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The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/NFLPowerRankers on 2024-09-24 20:02:20+00:00.
Welcome to week 3 of the r/NFL Power Rankings! The Packers seem to have a magic pair of cleats, the Chiefs break teams on auto drive, and Jayden Daniels made Brees’ completion percentage look weak on Monday Night Football. It might be too early for the 49ers to hit the panic button, but a slow start is cause for concern. Turns out the Saints aren’t invincible, Buffalo on the other hand… Will the Vikings and Darnold be able to keep their pace? Is Carolina a QB away from greatness? Discuss! 28/32 Reporting
| # | Team | Δ | Record | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Chiefs | – | 3-0 | “Hope, in reality, is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.” - Nietzche There is something beautiful about the beginning of the NFL season. While there are a small number of teams that come into the year with no real hope, it’s generally a period where fans get to believe that they can achieve something great. For better or worse that hope is dashed for almost all of those fans. I think that fear of hopes being dashed explains a lot of the discourse on social media about this league. | |
| 2. | Bills | – | 3-0 | The undefeated season continues! The Bills had everything clicking against the stumbling Jaguars, as Josh Allen led the charge with 4 first half touchdowns, to the tune of MVP chants reigning down in Orchard Park. Allen was aided by a monster game by Khalil Shakir who had 6 catches for 72 yards and a touchdown as well as second round pick Keon Coleman finding the endzone for the first time. The defense was just as dominant, limiting the Jags to 10 points due to Von Miller turning back the clock at age 35 and an interception by Damar Hamlin. Right now the Bills stand alone as the top team in the NFL with a gaudy +64 point differential through only 3 games. | |
| 3. | Vikings | +7 | 3-0 | The Vikings started this season ranked dead last in their odds to win their division and with +10000 odds to win the Super Bowl. And who could blame the oddsmakers after Minnesota let Cousins and Hunter walk in free agency and JJ McCarthy’s season ended before it began? But despite all that and more, Minnesota is 3-0, Sam Darnold leads the league in touchdowns thrown with a top 5 passing grade, Aaron Jones is averaging 5.4 yards per carry with a top 5 rushing grade and the defense ranks 3rd in EPA/play against after stymieing the 49ers and blowing out the Texans so badly it left Stroud with his head in his hands. How? On offense, Kevin O’Connell is setting up Darnold for success with clear reads, clever play design and heavy play action that deploys Justin Jefferson in clever ways and uses the elite OT duo of Darrisaw and O’Neill to give Darnold time. On defense, Brian Flores has schemed up something truly unique, with heavy emphasis on simulated pressures and stunts up front with a wide variety of heavily disguised coverage on the backend,e.g. regularly showing Cover 0 pre-snap only to drop into invert Tampa 2. As a result, offensive linemen never know whom to block and QBs never know where it’s safe to throw the ball, which helps to explain why the Vikings lead the league in sacks and are second in interceptions. So while this is a talented team (particularly on offense, with Addison and Hockenson returning shortly), the key driver to this team’s success so far has been outstanding coaching on both sides of the ball. | |
| 4. | Lions | +1 | 2-1 | The Detroit Lions left Arizona with a 20-13 win over the Cardinals, stifling the Kyler Murray-led offense that had dropped 34 and 41 points, respectively, in weeks 1 and 2. Game balls go to Kerby Joseph and Jack Fox, for lockdown safety play, including a timely interception, and arguably the greatest collection of punts in a single game so far this year. Detroit’s defense was sticky and relentless, rarely giving Murray looks he was comfortable with and containing his rushing lanes after the first quarter. On offense, Jared Goff and co. looked the best they have this season, highlighted by an ARSB-Gibbs hook and ladder play that scored just before halftime. While they sputtered in the second half, this team continues to put up yardage, averaging 399.7 yards a game to this point, which one has to imagine will translate into more points down the road. Next week they take on Detroit’s boogeyman the Seattle Seahawks, who they haven’t beaten in a competitive ballgame since 2012. Also – Shoutout the Tigers wtf is that all about. | |
