NFL Power Rankings: What Teams Are All Mascara?

A lot is learned three weeks into an NFL season.

Was that horrid Week 1 performance just a fluke or is there more where that came from?

Did I waste a fantasy pick on this guy or is he just getting into a groove (I'm looking at you Chris Johnson)?

One of the main realizations, however, is whether or not a team has what it takes to make a push for a playoff run.

In the preseason, there are those teams that are ranked high already because of past season success or an improvement in talent in the offseason. It is up to those teams to prove the analysts right.

However, some of the top-ranked teams and so-called Super Bowl contenders have shown that they may be all about the looks and not about the success so far this season

They have what it takes to be a No.1 team in terms of talent, but have not been able to show that they are a force to be reckoned with.

There is still plenty of time for these teams to get it together and I assume that some of them will. But if they aren't able to get it together quick, they could be in for a long season.

Chicago Bears

At the end of last season, the Chicago Bears were the second best team in the NFC. In a tough fought battle, the team from the Windy City fell just short of punching a ticket to the Super Bowl.

Quarterback Jay Cutler left the game in the third quarter and was criticized for it for weeks to come.

With the loss behind them, the Bears came into this season with little offseason changes. The same smash-mouth style of football would be returning and would contend again for the NFC North crown.

In the first two weeks, the Bears dominated a very talented Atlanta Falcons team and struggled against a tough New Orleans Saints team.

The offensive line struggled to give Jay Cutler any time and he was 19-of-45 because of it.

Last Sunday, the Chicago Bears put up a valiant effort against a Green Bay Packers team that has a good chance to repeat as Super Bowl Champions.

Quarterback Jay Cutler threw for over 300 yards passing and threw two touchdowns and kept the Bears in the game late.

As good as those numbers look, however, Cutler was 21-of-37 and threw two interceptions as well.

Cutler started the second half by throwing six-straight incompletions and could not take advantage of a Packer defense that was not only without safety Nick Collins, but had given up 400 yards passing in the past two weeks, so 300 from Cutler was an improvement for Green Bay.

The biggest issue for the Bears on Sunday was their running game, or lack thereof.

Running back Matt Forte ran the ball nine times in the game for a total of two yards. The Bears finished with only 13 total yards as Cutler ran for the other 11.

Last week against the New Orleans Saints, Forte got the ball 10 times for 49 yards.

The Bears running game ranks 31st in the league, while their passing ranks in the bottom half at 17th.

Rodgers and the Packers showed last Sunday, 297 yards passing and three touchdowns, that the Bears can no longer rely on their defense to win them the game.

Their core players are only getting older and if the offense does not begin to turn it around, the Bears won't be marking many Ws on their calendar.

Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons have been one of the top teams in the NFC for quite some time now, but have always come up short.

After losing in the first round of the playoffs, the Falcons had plenty of motivation to get over the hump and make a deep playoff run.

In the offseason, Atlanta added more fire power to its already impressive offense when they traded up to draft Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones, one of the top-ranked receivers in the this year's draft class.

With the combination of Jones and talented Roddy White as targets, there was doubt that quarterback Matt Ryan would have an impressive year.

However, the start of the season has not gone as planned for Ryan and the Falcons as they are 1-2 and at the bottom of the NFC South.

Atlanta was dominated in Week 1 by the Chicago Bears, but rebounded nicely against Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Jones has played well so far in his rookie season, but has yet to get into the end zone.

After leading the league in receptions last year, receiver Roddy White leads the league in dropped passes with four. Now I know four does not sound like a lot, but White only had three all season last year.

On Sunday, the Falcons went up against a good Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that Atlanta should have won. The Bucs were a good team, but showed in the previous week that their run defense needed some work.

As bad as the Bucs did against Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings, they stuffed the Falcons run game. Running back Michael Turner could only ran for 20 yards on 11 carries after running for 114 yards and touchdown against the Eagles in Week 2.

