The Sturg’s Week 3 2023 NFL Power Rankings
A look at the best and worst teams in the NFL through three weeks of play
It’s Week 3 of the NFL season and the good teams are starting to separate from the bad teams. I do think that there is still a lot of room for some teams that were expected to compete to improve. One team that I think might be in trouble even after their first win of the season in Week 3 is the Cincinnati Bengals. Another disappointing team this year so far has been the Jacksonville Jaguars. We also saw a slice of history this week in one game and we’ll get to that in the rankings.
1. Miami Dolphins (3–0): Do I even have to say why I put them as the new number 1 this week? They scored a near-record 70 points against a mess of a team in the Denver Broncos. Their top running backs each scored 4 touchdowns in the win and Tua is a threat to have a big game every week he’s healthy. This is a scary team.
2. San Francisco 49ers (3–0): The 49ers have been consistently good on both sides of the ball in the first three weeks and they’ve scored exactly 30 points on offense in each of their first three games. The recent win was a 30–12 sound victory over the New York Giants. Brock Purdy is their franchise quarterback and Christian McCaffrey can take them all the way to the Super Bowl. Watch out for this team.
3. Philadelphia Eagles (3–0): Even when Jalen Hurts has a less-than-stellar game, this team can still find ways to win. They have a good defense and a running game that they can heavily rely on. This team is definitely not one-dimensional and looks like another great contender for a return to the Super Bowl this year.
4. Buffalo Bills (2–1): The Bills’ defense is back to form after a “commanding” 37–3 win over Washington in Week 3. Their defense forced five turnovers and sacked Sam Howell nine times. And Josh Allen did just enough not to waste that effort with a solid game of his own. They also had 168 yards on the ground. If they can keep this effort up, they will definitely return to form and recover from an opening-week loss to the New York Jets.
5. Kansas City Chiefs (2–1): I know it’s only one week and it was the Chicago Bears but the Chiefs looked dominant in the 41–10 win this week. Taylor Swift was in attendance at the game to watch her friend, Travis Kelce, play well and score a touchdown. This team feels very much like they’re getting back on track. Mahomes also looked like himself as well.
6. Dallas Cowboys (2–1): I wanted to drop them even more but they were the number one team in the first power rankings last week so it didn’t feel appropriate. They outgained the Cardinals 416–400 but committed the game’s only turnover at the end, failed on a fourth-down conversion, and committed 13 penalties in a deserved 28–16 loss to the determined Cardinals.
7. Cleveland Browns (2–1): Even though I’m still not sure if this is a good team this year, the Browns’ defense posted another week where they only gave up 3 points in the first three weeks. Now with two games doing that, I can say at the very least, the Browns’ defense showed up, I’m still worried about their running game and having to rely on DeShaun Watson to run the offense but they showed that they did enough this week.
8. Green Bay Packers (2–1): After 3 weeks, the Jordan Love era has been a fairly successful one for Green Bay. Their most recent victory was a one-point win over the previously unbeaten New Orleans Saints. Jordan Love threw for a touchdown and scored one with his legs. The defense posted 4 sacks on Derek Carr.
9. Detroit Lions (2–1): The Lions’ defense this week was the strength in their win over the Atlanta Falcons 20–6. I didn’t think I’d utter those words any time soon but they forced a fumble and held Atlanta’s vaunted running game to 44 yards in Detroit. This team is showing some major growth this year. Huge win for the franchise.
10. Indianapolis Colts (2–1): The Colts won a close, tough game against the Ravens in overtime this week in Baltimore to take over the AFC South lead. Gardner Minshew and Zack Moss were a formidable offensive duo this week as they got an important and pivotal conference win over another top AFC team. This team seems to be turning a corner and further distancing themselves from last year’s embarrassment.
11. Baltimore Ravens (2–1): I wanted to drop Baltimore lower this week considering that they lost but Lamar Jackson had a stellar game through the air and on the ground. They lost in overtime to the new-look Colts but I still think that they are a team to watch out for, especially in their own division.
12. New Orleans Saints (2–1): The Saints suffered their first loss of the season, albeit a narrow one to the Green Bay Packers. They still look like a competitive and good team. They will stay locked in a fight with both the Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a surprisingly competitive NFC South race early on.
13. Atlanta Falcons (2–1): The Falcons got exposed in Week 3. There’s nothing more to say about that. If their running game is taken away, they can’t lean on their young quarterback, Desmond Ridder, to get them over that obstacle. I still think that this is a young talented team but they will suffer a lot of ups and downs this year due to his growing pains.
14. Seattle Seahawks (2–1): Well, at least we know Pete Carroll can beat Andy Dalton. Dalton put up nice numbers against Seattle’s defense but Geno Smith and Kenneth Walker III accounted for three combined touchdowns in a 37–27 win over the winless Carolina Panthers this week.
15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2–1): The Buccaneers suffered their first loss of the season to the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles. Baker Mayfield had a pedestrian game through the air and the defense couldn’t stop Philly’s run attack. That could spell trouble for them if they can’t figure it out going forward.
16. Pittsburgh Steelers (2–1): The Steelers beat the Raiders this week to account for their second win in a row to rebound from a Week 1 loss. I could’ve put this team higher but their win was against the Raiders and that was one most people would expect them to win. Their defense forced 3 turnovers (all interceptions) and held the Raiders to 69 rushing yards.
