NFL Power Rankings: Oakland Raiders and Teams That Have Already Reached Peak

Three weeks of the NFL season are in the books and there have been quite a few surprise teams. While the Detroit Lions were expected to take a step forward, squads like the Buffalo Bills and Oakland Raiders are the reason fans continue to tune in every season no matter what the pundits say.

However, there is always a danger of reaching your peak too early, as is the case with the following three teams.

Washington Redskins

Rex Grossman has come back down to Earth after opening the season with a huge performance against the New York Giants. The veteran quarterback predicted during the preseason that the Redskins would be contenders in the NFC East, but he'll need to play like Week 1 Rex more often for that to happen.

The main reason Washington has already reached its ranking peak is because its schedule looks tougher now than it did at the beginning of the season. Games against the Carolina Panthers, San Francisco 49ers and Bills are not going to be the easy tasks they were expected to be.

Not having a dominant personnel unit will hurt them in the long run as well. Balance is good, but when times get tough, there needs to be one strong facet that can be relied upon to push the team through adversity, and the Redskins just don't have that.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns rank near the bottom of the league in three of the four major statistical categories (passing yards, rushing yards and opposing rushing yards). That means there will be a swift fall from grace in the near future, probably starting against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

Colt McCoy and Peyton Hillis haven't played well enough to keep the offense clicking over the long term. McCoy has thrown five touchdowns, but his 54 percent completion rate and 5.7 yards per attempt are both way below par.

Eight wins are possible thanks to a favorable schedule. However, unless there is massive improvement on both sides of the ball in the coming weeks there is no way the Browns can be considered legitimate playoff contenders.

Oakland Raiders

Darren McFadden has finally developed into the running back that had so much potential when he was drafted with the fourth pick in 2008. Staying healthy has always been the biggest problem for the Arkansas product, but he appears prepared to fight through the pain this season.

The problem for Oakland is the lack of a supporting cast to help McFadden. The Raiders defense has given up the fifth most yards and points in the league and Jason Campbell, who is averaging less than 200 yards per game, lacks weapons in the passing game.

Games against the New England Patriots and Houston Texans over the next two weeks will go a long way in showing Oakland's true colors. The Raiders are moving in the right direction, but until they stop focusing on 40 times on draft day, they won't get over the hump and back into the playoffs.