By National Football Post
Every week, the National Football Post brings you our weekly NFL Power Rankings: a breakdown of how we stack up the league.
Week 3 Rankings (previous ranking in parentheses)
1. (3) San Francisco 49ers (2-0): As long as Alex Smith continues to play at a high level we have no problem calling the 49ers the best team in the league.
2. (4) Green Bay Packers (1-1): When was the last time we talked about the Packers playing a dominant defensive game?
3. (6) Atlanta Falcons (2-0): Matt Ryan went to work on the Broncos' defense and the Falcons secondary was all over Peyton Manning in the Atlanta win.
4. (1) New England Patriots (1-1): Did Arizona just expose more flaws in the Patriots’ O-Line during the upset win in Foxborough?
5. (14) Philadelphia Eagles (2-0): A big jump for Philly in our rankings after the win over the Ravens, but the turnovers are still an issue for Vick and the offense.
6. (4) Baltimore Ravens (1-1): The Joe Flacco talk has slowed down this week after the Eagles limited the Ravens’ QB in the second half.
7. (5) Houston Texans (2-0): Anyone surprised to see the Texans defense beat up on Blaine Gabbert and the Jags?
8. (10) Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1): Forget the final score, the Steelers handled the Jets on Sunday.
9. (7) New York Giants (1-1): Eli Manning threw for over 500-yards and the Giants scored 25 fourth quarter points to avoid starting in an 0-2 hole.
10. (8) Denver Broncos (1-1): Turn the ball over on the road and you will usually get on the plane with a loss. Poor night from Manning and the Broncos.
11. (26) Arizona Cardinals (2-0): How many teams will copy the Cards’ defensive game plan vs. the Patriots?
12. (16) San Diego Chargers (2-0): Norv Turner and the Chargers are 2-0, but let’s hold off on the hype until San Diego faces some top competition.
13. (13) Detroit Lions (1-1): Detroit need to get healthy in the secondary.
14. (18) Cincinnati Bengals (1-1): The Bengals got the win over Cleveland, but after two weeks they lead the league is sacks given up (10).
15. (27) Seattle Seahawks (1-1): The Seahawks whipped the Cowboys on defense and special teams. That sells at home.
16. (9) Chicago Bears (1-1): The Bears still don’t have an answer for Packers’ defensive coordinator Dom Capers
17. (21) Carolina Panthers (1-1): The Panthers got back to the ground game to knock off the Saints.
18. (12) Dallas Cowboys (1-1): The Cowboys looked unprepared and soft in the loss to Seattle.
19. (17) Washington Redskins (1-1): The ‘Skins dropped a game on the road in St. Louis, but we still like this offense with RG3 running the show.
20. (11) New Orleans Saints (0-2): This defense is New Orleans is really suspect right now.
21. (20) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1): The Tampa secondary played big in the first half vs. the Giants, but they vanished when they had a shot to close out the game.
22. (15) New York Jets (1-1): How quickly the Week 1 offensive production of the Sanchez and the Jets is forgotten after the loss to Pittsburgh.
23. (23) St. Louis Rams (1-1): A note to the Bears: the ball is going to WR Danny Amendola when Sam Bradford drops back to pass this Sunday at Soldier Field.
24. (24) Buffalo Bills (1-1): C.J. Spiller is running like a first round pick.
25. (19) Kansas City Chiefs (0-2): Where's the defense? Two straight blowout losses for K.C.
26. (31) Miami Dolphins (1-1): The best thing for a rookie QB: the run game. Reggie Bush carried the load in the Dolphins win.
27. (24) Oakland Raiders (0-2): The Raiders are moving backwards—again.
28. (30) Indianapolis Colts (1-1): Andrew Luck is going to hook up with Reggie Wayne all season long in Indy.
29. (25) Minnesota Vikings (1-1): The Vikings could be in trouble vs. the rest of the NFC North.
30. (28) Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2): The Jags were exposed offensively in the loss to the Texans.
31. (29) Tennessee Titans (0-2): The Titans need some kind of production from Chris Johnson to compete.
32. (32) Cleveland Browns (0-2): The two rookies—Weeden and Richardson—put up some numbers, but it’s still another loss for the Browns.
Follow the NFP on Twitter: @FootballPost