NFL Rankings - 3 Oct

All 3 undefeated teams held on to win this weekend, but two of them went clear down to the final play before the result was final. Houston, meanwhile, put away the Tennessee Titans early and coasted to their 4th victory and used their dominance to maintain the #1 spot for the 3rd straight week. Here are the latest rankings, with ESPN's Power Rankings in parentheses. Teams are grouped by similar levels of performance.

TW. (LW) Team (Record) Result (ESPN)
1. (1) Houston (4-0) W (1)
2. (7) New England (2-2) W (6)
3. (15) San Francisco (3-1) W (4)

4. (10) Baltimore (3-1) W (3)
5. (14) Chicago (3-1) W (9)

6. (4) Arizona (4-0) W (5)
7. (3) Denver (2-2) W (13)

8. (2) Atlanta (4-0) W (2)
9. (16) Minnesota (3-1) W (14)
10. (26) Cincinnati (3-1) W (12)
11. (20) NY Giants (2-2) L (10)
12. (5) Seattle (2-2) L (17)

13. (11) Green Bay (2-2) W (8)
14. (28) Saint Louis (2-2) W (19)
15. (18) Philadelphia (3-1) W (7)
16. (29) Washington (2-2) W (18)
17. (9) Miami (1-3) L (26)
18. (12) San Diego (3-1) W (11)

19. (24) Detroit (1-3) L (20)
20. (27) Cleveland (0-4) L (32)

21. (23) Tampa Bay (1-3) L (22)
22. (6) Pittsburgh (1-2) BYE (16)
23. (19) Dallas (2-2) L (15)
24. (31) Carolina (1-3) L (24)

25. (22) Indianapolis (1-2) BYE (31)
26. (13) Jacksonville (1-3) L (30)
27. (32) New Orleans (0-4) L (28)
28. (17) Buffalo (2-2) L (21)

29. (8) NY Jets (2-2) L (23)
30. (30) Tennessee (1-3) L (25)

31. (21) Oakland (1-3) L (29)
32. (25) Kansas City (1-3) L (27)

San Francisco jumped back into the top of the rankings with their 34-0 beat-down of the New York Jets on Sunday, which was even more impressive since it happened on the road. They were also helped along by another upset victory by the Minnesota Vikings, who moved into the top 10 and have beaten the 49ers. The 49ers rushing attack was excellent in New York, racking up 245 yards and 3 touchdowns while splitting up the duties among several different players, none of which gained more than 62 yards.

The New England Patriots were in danger of losing their third straight game, trailing the Buffalo Bills 21-7 early in the third quarter when Tom Brady took over and led the Patriots to 6 touchdowns in 19 minutes, which turned a big deficit into a huge blowout and put New England back in familiar territory as one of the top 5 teams in the league.

The Minnesota Vikings have been showing a lot of improvement over the past couple weeks, beating the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions back to back right after losing to the Indianapolis Colts in week 2. Special teams were the story this time, as the Vikings returned both a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns as they won a road game without scoring an offensive touchdown.

The New York Giants are still looking pretty strong, but they have struggled when facing other teams from the NFC East, which is one of two divisions (the other is the NFC West, surprisingly) where no team has a losing record. Even with the teams in their division winning, the Giants are somehow the only NFC East team that has outscored its opponents so far this season, so it's a little strange to see them bringing up the rear.

Predictions

Upset picks are in italics.

Thursday

Arizona at Saint Louis - Cardinals by 4

Sunday

Miami at Cincinnati - Bengals by 8
Green Bay at Indianapolis - Packers by 4
Baltimore at Kansas City - Ravens by 22
Cleveland at NY Giants - Giants by 9
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh - Eagles by 1
Atlanta at Washington - Falcons by 1
Seattle at Carolina - Seahawks by 4
Chicago at Jacksonville - Bears by 13
Tennessee at Minnesota - Vikings by 19
Denver at New England - Patriots by 10
Buffalo at San Francisco - 49ers by 25
San Diego at New Orleans - Chargers by 3

Monday

Houston at NY Jets - Texans by 21

Prediction Results

NFL: 10-5 (.667) 37-26 overall (.587)
Upsets: 1-2 (.333) 7-8 overall (.467)