NFL Power Rankings 2018: How League Stacks Up Heading into Week 3 of Preseason

Typically, Week 3 of the NFL preseason is the closest clone of the real thing.

That's often when starters play the most in advance of the 16-game grind, before clubs back off their usage over the final week to (hopefully) keep them healthy.

In other words, if we're going to learn anything from these exhibitions, those lessons will most likely be taught this weekend. That said, we have seen enough to shake up our rankings a bit, which will follow below along with an interesting note about each of the 32 teams.

NFL Power Rankings

1. Los Angeles Rams

For all of the Rams' offseason work—adding Brandin Cooks, Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib and Ndamukong Suh to an 11-win team—the biggest reason behind this ranking is an in-house matter. Head coach Sean McVay says progress is being made on the contract front with four-time Pro Bowler Aaron Donald.

"There's been—let's put it this way, there's increased dialogue," McVay said, per the team's website. "There's more—we feel positive about the direction that these things are going."

2. Philadelphia Eagles

Matching last season's 10-1 start won't be easy with Carson Wentz still working his way back from a torn ACL and LCL, Alshon Jeffery coming off offseason shoulder surgery and Nick Foles suffering a minor shoulder strain in Week 2.

3. New England Patriots

After a customary rest in Week 1, Tom Brady wasted little time finding his groove in Week 2, totaling 172 yards and two scores on 19-of-26 passing in New England's 37-20 win over Philadelphia.

4. Minnesota Vikings

What does Minnesota know about undrafted rookie running backs that the rest of us don't? One week after Roc Thomas finished with 131 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns, Mike Boone stole the spotlight in Week 2 with 13 carries for 91 yards and a score.

5. New Orleans Saints

Taysom Hill is somehow still standing strong in his bid to back up Drew Brees despite a four-turnover performance against Arizona. Some might harp on the miscues, but they shouldn't overshadow his entire stat line—19-of-24 passing for 140 yards and 10 rushes for 95 yards and a touchdown.

"The sky's the limit for a guy like him, and the more reps that he gets in this offense, the more opportunities that he gets in competitive situations, the better he's going to get," Brees said, per NOLA.com's Jeff Duncan.

6. Pittsburgh Steelers

There are major question marks for this defense without Ryan Shazier, but the Steelers remain dangerous behind the league's best QB/WR/RB trio in Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell.

7. Jacksonville Jaguars

Blake Bortles hasn't looked great so far (212 passing yards, but no touchdowns and one interception), but with this defense, he doesn't need to. Last week, Jacksonville held Minnesota's starting offense to just three completions and three points.

8. Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta's offense might only have 14 points through two games, but who cares—Matt Ryan is 6-of-8 so far for 88 yards, one touchdown and zero sacks or interceptions.

9. Green Bay Packers

Jamaal Williams not only avoided a serious ankle injury last week, his stock was later boosted by a quote from his head coach that's sure to excite the fantasy football world.

"He's really poised to have a big year," Mike McCarthy said, per ESPN's Rob Demovsky. "Clearly without playing a game yet, I think we'll be talking about him at the end of the season as a second-year player that's made the jump."

10. Los Angeles Chargers

Philip Rivers only has two offensive series under his belt so far, but one produced a touchdown and collectively they yielded him six completions on seven attempts for 62 yards.

11. Houston Texans

Deshaun Watson (wisely) isn't running yet in his return from a torn ACL, but he's passing enough to tally 77 yards and a score on six completions. Good luck once the kid gloves come off.

12. Tennessee Titans

Second-year wideout Taywan Taylor is a burner. Just ask LeBron James.

Taylor averaged 14.4 yards per reception last season, and he's totaled five grabs for 104 yards and two scores so far.

13. Kansas City Chiefs

If you place any friendly wagers on Chiefs games this season (for entertainment purposes, obviously), think hard about hammering the over. There's so much big-play potential from the quintet of Patrick Mahomes, Kareem Hunt, Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins and Travis Kelce, but there might be just as much uncertainty with this defense.

14. Dallas Cowboys

Scary news out of Dallas with Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick announcing he is suffering from Guillain-Barre syndrome:

Sources told ESPN's Todd Archer it's possible Frederick could miss "multiple weeks of the season."

15. Carolina Panthers

While we could fret over the Panthers' problematic offensive line play, we'll instead focus on the massive positive from Week 2—Christian McCaffrey turning five rushes and four receptions into 120 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown.

16. San Francisco 49ers

Injury updates from the team's website show starting running back Jerick McKinnon is out for the preseason, and so are his understudies Matt Breida and Joe Williams ("at least" that long for the latter).  

