NFL power rankings entering Week 3 of the 2024 season ( previous rank in parentheses ):
1. Kansas City Chiefs (1): The bid for an unprecedented Super Bowl three-peat remains on track – even with an average margin of victory of four points, albeit against two perceived AFC contenders. (And when you've got backup OT Wanya Morris snatching TDs, it doesn't matter if TE Travis Kelce is averaging fewer than 20 receiving yards per game.) Still, this does feel like a flimsy perch given the serious injuries to WR Hollywood Brown and RB Isiah Pacheco.
2. Houston Texans (6): They've got two middling wins against apparently middling competition (Colts, Bears). But the defense looks especially good, and no other team has a two-game lead over its entire division.
3. Buffalo Bills (8): Among the reasons the retooled AFC East champs should be encouraged? How about OLB Von Miller collecting nine pressures, including a pair of sacks, after two weeks. He had five pressures and zero sacks in 12 games all of last season, when he was on the mend following ACL reconstruction.
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11): Maybe this feels like a little too much respect for merely winning two games. But maybe the three-time defending NFC South champs are owed a little extra given their body of work here in the roaring '20s. And how about QB Baker Mayfield, who has four of the Bucs' seven rushing first downs?
5. Detroit Lions (2): Per ESPN Research, their six red-zone drives without a TD were the club's most in one game in 43 years. One of those was the failed march at the end of the first half, which Dan Campbell took the blame for and cited as the reason his team lost its playoff rematch with the Bucs.
6. New Orleans Saints (24): They destroyed a bad team in Week 1, then destroyed a decent one Sunday . New OC Klint Kubiak's system has certainly suited QB Derek Carr (league-best 5 TD passes and 142.4 passer rating while leading team to points on his first 15 drives of the season) and RB Alvin Kamara (league-best 5 TDs and 290 yards from scrimmage). Amazing how apparently declining vets can be revived by a fresh approach.
7. Minnesota Vikings (23): They destroyed a bad team in Week 1, then edged an excellent one Sunday. But old friend Danielle Hunter returns to the Twin Cities this weekend, and his Texans are sure to put the Vikes' humming Sam Darnold-to-Justin Jefferson connection to the test.
8. San Francisco 49ers (3): RB Christian McCaffrey is on IR , WR Deebo Samuel is going to be inactive the next few weeks with a calf strain, and WR Brandon Aiyuk has only been a notch better than inactive as he continues to work his way back from an inactive summer spent on angling for his new contract. And Pro Bowl S Talanoa Hufanga (ACL) still hasn't been quite ready to return. Otherwise? All's splendid here.
9. Philadelphia Eagles (5): They looked more comfortable in South America than they did in South Philly given the ways HC Nick Sirianni's decision-making, RB Saquon Barkley's hands , the secondary's general "coverage" and QB Jalen Hurts' game-sealing interception produced a collective failure Monday night .
10. New York Jets (12): On the plus side, DE Will McDonald IV had a career-best three sacks, matching the total from his rookie year (2023), in Sunday's win. On the down side, DE Jermaine Johnson is lost to a torn Achilles. Sure seems like time to forge a breakthrough with holdout LB Haason Reddick .
11. Green Bay Packers (16): One of the league's oldest franchises became its first to win 800 regular-season games. That century-plus of history side, for the second straight year, the Pack feature the league's youngest roster – the players with an average age of 24.91 years in 2024 ... including a 25-year-old quarterback (Jordan Love) who doesn't seem like he'll be sidelined by his MCL injury for long.
12. Pittsburgh Steelers (17): If they continue to lead the league in turnover differential (+5) while surrendering 8 points weekly, it may not matter if they play a quarterback at all.
13. Atlanta Falcons (19) : QB Kirk Cousins looked infinitely more comfortable – both in terms of his repaired Achilles and on the prime-time stage – after Monday night's sudden turnaround to beat Philadelphia and level his team's record heading into a brutal three-week homestand (Chiefs, Saints, Bucs).
