NFL Power Rankings Week 3: Surprising Teams That Are Here to Stay

This post-lockout NFL season has thrown the power rankings for a loop.

The rankings are more topsy-turvy than ever, as some teams continue to plummet and others shock the NFL landscape.

Injuries have decimated teams like the Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs. Others, like the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions, have managed to overcome them.

Still, we have teams that have no business in the top 16 looking to prove their worth heading into Week 3. Not only are they looking to stay afloat, they are in position to go 3-0 on the season and move up the rankings.

Buffalo Bills (2-0) vs. New England Patriots (2-0), September 25, 1:00 p.m. EST

The Bills have shocked the NFL world by starting the season undefeated—convincingly.

This team is for real, with a solid mix of veteran and young defensive players. Shawne Merriman, Nick Barnett, Kyle Williams and Dwan Edwards anchor an underrated defense that will attack Tom Brady the entire afternoon.

The offense is led by arguably the most underrated QB in the league—Ryan Fitzpatrick. Many forget that Fitzpatrick actually almost helped the Bills upset the Patriots last year at this time. The Bills lost that meeting in Foxboro 38-30.

Head coach Chan Gailey is a QB guru and has one of the most intelligent signal-callers around.

Fitzpatrick makes great decisions with the ball, as he generally refuses to force the rock into precarious situations. Through two games, the Bills average nearly 40 points per contest, and Fitzpatrick has thrown for 472 yards, seven touchdowns and just one pick.

Buffalo won’t beat Bill Belichick and Brady this week, but they’ll put up a fight the entire contest to stay on the radar.

WR Stevie Johnson is an emerging elite receiver who already has two touchdowns, but he will open the field for fellow wideouts David Nelson and Donald Jones and TE Scott Chandler.

They have Cincinnati Week 4, which will allow them to go 3-1 to start the season. Buffalo then has the Eagles and Giants before heading into their Week 7 bye.

Detroit Lions (2-0) at Minnesota Vikings (0-2), September 25, 1:00 p.m. EST

The Lions look nearly unstoppable to start the season. They went in to Tampa Bay Week 1 to prove last year’s overtime victory to snap their historic 26-road game losing streak wasn’t a fluke.

They trounced an Eric Berry-and-Jamaal Charles-less Chiefs team 48-3 in Week 2. They’re back on the road Week 3 against Minnesota, but they won’t have trouble with the weak-minded Vikings. Minnesota blew a 17-point lead at halftime to lose to the Bucs at home.

So this is what Matthew Stafford can do when he’s healthy, eh? He’s already accumulated 599 yards, seven touchdowns and just two picks.

It certainly helps to have Calvin “Megatron” Johnson, the most physically imposing wideout in the league, to throw the rock to. Megatron already leads the league with four touchdown receptions.

These two will be the top QB-WR tandem in 2011.

It’s all about the improved defense. Megastar DT Ndamukong Suh is the most important defensive player next to Troy Polamalu. He gives the Lions the intensity they have been lacking for nearly a decade. As long as he is on the field, he will single-handedly blow up offensive game plans.

Adrian Peterson won’t be happy running into a defensive line featuring Suh, Kyle Vanden Bosh, Cliff Avril and Corey Williams.

After dismantling Minnesota, the Lions will take down the Dallas Cowboys to start the season 4-0 before another division matchup with the Chicago Bears, who they should have beaten last year.

Washington Redskins (2-0) at Dallas Cowboys (1-1), September 26, 1:00 p.m. EST

I can’t believe I’m writing this, since I had Washington penciled in as the worst team in the league heading into the preseason, but they have shown the grit and determination to win.

It all starts with the career-renaissance Rex Grossman is enjoying under the Shanahan family.

He was fantastic to end 2010 and wasn’t even a lock to remain with the team. He came back and has shown the leadership and poise to help lead Washington to the postseason.

Santana Moss leads a motley crew of WRs, but the emergence of TE Fred Davis to support injured stud Chris Cooley has been the key to this offense.

Davis is a matchup nightmare across the field and could lead the team in receptions, yards and touchdowns. He already has 11 catches for 191 yards and a score.

It’s all about the improved defense. First-round draft pick Ryan Kerrigan is a playmaker. He was bashed at the combine and heading into the draft for not displaying elite athleticism.

People tend to forget that the game isn’t won or played in individual drills but on the gridiron. Kerrigan has the innate knack to attack quarterbacks and always finds himself around the ball, as evident by Week 1’s interception return for a touchdown.

Brian Orakpo may enjoy messing with the Geico Caveman, but he is all business on the field—and he’s a monster.

Orakpo and Kerrigan create one of the most menacing linebacker duos in the game.

Washington travels to Dallas, and I believe they will upset the Cowboys at their home opener.

Dallas is reeling, heading into the game with injuries to Dez Bryan (quad), Felix Jones (shoulder), Miles Austin (hamstring) and Tony Romo (rib/lung). Orakpo and Kerrigan should have a field day against this battered offense.

Looking ahead, Washington could very well start the season 4-0 with a Week 4 matchup against the soon-to-be 0-3 Rams in St. Louis.

Brandon Galvin's NFL Week 3 Power Rankings	Week 3 Opponent
1. Green Bay Packers (2-0)	at Chicago Bears (1-1)
2. New England Patriots (2-0)	at Buffalo Bills (2-0)
3. New York Jets (2-0)	at Oakland Raiders (1-1)
4. Baltimore Ravens (1-1)	at St. Louis Rams (0-2)
5. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1)	at Indianapolis Colts (0-2)
6. Chicago Bears (1-1)	vs. Green Bay Packers (2-0)
7. Atlanta Falcons (1-1)	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1)
8. Philadelphia Eagles (1-1)	vs. New York Giants (1-1)
9. New Orleans Saints (1-1)	vs. Houston Texans (2-0)
10. Houston Texans (2-0)	at New Orleans Saints (1-1)
11. San Diego Chargers (1-1)	vs. Kansas City Chiefs (0-2)
12. Detroit Lions (2-0)	at Minnesota Vikings (0-2)
13. Washington Redskins (2-0)	at Dallas Cowboys (1-1)
14. Buffalo Bills (2-0)	vs. New England Patriots (2-0)
15. Dallas Cowboys (1-1)	vs. Washington Redskins (2-0)
16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-1)	vs. Atlanta Falcons (1-1)
17. Oakland Raiders (1-1)	vs. New York Jets (2-0)
18. Arizona Cardinals (1-1)	at Seattle Seahawks (0-2)
19. Cleveland Browns (1-1)	vs. Miami Dolphins (0-2)
20. New York Giants (1-1)	at Philadelphia Eagles (1-1)
21. San Francisco 49ers (1-1)	at Cincinnati Bengals (1-1)
22. Carolina Panthers (0-2)	vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-1)
23. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-1)	at Carolina Panthers (0-2)
24. Tennessee Titans (1-1)	vs. Denver Broncos (1-1)
25. Minnesota Vikings (0-2)	vs. Detroit Lions (2-0)
26. St. Louis Rams (0-2)	vs. Baltimore Ravens (1-1)
27. Miami Dolphins (0-2)	at Cleveland Browns (1-1)
28. Denver Broncos (1-1)	at Tennessee Titans (1-1)
29. Cincinnati Bengals (1-1)	vs. San Francisco 49ers (1-1)
30. Indianapolis Colts (0-2)	vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1)
31. Kansas City Chiefs (0-2)	at San Diego Chargers (1-1)
32. Seattle Seahawks (0-2)	vs. Arizona Cardinals (1-1)