Here are my post-Week 3 Power Rankings. Some teams have risen meteorically since my pre-training camp rankings, others have fallen quite a bit:

 

1.  New York Giants (3-0)

- They are playing shutdown defense, and they have shown they can get it done both through the air and on the ground.

 

2. Baltimore Ravens (3-0)

- They’re defense hasn’t missed a beat from last year, and Joe Flacco has made a quantum leap in his second year.

 

3. New Orleans (3-0)

- 2006 Indianapolis Colts rehashed: if you can outscore them, you can beat them, and their defense is irrelevant.

 

4. New York Jets (3-0)

-Mark Sanchez has been playing beyond his years, and the defense has shut down some of the top units in the game.

 

5. Indianapolis Colts (3-0)

- Peyton Manning needed only 14:53 time of possession to beat the Miami Dolphins. Enough said.

 

6. New England Patriots (2-1)

- Brady is slowly but surely getting back to form, but they're nowhere near where they were two years ago.

7. Minnesota Vikings (3-0)

- 3-0, but two of those wins came against Cleveland and Detroit, and the other came with two seconds left on the clock.

8. Atlanta Falcons (2-1)

- Matt Ryan is loving his new target, Tony Gonzalez. However, the defense is going to miss rookie DT Peria Jerry.

 

9. Philadelphia Eagles (2-1)

There is enough talent on the roster that the team can win without its starting quarterback, running back or middle linebacker.

 

10. San Francisco 49ers (2-1)

- Coach Mike Singletary has changed the mentality in San Francisco, and the team is playing with a lot of heart. They’re easily the frontrunners in a weak NFC West.

 

11. San Diego Chargers (2-1)

- Philip Rivers is playing at such a level that no one misses former keystone LaDainian Tomlinson. Defense will miss NT Jamal Williams down the road, however.

 

12. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2)

- Two close, last second losses hurt, but not as much as it does to not have stalwart strong safety Troy Polamalu.

 

13. Green Bay Packers (2-1)

- They’re basically the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers: playoff caliber team that could get dragged down by poor offensive line play

 

14. Chicago Bears (2-1)

- After a shaky first start, Jay Cutler has found his groove in Chicago. College teammate Earl Bennett is helping the transition a lot.

 

15. Cincinnati Bengals (2-1)

- Beating the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers back to back is no mean feat; we’ll have to see if it keeps going.

 

16. Dallas Cowboys (2-1)

- Crumbled under the pressure of playing their first game in the new Cowboys Stadium, but they look like a much better unit without Terrell Owens.

 

17. Houston Texans (1-2)

- Same old same old; explosive offense, inept defense.

 

18. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2)

- Jacksonville has played like it doesn’t care, but one guy (Maurice Jones-Drew) cares enough to carry the team on his shoulders.

 

19. Arizona Cardinals (1-2)

-Super Bowl hangover, or was last year just a fluke? Tough to tell with such a difficult opening schedule.

 

20. Denver Broncos (3-0)

- Undefeated, but they’ve played Oakland and Cleveland, and they beat Cincinnati on a fluke last second play.

 

21. Seattle Seahawks (1-2)

- Matt Hasselbeck’s injury struggles have to have this team thinking about using one of those two first round picks on a QB.

 

22. Buffalo Bills (1-2)

- Terrell Owens hasn’t done much, in fact he’s dropped more passes than he’s caught, and he had his streak of 185 games with a catch broken because of it. He can’t get open, and is starting to look his age.

 

23. Tennessee Titans (0-3)

- This team has too much talent to be 0-3, but somehow they’re here. How mad must Chris Johnson have been after the team’s Week 2 loss?

 

24. Miami Dolphins (0-3)

- Wildcat hasn’t shown much teeth this year, and Chad Pennington has, predictably enough, gotten hurt, exposing second year QB Chad Henne.

 

25. Carolina Panthers (0-3)

- Jake Delhomme has done nothing to show he’s recovered from last season’s playoff meltdown, nor has he justified his $42 million contract. In a QB heavy draft, it’s going to hurt not having a first round pick.

 

26. Detroit Lions (1-2)

-They finally won a game, but they still have a lot of work to do.

 

27. Oakland Raiders (1-2)

- The fire and intensity they played with in the season opener seems to have died. JaMarcus Russell is a huge liability right now.

 

28. Kansas City Chiefs (0-3)

- Matt Cassel may not be the answer in Kansas City, but he should at least be given the tools to prove otherwise.

 

29. Washington Redskins (1-2)

- The rest of the league can breathe; they don’t have to be the goats anytime in the near future, as the Washington Redskins were the one to lose to the Lions.

 

30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-3)

-They’ve had a tough opening schedule, but they have certainly looked like a team in rebuilding mode. The quarterback carousel will continue until Freeman is ready, which can't be good for a team trying to build offensive continuity.

 

31. Cleveland Browns (0-3)

- They’ve scored one offensive touchdown in the last NINE games.

 

32. St. Louis Rams (0-3)

-Averaging eight points per game on offense, and the defense is giving up over 400 yards per game. Steven Jackson’s prime years are being wasted.