Atlanta had to resort to their pass game, but couldn't keep up and lost an important divisional matchup.

The Falcons have the talent to be one of the best teams in the NFC, but they have yet to show it in back-to-back weeks. Their offense has not been able to get it done as they rank 18th in passing and 19th in running.

Those numbers have to be better if the Falcons want to see themselves in the playoffs again.

We got a glimpse of how a winning Falcons team looked in Week 2, and if "Matty Ice" can't get his troops going, may be one of the last glimpses we get to see this season.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers were predicted to once again compete for the AFC crown this season.

The Super Bowl runner-ups were able to re-sign a lot of their talented free agents and were bringing back almost the same team as last year.

Their season did not start as planned, however, as they were dominated by the rival Baltimore Ravens.

The Ravens forced seven turnovers as the Steelers looked nothing like the team that represented the AFC in the Super Bowl.

In Week 2, the Steelers rebounded and shut-out the Seattle Seahawks 24-0. Even though the Seahawks are one of the worst teams in the league, the Steelers looked like their old selves again.

Much of the same was expected against a winless Indianapolis Colts team that was without quarterback and leader Peyton Manning.

However, the Colts kept in the game and the Steelers squeaked out a 23-20 win off of a Shaun Suisham field goal with almost no time remaining.

The Colts made it clear on national television that the Steelers offensive line is struggling. Indy's defense record three sacks as well as forced three big turnovers, including one that was returned for a touchdown.

A lot of pressure was put on Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger as he was hit five different times, fumbled once, and threw an interception.

The Steelers are struggling to find depth on the offensive line as several O-lineman, including Marcus Gilbert and Johnathan Scott, have been injured in the past few weeks.

Pittsburgh has a plethora of talent on their team, but if they cannot fix their mistakes quickly, there is a good chance they will not be able to keep up with the Ravens.

The Steelers face a tough test on Sunday as they go up against a talented Houston Texans team.

Philadelphia Eagles

In the offseason, no one made a bigger splash than the Philadelphia Eagles.

On offense, the Eagles signed quarterback Vince Young, running back Ronnie Brown, and talented wide receiver Steve Smith from the rival New York Giants.

Defensively, the Eagles made two big moves as they swapped quarterback Kevin Kolb for corner Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and also signed one of the top-ranked free agents in Nnamdi Asomugha.

The Eagles were being labeled "the Dream Team" in the offseason and would surely compete for the the top of the NFC.

In Week 1, Philly went out and dominated a young St. Louis Rams team. Michael Vick started right where he left off last season, throwing for 187 yards and running for 97 more.

However, Week 2 proved to be a tough test for the Eagles as they went into a hostile Georgia Dome to face Vick's former team, the Atlanta Falcons.

In a back and forth game, the Eagles started to pull away in the second half and held a 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter.

Before the end of the third quarter, with under four minutes to play, Vick was tackled into one of his offensive lineman and suffered a concussion.

Without Vick under center, the Eagles lost the lead, as well as the game.

Vick passed all of the concussion tests and was cleared to play against the Giants last Sunday.

Things got even worse for the Eagles against the Giants as their highly praised defense was torched by quarterback Eli Manning.

This was a Giants team that was without Mario Manningham and Domenik Hixon and still recorded 254 total receiving yards and four touchdowns.

Victor Cruz, a second-year player that was only playing in his third NFL game, lead all receivers with 110 yards receiving and two touchdowns, including a 74-yard touchdown that started out as a five- or 10-yard play that turned into points.

The game was not the only thing the Eagles lost on Sunday as Michael Vick suffered an injury to his non-throwing hand that was at first thought to be broken.

Even though his hand is not broken and he still may play Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, it will be interesting to see how much these injuries affect Vick's play.

The Eagles find themselves in last place in one of the toughest divisions in the league. The so-called "Dream Team" has been anything but dreamy and is running out of time to turn things around.