MC's Week Three NFL Power Rankings

(Photo by Scott Boehm/Getty Images)

After watching five of the top six teams in the rankings go down hard, all of the new top six survived this time.

As of now, there are still seven remaining NFL teams looking to knock on Mercury Morris' door, and there are seven others possibly looking at making the Lions feel better about their 0-16 season last year.

For the first time, the New York Jets did not make the biggest climb in the rankings. The Detroit Lions made the biggest jump, going from dead last to 27th after their first win in 75 years...feels like that long, at least.

The Pittsburgh Steelers once again took the hardest fall going from eighth to 15th.

And here's the rest.

1. New York Giants—There was concern after giving up 251 rushing yards to the Dallas Cowboys last week. Just 28 rushing yards allowed to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. Previous ranking: 1 

2. New York Jets—Finally, an offense was able to put up a couple scores on the New York Jets, but the defense also forced four turnovers and remains undefeated. Previous ranking: 2 

3. Minnesota Vikings—People get tired of the talk about Brett Favre and I'm included in this. However, the block he threw way down-field speaks volumes about the way he has played the game of football. And, of course, a nice game-winning drive was capped off by Greg Lewis doing an unbelievable job of keeping his feet in bounds on the game-winning catch. Previous ranking: 3 

4. Baltimore Ravens—This last one was against the Cleveland Browns, but it looks like Joe Flacco has taken another step forward this year, setting a new personal high for passing yards in a game on Sunday. He has nearly 900 yards on the season already, with six TDs to two INTs. Previous ranking: 4 

5. Indianapolis Colts—Peyton Manning has 983 passing yards and seven TDs already...on his way to a fourth MVP possibly? Previous ranking: 5 

6. New Orleans Saints—Drew Brees did the unthinkable and not throw a TD at Buffalo on Sunday, but it didn't matter as the Saints rushed for over 220 yards and won easily. The Saints winning with the running game like that would have been unthinkable in the past couple of years. Previous ranking: 6 

7. Philadelphia Eagles—Clobbering the Chiefs without Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook might say a lot about how bad Kansas City really is, but kudos to Kevin Kolb for solidifying a job as the primary backup QB when McNabb comes back. Previous ranking: 10 

8. San Diego Chargers—Less than three YPC for Darren Sproles on the season. I'm sure the Chargers are glad they finally did re-signed LaDanian Tomlinson this offseason and I'm sure they are hoping he is back soon. Previous ranking: 9 

9. New England Patriots—Have not lost consecutive games since 2006. Previous ranking: 11 

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