The Packers remain number one this week despite losing their first game of the season, but beyond that there’s some movement. The Saints now sit in the number two spot, moving up from fourth as the Ravens and Steelers both lose. The 49ers see themselves leap frog the Patriots to move into third after a solid win over the Steelers.

The big winners this week are the Cowboys, Chargers, and the Seahawks. The Cowboys break the top ten moving from 14^th to 10^th after their victory puts them in the driver’s seat in the NFC East. The Chargers moved up from 18^th to 14^th after knocking off the Ravens and moving back to .500. They need some help, but are definitely still alive in the AFC West. The Seahawks won their third straight and moved to 15^th from 20^th.

The big losers this week are the Ravens, Titans, and Bears. The Ravens lost their fourth game of the season and fell from 2^nd to 6^th moving one spot behind the Steelers. The Titans dropped seven spots from 13^th to 20^th after losing to the Colts giving them their first victory of the season. The Bears also saw themselves drop four spots falling to 21^st from 17^th.

The Vikings, Rams, and Colts again round out the bottom despite Indianapolis getting their first win of the season.

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The Packers are again at the top of the Power Rankings this week as they remain undefeated. The Ravens and Steelers switch spots after Joe Flacco led a late drive to win the game at Heinz Field. The Bears, Texans, and Bengals all cracked the top 10 this week with the Patriots and Bills both losing and falling out of the top ten.

The big winner this week is the Dallas Cowboys who jump from 21^st to 15^th, with a win over Seattle to stay within striking distance of the Giants who have a tough schedule coming up. Another big move was the Jets who while only moving from 13^th to 11^th with their win over Buffalo, have jumped both the Patriots and Bills to be the highest ranked AFC East team.

The big losers this week are the New England Patriots who fell from 6^th to 13^th after their second straight loss. The Bills also saw themselves fall from 14^th to 8^th after getting beat at home by the Jets. The Chiefs dropped from 21^st to 16^th after their four game win streak was snapped by the winless Miami Dolphins in a big way.

The Cardinals, who last week fell behind the Rams, switched with the Rams again this week after beating St. Louis in OT on an amazing punt return by rookie Patrick Peterson. Rounding out the bottom of the rankings again this week are the Indianapolis Colts who lost again this week and look like they’ll be the front runners for Andrew Luck in next year’s draft.

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It’s the team that nobody saw coming. For the past few years, the Bills have been the laughing stock of the AFC East. They were the one team bringing down a division with the power house Patriots and the better than average Jets and Dolphins.

Not anymore. The Bills have quietly been putting together a good team and this year, we are finally seeing just how good this team and Harvard graduate QB Ryan Fitzpatrick can be. The Bills realize this and recently gave him a big contract extension of 6 years $59 million, locking up their franchise man for years to come. That extension is bad news for the rest of the AFC East.

He’s been worth every penny of that, having a career year, and has the Bills sitting in a 1^st place tie atop the AFC East with the New England Patriots at 5-2. He’s ranked 6^th in the league in quarter back, rating at 97.8 for the season. The Bills are third in the league, scoring 30.1 points per game this year.

While only being ranked 13^th overall in passing at 239.6 yards a game, the running game has received a boost from their QB play ranking 5^th overall at 140.6 a game. Running back Fred Jackson, who is having an MVP type season, is fourth in the league in yards with 721 and is ranked fourth among running backs in receiving with just over 350 yards.

He’s tied for first with Matt Forte of runs over 20 yards ranks second in yards per game with 103.0 and is fourth in yards per carry at 5.5, but is second in running backs to LeSean McCoy. DeMarco Murray and Michael Vick are one and two, but have half the carries of McCoy and Jackson. Jackson also has zero fumbles this season so far.

While the Bills defense isn’t one of the better in the league, they still put fear into a team as they lead the league in interceptions with 18 and three touchdowns off interceptions. This defense has potential the potential to be real solid in the coming years if they can keep everyone healthy. They showed this last week shutting out the Washington Redskins 23-0 and racking up 9 sacks in the process.

To the Bills credit, they’ve also been doing this against quality opponents. They’ve beaten Kansas City and Oakland, both who are tied for first with San Diego for the AFC West all sitting at 4-3. They’ve beaten the Patriots once already and beat a good Philadelphia Eagles team who has recently been turning things around after a horrible start.

