32. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last week: 30)
I thought the Raiders may never leave the bottom spot, until the Buccaneers lost 56-14. Oakland and Tampa Bay will be battling it out all year for the No. 1 overall pick.
31. Oakland Raiders (LW: 32)
The Raiders had a chance to beat the New England Patriots at home, but they couldn’t pull it off. And that’s why the Raiders are the Raiders. Even average teams can take advantage of a bad offensive performance in their own house.
30. Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 31)
Blake Bortles will win a game or two this season now that he’s the starter, but I doubt Jacksonville ever sees it out of the bottom three teams.
29. St. Louis Rams (LW: 28)
Austin Davis is first in the league in completion percentage among quarterbacks who are still starting games, and deserves credit for that. But the defense couldn’t hold up to close out a game against the Cowboys, and Brian Schottenheimer continues to be the worst coordinator in the league.
28. Tennessee Titans (LW: 24)
Nothing about Tennessee going forward excites me outside of the receivers. Jake Locker is wildly inconsistent, and they’re not getting anything out of the running game.
27. Houston Texans (LW: 22)
Finally, Houston’s offense was exposed against the Giants on Sunday. They couldn’t fall back on the defense. Although Arian Foster’s injury isn’t as big of a deal as originally thought, Ryan Mallett is going to take over at quarterback at some point this season. That’s not great news.
26. New York Jets (LW: 21)
If I’m the coach of any team in the NFL, I’d much rather play the Jets than the Vikings, Chiefs, Giants or Browns (the next four teams on this list). The rush defense is tough, but Geno Smith continue to makes poor decisions and the offensive playcalling has been awful.
25. Minnesota Vikings (LW: 25)
This team is going to be better over time with Teddy Bridgewater at the helm, but for the immediate future, I’m off the Minnesota bandwagon until Bridgewater shakes off the issues that every rookie quarterback faces.
24. Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 26)
Despite picking up their first win of the season, other teams were just more impressive to surpass the Chiefs in this week’s rankings. The passing game will also be a huge question against teams that can throw the ball better than the Dolphins.
23. New York Giants (LW: 29)
Victor Cruz finally got involved in the offense, and Rashad Jennings had a huge game, but the Texans are worse than people think. Still, if Jennings and Cruz can carry this success over, they’ll be competitive in most games, especially in a questionable NFC East.
22. Cleveland Browns (LW: 23)
Despite losing in depressing fashion (again) the Browns have been competitive in all three of their games so far. Heading into a bye week, Mike Pettine will need to improve Cleveland’s rush defense before heading into an incredibly easy stretch of the schedule.
21. Buffalo Bills (LW: 20)
Queue up the Dennis Green “We are who we thought they were!” rant. If Buffalo falls behind in any game, E.J. Manuel can’t move the ball down the field fast enough to catch up.
20. Washington Redskins (LW: 27)
After losing DeAngelo Hall (an overrated corner to begin with) for the season, Washington will have to roll out E.J. Biggers at corner, and still have Brandon Meriweather starting at safety. Kirk Cousins is going to have to throw a ton to keep this team in games, but he showed on Sunday he has the ability to do that if need be.
19. Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 19)
Despite a big win against the Panthers, I’m not sold on Pittsburgh being a consistent team. The Steelers offense didn’t really start clicking until the second half of Sunday night’s game, and the pass defense is still a concern, especially after losing Ike Taylor for a good chunk of the season.
18. Miami Dolphins (LW: 18)
Like the Steelers, I’m not moving the Dolphins up or down. If Joe Philbin makes the decision (which would be ill-advised) to bench Ryan Tannehill, I’d move the Dolphins down into the bottom 12 teams, but Miami can still be a team that runs the ball well to control games.
17. Dallas Cowboys (LW: 17)
Dallas should have lost to the Rams, but Tony Romo was able to get them back into the game. If the Cowboys can continue to commit to the run, though, they will be competitive for the NFC East title.
16. San Francisco 49ers (LW: 5)
The 49ers are quickly spiraling toward an eight or nine-win season, which in the NFC, would leave them out of the playoffs. Jimmie Ward and the rest of the secondary is struggling and the 49ers are currently the 12th worst pass blocking team, according to Pro Football Focus (paid subscription required). Still, there’s a chance that they turn this season around with the talent on the roster.
