2011 NFL Power Rankings: Week 3
Week 2 of the 2011 NFL season lived up to all of the hype and provided fans with plenty of exciting games to watch. Here’s a look at the 2011 NFL Power Rankings for Week 3–with the team’s previous rank listed in parenthesis.
1. (2) New England Patriots 2-0: The Chargers put up a good fight for most of the game, but the Patriots showed why they’re considered a strong favorite by many to reach Super Bowl XLV. Through two games, Tom Brady has already thrown for 940 yards with seven touchdowns and just one interception as he continues to take advantage of his offensive weapons–including Chad Ochocinco after he struggled to fit in against the Dolphins in Week 1. The defense could still perform at a higher level, but this team is already looking like the clear favorites in the AFC.
2. (1) Green Bay Packers 2-0: A win is a win–no matter how it is earned. As for the Packers, they should consider themselves lucky for leaving Carolina with a win over the Panthers considering how bad their secondary looked. It’s one thing for a team like the Cardinals to allow Cam Newton to throw for over 400 passing yards–but there’s no excuse for the defending Super Bowl champions for allowing that to happen. Their offense is obviously stacked, but the fact that Green Bay’s defense has allowed 72 points over the first two games is a major reason to be concerned.
3. (6) New York Jets 2-0: After coming from behind against the Cowboys in Week 1, the Jets had no trouble against the Jaguars in Week 2 as the defense had a field day against Luke McCown–picking him off four times before he was replaced by rookie Blaine Gabbert. On paper, New York should be considered one of the top teams in football–but they still have a lot to prove when it comes to playing against the contenders. Mark Sanchez displayed a decent performance–but there’s still plenty of room for improvement if the Jets have any chance of living up to Rex Ryan’s bold predictions.
4. (8) Houston Texans 2-0: Even without the dominance of their star running back Adrian Foster, the Texans have jumped out to an amazing 2-0 start and have outscored their opponents 57-20 the first two games. They may look good now, but Houston will face a big challenge over the next four weeks to see how much of a contender they really are considering three of those games (Saints, Steelers, and Ravens) are against playoff teams from a year ago. The stars seem to be aligning for the Texans to reach the postseason for the first time in franchise history considering the weakness of the AFC South this season; it’s just a matter of whether or not they can take advantage of it.
5. (7) New Orleans Saints 1-1: Even without their top wide receiver in Marques Colston, the Saints bounced back from their loss to the defending Super Bowl champions with an absolute crushing of the defending NFC North champions–both on offense and defense. Drew Brees had no trouble picking apart the Bears’ secondary and the defense applied constant pressure to Jay Cutler all afternoon–recording six sacks in the process as well. Despite all of the hype surrounding the Packers and Eagles, there’s a reason why many analysts said don’t sleep on New Orleans and Sunday’s performance was the perfect example as to why.
6. (3) Baltimore Ravens 1-1: With the way they played in Week 1 against the Steelers, nobody expected the Ravens to lose the way to the Titans–even if it was on the road. Baltimore’s defense had no answers for Matt Hasselbeck–who threw for 358 yards–or Kenny Britt and
7. (11) Atlanta Falcons 1-1: In a game where tempers were flaring between both sides, the Falcons somehow managed to pull out a win over the Eagles and this may end up being one of their biggest victories of the season. After their embarrassing loss to Chicago in Week 1, Atlanta was facing all of the pressure in the world to bounce back in their home opener and the return of Michael Vick to the Georgia Dome for the first time as a starter didn’t make things any easier. Matt Ryan–who finished with a career high four touchdowns–deserves a ton of credit for the way he handled all of the pressure this week leading up to the big game.
8. (9) Pittsburgh Steelers 1-1: The Seahawks were the unfortunate victims of facing a Steelers game that was eager to bounce back after being embarrassed by the Ravens in Week 1 and this game turned out the way many expected it to. There’s a reason why Pittsburgh was heavily favored in this game and they flat-out dominated Seattle in just about every statistical category in Week 2. The offense could have put up some more points–but this was the type of game the Steelers needed after turning the ball over seven times against the Ravens in Week 1.