| 5. | Texans | -2 | 2-1 | It’s not that they lost, it’s that every red flag from the first two weeks was on full display. Double digit penalties for the second week in a row (5 of them on Laremy Tunsil alone), an offense that has yet to click this season, and a defensive plan that seemed to let Justin Jefferson get wide open every other play in the first half. This was probably the ugliest game of the DeMeco Ryans era in Houston. The Texans have all the talent to make a deep playoff run, but they’re going to need to clean their play up quickly if they’re going to. | |
| 6. | Steelers | +7 | 3-0-0 | And then there were 5. The remaining undefeated teams being Buffalo and KC wouldn’t surprise anyone back in August, but Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Minnesota sure would. Each of these teams are undefeated for good reason, and while the Chiefs have not been dominant, they are still a championship squad. The Steelers have been fascinating so far this year with a defense and conservative passing game that harkens back to the Steel Curtain teams of olde. They’ve punted the ball thrice. Just three times. They’ve allowed 8.7 PPG. No one is calling them the 85 Bears or 2000 Ravens, but they sure look like they have a personality. Both of these stats are tops in the NFL. They’ve also managed to dominate TOP and 3rd downs. both number made and percentage. All near the top of the league. Credit where credit is due, because although the Steelers played well on Sunday, the Chargers lost their best pass rusher, their QB, and the star RT who was supposed to be on TJ Watt. Guys who were arguably their most important players, and it hurt them badly. The 2024 Steelers have gotten better as the games go on and with the Chargers running out of key players…something had to give. It’s starting to seem that Arthur Smith’s offense is complimentary to the overall team. Everyone is making overall good decisions with the football on the offensive side. There’s a chemistry and comfort that has been missing for a long time that is really apparent now. Going back over past opponents, the Falcons are better than their record indicates, the Broncos might actually have something there, and the Chargers are amazing when healthy. The Steelers have dominated respectable teams. Coming up in Week 4 is their 3rd of 4 games on the road, this time in Indy against a Colts team that has also shown some tenacity. This is a pretty big game, because if they can go 4-0, they will be going into Sunday Night Football vs a mysterious Cowboys team. While no one should overlook the Colts, the Steelers need to think about racking up wins before the Week 9 bye and then a full slate of AFC North games punctuated by contests against the Eagles and Chiefs. | |
| 7. | Seahawks | +7 | 3-0 | I could spend this time talking about Seattle’s sloppy win. I could. But instead, I will take this time to send my heartfelt condolences to Miami Dolphins fans everywhere that had to watch Skylar Thompson try and play quarterback on Sunday. I am so, so sorry. | |
| 8. | Eagles | – | 2-1 | The Eagles (barely) survived the reincarnation of the Gregg Williams-era Saints with a scrappy 15-12 win. Despite being 2-1, Nick Sirianni’s seat remains warm after some head-scratching game management decisions in the first three weeks, including a ‘go’ decision in the waning seconds of the first half that backfired, sending the team into the locker room with a goose egg. For a coach that doesn’t call plays on either side of the ball, the expectations for in-game decision making are high, but Sirianni’s inconsistency in this area has overshadowed the some other storylines from the first three weeks that may be equally important: Jalen Hurts’ turnover issues, the seemingly failed Bryce Huff experiment, the injuries across key starters on offense. Next week, a rematch of last season’s wild card round against the Bucs. | |
| 9. | 49ers | -5 | 1-2 | The 49ers didn’t trail in this contest until the game winning field goal with 2 seconds left. A frustrating game after strong performances for Purdy and Jennings with 3 offensive stars out with injury. Division games are always tough, and that goes double for coaches who know each other as well as Shanahan and McVay. The team looks ahead to righting the ship when they host the Patriots on Sunday. | |
| 10. | Packers | +5 | 2-1 | Matt Lafleur might be the best coach in the league. His game script has almost singlehandedly won the last two games. Malik Willis has played beyond expectations but when the game settles in teams figure out what Willis can do our offense has looked ane… |
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