Tough to Tell

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2014 Week 3

Nipping at #10's heels:

Bills (#16), Falcons (#15), Ravens (#14)

Bears (#13), Cardinals (#12), Saints (#11)

10. San Diego Chargers (1-1)

Last Time: 12th
Best Ranking: 9th (Week 1)
The Chargers avoid going 0-2 with an impressive win over the defending Super Bowl champs. San Diego showed some resiliency, leading for a second straight game heading into the fourth quarter. San Diego’s offense controlled the tempo of the game by dominating time of possession, holding a 31:08 to 13:52 advantage over Seattle through three quarters. Philip Rivers rebounded from a poor performance in the season opener against Arizona, shredding one of the best pass defenses in the NFL. Rivers finished 28-of-37 for 284 yards, throwing three touchdowns to Gates and finishing without an interception. Rivers also ran 11 times for 17 yards, including a long of 12 yards. Meanwhile, San Diego’s defense held the Seahawks to 108 rushing yards on just 13 carries. - Eric D. Williams

9. Indianapolis Colts (0-2)

Last Time: 8th

Best Ranking: 5th (Post-Draft)

It was too easy for the Eagles to achieve a comeback win with the Colts turning the ball over. Philadelphia turned two Indianapolis turnovers into 14 points as running back Trent Richardson fumbled and then the Eagles got away with what could have been a holding penalty by Brandon Boykin on receiver T.Y. Hilton to pick off quarterback Andrew Luck. After the Luck interception, the Eagles tied the score at 27 four plays and a penalty later, followed by a field goal to win. It took 34 games, but Luck has finally lost back-to-back games in his NFL career. The last time Luck lost back-to-back games prior to Monday was October 2009, when he was at Stanford. The quarterback who gave Luck his second consecutive loss back then? Philadelphia's Nick Foles. - Mike Wells

8. San Fancisco 49ers (1-1)
Last Time: 3rd
Best Ranking: 3rd (Week 2, Post-Draft)
A lot of penalties (16) and losing the turnover battle by a margin of four does not help when you’re trying to open a new stadium with success. The 49ers are great at taking advantage of opportunities given to them. Looking as sloppy as the Cowboys last week, the Chicago Bears obliged the official christening of Levi’s Stadium by getting their first punt blocked, which the 49ers recovered on the Bears’ 8-yard line and cashed in with a touchdown. But QB Kaepernick fell apart in the second half and with him went the Niners’ chances at opening their new digs with a win. Next the 49ers travel to the desert to take on the Arizona Cardinals, the only 2-0 team in the NFC West. The 49ers have won nine of the Past 10 meetings between the teams. The Cardinals’ victory in that time frame came in 2011, in Arizona. - Paul Gutierrez

7. Carolina Panthers (2-0)

Last Time: 14th

Best Ranking: 7th (Week 3)

The preseason talk of Carolina's demise may have been a bit premature. While it's early, the Panthers won their opener at Tampa Bay without starting quarterback Cam Newton. Then on Sunday they beat the Lions amid the distraction of sack leader Greg Hardy being deactivated before kickoff. They've done this with a suffocating defense that has picked up where it left off last season when it finished second in the NFL. They've done it with a new group of receivers who are proving to be just as good if not better than last season's unit. They are off to their first 2-0 start since 2008 after three straight years of opening 1-3. - David Newton

6. Green Bay Packers (1-1)

Last Time: 7th
Best Ranking: 6th (Week 3, 1)
At this point, all we can say for sure is the Packers avoided what would have been a disastrous start to the season. Down 21-3 in the second quarter, 0-2 was looking like a distinct possibility. Maybe the comeback just masked some greater defensive problems that will plague the Packers all season long, but it could be the kind of early-season momentum changer that sends them on a run to another playoff appearance. Either way, for now, disaster has been averted, just in time to play their first division game of the year on Sunday in Detroit against the Lions. - Rob Demovsky

5. Cincinnati Bengals (2-0)

Last Time: 9th

Best Ranking: 5th (Week 3)

Sunday's win should have sent a strong message to the rest of the league. That message? That even after having to replace both their coordinators, the Bengals still have a smooth and fluid offense and the same intimidating defense that ended last season ranked third in the NFL. After placing ninth in the Unscripted Power Rankings last week, the Bengals certainly proved in this win that they deserve to be considered a top-five team at this early stage of the season. The only problem with Sunday's 14-point victory was that it may have come at a price. The Bengals were attacked by a vicious injury bug during the game as five players, including Pro Bowlers A.J. Green and Vontaze Burfict, were lost with varying ailments. - Coley Harvey

4. Philadelphia Eagles (2-0)
Last Time: 10th
Best Ranking: 4th (Week 3)
The Eagles beat a good Colts team with a gritty comeback on the road to start the season with a 2-0 record. They are in first place in the NFC East and ahead of conference heavyweights Seattle and San Francisco. It’s early, but that’s not a bad place to be. It was nice when the Eagles came back from 17-0 to beat Jacksonville 34-17. But the Colts are a legitimate playoff team with an elite quarterback. Coming back and beating them was that much more impressive. The Eagles will have a light practice this Tuesday to begin preparations for their first divisional game on Sunday. If the Eagles could really get themselves going to start a game, they could be very, very good. - Phil Sheridan

3. New England Patriots (1-1)

Last Time: 4th

Best Ranking: 2nd (Week 1)

Quarterback Tom Brady had talked last week about how it's a "quality of life" issue when the Patriots lose. After a disappointing season opener in which they couldn't control the line of scrimmage in the second half, the Patriots responded in Week 2 with a strong game plan aimed at managing the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The Patriots got off to a slow start defensively, with the Vikings marching down the field for a touchdown on their first drive. But the defense ultimately settled down and the run defense that sprung so many leaks last week was cleaned up in a big way. This was a strong bounce-back performance - both by the coaching staff and the players - which should continue into next week against a dismal Raiders team. - Mike Reiss

2. Seattle Seahawks (1-1)

Last Time: 1st
Best Ranking: 1st (Week 2, 1, Post-Draft)
A rare heat wave for the normally perfect-weather city of San Diego saw the air temperature reach 95 degrees and the field temperature a blistering 118. The Seahawks couldn't beat the heat, especially on defense, which wilted away in the sweltering conditions. The Chargers' offense had the ball on long drives most of the day and the Seahawks could not hold up, running out of gas at times. The Chargers dictated the tempo all day, something the Seahawks usually do. San Diego had the ball for 42 minutes. It was the first time in 42 consecutive regular-season games that the Seahawks lost by more than a touchdown. - Terry Blount

1. Denver Broncos (2-0)

Last Time: 2nd

Best Ranking: 1st (Week 3)

The Broncos certainly won't put a frame around this one after a somewhat choppy performance with ill-timed penalties, inconsistency on defense and an off-and-on day on offense when the numbers looked better than the actual output. But the Broncos were able to win without their best fastball in an early AFC West matchup. The Broncos say they're tougher, more physical, that they have moved past a 35-point Super Bowl loss to put themselves in position to play in the title game again. They get a chance to prove it next Sunday in Seattle against a Seahawks team that will be smarting from a loss in San Diego, in a game in which anything but the Broncos' best will send them home with an ugly loss. - Jeff Legwold