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I have waited until the end of the first 3 weeks of the NFL season to come out with my first power rankings of the year. There have been plenty of surprises over the first few weeks, and I do expect a LOT of movement in these rankings going forward.

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Josh Allen’s MVP season is well underway, and no team in football has scored more points than the Bills (112) or has a higher point differential (+64). At the moment, they are the best team in football.

Good teams find ways to win, and that’s exactly what the Chiefs are doing. They have a combined +13-point differential in their three wins, and their offense heavily relies on star receiver Rashee Rice, who leads the league in receptions (24) and ranks second in receiving yards (288).

The Lions secured a much-needed bounce-back win against the Cardinals, rushing for 187 yards and holding Arizona to just 277 total yards of offense. Goff has looked shaky to start the season, but as long as Detroit continues to run the ball effectively, the passing game should improve.

Sam Darnold has been incredible to start the season. Through three games, he has thrown for 657 yards and a league-leading 8 touchdowns. I have my doubts about whether this team can sustain its success long-term, but I’m here for the entertainment while they’re hot.

Justin Fields has done enough to avoid losing games for the Steelers, and that’s all you need when your defense is allowing a league-best 8.6 points per game.

Jalen Hurts continues to hurt the team with his turnovers, but Saquon Barkley is proving to be potentially the best offseason acquisition in the league. Better decision-making from the coaching staff and an increased impact from DT Jalen Carter will make this team dangerous moving forward.

The Texans were unable to establish any sort of run game against the Vikings, managing just 38 yards rushing on the day. Their longest carry was 9 yards by Cam Akers. Pass protection also struggled, allowing 5 sacks. However, the Texans still have one of the most lethal passing attacks in the league, and I expect a major bounce back in Week 4 against the Jaguars

The Seahawks are one of the biggest surprises in the league to start this season, going 3-0 while having the 10th-highest scoring offense (24.3 ppg) and the 4th-best scoring defense (14.3 ppg). Their schedule hasn’t been difficult up to this point, but they will face their first real test against a talented Detroit team on Monday.

The Saints led the Eagles 3-0 for most of the game on Sunday until they allowed Saquon Barkley to score a 65-yard rushing touchdown to start the fourth quarter. The offense didn’t look as good as it did in the previous two weeks, but they still rank as the second-highest scoring offense (34.3 ppg) and the fifth-best scoring defense (14.6 ppg). They aim to get back on track against division rival Atlanta on Sunday.

Malik Willis has done well in the absence of Jordan Love, throwing for 324 yards and 2 touchdowns with 0 interceptions in 2 games. The only reason why I did not put them higher is the difficulty of schedule they have faced. Jordan Love will likely make his return against the Vikings this week, which will give us an opportunity to evaluate how good this Packers team can be.

Rodgers looked like he turned back the clock in Thursday night’s win against the Patriots. The Jets have established a great run game, a dominant defense, and if Rodgers continues playing mistake-free football, this team can make a deep playoff run.

The San Francisco 49ers are one of the teams plagued by injuries. They were missing Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and star running back Christian McCaffrey (who is now in Germany getting his tendinitis examined) in their 3-point loss to the Rams. Jauan Jennings looked unstoppable, but the chemistry between Brock Purdy and Brandon Aiyuk needs to improve if this offense is to become the dominant force it was expected to be this season.

I won’t read too much into the loss against the Broncos, but it was an all-around terrible performance on both sides of the ball. The good news is that Chris Godwin and Baker Mayfield have developed excellent chemistry. The Buccaneers will look to use this to bounce back against a tough Eagles team on Sunday.

Finally, the Ravens get a win after losing their previous two meetings against the Chiefs and the Raiders by a total of 10 points. The run game was stellar against the Cowboys, with the team rushing for 274 yards. Lamar Jackson has struggled with his passing early in the season, and in their victory, he only threw the ball 15 times. Next up for the Ravens is a matchup against the Bills on Sunday Night Football.

The Cowboys nearly pulled off a miraculous comeback against the Ravens, scoring 19 points in just under six minutes to cut the deficit to three points in the fourth quarter. As has been the story all season, the Cowboys struggled to stop the run, allowing the Ravens to seal the game on their final drive. To remain competitive this year, the Cowboys need to improve both their run game and their ability to stop opposing rushing attacks.

The injuries to Justin Herbert, Rashawn Slater, and Joe Alt are major concerns for the Chargers. This is one of the most banged-up teams in the NFL, and if these players miss significant time, the road to the playoffs will look very grim.

