NFL Power Rankings: Which Surprising Teams Are Postseason Locks?

Every NFL season brings about surprising starts by teams buried by negative preseason hype. Sometimes those teams continue to shock fans on the road to the playoffs (2010 Kansas City Chiefs) while others fall apart under the unexpected pressure (2008 Buffalo Bills).

So, which teams that have started hot will make the playoffs this season?

Here are my three choices, followed by my Week 3 power rankings.

Buffalo Bills

You could make a very strong case that Ryan Fitzpatrick, not Tom Brady, is the NFL MVP through two weeks. The veteran signal-caller has found a niche in Chan Gailey's quarterback-friendly offense and hasn't missed a beat after the team traded receiver Lee Evans during the preseason.

The Bills lead the league with 79 points through two games and are 2-0 for the first time since the 2008 season mentioned above. The emergence of David Nelson and Fred Jackson's powerful running has fans in Buffalo dreaming of playoff football for the first time in more than a decade.

With the AFC South and West both looking like one-bid divisions, there is less competition for the Bills in the Wild Card chase.

Assuming the Patriots claim the AFC East crown, the Bills will probably be in a three-team race with the New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens or Pittsburgh Steelers for two playoff spots.

Looking at Buffalo's schedule, there appears to be seven more wins readily available if they can continue to produce consistently on offense. That would bring them to nine wins. It usually takes 10 to makes the playoffs, so the Bills will need to win on the road against the Jets or one of the New England games to reach that mark.

And if you want to be a playoff team, that isn't too much to ask.

Washington Redskins

Football fans around the nation, myself included, laughed out loud when Rex Grossman declared the Redskins contenders in the NFC. Following wins over the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals, though, the laughter has been silenced.

Grossman is off to the most effective start of his career. The former first-round pick led the Chicago Bears to the Super Bowl in 2006 but had a negative touchdown-to-interception ratio outside of that season. So to be putting up nearly 300 yards per game is impressive.

The road to the playoffs is a bit more murky for the Redskins than it is for the Bills.

The NFC West gets a spot by default, which is another debate for another day. The Green Bay Packers will get in and the New Orleans Saints or Atlanta Falcons will get in as well. Unless Michael Vick's injury woes lead to an Eagles collapse, count them in, too.

So there are four spots out the window, with the NFC South “loser” being a strong contender for one of the Wild Card slots. That pits the Redskins against the Falcons, Giants, Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys for two tickets to the playoffs.

Like Buffalo, there appears to be nine wins on the schedule counting the ones they already have. If they can pick up a road win against Dallas (this week), Philadelphia or the Giants, that could be enough to make Grossman look like a genius.

Houston Texans

There were a lot of people jumping on the bandwagon before the season started, so they are the smallest surprise of the three teams. That said, it's hard to imagine many fans expecting them to be playoff locks before Week 3 started.

The Indianapolis Colts are a non-factor without Peyton Manning. They could bring in Brett Favre, Jeff George or the ghost of Johnny Unitas and the Colts aren't going to win games.

The news isn't much more positive for the Jacksonville Jaguars aside from the fact they are 1-1. They aren't a .500 team, though, as they have given up 27 more points than they have scored, and that will catch up with them in the long run.

That leaves the Tennessee Titans as the only team with a chance to keep it close, but the Texans are more talented and have a home game against Tennessee in Week 17, if needed.

Ben Tate has been terrific filling in for the injured Arian Foster. Houston should understand they are in great shape and, with a capable backup in Tate, they should shut Foster down for a couple of weeks to let his bothersome hamstring completely heal.

If the defense continues to gel and Jacoby Jones or Kevin Walter develop into solid second targets for Matt Schaub, this team has the potential to make some real noise in the playoffs.

Tim Daniels' NFL Power Rankings
1. New England Patriots
2. Green Bay Packers
3. New York Jets
4. Houston Texans
5. Detroit Lions
6. Washington Redskins
7. Buffalo Bills
8. Atlanta Falcons
9. New Orleans Saints
10. Baltimore Ravens
11. Philadelphia Eagles
12. San Diego Chargers
13. Pittsburgh Steelers
14. Dallas Cowboys
15. New York Giants
16. Chicago Bears
17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
18. Arizona Cardinals
19. Tennessee Titans
20. Jacksonville Jaguars
21. Oakland Raiders
22. Cincinnati Bengals
23. Denver Broncos
24. San Francisco 49ers
25. Cleveland Browns
26. St. Louis Rams
27. Carolina Panthers
28. Minnesota Vikings
29. Miami Dolphins
30. Seattle Seahawks
31. Indianapolis Colts
32. Kansas City Chiefs