17. Washington Commanders (2–1): The Commanders didn’t just lose for the first time this season. They got dominated. Sam Howell looked like a guy who is essentially a rookie now in his second year in the NFL. The team looked lost at times against a very good Bills team. I couldn’t put them any higher because of this.
18. Los Angeles Chargers (1–2): The LA Chargers got their first win of the season in Week 3 over the Minnesota Vikings. They leaned very heavily on their passing game with Justin Herbert (40–47, 405 yards, 3 TDs) and Keenan Allen (18 catches, 215 yards). It does help to point out that Ekeler was hurt and Justin Kelley started but they would benefit from a more balanced attack.
19. Arizona Cardinals (1–2): The Cardinals and Joshua Dobbs got their first win of the season in a very competitive game against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3. They relied heavily on their running game as well and did more than enough to overwhelm Dallas’ defense. This was a well-deserved win.
20. Houston Texans (1–2): The Houston Texans dominated the Jacksonville Jaguars 37–17 in their first win of the season. Rookie CJ Stroud had a nice game with no interceptions and 280 yards. The defense forced two turnovers and complemented their rookie quarterback’s performance well.
21. New England Patriots (1–2): The Patriots’ defense played well, sacking Zach Wilson three times and only allowing the Jets to convert on 2/14 third downs in the entire game. They also got 157 rushing yards, led by Ezekiel Elliott’s 80 yards. I know it’s the New York Jets they beat but a division win is huge, any time of year.
22. Cincinnati Bengals (1–2): The Bengals defense played well enough to overcome another subpar Joe Burrow performance. It led to a 19–16 win over the LA Rams. Logan Wilson had two interceptions on their defense and they sacked Matthew Stafford six times. If they are going to turn it around though, they will need the offense to improve.
23. Los Angeles Rams (1–2): After two straight losses, I’m starting to lose confidence in this team again. At first, they looked ready to rebound from a sad 2022 regular season, but they could very well repeat it this year, especially if Cooper Kupp misses a lot of time.
24. Jacksonville Jaguars (1–2): Despite two straight losses, this Jacksonville team could still turn it around and win the division. For now, they will have to figure it out defensively. Giving up a ton of yards through the air to a rookie quarterback and forcing no turnovers in that game definitely isn’t something to be proud of.
25. Tennessee Titans (1–2): The Titans just got embarrassed by the Cleveland Browns. This team’s window of being a good team with a good running game is slowly seeming like a distant memory. Ryan Tannehill isn’t getting any younger and Derrick Henry is approaching 30. A rebuild could be in order sooner rather than later.
26. New York Jets (1–2): The Jets lost another since their season-opening win. The Zach Wilson era is having this Jets team continuing to go out sad. It’s not just Zach to blame either. Breece Hall is playing nowhere near where he was before last season’s injury. There is plenty of blame to go around for bad Jets football.
27. Las Vegas Raiders (1–2): After losses to the Bills and Steelers in the last two weeks, this Raiders team feels a lot more familiar than the one who won to start the season. Raiders fans thought that they found an answer at quarterback with Jimmy G but they’re starting to see the why behind the reason the 49ers were so eager to get rid of him.
28. New York Giants (1–2): This team is definitely a step back from where they were with last year’s playoff team. They have lost to the Cowboys and 49ers in pretty convincing fashion and their only win was in Week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals by 3 points. The Saquon injury certainly won’t do them any favors. This team needs to figure it out quickly or they’ll spiral down in such a tough division.
29. Minnesota Vikings (0–3): The Vikings lost yet another close one where the offense put up a good amount of yards. Kirk Cousins threw 50 times and for nearly 400 yards and lost. Too bad their defense is pretty much nonexistent.
30. Carolina Panthers (0–3): Rookie Bryce Young is injured and they started veteran journeyman, Andy Dalton, against a good Seattle team. He had previous luck in his starts against Pete Carroll and Seattle and he had a good offensive game but the yards weren’t enough as the defense allowed a ton of yards in their third loss of the season.
31. Chicago Bears (0–3): Justin Fields has looked worse this season. In the 41–10 loss to the Chiefs, he threw for under 100 yards. That wouldn’t have been bad if he had a ton of yards on the ground as he’s a “dual-threat quarterback” but he only had 47 yards on the ground. This team is in serious trouble…on both sides of the ball.
32. Denver Broncos (0–3): How could I not put the Denver Broncos here after their third loss of the season? How did Sean Payton feel after the game getting historically embarrassed 70–20? He was asked…twice. He said both times, embarrassed. “Let’s move on.” I mean, we won’t be able to. Both sides of the ball are a mess and this team looks worse than last year.
I had a bit more trouble this week ranking the teams as I did last week. I even moved a few teams around as I was writing this list up. I wanted to make sure to be as fair as possible and to also consider head-to-head matchups for the most part.
I also wanted to make sure I didn’t put any teams on a winning streak below any teams that had just lost. I only put the Steelers lower because even in their wins, they haven’t impressed me yet.
Look over at The Press Box on Medium every week after the games on Tuesday or Wednesday. The Sturg will give you all the highlights and main commentary on the state of each team every week and provide analysis for many of the week’s games in my weekly power rankings.
If you disagree with any of my placements, let me know in the comments and we can argue about it. If you want to give me kudos or shout out your team, feel free to let me know there as well. Until next time, sports fans.