They took care of business against an obviously weaker Washington team, shutting them out last week. The Bills only losses come at the hands of the Bengals and the Giants. Both these teams are atop of their divisions and have a 5-2 record. The Bills should have more respect than they do.

Consider that the Patriots have a worse defense in football, giving up 424.1 yards a game compared to the Bills who are 385.9, the Patriots are considered playoff contenders and potential Super Bowl threats. The same could be said for the Packers who rank below the Bills in yards per game giving up 391.0 and currently hold the 31^st spot in opponents passing yards per game, yet they’re widely regarded as being the best team in football.

These teams are led by their quarterbacks and Fitzpatrick has proven he can do that. Add to that a more potent running attack than either Brady or Rodgers has and this is a team that can go deep into the playoffs.

If that’s not enough for you, think about the New Orleans Saints team that won the Super Bowl a few years ago. They are very much like this Bills team in that they have a strong quarterback, a high scoring offense, and a defense that isn’t that great, but forces turnovers and scores points.

This Bills team is as good as they’re record and play this season has been. In a quarterback driven league they’ve found their man in Ryan Fitzpatrick. They are proving they can score points with anyone in the league and if teams with good quarterbacks and bad defenses can be in the hunt for the Super Bowl the same should be said for the Bills.

The fan base has been waiting patiently for this time to come and it has come quicker than expected, but not as a shock at all. So the next time you go to dismiss the Bills as a top team in this league, think about what they’re doing and show them some respect.

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Besides the Packers which are again atop the Power Rankings this week, there is some shake up near the top of this week’s rankings with some big losses and gains. The 49ers move up into the number 2 spot sitting at 6-1 atop the NFC West. The Steelers, after their big win over the Patriots, move up to number 3 and are the top team in the AFC just ahead of division rivals Baltimore who moved from 8^th to 5^th.

The Patriots and Saints saw themselves drop four spots from 2^nd and 3^rd to 6^th and 7^th respectively after bad losses this week. The Chargers are the big losers this week dropping all the way from 7^th down 15^th after a loss for the 2^nd straight week this time coming at the hands of division rivals the Chiefs.

The Eagles saw themselves jump four spots from 22^nd to 18^th after an impressive victory over the Cowboys. The Vikings also saw themselves making a jump from 28^th to 23^rd behind a second impressive game from rookie QB Christian Ponder and another stud performance from Adrian Peterson.

The Rams who got their first win of the season against the Saints saw themselves leapfrog the Cardinals who blew a 23-6 halftime lead against the Ravens. Bringing up the rear of the rankings again this week are the Dolphins at 31 and the Colts at 32 as both teams failed to get a win again and don’t look very good.

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The Packers top the Power Rankings again this week with another impressive performance from Aaron Rodgers. The Steelers make a push for the top jumping up to 5^th, and with a win over number 2 New England can jump up next week. The Texans, Falcons, and Chiefs all jumped up 5 spots to 12^th, 14^th, and 19^th respectively.

The Ravens saw themselves drop from 3^rd to 8^th after a horrible loss to the Jaguars. The Raiders dropped 7 spots from 9th to 16th after trouble at the QB position post Carson Palmer trade gave them a loss going into their bye week. The Bucs also dropped 5 spots from 12^th to 17^th after getting whooped in London by the Bears.

The Colts again round out the bottom of the rankings this week after getting obliterated by the Saints 62-7 and they don’t look poised to move anytime soon.

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The way things began at MetLife Stadium on Sunday made it look like the Jets’ season was going to crash and burn. The Jets began the game with the ball, and in less than two minutes, they were already down 7-0 when Donald Butler stripped Dustin Keller of the ball and ran it back 37 yards for the score.

New York started gaining some momentum, and appeared to have a 10-7 lead on a 23-yard catch by Santonio Holmes, but the play was brought back due to a holding penalty on Nick Mangold. Two plays later, Mark Sanchez made a bad throw into double coverage, and was picked off by Eric Weddle, which led to a two-yard touchdown catch by Antonio Gates.

This was Gates’ first game back since missing three games with a foot injury. He finished with five catches, 54 yards, and the one touchdown. The Jets’ only touchdown in the first half capped a nice drive that saw a very balanced running and passing attack. Sanchez was able to find Plaxico Burress in the endzone on the third and goal, which brought the score to 14-10.