The good news is Jimmy Garoppolo looked worthy of all the offseason hype, delivering 10-of-12 passing for 136 yards and a score in Week 2.

17. Chicago Bears

Mitchell Trubisky didn't play in the Hall of Fame Game, then he completed two passes (on four attempts) for only four yards in the second exhibition. So, that breeze you may have felt from the Windy City was a sigh of relief after the sophomore signal-caller upped the ante with 9-of-14 passing for 90 yards and a touchdown in Week 3.

"We can find answers in this offense," Trubisky told reporters. "The playmakers are going to get open. It's my job to get them the ball."

18. Baltimore Ravens

While a sluggish start could spur calls for dynamic rookie Lamar Jackson to play, Joe Flacco is giving himself a firm grip on the starting job. The former Super Bowl MVP has completed 75 percent of his passes for 143 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

19. Detroit Lions

With the ground game looking characteristically inconsistent, fans are getting anxious to see signs of life from Matthew Stafford. The 30-year-old has only played 13 snaps so far and has as many completions as sacks (two).

20. New York Giants

The Giants could be nearing a "record-breaking contract" agreement with Odell Beckham Jr., sources told ESPN's Jordan Raanan. Even more exciting is that No. 2 pick Saquon Barkley is back in practice after an eight-day layoff with a hamstring injury.

21. Oakland Raiders

#FreeKhalilMack

The 2016 NFL Defensive Player of the Year is still holding out for his new deal, and head coach Jon Gruden said, "I don't have anything to report other than I don't have anything to report," per Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle.

22. Seattle Seahawks

The Legion of Boom is gone, the offensive line is shaky and the injury bug has already attacked Rashaad Penny and Doug Baldwin. At least Russell Wilson is doing Russell Wilson things—17-of-26 passing for 236 yards and a touchdown.

23. Denver Broncos

So…are we supposed to blast the Broncos for spending the 26th pick in 2016 on Paxton Lynch or praise them for stealing Chad Kelly as the 253rd (i.e., final) selection a year later? Lynch has 11 completions on 22 attempts for 63 yards and an interception. Kelly is 21-of-30 for 267 yards, three scores and one pick.

24. Arizona Cardinals

Sam Bradford's next incompletion will be his first of the preseason. Granted, he's only spun it seven times, but it's hard to argue against perfection.

25. Washington Redskins

Adrian Peterson might sound exciting to the most casual of fans, but there's a reason he didn't have a job until the Redskins' running back room was decimated by injury. Among the 48 players to carry the ball 100-plus times last season, Peterson ranked 46th with 3.39 yards per attempt.

26. Cincinnati Bengals

Joe Mixon has breakaway ability if the revamped offensive line lets him get out in open space. That didn't happen in Week 2 (four carries for eight yards, one catch for one), but you can still hear the echoing oohs and aahs from his Week 1 catch-and-shake touchdown.

27. Indianapolis Colts

Andrew Luck's last regular-season snap came on Jan. 1, 2017. That makes him almost impossible to evaluate, other than to say he's probably being eased back in and still plenty rusty (6-of-13 for 50 yards and an interception in Week 2).

The important thing is he's playing, though, and a healthy version of him could make this ranking look comically low.

28. Cleveland Browns

While there's nowhere to go but up after a winless season, that's not the only reason behind the Browns' momentum. Tyrod Taylor and Baker Mayfield both look sharp, Carlos Hyde appears well worth the $15 million investment and the defense has only surrendered 13 first-half points through three games.

29. New York Jets

It's hard to tell which is more encouraging: Sam Darnold looking ready for the starting gig, or Teddy Bridgewater playing well enough for the Jets to stay patient with the No. 3 pick.

30. Miami Dolphins

Gary Davenport likes the Dolphins best out of Bleacher Report's three-person power ranking crew. Davenport, who ranked them 29th, also said the following:

"Don't get me wrong, the Dolphins are not a good football team. The pass-catching corps is a mess, both lines are question marks, and if the first-team linebackers play all season the way they have to date this summer, the team's going to allow 427 yards a game on the ground."

31. Buffalo Bills

Let the Josh Allen era begin. The quarterback competition is wide open and the rookie is raw, but his rocket arm, mobility and athleticism are all more exciting than anything AJ McCarron or Nathan Peterman can provide.

32. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The good news: Jameis Winston has been razor-sharp (24-of-31 for 328 yards and two touchdowns). The bad news: he's suspended for the first three weeks. The worse news: second-round pick Ronald Jones has been abysmal (12 carries for 11 yards, no catches on two targets).

Statistics used courtesy of NFL.com and Pro-Football-Reference