The Jayden Daniels era is officially upon us. Daniels looked incredibly impressive on Monday night, breaking the NFL record for rookie completion percentage in a game with 91.3%. Washington is now the league’s fifth-highest scoring offense at 26.3 points per game, but their defense is allowing the fourth-most points per game at 29.3.

The Cardinals were a team I was high on coming into the season. Their offense has performed well so far, but it was shut down by the Lions on Sunday, managing only 277 total yards. The Kyler Murray to Marvin Harrison connection is one to be excited about for Cardinals fans, and they have a showdown against the Commanders in Week 4.

So far, the Kirk Cousins-led Falcons have been underwhelming. They rank in the bottom seven for scoring offense and average near the middle of the pack in most statistical categories. They will need to improve the efficiency of their offense if they want to make a run at the NFC South title.

The Rams secured a massive win against the 49ers on Sunday, and they did it without Cooper Kupp or Puka Nacua. If the team can continue clawing out hard-fought wins until they return, they could be a serious playoff threat once again.

The Browns are stuck in a position no team wants to be. They rank in the bottom half of almost every major statistical category, Deshaun Watson has been sacked a league-high 16 times, and they are struggling with pass protection due to injuries on their offensive line. On the positive side, Amari Cooper was finally more involved on Sunday, and they’ll need to keep finding him to establish a more effective passing attack.

The Dolphins are the team most impacted by quarterback injuries to start this season. Tua is out until at least week 8, and Skylar Thompson suffered a rib injury in the loss to the Seahawks. This leaves Tyler Huntley and Tim Boyle as starting options. They have the 1-2 Patriots and the 0-3 Titans in their next two games to try to stay alive early in the season.

The Colts have finally found themselves in the win column after close losses to the Texans and Packers. This is a talented squad led by star running back Jonathan Taylor, but Anthony Richardson will need to claw his way out of his league-worst 49.3% completion rate for the offense to reach its full potential.

The Broncos were impressive in their win over the Buccaneers. Bo Nix looked good, the offensive line performed well, they pressured Baker Mayfield and sacked him seven times, and Pat Surtain clamped down Mike Evans. If they can string together a couple of wins, I will happily move them up the rankings.

The Bears have raised more questions than they’ve answered so far this season. They rank 31st in the league with just 218 rushing yards, are struggling with protection issues, and Caleb Williams has not performed well. Keenan Allen may return this week, giving Williams a chance to build on his best performance yet, where he threw for 363 yards on 52 attempts in their loss to the Colts.

The Raiders defeated the Ravens in Baltimore but then returned home to lose to the Carolina Panthers by 14 points. They rank dead last in the league in rushing yards, averaging just 51 yards per game, and the passing game isn’t lifting the team as it should, given the talented weapons that they have.

The Bengals reached the red zone four times against the Commanders, coming away with three field goals and one touchdown. Their defense allowed Jayden Daniels to look like a prime Tom Brady, and they lost starting right tackle Trent Brown for the season. Winnable games are on the horizon, and they’ll need to find some chemistry if they want to make an improbable playoff run.

The Giants allowed the Browns to score just five seconds into the game, falling behind 7-0 early. They then responded with 21 straight points, featuring two touchdowns from Malik Nabers and a rushing score from Devin Singletary. However, they still have the fourth-lowest scoring offense in the league at 15 points per game, and their upcoming schedule will be a brutal stretch.

Andy ‘Red Rifle’ Dalton made the offense look competent in Week 3, scoring 36 points against the Raiders while throwing for 319 yards and three touchdowns. We may have seen the last of Bryce Young’s short career in Carolina, as the team looked much better with Dalton at the helm. They still have one of the weakest rosters in the league, but they may not be the worst anymore.

Jacoby Brissett was sacked five times against the Jets, and when they brough back-up Drake Maye into the game, he was sacked another two times. Their offensive line clearly has issues, and they rank last in both passing and total yards this season. Up next is an injured 49ers team.

Trevor Lawrence has quietly been one of the worst quarterbacks in the league recently. This season, he has a completion rate of 52.8%, averaging 186.6 yards per game with just two total touchdowns. Dating back to last season, he is 0-8 in his last eight starts. The Jaguars have scored only 40 points this season and just allowed 47 to the Bills. Things are looking very grim in Jacksonville.

I expected the Panthers to be in this spot every week, but the Titans have done everything they can to earn it. The Titans have scored 17 points or fewer in every game, and Will Levis has looked bad in his sophomore season. He has a solid completion rate of 68.1%, but he has now turned the ball over eight times in three games, and has been sacked 15 times. They face a weak Dolphins team on Monday to try to clean up the offense.