2011 NFL Power Rankings Week 3: Undefeated Bills, Redskins, Lions Get No Respect

Week 1 of the 2011 NFL football season was full of surprises. Week 2 brought a bit of reality back into play, not to mention giving parity proponents (and critics) plenty of ammunition for their argument, leveling 18 teams to records of 1-1 and leaving only seven undefeated teams in the entire league. But power rankings lists, being the subjective compilations they are, sometimes do not reflect the records of teams as much as they reflect histories and expectations. The Week 3 placement of the surprisingly undefeated Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills -- at the relative center of all three major power rankings lists (ESPN, Fox Sports, CBS Sports) -- and the less surprisingly undefeated Detroit Lions exemplify the subjective nature of the power rankings lists as opposed to giving numbers a simple face value.

Week 3 sees the Redskins getting slightly more respect than the Bills. ESPN and Fox Sports places the two teams at No. 15 and 16, respectively, with CBS slotting them at No. 13 and No. 14 (again, respectively). They are the lowest ranked of the undefeated teams. What this means is that two power rankings lists have nine teams with 1-1 records ranked ahead of them (CBS has seven). Is this a general disrespect for the franchises or simply the observations of those that have taken into consideration the recent histories of the clubs and the studied expectations of what they are capable of for the forthcoming season? Time is the ultimate judge in these things, so it remains to be seen if the Redskins and Bills will be able to continue winning and force the listmakers to give them a little more credit.

At the same time, the Detroit Lions, a team that did well in the NFL draft, in free agent pick-ups, and seemed to have been talked about with some excitement during preseason also seem to only have gained the respect of CBS' Pete Prisco in the regular season, taking the fifth notch on his power rankings list in Week 3. But ESPN and Fox Sports seem a bit unwilling to trust the two wins and place the Lions at No. 11 for Week 3. Still, No. 11 certainly beats numbers 13, 14, 15, and 16. Just ask the Redskins and Bills...

CBS lists the five other undefeated teams -- in descending order: the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Houston Texans, Detroit Lions -- in the top five slots. In fact, teams expected to win and actually doing so, like the Packers and the Patriots, are in the top two spots on all three power rankings lists. ESPN had four of the undefeateds in the Top 5: the Jets at No. 3, the 1-1 New Orleans Saints at No. 4, and the Texans at No. 5). Fox Sports had two 1-1 teams in the Top 5: the Saints were third, the Jets fourth, and the 1-1 San Diego Chargers were No. 5.

Continuing to win will undoubtedly alter the relative positions of the Redskins, Bills, and Lions, giving the power rankings listmakers reason to be less wary of giving them higher placement. And therein lies the rub, because the Redskins, the Bills, and the Lions have shown in recent history a propensity -- regardless of how they start their seasons -- to fade as the number of games pile up.

2011 Power Rankings Lists (Week 3)

ESPN NFL Power Rankings -- Week 3 (last week's position in parentheses)

1. (1) Green Bay Packers
2. (2) New England Patriots
3. (5) New York Jets
4. (6) New Orleans Saints
5. (10) Houston Texans
6. (3) Philadelphia Eagles
7. (4) Baltimore Ravens
8. (11) Atlanta Falcons
9. (8) Pittsburgh Steelers
10. (7) Chicago Bears

Fox Sports NFL Power Rankings -- Week 3

1. (1) Green Bay Packers
2. (3) New England Patriots
3. (5) New Orleans Saints
4. (8) New York Jets
5. (2) San Diego Chargers
6. (7) Pittsburgh Steelers
7. (12) Atlanta Falcons
8. (6) Philadelphia Eagles
9. (9) Houston Texans
10. (4) Baltimore Ravens

CBS Sports NFL Power Rankings -- Week 3

1. (1) Green Bay Packers
2. (2) New England Patriots
3. (6) New York Jets
4. (7) Houston Texans
5. (13) Detroit Lions
6. (3) San Diego Chargers
7. (5) Baltimore Ravens
8. (9) Atlanta Falcons
9. (4) Philadelphia Eagles
10. (10) Pittsburgh Steelers

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Sources:

"2011 NFL Power Rankings -- Week 3," ESPN.go.com

Brian Billick, "Brian Billick's Week 2 Power Rankings," FoxSports.com

Pete Prisco, " NFL Power Rankings: Jerry's got a big mess in Big D," CBSSports.com