24. Cleveland Browns (1-2)
So yeah, that happened. The Cleveland Browns are now 1-2 on the season after a walk-off field goal against the Green Bay Packers. It’s the first win of the year for the Browns, and they were bound to get one. They won’t accomplish much with Joe Flacco at QB, but they can hang around some games.
Cleveland is building for the future and is likely going to take a huge swing on a QB in the 2026 NFL Draft. Right now, this team is far from a finished product, but they can be fun with how stingy their defense is.
23. New England Patriots (1-2)
It’s early, but the New England Patriots just don’t look like a well-coached team at all. I’ve been high on this team for a while, but the early returns aren’t looking all that great. Drake Maye was throwing the ball all over the place, so that’s at least something.
But the harsh truth of this situation is that this might be a bit of a longer process than some who were high on the team expected. Mike Vrabel is a good head coach, but in many instances, things in the NFL don’t change overnight, and I reckon that might be the case with the Patriots.
We’ll see if they have a mid-season turnaround. There are still 14 regular season games left, so a lot can change.
22. Las Vegas Raiders (1-2)
The Las Vegas Raiders are bad. This is a bad, horrible, terrible football team. Vegas lost to Marcus Mariota and the Washington Commanders in Week 3, and it really wasn’t very close. The Raiders have a fragile, hollow roster and a below-average QB in Geno Smith.
The Commanders don’t even have a noteworthy roster by every stretch of the imagination, but this unit is well-coached and can out-scheme their opponents in most weeks. The Raiders are going to be among the worst teams in the NFL as the season goes on, and them losing two games in a row like this is not surprising.
It’s tough-sledding right now. The Raiders continue to fall in our NFL power rankings as Week 3 closes out with Monday Night Football.
21. Cincinnati Bengals (2-1)
The Cincinnati Bengals are now a bad football team. A rough outing against the Minnesota Vikings drops them to 2-1 on the season, but it truly feels like this team is 0-3. Joe Burrow is likely missing the rest of the season with his turf toe injury, and Jake Browning just isn’t going to cut it.
The Bengals should see if they can pry Kirk Cousins away from the Atlanta Falcons, but some may not think that Cousins is a better option than Browning at this point. It’s really a shame, as Cincy did add a ton of talent this offseason and finally seemed to get moderately-serious about fielding a competitive team.
The Bengals drop in our power rankings.