Four Charger penalties, two pass interferences, and offsides calls helped the drive. Had it not been for a lot of mistakes the Chargers made, they would’ve been up by more points by halftime. San Diego, which came out of a bye wee, had 13 penalties for 95 yards on the day. A late drive and a one-yard run by Mike Tolbert put the ‘Bolts up 21-10 going into halftime.

The second half was a different story. The Jets dominated on both sides of the ball. On their second possession of the half, the Jets had a nice 10-play drive finished off with Burress’ second touchdown of the day on a four-yard catch to make it 21-17 with three minutes left in the third quarter.

The play of the game came with the Chargers driving down with the lead, looking for the potential game sealing score when Philip Rivers threw to Vincent Jackson. The ball tipped off his hands due to the throw being a little behind him, and bounced right into Darrelle Revis’ hands, who returned it at 64 yards to the Chargers 19-yard line, which set up the go ahead score.

“It was a big play,” said Revis, who thought cornerback Antonio Cromartie also got a piece of the ball. After some good runs by Shonn Greene, who had a breakout game rushing for 112 yards on 20 carries, and a defensive holding penalty, Sanchez was able to find Burress yet again for his third touchdown of the day on a three-yard slant in the redzone to give the Jets their first and only lead with 8:41 remaining.

This was Burress’ second three-touchdown game, his first being the opening week of the 2007 season with the Giants. “You’ve got to evaluate yourself,” Burress said. “I looked at myself, and said I’ve got to play better. It was not on anybody but myself.”

On San Diego’s next possession, Rivers, who finished 16 of 32 for 179 yards and a touchdown, threw another interception, this time getting picked off by Kyle Wilson. The turnover set up a 30-yard run by Nick Folk to put the Jets up 27-21. San Diego’s final drive with no timeouts was a joke as they barely got plays off, and turned it over on downs.

Sanchez who, besides the early interception, picked things up finished 18 of 33 for 173 yards and three touchdowns. Burress finished with four catches for 25 yards, but proved to be the red-zone presence the Jets were looking for when they signed him at the beginning of the season.

The Jets head into a bye week, sitting at 4-3, riding a two-game winning streak. After the bye week are two divisional games against the Bills and a home rematch against the Patriots. The Jets improved to 4-0 at home. “This,” Revis said, “was a must-win for us.”

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Rex Ryan has had to deal with the recent sniping going back and forth in his locker room between Santonio Holmes and Brandon Moore. He still has to deal with stuff people are saying — except this time, the culprit is himself. On a conference call Wednesday with reporters in San Diego, Ryan said he’d already have two Super Bowl rings if he had been hired by the Chargers in 2007.

Ryan, who interviewed for the job, said, “I’m telling you, those teams were loaded.” That was a slight toward Norv Turner, who landed the head-coaching gig in ’07 and has yet to reach a Super Bowl. Ryan knows how hard it is to coach in the NFL as he watched his father Buddy Ryan do it for years.

He has a ton of respect for the profession and would never insult another coach. However, as we have seen over the past two years, Rex also has a bravado not matched by many and especially not by anyone else currently in his profession. This, at times, gets him into trouble as it did Wednesday, when the lack of filter from brain to mouth came back to haunt him.

Ryan reached out to Chargers coach Norv Turner to clarify his remarks and let him know he was in no way taking a shot at him. Turner is known as a very low key coach, but he wasn’t happy with the comments and made sure to get even with Rex to the media.

“I hadn’t seen his quote and I was a little bit surprised by the call,” Turner said. “And then after I saw the quote, I didn’t have a chance to ask him this, but I was wondering if he had those rings with the ones he’s guaranteed the last couple of years.”

Ryan lets his players speak their minds and this has become somewhat problematic for the team. He says this policy will never change, but even Ryan felt the need to talk to Holmes and Moore and tell the team, “Enough is enough.” People have been trying to draw more conclusions out of this story than there really are.

He wasn’t taking a shot at the Chargers or Norv Turner, nor was he taking shots at his own team. He’s been predicting a Super Bowl since day 1, so he must have a pretty good reason for doing so, other than just overconfidence. This is just another case of Rex being Rex, not some genius attempt to shield his team from the recent controversy they’ve been dealing with.

