Week 3 NFL Power Poll: San Francisco 49ers Still on Top

1. San Francisco (2-0) Wait, the offense is converting third downs now? Game over, man, game over. Last week: 1. Up next: @Minnesota.

2. Houston (2-0)  A ferocious 3-4 defense led by a stud defensive end, a maddeningly consistent running game and a quarterback who thrives in the play-action. All Gary Kubiak needs to do is start asking “Who’s got it better than us?” Last week: 4. Up next: @Denver.

3. Green Bay (1-1) Clay Matthews is your early—very early—front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year. Also, it took a Week 1 thumping by the Niners to make Mike McCarthy realize he needs balance for his offense. Last week: 6. Up next: @Seattle, Monday night.

4. Atlanta (2-0) Matt Ryan is the highest-rated passer in football, with a 117.6 rating through two games. Until he figures it out in the playoffs though, no one will care. The secondary survived its first test without Brent Grimes, but there will be plenty more. Last week: 10. Up next: @San Diego. 

5. New York Giants (1-1) Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles fans may protest, but the defending champs deserve the benefit of the doubt in the early going. Eli Manning remains terrifying in the fourth quarter. Last Week: 9. Up next: @Carolina, Thursday night.

6. New England (1-1) Aaron Hernandez's high-ankle sprain will draw the headlines, but the real story is how vulnerable that offensive line looks. Also, for all that Chandler Jones hype, the Pats have three sacks in two games. Last week: 3. Up next: @Baltimore, Sunday night.

7. San Diego (2-0) The Chargers have survived two games without Ryan Mathews and one without Antonio Gates, but what do we know about them besides that they can stop the run and beat crappy teams? This week will reveal some clues. Last week: 15. Up next: Vs. Atlanta.

8. Philadelphia (2-0) I can't put them any higher, not with the nine turnovers through two games. The defense looks legit, but they benefited from some fortunate calls and some head-scratching play-calling by the Ravens on Sunday. The loss of center Jason Kelce is big. Last week: 14. Up next: @Arizona.

9. Baltimore (1-1) I swear, three or four times a season Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron forgets he has the best running back in the league on his team. Baltimore had at least five 3rd-and-twos at Philly and passed on them all while converting none. Last week: 2. Up next: Vs. New England, Sunday night.

10. Seattle (1-1) Over the 2-0 Cardinals who beat both them and the Patriots on the road? Yeah. I have a lot more faith in Seattle's offense, particularly Marshawn Lynch. And that defense pounded the Cowboys, which always warms the cockles of my black heart. Last week: 20. Up next: Vs. Green Bay, Monday night.

11.  Dallas (1-1) Here you go, Cowboys fans, and you're only this high because I'm in a good mood. Quit whining about penalties and holding calls and just play, OK? Seattle punched them in the mouth and they folded. Last week: 8. Up next: Vs. Tampa Bay.

12.  Chicago (1-1) Their defense deserved better last week, but were completely let down by the fellas on the other side of the ball and the special teams units. I love their corner tandem of Charles Tillman and Tim Jennings. I also love left tackle J'Marcus Webb because he gets Jay Cutler pounded. Last week: 5. Up next: Vs. St. Louis.

13.  Denver (1-1) Manning still doesn't have much on the ball, but his arm seems to warm up over the course of the game. Maybe he needs more warm-up throws. The work of the defense in the face of all those short fields was impressive. Last week: 12. Up next: Vs. Houston.

14. Arizona (2-0) This feels like the right spot for our final 2-0 team. What can I say, I have no faith whatsoever in their offense. Beat the Eagles and we'll talk. Last week: 19. Up next: Vs. Philadelphia.

15. Pittsburgh (1-1) Pretty impressive showing against the Jets without Troy Polamalu and James Harrison. Now do it against an NFL offense (checks schedule) which you won't face this week either. Last week: 18. Up next: @Oakland.

16.  St. Louis (1-1) This might be the highest ranking for the Rams in the past five seasons, but give them their due. They played the Lions very tough on the road and outlasted Robert Griffin III on Sunday. Their defensive front must be licking their chops watching the Bears film. Last week: 26. Up next: @Chicago.