9. (5) Philadelphia Eagles 1-1: Losing Michael Vick to a concussion obviously made a huge impact on the outcome of this game–but the Eagles should have won this game and have nobody to blame but themselves. Without a few key turnovers, this game could have easily turned out differently and it’s a shame to see Jeremy Maclin’s career night (13 receptions for 171 yards and two touchdowns) end with him dropping a crucial fourth-down catch–which he would most likely make nine out of 10 times–that sealed the victory for the Falcons.
10. (4) Chicago Bears 1-1: One week after laying a smack down on the Falcons–it was the Bears who received the beat down from another NFC South team in Week 2 as they were crushed by the Saints. On top of being picked apart by Drew Brees in the secondary, Chicago’s offensive line had no answers for New Orleans’ defense as they failed to protect Jay Cutler–who was sacked six times in the losing effort–all afternoon. Luckily, this team will have a chance to gain ground in the NFC North with three key matchups against each of their division rivals over the next four weeks.
11. (12) Detroit Lions 2-0: The Lions continue to live up to their offseason hype and Matthew Stafford (599 passing yards and seven touchdowns over the first two games) looks like he an MVP contender if he can manage to stay healthy and play this well throughout the entire season. Detroit will face plenty of pressure throughout the season to live up to the hype and will certainly be tested the next three weeks with tough matchups on the road against Minnesota and Dallas before heading home in Week 5 for a key Monday-night matchup against one of their division rivals–the Chicago Bears.
12. (10) San Diego Chargers 1-1: The Chargers deserve credit considering it’s never easy to win in New England and they put up one heck of a fight–but the Patriots were simply too much for them to handle in the end. If this team wants any chance of finally getting to the Super Bowl this season, they will need to find a way to get more production from their receiving corps outside of Vincent Jackson–who had a career day against the Patriots with 10 receptions for 173 yards to go along with two touchdowns. The main question–how long until Antonio Gates breaks out for the first time this season and plays at the high level everyone is used to seeing him play at?
13. (15) Dallas Cowboys 1-1: The Cowboys seemed to be on the verge of an 0-2 start, but managed to pull through thanks to an unbelievable performance by Tony Romo–who played despite suffering a broken rib and punctured lung during the game. The argument can be made that no quarterback faced more pressure to win in Week 2 than Romo and he certainly put everything on the line with his performance against the 49ers. Miles Austin (nine catches for 143 yards with three touchdowns) and Jason Witten (seven catches for 102 yards) deserve to be recognized too for stepping it up since Dez Bryant was unable to play.
14. (13) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1-1: What a way for the Buccaneers to bounce back against the Vikings after their disappointing Week 1 loss to the Lions at home. After failing to take advantage of their star running back the first week, Raheem Morris made sure he used LeGarrette Blount more against Minnesota and it paid off. Blount scored the go-ahead touchdown with 31 seconds left to help pull off one of the most impressive comebacks in Week 2 and keep Tampa Bay in contention with the Saints and Falcons in the NFC South.
15. (16) New York Giants 1-1: The Giants were one of a few teams that couldn’t afford to lose again in Week 2 and drop to 0-2 heading into Week 3–especially since they have to travel to Philadelphia. The offense looked better and the defense capitalized on numerous mistakes by the Rams–but no win comes without losses. No team has suffered more from the injury bug than the Giants this season and the losing Mario Manningham (concussion) and Domenick Hixon (knee) was the last thing this team needed this early in the season.
16. (19) Washington Redskins 2-0: Other than Rex Grossman–who expected the Redskins to be sitting 2-0 alone on top of the NFC East at this point in the season? It’s still early, but every game is important for Washington considering how competitive the NFC East is. Give Rex Grossman for helping his team finish out strong after struggling in the first half by throwing interceptions on the Redskins first two drives of the game–but the quarterback will be heavily tested the next three games as they travel to Dallas and St. Louis before hosting Philadelphia in Week 6.
