NFL Power Rankings: 3 Teams Battling for Top Pick in 2012 Draft

The NFL has a way of keeping teams from hiding what they really are. Over the course of the 16-game season, the good teams win and the bad teams lose.

Sometimes early in the season, though, teams can go through stretches where they are not themselves. A quick start or a slow start might just be an aberration, but it could also be a sign of things to come.

In the case of the following three teams, slow starts are just the start of what promises to be a tough season. These three will spend all season at or around the bottom of the league, jockeying for the top pick in next year's draft. That spot promises to give them Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.

Kansas City Chiefs

Things can't get a whole lot worse for the Chiefs. They are 0-3 on the season and they have been blown off the field in two of those losses. They have also lost their star running back, Jamaal Charles, to a knee injury.

The good news to this point is that they played San Diego close this past week. Unfortunately, that won't often be the case. The Chiefs are just out-manned.

The good news for Kansas City if they do end up being the worst team in the league is that Andrew Luck will be waiting for them. Matt Cassel isn't bad, but he's clearly not a franchise quarterback. Luck promises to be just that.

Indianapolis Colts

The Chiefs are the worst team in the league, but they are not the unluckiest, even with the injury to Charles. That distinction goes to the Colts, who lost Peyton Manning, their team leader and star quarterback.

Things have now gone from bad to worse for the Colts. Kerry Collins had struggled at quarterback, but was getting better as he got more comfortable. Unfortunately, he's hurt now too.

It will be interesting to see what the Colts do if they get the first pick. Certainly they hope that Manning will come back healthy enough to give them several more seasons, but Luck would be a nice player to bring in to replace the legend when he does hang them up.

Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks are the surprise team in this group. I didn't think they'd be great or even that good, but I figured they'd be a middle-of-the-pack team. That is not at all how they've looked so far this season.

They have a win on their resume, but it was an uninspiring 13-10 win over fellow bottom-feeder Cincinnati. Seattle has had one of the worst offenses in the league, as they average just 10 points per game, and their defense has been almost as bad.

The Seahawks just acquired Tarvaris Jackson before this season, but Jackson is nowhere near good enough to pass up Luck for.

Joseph Healy's NFL Power Rankings After Week 3

1. Green Bay Packers

2. New England Patriots

3. New Orleans Saints

4. Baltimore Ravens

5. Pittsburgh Steelers

6. Philadelphia Eagles

7. San Diego Chargers

8. New York Jets

9. Detroit Lions

10. Buffalo Bills

11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

12. Atlanta Falcons

13. Houston Texans

14. Dallas Cowboys

15. Chicago Bears

16. Oakland Raiders

17. New York Giants

18. Washington Redskins

19. Tennessee Titans

20. San Francisco 49ers

21. Minnesota Vikings

22. Arizona Cardinals

23. Carolina Panthers

24. St. Louis Rams

25. Cleveland Browns

26. Jacksonville Jaguars

27. Miami Dolphins

28. Denver Broncos

29. Cincinnati Bengals

30. Seattle Seahawks

31. Indianapolis Colts

32. Kansas City Chiefs