15. Indianapolis Colts (LW: 8)
Indianapolis will still probably win the AFC South by default, but there is no pass rush on defense, and Ahmad Bradshaw will likely be injured at some point, forcing the Colts to fall back on Trent Richardson.
14. New Orleans Saints (LW: 11)
New Orleans did defeat the Vikings, but it wasn’t all that convincing, and now enter a seven-game stretch when they play the Lions, Packers, Panthers, 49ers and Bengals, which could easily be four more losses for the Saints.
13. Green Bay Packers (LW: 9)
Nothing about Sunday’s game against the Lions convinced me that the Packers should be considered the favorites to win the NFC North. Green Bay was one of my Super Bowl teams heading into the year, and I was totally wrong. The secondary is struggling, and Eddie Lacy looks more like a fullback than a running back.
12. Baltimore Ravens (LW: 14)
Had Cleveland’s offense converted just one more first down in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, Baltimore would be 1-2. Still, the front seven of this team is one of the best in the league, and if the secondary can at least make it to league-average level, the Ravens will compete for a Wild Card spot.
11. Detroit Lions (LW: 10)
Matthew Stafford’s consistency is going to be the key to this team. If he continues to turn the ball over at a high rate, the offense’s ceiling is only so high, but if he makes smarter decisions he and Calvin Johnson could make an offense on their own. Joique Bell is also shaping up to be an every-down back.
10. Carolina Panthers (LW: 7)
If Cam Newton’s ribs don’t heal, the Panthers could be in trouble. If he can’t run out of the pocket, the offense becomes very limited, especially with injuries to Jonathan Stewart, DeAngelo Williams and Mike Tolbert. But this defense is still very good and will keep them in most every game.
9. Atlanta Falcons (LW: 16)
The huge win over Tampa Bay last Thursday was partially due to Tampa Bay basically giving up in the second half, but there’s no denying how good this offense is when everyone’s healthy.
8. Chicago Bears (LW: 15)
Much like Atlanta, Chicago’s success relies a lot on their health. Obviously, that’s the case for every team in the league, but Chicago’s incredibly thin on defense at at receiver. The secondary is depleted, but the Bears are fine as long as Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery are on the field.
7. New England Patriots (LW: 6)
Sure the Raiders stayed in the game on Sunday against New England, but the Patriots are still the Patriots. The offense is sputtering, but the defense is now getting into serious underrated territory and if just one receiver between Danny Amendola, Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins can step up, the offense will turn around.
6. Arizona Cardinals (LW: 12)
Although the Cardinals don’t necessarily feel like a 3-0 team, they are still only one of three undefeated teams right now. The biggest key going forward will be Carson Palmer’s health. If his shoulder/nerves eventually heal, I’d feel much more secure about this ranking.
5. San Diego Chargers (LW: 13)
In the next four weeks, the Chargers play the Jaguars, Jets, Raiders and Chiefs. They could easily be 7-1 by then. Watch for San Diego’s offense to give Denver a run for its money in the AFC West.
4. Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 4)
If Philadelphia’s secondary continues to play this poorly, it won’t be in the top five for long. But as long as they’re 3-0, it’s tough to argue with the results no matter how the Eagles get there.
3. Denver Broncos (LW: 1)
Peyton Manning still looked like the best quarterback in football against the Seahawks, but the defense completely crumbled in overtime, failing to stop Seattle from scoring a touchdown. The Broncos were never going to go 16-0, but there’s certainly questions with this team looking down the road, especially with the Chargers in their division.
2. Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 3)
The Bengals are the best team in football right now, and are playing like it. But for the remainder of the season, I still like Seattle more. I’d like to see one more receiving option develop consistency in Cincinnati besides A.J. Green, but as long as they continue to generate pass rush and run the ball well with Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill, they are the favorites for the AFC title.
1. Seattle Seahawks (LW: 2)
Don’t let the Denver game taint what this Seattle defense doesn. It was Peyton Manning, after all, and Kam Chancellor almost sealed the game with an interception if the Seahawks offense could have picked up just one more first down at the end of the game. Russell Wilson continues to make plays no matter what weapons he’s given, and Marshawn Lynch has yet to show any signs of decline.