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NFL Power Rankings, Week 3: Updated NFC rankings after Week 2 action

The NFC is looking tough once again in 2026
BySayre Bedinger
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
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14. Washington Commanders (0-2)

The Washington Commanders are now 0-2 after dropping two road games against division rivals to start the season, and there is officially reason to panic.

Not only have the Commanders lost two straight divisional matchups, but Jayden Daniels is once again injured. After dealing with injuries throughout the 2025 season, Daniels is once again facing a road to recovery after a gruesome dislocated elbow against Dallas in Week 2.

Thankfully (if we can say that), it happened to his non-throwing arm. Still, being in an 0-2 hole and not having Daniels for their next stretch of games is brutal, especially because their home opener this weekend is against the Seattle Seahawks.

Even though that will end up being a matchup of two teams with backup quarterbacks in the lineup, Seattle hasn't missed a beat with Lock in the lineup. We have a large sample of the Commanders with Marcus Mariota under center, and while he's certainly capable, quarterbacks going up against Mike Macdonald's defense have struggled to get the ball past midfield.

This Commanders team is in for a potentially rough season once again.

13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-2)

Shout out to the Buccaneers for making me look bad in Week 2.

I was certain that the Bucs were going to come away with a win in Week 2 against the Cleveland Browns. How many survivor pools out there did the Bucs just ruin this past week?

This Tampa Bay team has been playing extremely uninspired football dating back to the second half of the 2025 season, and their ownership/front office has got to be fed up. This team keeps handing out a ton of cash to its star players, and the results on the field are simply not there.

There was a lot of discussion late last season about whether or not the Bucs would stick with Todd Bowles as their head coach, and his seat is getting hotter by the day.

This team simply has too much talent to be talking about them as an 0-2 squad right now, the head coach on the hot seat, Baker Mayfield playing some of the worst football of his career, and the Bucs looking lost compared to division rivals like the Panthers and Saints.

The decisions to let Dave Canales and Liam Coen out the door are haunting this franchise.

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