NFL Power Rankings: Division rankings after Week 3
By Brad Rowland
1) NFC West
It wasn’t a spotless weekend for the NFC West, but thanks to some high-end efforts from two of their top-tier teams, the division holds down the top spot for the third consecutive week. The Seattle Seahawks are not currently leading the division standings, but the defending Super Bowl champions did more than enough to maintain the mantle as the best team in football during their overtime victory over the Broncos. It would be a legitimate surprise if Seattle lost a single game at home this season, and with that, anything short of a first round bye in the NFC would be a large-scale disappointment.
The team that is actually leading the division at the moment is the Arizona Cardinals, and they improved to 3-0 on the strength of a solid victory over one of their division foes in the San Francisco 49ers. Arizona lost two of their defensive pillars, Daryl Washington and Darnell Dockett, prior to the season, but that hasn’t stopped them from allowing just 15 points per game through three weeks, and when they were able to secure a win behind Drew Stanton (!) on Sunday, it solidified their stance as an elite squad.
Both the 49ers and Rams suffered unfortunate defeats, but obviously, San Francisco’s loss does not hurt the division, and the Rams were simply on the wrong side of an unsightly collapse. The Austin Davis experience may be short-lived under center for St. Louis, but at the very least, they have a competitive defense (even in the absence of Chris Long) and running game, and that should allow them to hang around in games despite sub-par quarterback play.
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