NFL Power Rankings: Teams That Desperately Need a Week 3 Win

We've played two weeks of the 2012 NFL season and while six teams are sitting pretty at 2-0, for the same number of teams the exact opposite is true.

Half a dozen NFL clubs find themselves in the dreaded 0-2 hole. That makes their quest for the postseason all the more difficult, as since the National Football League expanded to its current playoff format in 1990, 88 percent of teams that started 0-2 have gone on to miss the playoffs.

Needless to say those teams all badly need a win in Week 3, but they're not the only teams that enter the third week of the 2012 campaign in that situation. So let's take a look at the NFL's current pecking order, with an emphasis on squads that desperately need to find their way into the win column this week.

1. San Francisco 49ers (2-0): With two convincing wins over playoff teams from last year, a smothering defense and an improved passing attack, it's hard to argue that the 49ers aren't the NFL's best team through two games.

2. Houston Texans (2-0): The Texans have looked dominant so far this season, but it will be interesting to see how they fare in Week 3 against their first opponent of the season who isn't covered in frosting and sprinkles.

3. Atlanta Falcons (2-0): The new up-tempo offense of the Atlanta Falcons was the talk of the preseason, but it was the play of their defense against the Denver Broncos that was the big story on Monday night.

4. Baltimore Ravens (1-1): After destroying the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1 the Ravens came back to earth in Week 2, and the team needs to get Ray Rice more involved offensively after all but abandoning the run late against the Philadelphia Eagles.

5. New England Patriots (1-1): As bad as the New England Patriots last-second loss to the Arizona Cardinals was it wasn't even the worst news of the day for the Pats, as the team also lost star tight end Aaron Hernandez to a high ankle sprain that will sideline the third-year pro indefinitely.

Now the Patriots have to travel to Baltimore for a Sunday night rematch of last year's AFC Championship game. New England defensive coordinator Matt Patricia told Field Yates of ESPN Boston the team is busy preparing for Baltimore's new no-huddle offense.

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"I think every offense has some aspect of change of pace in your system, whatever it is," he said. "Two minute, no huddle, whatever you want to call it, obviously it looks like they're trying to implement more this year than maybe in the past, and are getting some excellent production out of it. Certainly it will be something that we have to contend with."

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6. Green Bay Packers (1-1): The Green Bay pass rush harassed Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler throughout the team's emphatic Week 2 win, and doing that consistently would do wonders for the Green bay defense.

7. Philadelphia Eagles (2-0): They aren't winning many style points doing it, and the Philadelphia Eagles can't keep turning the ball over, but wins are all that really count in the NFL and right now Philly has a pair.

8. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1): The Steelers absolutely manhandled the New York Jets last week without two of their defensive stars, but the lack of a running game has to be some cause for concern.

9. San Diego Chargers (2-0): Granted, the Chargers haven't exactly played two powerhouses (more like two powderpuffs), it doesn't take away from the fact that they've started 2-0 despite being shorthanded on offense.

10. New York Giants (1-1): The defending champs narrowly avoided an 0-2 start with a wild comeback win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but if their vaunted defensive line doesn't start generating some pressure, the Giants are going to be in trouble.

11. Denver Broncos (1-1): As much as folks overreacted to how good Peyton Manning looked in Week 1, they're equally as horrified by his Week 2 stinker. But the fact is given his layoff there were bound to be bumps in the road.

However, The Broncos are now staring at the very real possibility of going down two games to the San Diego Chargers and face a very tough matchup against a formidable Houston Texans team, and Manning told Eddie Pells of The Huffington Post that he knows he needs to take better care of the football for the Broncos to come out victorious Sunday.

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"Each turnover has its own story that no one really wants to hear," Manning said. "I've just got to take care of the ball better."

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12. Arizona Cardinals (2-0): Many may decry this ranking as being too high, but the Arizona Cardinals are a better football team than many people realize, having won nine of their last 11 games dating back to last season.

13. Detroit Lions (1-1): Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions offense has looked out of sync for much of the first two games, and the Lions secondary is the mess we though it would be. This is a team that could lose 10 games as easily as they could win them.

14. Dallas Cowboys (1-1): The Dallas Cowboys looked great in beating the defending champions on opening night, and then got absolutely manhandled by the Seahawks on Sunday. In other words, it's the same Cowboys club that their fans have come to know and love/loathe, depending on the week.

