NFL Power Rankings Week 3

The New Orleans Saints are an amazingly gifted offensive team. Because of that, they are going to keep covering spreads this season until defenses figure them out.

That could take a while. In 2007, with Tom Brady at full strength, the Patriots covered the spread with ease during the first half of the season, but then, after defenses started to catch on to them, failed to cover ATS in four of their last 6 games.

New Orleans could mirror the 2007 Pats in 2009.

Let’s take a look at the Week 3 NFL Power Rankings.

NFL Power Rankings: Week 3

** SU means straight-up

** ATS means against the spread

1. New Orleans Saints (2-0 SU, 2-0-0 ATS) - - 48 to 22 is a butt whipping no matter who is playing quarterback for the other team. That’s two straight games where the Saints have scored over 40 points and managed to cover the spread. This team is scary good.

1. New York Jets (2-0 SU, 2-0-0 ATS) - - Trash talking didn’t get in the way of Coach Rex Ryan and quarterback Mark Sanchez beating up the New England Patriots. It was a huge victory for the Jets who beat the Pats at home for the first time since 2001.


2. Atlanta Falcons (2-0 SU, 2-0-0 ATS) - - Atlanta and New Orleans in the NFC South are two of the top three teams in the NFC right now with the Giants being the other. The Falcons defense didn’t look great against Carolina but their offense is very, very good.

1. Baltimore Ravens (2-0 SU, 2-0-0 ATS) - - They went into San Diego as 3 point underdogs and beat the Chargers straight-up. Quarterback Joe Flacco has emerged as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.


2. Minnesota Vikings (2-0 SU, 2-0-0 ATS) - - Favre looked very comfortable in the second half of their 27 to 13 victory over the Detroit Lions. Minnesota is easily the class in the NFC North in 2009.


3. San Francisco 49’ers (2-0 SU, 2-0-0 ATS) - - The 49’ers have the inside track to the NFC West title already after beating the Seattle Seahawks for their second straight victory in their division.


4. Denver Broncos (2-0 SU, 2-0-0 ATS) - - Forget the off season shenanigans, the Broncos so far are winners. Against Cleveland, they actually looked good holding the Browns to 6 total points and putting up 27 on their own.


5. New York Giants (2-0 SU, 1-1-0 ATS) - - Expect New York to climb in these rankings in weeks to come. Beating the Cowboys on opening night in their own stadium couldn’t have been easy and it wasn’t as the G-Men needed a last second field goal to pull out the victory. As 3 point underdogs, the 33 to 30 win easily covered and the Giants betting faithful took home a chunk of change if they took them SU.


6. Buffalo Bills (1-1 SU, 2-0-0 ATS) - - The Bills bounced back from their loss to the Patriots by dominating the hapless Bucs 33 to 20. It was a nice cover ATS as Buffalo was giving up only 4 points.


7. Oakland Raiders (1-1 SU, 2-0-0 ATS) - - Oakland fans had to have been nervous watching their team struggle against the Kansas City Chiefs for most of their rivalry game this past Sunday, but the Raiders pulled it out, and pulled out a cover ATS after Darren McFadden waltzed into the end zone late in the game.


8. Dallas Cowboys (1-1 SU, 1-1-0 ATS) - - Nice stadium, ‘Boys, too bad you couldn’t pull out the win against the New York Giants. Dallas’s defense just isn’t that good which means that Tony Romo’s mistakes are compounded.


9. Seattle Seahawks (1-1 SU, 1-1-0 ATS) - - The Seahawks had a chance to really make a statement in the NFC West and failed. S.F. is now the top dog in the NFC West.


10. Philadelphia Eagles (1-1 SU, 1-1-0 ATS) - - Ouch…the look on Donovan’s face at the end of the lopsided loss to the Saints said it all. Either the Saints are that good or the Eagles are overrated. It’s probably both.


11. Green Bay Packers (1-1 SU, 1-1-0 ATS) - - Really? You can’t beat Cincinnati at home, Green Bay? Forget about challenging the Vikings for the NFC North title. If they make the necessary adjustments, a wildcard berth is still possible, but they have to make the adjustments.


12. Arizona Cardinals (1-1 SU, 1-1-0 ATS) - - The bounce back was a relief for Cardinals fans, but a lot of that had to with the play of Jacksonville who was just awful. You can’t take away the fact that the Cardinals put up 30 against the Jags on the road, but its going to be really tough this year to duplicate their run in 2008.