14. Los Angeles Chargers (18): The schedule's been Charmin soft yet conducive to launching redemption tours for RB J.K. Dobbins , WR Quentin Johnston and OLB Joey Bosa. The Bolts are half the equation to a .500 start from the Harbaugh brothers in 2024.
15. Baltimore Ravens (4): They're the underside of the Harbaughs' 2024 record, John's crew suffering another of its infamous fourth-quarter meltdowns Sunday after squandering a double-digit lead yet again. A near miss against the Chiefs and a faceplant against an inferior team mean an 0-2 record.
16. Cincinnati Bengals (14): A faceplant against an inferior team and a near miss against the Chiefs mean an 0-2 record in Cincy as well. Yet the issues here have the potential to linger much longer if disgruntled WR Ja'Marr Chase continues to come unglued .
17. Arizona Cardinals (21): Their 69 points scored rank second only to the Saints. Given their weapons and the injuries plaguing the rest of the NFC West, the Cards are a squad to keep a close eye on.
18. Dallas Cowboys (7): So much for home cookin'. "America's Team" has been shockingly outscored 92-51 in its past two outings at AT&T Stadium … and the next visitor will be a salty Ravens outfit Sunday.
19. Cleveland Browns (22): Care to venture a guess as to how many 300-yard passing games QB Deshaun Watson has had since coming to Cleveland? Answer: Still waiting for one.
20. Seattle Seahawks (25): A fortuitous 2-0 start featured WRs DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba on Sunday becoming the first Seattle teammates to each have at least 10 catches for 100 yards in the same game.
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21. Las Vegas Raiders (30): If you're going to make a pass rusher the face of your organization, may as well be one like Maxx Crosby, who has yet miss a snap this season.
22. Indianapolis Colts (9): Easiest path to a highly disappointing 0-2 start? Turn the ball over four times and field a defense that's surrendering – by far – the most rushing yards per game (237) in the league. Indy hasn't yet possessed the ball for 40 minutes over two games.
23. Jacksonville Jaguars (15): "TrEverBank Stadium?" At least the one-week title sponsor is an honest broker. “We suck right now,” QB Trevor Lawrence said after dropping his seventh consecutive start.
24. Chicago Bears (20): Bumpy a start as it's been, rookie QB Caleb Williams still doesn't have to average even 250 yards per game to become the franchise's first 4,000-yard passer in a season.
25. Miami Dolphins (13): Between WR Tyreek Hill and QB Tua Tagovailoa , not many opportunities to focus on football for a franchise with a very uncertain outlook moving forward after Tua's latest concussion.
26. Los Angeles Rams (10): The strength of this team at the start of the season, the receiving corps may now be LA's weakness with Demarcus Robinson and Tyler Johnson now in line to be the starting wideouts for an indefinite period.
27. Washington Commanders (26): Jayden Daniels' 132 rushing yards through two games surpassed former Washington star Robert Griffin III for the most by a quarterback in his first two NFL games during the Super Bowl era (since 1966).
28. New England Patriots (27): Their run game is outpacing their pass game by 55 yards a week thus far, yet that division of labor is working fairly well. No Pats wideout has more than 28 receiving yards, yet the team came this close to a 2-0 start.
29. Tennessee Titans (29): Rookie HC Brian Callahan didn't get into this business to entertain us. But his unsparing criticism of, well, football-irresponsible QB Will Levis has at least been refreshing.
30. Denver Broncos (28): To recap, Sean Payton's offense is averaging 7.7 points and 48 yards fewer per game since QB Russell Wilson was banished late last season.
31. New York Giants (32): Unclear if it's possible to overuse a rookie wideout, but the G-Men might be testing that notion – the Rams' injured Cooper Kupp the only one in the league with more targets than Malik Nabers' 25 .
32. Carolina Panthers (31): If Joe Flacco could come off the couch to save the Browns at age 38 a year ago, why shouldn't Andy Dalton be able to do it at age 36 by simply turning his clipboard, er tablet, over to Bryce Young after the team stunningly pulled the ripcord on him after two 2024 starts ?
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Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis .
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL power rankings Week 3: Chiefs still No. 1, but top five overhaul occurs after chaotic weekend
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