1 (2)

Colts

  3-0  

  Rushed for 128 fewer yards than the Jaguars, but made up 82 of those yards on a punt return for a touchdown as Indianapolis emerged victorious over the #1 ranked team from week 2, in what might end up being the most important home win of the season.

Jaguars

  2-1

  Rushed for almost 200 yards at Indianapolis, and kept Peyton Manning in check. But allowed an 82 yard punt return for a touchdown, and Leftwich threw 2 costly interceptions as Jacksonville was unable to emerge with the win… A week 2 road shutout over the champs, and win over Dallas keep the Jaguars (12-4 last season) high in the rankings.

3 (5)

Bengals

3-0

After being sacked by the Steelers to no end and throwing 2 interceptions, Palmer took advantage of back to back fumbles by Pittsburgh late in the 4th quarter to connect with Houshmandzadeh for two TD’s in under a minute to get Cincinnati’s second big road win of the season (including at Kansas City).  

4 (9)

Seahawks

  3-0  

  It’s not often 4 different receivers catch touchdown passes in one half… Lining up Jackson, Engram, Burleson, and Branch at the same time will create coverage nightmares for most teams, while helping to open up the running game. Unfortunately, Seattle lost Alexander for several weeks with a cracked bone in his foot.

5 (7)

Broncos

  2-1  

  Denver’s defense absolutely shut down New England in Foxboro. And Plummer, Walker, and Bell had stellar performances. Most teams can only wish they have as high of a winning percentage behind their starting quarterback as the Broncos have with Jake Plummer at the helm.

6 (3)

Patriots

  2-1  

  The running game struggled at home versus the tough Denver defense and the Patriots were unable to avenge a divisional playoff loss to the Broncos. On the plus side Doug Gabriel looked solid when finally getting on the field late, and could provide an answer to New England’s receiver woes.

7 (4)

Steelers

  1-2

  Pittsburgh’s defense was taking it to the Bengals, but back to back fumbles late in the 4th quarter resulted in two quick TD’s from Palmer to Houshmandzadeh… In the end, Roethlisberger threw 3 picks and the Steelers slipped below .500 having lost to 2 of the top teams in the league.

Cowboys

  1-1  

Week 3 was a good time for a bye as Owens got an extra week to begin healing his broken hand. Dallas will return to action at Tennessee in week 4.

9 (11)

Bears

3-0

Got a key road win in the division against the Vikings, as Chicago took the driver’s seat in the NFC North with their first win in 2006 over a team ranked above the 20’s.

10 (14)

Panthers

  1-2  

  A last second win at Tampa Bay prevented a fall to 0-3 as Steve Smith returned to the lineup and promptly went over 100 yards receiving. Does anybody doubt that Carolina is ready to go on a winning streak now that Smith is back?

11 (13)

Vikings

2-1

  Nearly had 3 wins in a row versus playoff teams from 2005 but couldn’t hold a late lead at home versus the Bears as a 4th quarter fumble by Chester Taylor gave Chicago possession on Minnesota’s 37 yard line, and set up the winning touchdown toss by Grossman.

12 (12)

Ravens

  3-0

  Trailed at Cleveland the majority of the game, but solid run defense and clutch kicking proved to be the difference as the Ravens barely escaped with the win… Baltimore hosts San Diego next weekend in what’s sure to be a telling game between hot starting teams.

13 (15)

Chargers

2-0

Coming off a week 3 bye, San Diego will return to action at Baltimore in week 4, in a game that should tell a lot about where the Chargers stand, as their wins (while impressive) have come against the Raiders and Titans.

14 (8)

Giants

  1-2  

Manning threw 3 first half interceptions, and the Giants discovered that coming back from down 35 points is about twice as hard as coming back from down 17.

15 (16)

Eagles

2-1

Bounced back from a devastating loss with a 14 point victory at San Francisco. Stallworth sat out with a hamstring injury.

