NFL Week 3 power rankings: Chiefs a puzzling 0-2 while Bills take top spot
New York Post rankings place Buffalo at No. 1; Kansas City’s two‑game skid raises questions about a dominant era
The New York Post released its NFL power rankings for Week 3 on Tuesday, highlighting a league with a surprising number of early-season losers and a handful of strong starts. The Buffalo Bills occupy the top spot after a 30-10 win over the New York Jets, while the Kansas City Chiefs — three-time Super Bowl participants under Andy Reid — sit 0-2 and are described as the NFL’s most puzzling team.
Buffalo’s ranking followed a victory in which Josh Allen, briefly shaken up, returned to the field and yielded offensive momentum to running back James Cook, who rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns. The defending champion Philadelphia Eagles held at No. 2 after a 20-17 win over Kansas City in a Super Bowl rematch; Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley both scored rushing touchdowns in a game decided by a long Jake Elliott field goal. The Green Bay Packers remained unbeaten at 2-0 in the No. 3 slot after Jordan Love threw for 292 yards and Tucker Kraft posted six receptions for 124 yards and a touchdown.
The rankings continued with the Baltimore Ravens at No. 4 after Lamar Jackson threw four touchdown passes in a 41-17 victory over the Cleveland Browns; the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 5 following a divisional win over the Las Vegas Raiders; and the Detroit Lions at No. 6 after Jared Goff connected on five touchdown passes in a 52-21 win. The Chiefs were listed at No. 7. In Sunday’s loss to Philadelphia, Patrick Mahomes managed 187 passing yards, an interception that bounced off Travis Kelce’s hands at the goal line, and led the team in rushing with 66 yards and a touchdown as Kansas City’s secondary receiving options struggled to separate from coverage.
The Post noted 10 teams are still winless through two weeks, an early-season snapshot that, the paper observed, loosely mirrors the top of the 2025 NFL Draft order. That group includes long-struggling franchises and recent playoff teams alike; the Houston Texans, for example, sit among the winless but remain a two-time AFC South champion in recent seasons and are not being written off.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 8 edged the Texans 20-19 when Rachaad White dove on a fumble and later scored a game-winning two-yard touchdown with six seconds left. The Los Angeles Rams rose to No. 9 after a 33-19 win over Tennessee in which Matthew Stafford threw for 298 yards and Davante Adams made immediate impact in a new alignment. The Indianapolis Colts jumped to No. 10 after Spencer Shrader converted a 45-yard game-winner following a successful second attempt and after Daniel Jones produced his first 300-yard passing game since 2023; the Colts had recorded no punts and no turnovers through two games.
Midpack rankings featured Washington at No. 11 and the Denver Broncos at No. 12, with the Cincinnati Bengals and San Francisco 49ers occupying Nos. 13 and 14 respectively. The Dallas Cowboys, at No. 15, split their first two games. The list placed Atlanta at 16, Arizona 17, Seattle 18, Minnesota 19 and Pittsburgh 20. The Texans were ranked 21st and the Las Vegas Raiders 22nd. New England sat at 23, Jacksonville 24 and the New York Giants dropped to 25 after a 40-37 loss to Dallas that featured 14 penalties totaling 160 yards; Giants kicker Brandon Aubrey became the first NFL kicker to convert a field goal as time expired in regulation and again as time expired in overtime.
The Tennessee Titans, New York Jets, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers, Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints rounded out the bottom of the Post’s list, with the Titans and Jets among the winless clubs. The Post called for tempered expectations on a season sample that remains small, while pointing to specific early developments such as Justin Fields’ concussion and a poor passing day in New York, which underscored the fragile nature of early-season momentum.
The rankings frame a league still settling into rhythms after two games. Analysts and coaches emphasized that injuries, scheduling and small samples can skew perceptions — a point made when evaluating teams like Kansas City, whose recent history includes sustained postseason success under Hall of Fame figures on offense and defense. The Post’s rankings underline the persistent unpredictability of the NFL, where a handful of games can produce outsized headlines and where a strong reputation does not immunize a club from an early slump.
The New York Post’s Week 3 power rankings mirror on-field results and notable individual performances to date, while leaving room for rapid change as teams move beyond the first quarter of the season and contend with injuries, byes and evolving rosters.