2026 NFL Power Rankings Week 3
The honeymoon is over.
For seven months, every NFL team had a plan. Every general manager loved his roster. Every coach had the answers. Every new coordinator was going to “unlock” something.
Instead, all that offseason optimism is starting to look like delusion. The “improved” offensive line still can't block. The “rebuilt” defense can't get off the field. The big-money free agent isn't making plays. The draft picks aren’t ready. The offensive “genius” may be a fraud.
Two weeks into the season, the cold, cruel reality of the NFL has started kicking people in the groin.
But hey, maybe the first two weeks can be explained away. Bad matchup. Bad bounce. Bad call. Bad weather. A couple bad turnovers. Players are still knocking off the rust. Coaches are still figuring things out. Some 0-2 teams are legit bad, while others have been unlucky. Some 2-0 teams are legit contenders, while still others are just waiting to be exposed.
Welcome to Week 3.
The season just started, and desperation and panic are already bubbling up. The walls are closing in. Now we are going to find out who’s who and what’s what. Who is going to respond to the challenge? Who is going to wilt?
We had an entire offseason to set expectations on who these teams were going to be. Now we have two games of tap to tell us who they are.
Now the challenge is determining which one is fake and which is reality.
Doc’s Sports offers NFL expert picks for every game on our NFL predictions page.
Here are my Week 3 NFL Power Rankings:
1. Buffalo Bills (2-0) – I know that Joe Brady’s whole attitude is to go full throttle with Josh Allen and the offense. But he’s already logged 20 rushes and taken four sacks. That is an unsustainable amount of hits, even for a guy built like a lumberjack made from granite. The Bills are 1-5 against the spread in their last six games against the Chargers, dating back to 2011.
2. Kansas City Chiefs (2-0) – The Chiefs are 0-9 against the spread in their last nine games as a favorite. The Chiefs went 2-0 ATS as a double-digit favorite last year but they are just 6-5 ATS when laying 10 or more points since the start of 2022. This is also just the third time the Chiefs are double-digit road favorites over the last five seasons. They are 0-2 ATS in the last two, winning but failing to cover at Houston in 2022 and at Carolina in 2024.
3. Los Angeles Rams (1-1) – The Rams are 7-0-1 ATS in their last eight road games against AFC opponents. The Rams were dominant on both sides of the ball in their 28-6 win over the Giants. But now they have to head to elevation and play on a short week. Remember what Cody used to say: “Win on Monday, lose on Sunday”.
4. Seattle Seahawks (2-0) – The Seahawks are now 15-2 straight up and 13-4 ATS in their last 17 road games. Seattle had no problem traveling to the East Coast last season, going 6-0 SU and 5-1 ATS against teams east of the Mississippi. That includes a 38-14 blowout win at Washington, where they will play on Sunday.
5. San Francisco 49ers (2-0) – The favorite has dominated the 49ers-Cardinals series, going 7-2 ATS in the last nine meetings. San Francisco has had a little trouble with Arizona, but when they beat them they usually do so in blowout fashion. San Francisco’s last six wins over Arizona have come by an average of 18.0 points per game and only one of them have come by fewer than 16 points.
6. Cincinnati Bengals (2-0) – Look, I’m as surprised as you are that the Bengals are in this spot. But Joe Burrow is healthy and the defense does look improved, so these guys could be in business. The Bengals pressured C.J. Stroud on 41 of 60 drop backs on Sunday. That is a six-year high for the Cincinnati defense and more than triple their average (12.6) over that time.
7. Philadelphia Eagles (2-0) – Philadelphia has been a mediocre primetime team, going just 10-8 ATS in its last 18 games on Monday Night Football. The Eagles are just 5-7 ATS as a MNF favorite and they are 5-1 ATS as an underdog on Mondays.
8. Baltimore Ravens (1-1) – The Ravens are facing the Cowboys in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. I’ve already been seeing articles declaring that there are ‘no concerns’ over the field conditions in the stadium they will be using in Brazil. Translation: the field is going to be a goddamn mess. Favorites in international games have gone 47-16 SU And 39-24 ATS.
9. Denver Broncos (1-1) – The numbers don’t really tell the whole story about how much better Denver’s defense looked last week compared to their loss at Kansas City in Week 1. The Broncos held the Jaguars below 100 yards rushing. They also had a strip-sack negated by a penalty and had two other should-be interceptions that they dropped. The Broncos went 2-0 SU and ATS as a home underdog last season.
10. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-1) – The home team is 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS in the Jaguars-Patriots series, with the last meeting a 32-16 home win for the Jaguars in 2024. The Jaguars have had only eight penalties in two games. Liam Coen has this group buttoned up a bit.
11. Dallas Cowboys (1-1) – Dak Prescott is now 14-2 SU in his career against the Commanders and is 9-2 SU and ATS in his last 11 games against them. Dallas’ defense did not look improved at all, however, and it is pretty obvious that 34-year-old, first-time defensive coordinator Christian Parker is in way over his head.
12. Chicago Bears (1-1) – If the Bears are smart they will elevate veteran Case Keenum to the starter role. With games against the Eagles and Jets coming up, Keenum is good enough to get them a split and allow Caleb Williams the time he needs to heal up. The Bears should also be encouraged how their defense played on Sunday, allowing just nine point and being stout against the run.