One thing is for sure, people will be watching after the game what Rex and Norv do with their handshake. Another thing you can bank on is that if this Jets team doesn’t turn things around, Rex being Rex won’t seem so funny to the people of New York.

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The Packers still hold the top spot in this week’s Power Rankings. The 49ers and Giants are the big winners both jumping five spots up to 4^th and 10^th respectively. This week’s big losers are the Texans who fall five spots down to 17^th and the Cowboys who dropped from 14^th down to 21^st. The Colts, Rams, and Dolphins still round out the bottom of the pack.

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As we enter week four of the NFL regular season, teams look to prove if they are contenders or pretenders. This week does not feature a divisional game, like in week two, because of fear of the lockout. Still, there are intriguing match-ups to be played in week four.

Carolina Panthers @ Chicago Bears: Cam Newton came away with his first career win last week despite the horrible weather conditions. Bears look to confuse the rookie with their cover 2 schemes. Bears 24-17

Buffalo Bills @ Cincinnati Bengals: Ryan Fitzpatrick leads the Bills into Cincinnati after another amazing comeback, this time coming against the New England Patriots. They are 3-0 but this game might be a must-win. They still have to play the Jets twice, the Patriots in New England, a game in San Diego and the NFC East Division. Bills 28-24

Washington Redskins @ St. Louis Rams: Redskins let one get away at Dallas Monday night. They stay on the road to play a Rams team in the lower echelon in total defense. Washington is looking to bounce back. Redskins 23-14

San Francisco 49ers @ Philadelphia Eagles: Michael Vick left last week against the Giants with a broken right (non-throwing) hand. The CT scan on Monday reported it was just a contusion. Vick should be able to make the start. 49ers have to travel from east to west — not good. Eagles 26-17

Minnesota Vikings @ Kansas City Chiefs: For the third straight game, the Vikings blew a double-digit lead and lost the game. The Chiefs competed for the first time this season last week against the Chargers, but fell short. McNabb’s job is in jeopardy. Vikings 27-14

New Orleans Saints @ Jacksonville Jaguars: Blaine Gabbert looks to capture his first win of his career. He’ll have to do it against the high-powered Saints who hung up 40 points on the Texans and 30 in the second half. Saints 28-14

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Houston Texans: Big Ben looks to stay upright against Mario Williams and the Texans’ improved defense. Texans defense failed their first test against an Elite quarterback last week. Ben Roethlisberger is of that caliber. Steelers 27-24

Detroit Lions @ Dallas Cowboys: Lions have not run the ball well this season and are using their TEs to get yardage. Detroit plays back to back games on the road. Dallas looks to win the time of possession battle. Dallas 23-17

Tennessee Titans @ Cleveland Browns: Titans are taking a huge hit after losing WR Kenny Britt for the season. He tore both his ACL and MCL. There is cause for concern as RB Chris Johnson is yet to get it going. The signing of Matt Hasselbeck has looked good thus far. Titans 20-17

Atlanta Falcons @ Seattle Seahawks: Falcons always struggle on the road, while Seattle plays better at home. Falcons are the better team. They’ll get it done. 21-13

N.Y. Giants @ Arizona Cardinals: Giants could be in for a letdown, coming off a huge divisional road win last week. The Cardinals secondary has been horrible so far in the first three weeks. Giants 31-24

Miami Dolphins @ San Diego Chargers: Dolphins are still searching for their first win this season. Phillip Rivers looks to pick apart their secondary. Chargers 27-14

New England Patriots @ Oakland Raiders: Patriots almost never lose back to back games. Raiders looked impressive against the Jets and look to take advantage of one of the worst defenses in the league. Tom Brady finds a way to win. 28-27

Denver Broncos @ Green Bay Packers: Denver has had trouble stopping anybody. It might be time to see Tim Tebow. Packers look ready to repeat. Packers 31-20

N.Y. Jets @ Baltimore Ravens: Jets were embarrassed last week and they know it. Rex Ryan and his old team meet again. This game could be a shootout. Jets 28-24

Indianapolis Colts @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Colts played well last week but can they take it with them on the road. Tampa is back after a tough week one loss. Tampa 17-10
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