This week’s power rankings have a little more shakeup. The results is a bunching up in the middle tiers. Also, what do we do with the NFC East? I have all of them in the middle tier this week. Maybe it’s an overreaction to lower the Eagles so much, but not only have they not looked very good, but their opponents have not looked good either through three games. That Rams win doesn’t seem so impressive now. The Falcons are struggling. Philly’s defensive breakdowns are negating the cornerback play, as Eli threw for 4 touchdowns and barely had to look at Hakeem Nicks. The Giants? They were hardly impressive a week ago, and lost by 14 to the Redskins in the opener. As for the Cowboys and Redskins, we saw that field-goal-fest last night. With a hurting Michael Vick, there is no clear favorite in the East right now.

Tier One (The Super Bowl Favorites)

Green Bay Packers (3-0). Jermichael Finley just scored another touchdown.

New England Patriots (2-1). Before the season, I talked about turnover regression and the New England Patriots. Then, Brady goes out and throws as many interceptions in one game as he threw all last season. In one week, though, the Patriots didn’t go from the Super Bowl favorite to bums. They still, despite the turnovers, and despite the defense continuing to look quite toastable, lost a “last team with the ball” game to the Bills on the road, and if Jackson actually scores there, who knows what happens. When they don’t lose the turnover margin like that, they will win most weeks.

 

Tier Two (The Super Bowl Contenders)

 

Baltimore Ravens (2-1). A nice response from the Ravens. Torrey Smith had a Sylvester Morris-like game as a rookie.

New Orleans Saints (2-1). The Texans could have put the Saints away in the first half but kicked field goals. The Saints came back with a big second half performance to win another shootout.

Detroit Lions (3-0). In a big letdown situation, the Lions came out flat, then did what ever it is that large members of the cat family do to get back in the game, shutting the Vikings down and scoring 23 straight points.

 

Tier Three (The AFC is going to be a dogfight for the playoffs tier)

 

Buffalo Bills (3-0). What date is Harold Camping’s latest end of the world prediction? Because the Lions and Bills just came from behind by 20 on the same day. End of days, people.

Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1). The Steelers did just about everything they could do to lose to a team that could do nothing offensively. They are -9 in turnovers and have forced only one takeaway despite games against Seattle and the Colts. Let’s see how they do in Houston before we make further judgments, but this is a pretty big game after two JV warmups.

New York Jets (2-1). Marky Ice almost led another comeback on the road.

Houston Texans (2-1). Red zone issues haunted this team, and the defense finally gave up some yards in the second half after looking very good through 10 quarters.

San Diego Chargers (2-1). Another unimpressive performance from the Chargers lowers them a tier, Rivers hasn’t been sharp, and the injury to Gates is a concern.

Oakland Raiders (2-1). Darren McFadden is getting into the conversation with Adrian Peterson as the best back in the league.

Tier Four (The who will win the NFC East tier)

 

New York Giants (2-1). We can now say Eli Manning is good again, right? I can’t remember which week this is.

Dallas Cowboys (2-1). Phil Costa just hit my arm with a snap while I was typing this.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1). The Bucs most effective play this season? The hard count.

Washington Redskins (2-1). Rex Grossman can fumble a ball like no one else I’ve ever seen. It’s truly an art that we should all appreciate before he’s gone.

Tennessee Titans (2-1). The loss of Kenny Britt puts this ranking in jeopardy long term, but the defense has played well for three straight games.

Philadelphia Eagles (1-2). Casey Matthews, Frank Stallone, and Tito Jackson should totally hang out together.

Atlanta Falcons (1-2). Matt Ryan will find out that the backlash when your pass defense is bad and your line gets you killed is terrible.

Chicago Bears (1-2). I would have probably had them much higher if they would have scored a punt return touchdown and covered the spread.

 

Tier Five (The Teams that can beat each other 13-10 Tier)

 

Cleveland Browns (2-1). The Browns were able to withstand the Chad Henne comeback drive.

San Francisco 49ers (2-1). The 49ers are averaging 3.8 yards per play. I’m not joking. And they are 2-1. If teams were ranked by their ability to kick 25 yard field goals, San Francisco would be your Super Bowl favorite.

Denver Broncos (1-2). Denver might be the most perfectly mediocre team in the league this year. They’ve now played three close games against Oakland, Cincinnati and Tennessee.

Cincinnati Bengals (1-2). No one from Cincinnati was arrested or suspended today. (I hope writing that sentence 1 hour before this posts doesn’t burn me).

Arizona Cardinals (1-2). What a crapfest that game was. The NFC West is every bit as bad as advertised through three weeks.

Carolina Panthers (1-2). Cam Newton struggled, but at least “he won.”

Minnesota Vikings (0-3). If the Vikings blow a 20 point lead to the Chiefs, they should just fire the whole team before the team flight back to Minnesota.

Miami Dolphins (0-3). Dolphins are 13th in yards on offense but 27th in points, as they continue to completely Sparano it up in the red zone. Reggie Bush, changed man? 2.9 yards per carry, 6.5 yards per catch, 2 soul crushing fumbles. (Sproles, 7.4 yards per carry, 8.0 yards a catch).

 

Tier Six (The Sports Hernia Bowl Tier)

Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2). The Jaguars are tied for the league lead in rushing attempts through three weeks (with Philadelphia, of all teams). Gabbert was an upgrade over McCown, shockingly, but needs to get rid of the ball sooner.

Indianapolis Colts (0-3). Why was the Sports Hernia quarterbacking the Colts on Sunday?

Tier Seven (The Missouri Tier, plus Tarvaris)

Seattle Seahawks (1-2). I heard someone say that Tarvaris Jackson saved his job on Sunday. Because, you know, averaging 4 yards a pass play and scoring 13 points against a team with someone named Alfonso Smith at running back (I consulted the handbook, that is valid usage of the “someone named” meme) qualifies as turning the corner.

St. Louis Rams (0-3). Sam Bradford, net yards per attempt in 2010: 5.2, emerging star. Sam Bradford, net yards per attempt in 2011: 5.1, disappointment. Bradford’s completion percentage is down without short stuff to Amendola, but his yards per attempt is higher, and he’s only thrown 1 interception on 108 throws. But be prepared for the public opinion to turn on Bradford even though the difference between 2010 and 2011 is not Bradford.

Kansas City Chiefs (0-3). This team had 0 first downs in the first half. Somehow they were in the game because San Diego is San Diego and turned the ball over. Oh, and Brandon Flowers has what could be a high ankle sprain. It’s like Ten Little Indians, and Tamba Hali’s time is up this week.

[photo via Getty]