16 (22)

Saints

3-0

In the emotional reopening of the Superdome, the offense, defense, and special teams excelled in a dominating win over the Falcons… New Orleans claims first place in the NFC South, but in spite of team records we’re still not ready to rank the Saints ahead of the Panthers… Although if they are the better team, there will come a time to prove it.

17 (10)

Falcons

2-1

  Were shut down in nearly all facets of the game at New Orleans.

18 (19)

Rams

2-1

  Bulger threw for over 300 yards as St. Louis notched an important divisional road win in Arizona in a game that was essentially gifted to the Rams by the Cardinals via a Kurt Warner fumbled snap within winning field goal range.

Chiefs

0-2

  Coming off a week 3 bye, Kansas City will return to action in a must win home game versus the 49ers in week 4.

20 (20)

Redskins

  1-2

Got a much needed win at Houston. Brunell set a new NFL record for consecutive completions at 22, while the running game racked up over 200 yards.

21 (26)

Jets

2-1

Got statistically dominated at Buffalo, but played mistake free football and took advantage of turnovers by the Bills to grab a key divisional road victory.

22 (18)

Bills

1-2

Offset the big road win at Miami in week 2 with a damaging in division home loss to the New York Jets, as the Bills threw for nearly 150 more yards than the Jets, and rushed for nearly 100 more yards, but fumbled the game away.

23 (24)

Cardinals

1-2

  Costly divisional home loss to St. Louis as Warner threw 3 interceptions and fumbled away a snap in the final two minutes with the Cardinals already in winning field goal range. James had a decent day rushing, but arguably could have been used more as one of Warner’s interceptions came at the 1 yard line of the Rams.

Buccaneers

0-3

  All our best goes out to Chris Simms who suffered a ruptured spleen which was removed in surgery following a last second home loss to Carolina.

25 (21)

Dolphins

  1-2

  Miami got their first win of the year (at home versus Tennessee). But trailed the Titans at the half, and were tied with Tennessee for nearly a full quarter’s worth of play in the second half. Ronnie Brown was held to under 100 yards rushing, and Culpepper was held to under 175 yards passing. Las Vegas NFL odds makers had Miami installed as a double digit favorite versus what was the #32 ranked team from our week 2 NFL power rankings, but Miami was unable to dominate, and barely escaped with a win.

26 (25)

49ers

1-2

Blown out at home by the Eagles and trailed 31-3 at one point. Notables – Gore fumbled on the goal line (again) which resulted in a 98 yard fumble return for a TD. And Vernon Davis broke a leg and will miss at least a month.

27 (27)

Browns

0-3

  Held the lead for the majority of the game versus Baltimore, but couldn’t get the ground game going. Therefore, couldn’t pound the ball into the end zone to seal the win, and Frye threw a costly interception instead.

28 (29)

Packers

1-2

  Favre overcame previous dome woes and lead Green Bay to a victory at Detroit, throwing for 340 yards and 3 TD’s. The Packers defense allowed Kitna to throw for over 300 yards as well. But Marquand Manuel’s 29 yard intercepton return for a TD off a Kitna pass was the ultimate difference maker.

29 (28)

Lions

0-3

  Torched by Favre for 340 yards and 3 TD’s… Kitna put up good numbers too but threw a pick that was returned by Marquand Manuel 29 yards for a touchdown which proved to be the difference in the game.

30 (32)

Titans

0-3

Almost pulled off the upset at Miami. Held the lead at half, and never trailed by more than a field goal. The near upset helped to get Tennessee out of the #32 spot.

31 (31)

Raiders

0-2

  Coming off a week 3 bye, Oakland will return to action at home in week 4 versus Cleveland… Barring a tie, one of these winless teams will notch its first victory.

32 (30)

Texans

0-3

  The struggling pass defense allowed Washington’s Mark Brunell to set an NFL record with 22 completions in a row, as the Texans continue to allow opposing QB’s to have huge games… Combine the above with the fact that the rushing defense surrendered over 200 yards, and Houston supplants Tennessee at the bottom of the rankings after week 3.