17. (22) Buffalo Bills 2-0: With the way they celebrated their win over the Raiders–the Bills were acting like they had just won the Super Bowl. Buffalo is hungry to make the postseason for the first time sine the 1999 season–but it’s still too early to make any assumptions on how this team will perform throughout the regular season. Their 2-0 start is impressive, but the Bills still have plenty of work ahead of them before they can even think about the playoffs. It’s still early, but Sunday’s matchup against the Patriots will be treated like a playoff game for the Bills as they look to end that long losing streak against their AFC East rivals.
18. (17) Oakland Raiders 1-1: It’s never easy to deal with coming up on the losing end of a 35-point performance–but it happened to the Raiders against the Bills. Oakland was in complete control of this game in the first half and appeared to be on their way to a surprise 2-0 start before letting Buffalo score a touchdown on each of their five possessions in the first half. Still, nobody expected the Raiders to look this impressive so far considering the key players they lose to free agency during the offseason.
19. (14) Jacksonville Jaguars 1-1: If the Jaguars performance against the Jets was any indication of how well they will compete against some of the best teams in the AFC–it’s going to be a long season in Jacksonville. New York deserves all of the credit in the world considering they entered the 2011 season as one of the top Super Bowl contenders to keep an eye on–but Jacksonville seemed to be way over their heads after watching a poor offensive performance that included four interceptions by Luke McCown.
20. (27) Tennessee Titans 1-1: In what may have been one of the biggest surprises in Week 2, the Titans pulled off the impressive upset at home over the Ravens thanks to a stellar performance by one of the newest additions to the team–Matt Hasselbeck. The former Seahawk wasted no time finding the weakness of the Ravens’ defense and threw for 358 yards in his first home game as a member of the Titans. Any win over Baltimore without Chris Johnson–who is averaging 2.3 yards per carry the first two games–having a field day should be considered a good win.
21. (31) Denver Broncos 1-1: Denver should consider themselves lucky considering all their injuries on both sides of the ball and they still managed to come through with a win. Still, it’s difficult not to wonder what would have happened if Marvin Lewis decided to go for it on fourth down late in the game instead of having Mike Nugent attempt a long field goal. At least the Broncos can be pleased with the performances from two of their backups–running back Willis McGahee and wide receiver Eric Decker.
22. (32) Cleveland Browns 1-1: The Browns have to be kicking themselves about possibly being 2-0 on top of the AFC North if they hadn’t given the game away to the Bengals in Week 1. This game would have been completely different with Manning in the lineup, but Cleveland managed to take advantage of the Manning-less Colts thanks to strong performances by Colt McCoy (22 of 32 passes for 211 yards with one touchdown) and Peyton Hillis (94 rushing yards with two touchdowns on 27 carries) after both players struggled against Cincinnati.
23. (23) Arizona Cardinals 1-1: Kevin Kolb and Larry Fizgerald seemed to finally get things going on offense and even connected on an impressive 73-yard touchdown pass–but it still wasn’t enough to get by Washington. The Cardinals seemed to be on the verge of 2-0 before the Redskins put together a strong second half that ended with Graham Gano connecting on a 34-yard field goal during the final drive of the game. If anything though, Arizona has to be pleased with another decent performance from Beanie Wells.
24. (24) San Francisco 49ers 1-1: Another one of those teams that seemed to have the win locked up in Week 2 before letting it slip away before their eyes. Even with an injured Tony Romo, the 49ers still couldn’t find a way to pull it out against the Cowboys and missed out on being on top of the NFC West alone with a 2-0 record. Alex Smith displayed a decent performance, but Frank Gore needs to figure out a way to get out of his funk considering the running back is averaging just 2.5 yards per carry over the first two games.