17. Washington (1-1) The Redskins are ahead of schedule, they usually wait until Week 4 or 5 to go down the tubes. I won't pick on Joshua Morgan, the poor guy's had enough. I'll just say I feel bad for them that they've lost their two best pass rushers for the season. A promising season ruined already. Last week: 7. Up next: Vs. Cincinnati.

18. Detroit (1-1) This just in: The Lions defense stinks. Alex Smith completed 20-of-31 against them, and seven of the 11 completions were flat drops while an eighth occurred due to a missed pass interference penalty. Also, an offense that can't mix in a play-action pass is doomed in today's NFL. Last week: 13. Up next: @Tennessee.

19. New York Jets (1-1) Give Tebow a start and have it come out that the replacement referee crew are a bunch of evangelical Christians and University of Florida alums. It'll be funny, I swear. Last week: 11. Up next: @Miami.

20. Tampa Bay (1-1) It's pretty hard to win without a pass rush, but the Bucs have made a fine go of it through two games. At least they're stopping the run, so that's progress. For all of Greg Schiano's tough talk, I didn't see the big hits during Sunday's game that I saw them lay on Carolina in Week 1. Last week: 17. Up next: @Dallas.

21. Carolina (1-1) Seriously, is there a team in the league more fundamentally unchanged from 2011 than the Panthers? Literally everything about them, for better or worse (mostly the latter) remains the same. Last week: 25. Up next: Vs. New York Giants, Thursday night.

22. Buffalo (1-1) Their game plan against the Chiefs, who allowed Matt Ryan to slice them up in Week 1, revealed that the coaches know the jig is up with Ryan Fitzpatrick. The dude has no arm and the league knows it. It's gonna be "The C.J. Spiller Show" from here on out. At least the pass rush showed up. Last week: 22. Up next: @Cleveland.

23. Miami (1-1) You don't need a good quarterback, receivers or any defensive players anyone's heard of. You just need Reggie Bush, gobs and gobs of Reggie Bush. And to play the Raiders every week. Last week: 32. Up next: Vs. New York Jets.

24. Cincinnati (1-1) The Bengals gave up over 300 yards passing to Brandon Weeden, over 100 yards rushing to Trent Richardson and allowed six sacks against the Browns...and somehow still won. A glass half-full guy might point to that as a good sign of a resilient team. I, however, think they might stink. Last week: 23. Up next: @Washington.

25. New Orleans (0-2) I think the Saints defense might not be that good this year, you guys. Last week: 16. Up next: Vs. Kansas City.

26. Indianapolis (1-1) Quite possibly the least talented team in the NFL, but at least they've got that whole "franchise quarterback" thing settled for the next 15 years. Last week: 30. Up next: Vs. Jacksonville.

27. Minnesota (1-1) The only NFC team to lose to the AFC so far (7-1), and they did it by dropping one to the lowly Colts. Also, they're terribly coached. Last week: 21. Up next: Vs. San Francisco.

28. Cleveland (0-2) A hard luck 0-2, but 0-2 nonetheless. They're the only one of the cellar dwellers who have anything good to feel about though, so there's that. Last week: 31. Up next: Vs. Buffalo.

29. Kansas City (0-2) It could be worse. Jamaal Charles could be hinting that his knee's not feeling too well. Last week: 24. Up next: @New Orleans.

30. Tennessee (0-2) They stink, but the schedule (vs. NE, at SD) hasn't been kind. By comparison the Lions at home should be a breeze. Last week: 27. Up next: Vs. Detroit.

31. Oakland (0-2) They have a quarterback, at least, sort of. Last week: 28. Up next: Vs. Pittsburgh.

32. Jacksonville (0-2) This may be unfair, as lots of teams will be thumped by the Texans this year. But I never promised to be fair. Last week: 29. Up next: @Indianapolis.

Thursday Pick:

Carolina (+2) 27, NY Giants 23

2012 Season W-L Record: 19-13 (11-5 last week)

2012 Record Vs. Spread: 17-13-2 (11-3-2 last week)