It's that time of the week again, boys and girls. Yes, the Power Rankings for week three are ready for public consumption.
A note on methodology - the rankings reflect a roughly equal balance of performance to date and future value, with a slightly heavier weight on performance to date. As the season progresses and we have more data to work with, that weight will shift. For now, the edge slightly tilts in the favor of actual results. Still, there is consideration to how good we think these teams will become.
Finally, same as always - comments, critiques, snarky digs, questions - all welcome.
Team's ranking last week in parentheses.
BTSC AFC Power Rankings, Week 3| Team | Comment |
|---|---|
| 1. Indianapolis (1) | Got it done at home against a very good defense. Great teams find ways to win; that was Indy Sunday. |
| 2. Cincinnati (4) | Survived Pittsburgh, which is all that counts. Wins are wins. They just need health now. |
| 3. Jacksonville (3) | There's no such thing as a "good" loss. But this certainly wasn't a bad one. |
| 4. Baltimore (2) | Our concerns for their offense materialized this week. Still, it's a strong team in the NFL's best division. |
| 5. San Diego (5) | DNP; this team would terrify me with Brees. Without? Meh. |
| 6. Denver (8) | A good win for Denver, no doubt. That's two in a row over the Pats. |
| 7. Pittsburgh (7) | It could have been a win. It should have been a win. It wasn't. That's bad football. |
| 8. New England (6) | For the third straight week, the Pats yield 17 points. Too many this time. Still a good team, but the moxie may be gone. |
| 9. New York Jets (10) | Chad Pennington's making his bid for Comeback Player of the Year. Solid win over Buffalo. |
| 10. Buffalo (9) | Not a horrible loss to the Jets, all things considered. Still have our doubts about Lohsman. |
| 11. Cleveland (12) | They took Baltimore to the wire and almost won. The AFC North is already great; it's only getting tougher as Cleveland improves. Yikes. |
| 12. Miami (13) | Limped to a win over Tennessee. The Fins slow start is baffling. They're better than this. |
| 13. Kansas City (11) | DNP; The Chiefs get the Niners and Cardinals to try to gain momentum before a visit to Heinz. Both are must wins. |
| 14. Tennessee (15) | The sooner the Vince Young era starts, the better. Why tread (dirty) water with Collins? |
| 15. Houston (14) | Remember, they could have had Bush or Young. What a disaster. |
| 16. Oakland (16) | They should beat out the Texans for #15 eventually. Yay? |