1 win over the Bills, but not so much against the destructive Dallas defense this week. Now the NY passer gets to take on a Bill Belichick defense. Fun times.
15 (down 2) Los Angeles Chargers
It must be in the Chargers’ heads now that they continue to look pretty good most weeks before finding ways to lose close games, and it’s hardly a new phenomenon. This week they fell to 0-2 with an overtime loss to the Titans. What adventure lies ahead against the Vikings ? That could be a barnburner.
16 (-) New Orleans Saints
The Saints had a big rise last week, but they’re not getting another one despite moving to 2-0 with a win in Monday’s putrid game against the Panthers. Someone had to win it, after all.
17 (up 1) Minnesota Vikings
The Vikes covered against the Eagles, on the road, even though the spread was pretty large, but I appreciate they’re another of those 0-2 teams that the teams with wins further down will be complaining about. They remain more fun to watch than most of those teams below, though.
18 (up 4) Pittsburgh Steelers
Defense very good, offense very bad. The Steelers got a divisional win thanks to the Browns’ blunders on the first play and in the 4th quarter, plus a few others in between. Here’s a fun stat — the Steelers staged a 4th-quarter comeback win despite gaining -7 yards on offense in the 4th quarter! They’re getting a rise despite the fact that they could easily have gone 0-2 at home, which doesn’t sit well, but then again, none of the teams below them have TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith. Mike Tomlin must be mightily pleased that he does.
19 (up 4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs are now 15 places above their original slot and they’re 2-0 as well, but they need a more notable or convincing win to crack the top half. Beat the Eagles this week and it will happen.
20 (down 1) Los Angeles Rams
The Rams are unlucky to be moving down after impressing for a second straight week, albeit in defeat to the 49ers. They were more competitive against them than the Steelers had been and have a chance to bring down another big gun against the 0-2 Bengals.
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21 (up 5) Tennessee Titans
The Titans are the spiritual opposite of the Chargers — they never look like they should win but they often do, and it happened once more when those teams met on Sunday. Sadly we won’t see a matchup of Derrick Henry vs Nick Chubb when they play the Browns this week.
22 (up 3) Washington Commanders
A 2-0 team at #22? Well, yeah, for now. They almost lost to the Cardinals in Week 1 and appeared to be clearly second-best to the Broncos on Sunday before their opponents found a way to blow a 21-3 lead. It’s their first 2-0 start for 12 years, though, and they’ll get another big jump if they beat the Bills this week.
23 (down 2) Denver Broncos
The Broncos have to fall below he Commanders after that loss (even though it contained that amazing Hail Mary TD) but they have looked the better team for the majority of both of their defeats so far. They’re staring at 0-3 with the Dolphins up next, though.
24 (up 3) Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks bounced back nicely from their upset opening loss to the Rams by taking down the Lions and they have the potential to keep rising with the Panthers and Giants up next. They’re FanDuel’s +650 2nd favorites in the NFC West, but way behind the -400 49ers.
25 (down 5) New England Patriots
The Patriots got closer to the Dolphins than it felt like they should have but they are indeed 0-2, with both losses at home and now heading off for back-to-back road games. The Jets game will be one Bill Belichick would love to win, especially with the Cowboys coming up after that.
26 (down 9) New York Giants
I am aware the Giants actually won this week, but after being obliterated by Dallas and then managing to go 20-0 behind to the Cardinals — making the tanking team actually look pretty good in the process — I can’t have them even in the middle of the pack any more. The comeback was nice, but it was a pyrrhic victory with Saquon Barkley getting injured.
27 (down 3) Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders were somewhat fortunate winners in Week 1 and deserved losers in Week 2. They have plenty to prove and an interesting matchup coming up against the Steelers this week.
28 (-) Indianapolis Colts
The Colts have a win on the board now, which will be comforting as they step outside the soft confines of the AFC South for the first time with a tough challenge against the Ravens. Whether it will be Anthony Richardson at QB for that one or supersub Gardner Minshew, we do not yet know.
29 (up 1) Carolina Panthers
The Panthers did not exactly thrive in the national spotlight and their efforts against the Saints probably meant plenty of viewers switched channels as soon as possible to see the wild first play of the Browns-Steelers game. They do get a rise of one spot, though, with the Bears needing to be moved back.
30 (down 1) Chicago Bears
The Bears are not off to an auspicious start and things could get worse with the Chiefs up next. Chase Claypool was one of the more surprising TD scorers of the week, but Justin Fields’ passing numbers would look a lot worse than they do if not for the YAC provided by DJ Moore.
31 (-) Houston Texans
The bottom 2 spots are unchanged this week and the schedule does not offer many obvious opportunities for the Texans to climb the rankings or the standings in the coming weeks. The bright spot, arguably, is that CJ Stroud has looked to be one of the best rookie QBs to this point.
32 (-) Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals remain rooted to the bottom even though for the second week running they have looked more interested in winning games this season than many expected. If they are tanking, they are making it look good. Even so, it’s Cowboys, 49ers and Bengals next, so their 2024 draft picks are on course to be nice and early.
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