Strong Side Sports

Well, we’re 3 weeks in and just as everyone expected, the undefeated teams consist of the Chiefs (duh), Bills (checks out), and wait a minute, this must be a typo…the Steelers, Seahawks, and Vikings? Okay well there must be some solid 2-1 teams right? Like I dunno maybe the Bengals and Ravens? What about the Cowboys or the Niners? Pretty sure the Falcons were supposed to be legit this year…nope. That’s a group of 1-2 teams and the winless Bengals. Things don’t always go how we think, and this young season has already shown us that. Now, 1-2 isn’t exactly a death sentence (0-3 might be), but it’s definitely not a great start. It’s early, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of these teams end up pulling it together to make the playoffs. I will say, whenever reality doesn’t meet expectations, it makes doing these Power Rankings a real chore. I can’t believe I have to like, think about it. It’s awful. I’m not qualified to do this, I’m just making it up. I have no metrics, only vibes. Anyway…

Top 10

1. Chiefs – You oughta know by now. They stay until they lose. KC gets a banged up Chargers team this weekend, so I think their spot is safe.
2. Vikings – Maybe this is a huge overcorrection for Minnesota. Maybe it’s not. The defense is absolutely bonkers. And they get either Jordan Love fresh off an injury or a very limited-in-experience Malik Willis. It’ll be a Viking raid in Lambeau.
3. Bills – They absolutely embarrassed the Jags on Monday, but will have a much tougher test against Lamar and the Ravens as they continue their quest to get back into form.
4. Jets – We saw Aaron Rodgers at his best on Thursday. Vintage A-Rod. I don’t foresee Old Man Rodgers struggling against the Broncos’ D in the same way we saw Baker struggle last week.
5. Eagles – The Eagles are back, I guess? Despite the win in New Orleans, I wasn’t exactly impressed by their offensive output (the defense was very good tho), and with the potential of having both Brown and Smith out this weekend, I don’t necessarily like their odds against Tampa. Philly will likely need another great defensive performance to win this week.
6. Niners – Hey, I get it, San Francisco, you’ve got injuries. But so did LA, and they put together a win with a ragtag group of wideouts. You can do better. New England presents itself as a potential get-right game.
7. Texans – Tough break for CJ and his crew. Good news is that they play the team with possibly the worst vibes in the whole league this week, the Jaguars. I’m expecting a huge bounce back.
8. Lions – The Lions won a gritty game in Arizona, and now they get the undefeated Seahawks coming into town Monday night. If it’s anything like their regular season matchup last year, it should be a great game.
9. Steelers – I don’t think I’ve ever had the Steelers in my top 10. I have a hard time praising them as I try to remain unbiased (sometimes). But damn, the defense is good. They held the Chargers to -5 yards of offense in the second half. They finally scored 20 points, Justin Fields threw over the middle, I’m excited. They’ll need the defense to capitalize on the mistake-prone Anthony Richardson-led Colts offense while continuing to be consistent offensively.
10. Seahawks – I really didn’t expect much out of Seattle this year. I figured Geno will regress eventually, how good will the defense be? But they’re second in yards allowed, 4th in points allowed, as well as ranking 8th and 9th in offensive yardage and points respectively. All signs point to this being a top 10 team. Their toughest challenge of the year thus far awaits them on Monday night in Detroit.

Week 4 Picks out tomorrow. Huge get-right week for me. Don’t miss it.