The Chicago Bears were not the only team that's considered a contender that lost a heartbreaking or sloppy game over the weekend. There have been plenty of issues for just about every NFL team so far, including the ones expected to be great.
There have also been some good performances for teams expected to struggle. The New York Jets almost beat the Green Bay Packers to improve to 2-0. The Cleveland Browns won’t be going 0-17. Maybe the Los Angeles Rams are actually a dominant team.
This is an ever-changing league in terms of perception, and this is how the 32 NFL teams stack up heading into Week 3.
The Contenders
1. Seattle Seahawks (Last Week: 1)
2. Buffalo Bills (Last Week: 2)
3. Kansas City Chiefs (Last Week: 3)
4. San Francisco 49ers (Last Week: 7)
5. Denver
Broncos (Last Week: 6)
6. Baltimore Ravens (Last Week: 5)
7. Los Angeles Rams (Last Week: 8)
8. New England Patriots (Last Week: 9)
9. Philadelphia Eagles (Last Week: 10)
10. Minnesota Vikings (Last Week: 18)
11. Detroit Lions (Last Week: 12)
12. Cincinnati Bengals (Last Week: 13)
13. Chicago Bears (Last Week: 4)
14. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last Week: 14)
Some of the teams in this category are getting the benefit of the doubt after bad weeks. That includes the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, and Baltimore Ravens. All of them have head coaches, quarterbacks, or both that they trust to make sure that it was a one-week blunder.
Right now, the top four Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, and San Francisco 49ers look like the best of the best. Will that keep up? The Los Angeles Rams looked like the team that was hyped up coming into the season before a tough loss in Australia.
Every team in this tier has something about them that makes it seem like they could make a deep run come January. However, they all have something to be scared of as well.
Teams To Watch
15. Houston Texans (Last Week: 11)
16. Dallas Cowboys (Last Week: 16)
17. Indianapolis Colts (Last Week: 17)
18. Las Vegas Raiders (Last Week: 28)
19. Green Bay Packers (Last Week: 22)
Once again, the Houston Texans are getting a pass that they may or may not deserve. They have an incredibly hard schedule, and they haven't found a way to overcome it through two weeks. If the early season slide continues, it will be tough times there.
The Dallas Cowboys made a statement after their bad opening week. The Colts can say the same; they just didn't even their record because the Chiefs did what the Chiefs do.
Nobody had the Raiders or Packers at this spot, but for different reasons. A 10-team jump is the result of a 2-0 start for the Raiders, while the Packers were one overtime blunder away from being 0-2 at the hands of the New York Jets. Yes, those Jets.
More To Prove
20. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last Week: 21)
21. Washington Commanders (Last Week: 20)
22. Los Angeles Chargers (Last Week: 15)
23. Carolina Panthers (Last Week: 23)
24. New Orleans Saints (Last Week: 24)
25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last Week: 19)
26. New York Giants (Last Week: 25)
27. Cleveland Browns (Last Week: 31)
28. Atlanta Falcons (Last Week: 26)
29. Arizona Cardinals (Last Week: 27)
30. New York Jets (Last Week: 30)
31. Tennessee Titans (Last Week: 29)
32. Miami Dolphins (Last Week: 32)
Every team in the NFC South is in this lowly tier. One of them will have to emerge and even host a playoff game. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in a world of pain right now, but they have the talent to bounce back. Will the Saints or Panthers (not the Falcons) stand in their way?
As mentioned before, the Cleveland Browns won a game. However, they have a long way to go before we can think about raising them too much. Still, they are off to a better start than the Los Angeles Chargers, whose spot on the power ranking doesn't reflect how disappointing they've been. They have a great coach/quarterback combo, but that will be a saving grace for only so long. No team in NFL history has ever started 0-2 against two teams who each had a sub .200 winning percentage the year prior. That is the reality that the Chargers must come back from.
There are still a handful of winless teams, but it would be surprising if anyone dethrones the Miami Dolphins as the worst team in the league. They've managed to score just 26 points and have allowed 62. It will be a while before they even sniff the playoffs again.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: NFL Week 3 power rankings: Vikings rise, Bears tumble