13. New England Patriots (1-1) – This defense has looked devastating through the first two weeks, holding the Seahawks to 285 total yards (45 of which came on one play) and the Steelers to just 235 yards. The Patriots have gone ‘under’ in four straight and five of their last six games.
14. Minnesota Vikings (2-0) – That is now two games that the Vikings won that they absolutely should not have. Credit for holding the Bears to just three points. But that was more a function of the weather and Chicago’s self-inflicted wounds. The Vikings were outgained – again – and Carson Wentz looked like trash – again.
15. Houston Texans (0-2) – The Texans are now just 2-5 ATS in their last seven games and the defense is showing signs of cracking. The Texans have beaten the Colts five straight times, and six of seven, but the favorite is just 1-7 ATS in the last eight meetings.
16. Detroit Lions (1-1) – Remember that three-year run that the Lions and Dan Campbell had where they were the best bet in the NFL? Yeah, that’s over. Gravity always wins. Detroit is now just 2-8 ATS in its last 10 games and they are 8-10 ATS in their last 18 games as a favorite.
17. Los Angeles Chargers (0-2) – That is now five straight losses for Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers dating back to last season. They have averaged just 10 points per game and gone ‘under’ in all five. And, as I posited last week, maybe Mike McDaniel just isn’t a very good offensive coach. I’ll admit it: I thought he’d be a great addition to this team in the offseason. It looks like I was wrong and this team is a mess.
18. New Orleans Saints (1-1) – I know it is early. But I might have been wrong about this team. The Saints are now 8-0 ATS in their last eight games and 9-1 ATS in their last 10. Only two games during this eight-game ATS winning streak have come at home, including a 29-6 win over the Jets last December.
19. New York Giants (1-1) – NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported Tuesday that Jaxson Dart was thought to have an MCL sprain and would be out for 4-6 weeks. But Adam Schefter is reporting that it is worse than that and he is done for the year. Regardless, I cannot believe that New York’s backup plan this offseason was Jameis Winston. He is an absolute train wreck.
20. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) – Watching Aaron Rodgers get benched for Mason Rudolph was definitely a high point of my Sunday. I don’t think that will be the last time we see Rudolph this season. The Steelers are 4-2 SU and 5-1 ATS in their last six games against the Bengals.
21. Green Bay Packers (1-1) – The Packers have covered three straight Thursday Night Football games. They are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 Thursday games, although they are just 2-2 ATS in four TNF games in the month of September.
22. Carolina Panthers (1-1) – Dave Canales has been an excellent bounce back coach. The Panthers are how 16-6 ATS in his last 22 games following a loss.
23. Indianapolis Colts (0-2) – The Colts are an amazing 27-6 ATS as a road underdog following a loss. This team is going to be playing with a ton of desperation at home against Houston. If they go 0-3, the season is all but cooked and Shane Steichen is a dead man walking.
24. Las Vegas Raiders (2-0) – I said it at the start of the offseason: whoever gets Klint Kubiak as their head coach wins the offseason. The Raiders still don’t have enough talent to be a top tier team. But just like Liam Coen in Jacksonville and Ben Johnson in Chicago, Kubiak’s very clear impact on his team has been immediate and noticeable.
25. Arizona Cardinals (1-1) – Arizona has been a thorn in San Francisco’s side the past two years. Arizona is 2-2 SU and 3-1 ATS in their last four against the 49ers.
26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-2) – The Bucs are now 2-8 SU and 0-10 ATS in their last 10 games. Granted, they are now back in their preferred role as an underdog. But they are still 0-3 ATS when catching points during that 10-game slide and, frankly, if you blow a 10-point lead to the Browns you just aren’t a good football team.
27. Washington Commanders (0-2) – I have absolutely no idea how Dyami Brown’s catch in the end zone was not a touchdown. None. That would’ve tied the game 17-17 and could have set that game on a different course.
28. New York Jets (1-1) – The Jets are now 4-12 ATS in their last 16 games against teams from the NFC North, including 2-6 ATS at home against them. With games left against the Bears, Vikings and Lions, we may have to blindly fade the Jets against this division, despite their half-point cover last week.
29. Tennessee Titans (0-2) – The Titans average time of possession through two games is just 22:24, by far the worst in the league. They allowed a 12-minute drive to the Jets in Week 1 and four different drives that lasted six minutes or more against the Eagles. Tennessee’s offense has problems. But their bend-but-don’t-break defense is bending too much.
30. Cleveland Browns (1-1) – It’s going to be interesting to see what Deshaun Watson’s reception is going to be like from the home crowd. Everyone is warm and fuzzy right now because the Browns are coming off a rare win. But as soon as things start going sideways again, I expect the Cleveland faithful to turn on Watson hard, and quickly.
31. Atlanta Falcons (0-2) – The Falcons are just the fourth team since 1978 to go their first two games of the year without making a single trip inside the red zone. They are just the second team to accomplish that this century, and the first since the 2008 Rams. And call me crazy, but I don’t think that Michael Penix or Tua are going to come in and save this offense.
32. Miami Dolphins (0-2) – It’s not going to get any better.
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