13. Cincinnati Bengals (1-1 SU, 1-1-0 ATS) - - I like this team to do some good things in 2009. If they keep giving the ball to Cedric Benson and setting up their passing game, they will continue to beat teams like Green Bay. Expect Cincinnati to be a live underdog in a lot of their upcoming games.


14. Chicago Bears (1-1 SU, 1-1-0 ATS) - - Jay Cutler showed up and their defense didn’t lose a step without Brian Urlacher. As home dogs, they beat the champs straight-up. There is still life left in this team.


15. Houston Texans (1-1 SU, 1-1-0 ATS) - - Beating the Titans on the road straight-up as 6 ½ underdogs is a big, big victory. This is especially true since they were thumped in Week 1 against the New York Jets as favorites.


16. Indianapolis Colts (2-0 SU, 1-1-0 ATS) - - That’s why Peyton Manning is considered one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL. With the game on the line, the Colts’ gun slinger proved that he’s still the top dog in the AFC by marching the Colts down the field and into the end zone late in the fourth quarter for the go-ahead score. The Fins couldn’t counter, and the Colts are suddenly 2 and 0 straight-up and 1 and 1 ATS.


17. Washington Redskins (1-1 SU, 0-1-1 ATS) - - They didn’t cover against St. Louis, but a win is a win for the ‘Skins who need to take the victory and turn it into a straight-up streak.


18. New England Patriots (1-1 SU, 0-2-0 ATS) - - The Pats are 1 and 1 straight-up. That’s the good news. Being 0 and 2 ATS is not good. If had a Super Bowl bet on this team, I’d be worried right now. The defense just isn’t very good.


19. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1 SU, 0-2-0 ATS) - - The champs have no excuses after going 0 and 2 ATS to start out 2009. They should have had no trouble against the Bears on the road either straight-up or against the spread.


20. San Diego Chargers (1-1 SU, 0-2-0 ATS) - - Talk about a porous defense. The Chargers got lucky against Oakland in Week1 straight-up and then blew it this past Sunday at home as 3 point favorites both straight-up and ATS against the Baltimore Ravens. Maybe, they’re just not a very good team.


21. Tennessee Titans (0-2 SU, 1-1-0 ATS) - - Their playoff chances are already gone after going 0 and 2 in the AFC. Their schedule only gets tougher. Sorry, Titans fans.


22. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2 SU, 1-1-0 ATS) - - Man, they played well in Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts. Too bad they couldn’t come close to playing that well against the Cardinals as favorites at home.


23. St. Louis Rams (0-2 SU, 1-1-0 ATS) - - The Rams played about as well as they could against Washington. This team is a team to watch against the spread in certain games in 2009. Straight-up betting shouldn’t occur until 2010 when they improve more.


24. Miami Dolphins (0-2 SU, 0-2-0 ATS) - - The Fins had their Monday night game against the Colts, but when the going got tough, really tough, Chad Pennington and the Miami Dolphins couldn’t hang. Ted Ginn Jr. is not the answer at wide receiver, and Pennington looked bored out there. The Dolphins are in trouble.


25. Kansas City Chiefs (0-2 SU, 0-2-0 ATS) - - The Chiefs had the game against Oakland in their back pockets but Darren McFadden stole it and ran with it into the end zone. Oh, well. Because for some odd reason they are getting respect from the BetUS odds makers, the “Chefs” are 0 and 2 ATS as well.


26. Detroit Lions (0-2 SU, 0-2-0 ATS) - - It looked like they might upset Favre, AP and the Vikings when they were up 10 to 7 early in the game. Then, talent took over and the Lions lost their second game in a row. They have now lost 18 games in a row straight-up.


27. Carolina Panthers (0-2 SU, 0-2-0 ATS) - - They played better against Atlanta, but the Falcons found a way to cover the spread and beat them straight-up. The NFC South champions of 2008 will be lucky to win 5 games in 2009.


28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-2 SU, 0-2-0 ATS) - - These guys are terrible. Just terrible. After getting swamped by Dallas they get beat down by Buffalo. The defense is slow and the offense is awful.


29. Cleveland Browns (0-2 SU, 0-2-0 ATS) - - Eric Mangini might get fired before the season is over if the Browns continue this. Losing to the Vikings is one thing, but only putting up 6 points against Denver and allowing 27 is heart braking. Cleveland is the worst team in the NFL right now, no doubt.