This is not the standings, nor your typical power rankings. Just like a 12-pack, you feel great about the first one, and the idea of a Super Bowl gets fuzzier by number 12.
1. Kansas City Chiefs
They’re back. The Chiefs gave the league a break last year, but they regained their place atop the league. Kenneth Walker is proving to be the single most impactful free-agent signing. Having a running game that has to be respected gives Patrick Mahomes a clearer picture on offense to do damage. Travis Kelce looks rejuvenated with all the open space in zone defenses. The defense has some work to do, but Steve Spagnuolo has coached that unit up before.
2. Seattle Seahawks
Pump the brakes on the loss. Yes, it was Washington with a backup quarterback, but they were on a 12-game heater dating back to last season. They were due for a “throwaway-the-tape” game. They had three turnovers, were four of five in the red zone, and they lost by two in a rainstorm. They are going to be fine.
3. San Francisco 49ers
The injury report gets longer for the Niners each week, but it seems to only make Brock Purdy and Fred Warner stronger. Purdy has a league-leading 133 passer rating, nine touchdowns to one pick, and is completing 72% of his throws to a diverse group of receivers. Warner is flying around the field, holding the defense together. With 15 players on IR, San Fran is still 3-0 with the best point differential in the league.
4. Buffalo Bills
The Bills look like the best team in football, so how can they be number four? Well, they looked like the best team in September last year, and the year before that, and so on back to 2020. Kudos for winning a game where you had five turnovers, but there’s no reason to overreact to the status quo. Josh Allen is great, but they can’t be higher until the first month of the season translates to January.
5. Chicago Bears
Ben Johnson might be the next offensive genius. 59 points in Week 1 and carved up a loaded Eagles defense with Case Keenum, who hasn’t started a game in two years. No, they couldn’t generate offense against the Vikings, who blitzed at an 80% rate in bad weather. It doesn’t matter. As long as the defense can continue to generate turnovers, the offense will make the most of the extra possessions.
6. Jacksonville Jaguars
Speaking of offensive brilliance, Liam Cohen is quietly putting in a masterclass. Trevor Lawrence was painted as a disappointment, and now he’s showing why he was the runaway number one pick. They’ve played one bad quarter through three weeks that let Denver steal a game. The defense is a force, and Lawrence playing at this level makes them a quiet contender.
7. Cincinnati Bengals
An ugly loss on Sunday, but Pittsburgh has been a great home divisional underdog for years. The offense is still elite with Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, but now the defense looks like a real unit. Burrow isn’t going to have to win by shootout all the time anymore. That loss was a sigh of relief for the rest of the AFC to know that there are cracks in the armor. Still, Burrow’s injury history looms over as a concern that could wreck the season at any moment.
8. Baltimore Ravens
Sunday provided a fork in the road for the Ravens. Either the Cowboys butchered the late-game situation to hand the win away, or that was a turning point, and the fourth-quarter demons have been exorcised. If it’s the former, they may be too high on this list; if the latter, they may be too low. This could be the light that finally went on, just like a three-point shooter on a bad night finally seeing one go through. Lamar Jackson is showing why last year was a fluke, and the defense showed out when they needed to. This team is trending in the right direction.
9. Minnesota Vikings
Someone check on Brian Flores because he might have lost his mind. An 80% blitz rate? Regardless of his apparent vendetta against every quarterback in the league, Minnesota is 3-0 with Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz starting games at quarterback. This run could continue with their schedule over the next month, but there is reasonable skepticism as to how sustainable this method will be.
10. Philadelphia Eagles
Have the Eagles looked like a top-ten team in any of their games? No, but they haven’t looked that caliber in a regular-season game since 2022, and they won a Super Bowl during that time. Their plan seems to be to play well enough to get to a Conference Championship Game, and then Jalen Hurts will turn it on. It’s a risky game to play as they’ve had two first-round exits, but Philly doesn’t seem interested in finding another way.
11. Denver Broncos
If games were only fourth quarters, Denver would probably be number one. The switch that Bo Nix has been able to flip in those moments is nothing short of extraordinary. Still, they need to find ways to generate offense earlier in games to avoid needing miraculous comebacks. Sometimes the deficit is too much, like in Week 1, to have a chance to claw the whole way back.
12. Los Angeles Rams
Injuries and self-inflicted wounds have been the story for the Rams so far. Maybe get to Australia more than 18 hours before kickoff, and maybe don’t play right into Denver’s hands in the second half, and you’ll be rolling at 3-0. That roster is still too good to lose faith in. Myles Garrett will return to help generate edge pressure, and Puka Nacua will be back as a safety net for the passing game. Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay have their work cut out for them to right this ship in the meantime.
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