15. Chicago Bears (1-1): The team got some good news when it was revealed that running back Matt Forte's ankle sprain wasn't as bad as originally feared. Now if they can just get the offensive line to block and get quarterback Jay Cutler to act like he's more than 12-years-old.

16. Cincinnati Bengals (1-1): The Bengals rebounded from their Week 1 blowout loss with a win over the Cleveland Browns, but giving up 68 points in their first two games raises serious concerns about their defense.

17. Seattle Seahawks (1-1): After losing a heartbreaker to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1 the Seahawks responded by throttling the Dallas Cowboys, and a team that many had pegged as a playoff sleeper in the NFC may have just woken up.

We could find out Monday night when the Green bay Packers visit Qwest Field, and with Seattle needing to keep pace with San Francisco and Arizona, head coach Pete Carroll told Danny O' Neill of The Seattle Times that the celebration of the team's big win over Dallas will be short-lived.

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We'll see what happens. We'll see how it goes. That was a pretty high-flying offense this last week, and fortunately we could find a way. Look who we're going against this week. We get to start all over again. We'll find out [how good we are].

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18. Carolina Panthers (1-1): This is a team that could either jump half a dozen spots this week or drop just as far, depending on how they fare when the New York Giants come to town on Thursday night.

19. New York Jets (1-1): I caught a ton of flak for where I ranked the Jets after their win over the Bills, but Cinderella turned back into a pumpkin, and the countdown on the Tebow timer may have just started in earnest.

20. Washington Redskins (1-1): Given how well Robert Griffin III has played I'm tempted to rank the Redskins higher, but the losses of Brain Orakpo and Adam Carriker for the season are devastating blows to the Washington pass rush.

21. Buffalo Bills (1-1): The loss of Fred Jackson could turn out to be a blessing in disguise, as C.J. Spiller is showing the potential to become one of the National Football League's most dangerous ball carriers.

22. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1): The Buccaneers won a slopfest in Week 1 and gave the Giants all they could handle in Week 2, but instead of discussing their improved play head coach Greg Schiano's end-of-game bush-league nonsense against New York has been the dominant topic of conversation.

23. St. Louis Rams (1-1): I stated last week that the Rams showed some signs of life in the loss at Detroit, and the team took a big step towards respectability by hanging in there for a big win over the Washington Redskins in their home opener. Next up? Chicago on the road in a true test of their progress.

24. Miami Dolphins (1-1): Realistically the Dolphins aren't going anywhere this season, but given their stout defense this is a team that could be a tough out all season long in games where they can get Reggie Bush going.

25. New Orleans Saints (0-2): There are teams that badly need a win, teams that desperately need a win, teams that need a win in the worst possible, and then there's the New Orleans Saints.

For the second week in a row, a team that had Super Bowl aspirations before the season got absolutely gashed in a loss to the Carolina Panthers. Interim head coach Aaron Kromer told Gary Estwick of the Biloxi Sun-Herald that he's confident the team can right the ship.

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"There's no way possible you can say we're not a good football team. Are we playing great right now? No. Not good enough to win. But we need to be nine points better than we are right now. That's not asking a lot."

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26. Minnesota Vikings (1-1): The Vikings backslid significantly last week with their road loss to the Indianapolis Colts, and things aren't going to get any easier when the San Francisco 49ers visit the Metrodome Sunday.

27. Indianapolis Colts (1-1): It may seem a little odd to see the Colts ranked behind the Vikings given that Indy just beat them, but frankly the Colts just don't have the talent on either side of the ball that the Vikes do.

28. Kansas City Chiefs (0-2): A team that many though might be a dark-horse playoff contender has gotten pummeled two weeks in a row, and there are more questions swirling around the Chiefs right now than answers.

29. Tennessee Titans (0-2): The Titans have been blown out twice, running back Chris Johnson has looked positively awful and dissension and finger-pointing is already starting to permeate the locker room. Not good.

30. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2): It appears that any progress that quarterback Blaine Gabbert may have shown in the preseason was a mirage, as he and the Jaguars offense were historically dreadful in the loss to Houston.

31. Oakland Raiders (0-2): I know that West Coast teams have a tendency to struggle in early East Coast starts and that the Raiders historically don't fare well in Miami, but getting blown out 35-13 by a mediocre Dolphins team is just embarrassing.

32. Cleveland Browns (0-2): Rookies Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden gave Cleveland fans a glimmer of hope for the future in last week's loss to the Bengals. That's good, because the present is going to be a nightmare.

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