25. (20) Miami Dolphins 0-2: They put up a good fight against the Patriots in Week 1 and seemed poised to give the Texans a run for their money in Week 2–but they failed to get anything going on offense early on and could never catch up. Reggie Bush looked like his old-self from his New Orleans days after rushing for just 18 yards on six carries–but the main reason for that had to do with rookie Daniel Thomas–who finished with 107 rushing yards–receiving a majority of the carries. Still, it’s not a good sign that Miami is 0-2 when every other team in the division is 2-0–including Buffalo.
26. (18) St. Louis Rams 0-2: Give the Rams credit–they performed a lot better against the Giants than most people expected considering they were without their top running back in Steven Jackson and wide receiver Danny Amendola. Despite these injuries, St. Louis seemed like they were ready to give New York a run for their money–but too many mistakes ended up costing them this game. On the bright side–at least Danario Alexandar (three catches for 122 yards with one touchdown) and Mike Sims-Walker (six catches for 92 yards) seem like they’re ready to step it up for Sam Bradford with Amendola out.
27. (25) Minnesota Vikings 0-2: With a 17-0 lead at halftime, the Vikings appeared to be in control of their home opener against the Buccaneers until giving it away in the second half. Adrian Peterson is obviously a key factor for how far this team will go–but Minnesota is in need of desperate help with their passing game beyond Percy Harvin. Considering they now play in arguably the toughest division in football, the Vikings are digging themselves in a deep hole early in the season and face a key division matchup next weekend against the surging 2-0 Lions.
28. (26) Carolina Panthers 0-2: Be honest–who could have predicted that Cam Newton would have 854 passing yards two weeks into the regular season? While his performances have been impressive, it still doesn’t change the fact that Carolina is 0-2 heading into Week 3 and the Heisman Trophy winner still has plenty of learning to do as an NFL quarterback. Despite the loss, Newton and the Panthers put up quite the fight against the Packers in Week 2 and it should be considered a positive considering how awful they looked last season.
29. (21) Indianapolis Colts 0-2: With all due respect to the Browns, this was one of those games circled on the calendar by the Colts when the 2011 schedule was released and marked as a “game we should win.” Obviously, Peyton Manning’s injury has played a major factor with the struggles from Indianapolis over the first two weeks–but the future Hall of Fame quarterback has nothing to do with how the defense and special teams performs. As bad as it sounds, wins will most likely be rare for the Colts this season and this was one of those games they could have easily won.
30. (29) Cincinnati Bengals 1-1: It’s hard to believe how close the Bengals were to being 2-0 on top of the AFC North at this point in the season, but they just couldn’t pull through against the Broncos. Still, this team has plenty to be excited about and should be pleased with how rookies Andy Dalton (332 passing yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions) and A.J. Green (10 catches for 124 yards and one touchdown) looked against Denver and these two studs are already showing huge potential for this young Cincinnati squad.
31. (30) Seattle Seahawks 0-2: If it wasn’t for the poor play by the Chiefs over the first two weeks, it’s safe to say the Seahawks would be the clear favorites for the bottom of this list considering they’ve managed to put up just 14 points through the first two games of the 2011 season. This team was clearly in over their heads against a much more talented Pittsburgh squad, but the fact that it took Seattle until the fourth quarter just to cross the 50-yard line is nothing short of pathetic. On the bright side, at least the Seahawks can always bounce back considering they’re part of the weakest division in football with the NFC West.
32. (28) Kansas City Chiefs 0-2: First they lost Eric Berry for the season and now the Chiefs will have to adjust to life without Jamaal Charles–who tore his ACL in the first quarter against the Lions–for the 2011 season. It’s safe to say Kansas City has officially hit rock bottom after scoring a combined 10 points over the last two weeks. Who would have thought the defending AFC West champions would be this bad already just two games into the 2011 season?
Dan Parzych is the Lead NFL Content Editor for www.RantSports.com/NFL, where he writes and edits NFL content for www.RantSports.com.
Be sure to follow Dan on Twitter @DanParzych
Email Dan: [email protected]
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