The third Sunday of NFL play shed some light on how the teams stack up. Here’s how I see it …

1. N.Y. Giants — Dominant performance, despite a bevy of injuries.

2. Baltimore — As balanced as any team in the league. Exceptional young offensive line.

3. New Orleans — So Drew Brees isn’t going to throw three TDs every week?

4. N.Y. Jets — Didn’t think they would knock off the Titans. Got to love the Sanchez/Ryan mojo.

5. Indianapolis — Back-to-back prime time wins, with Peyton Manning looking near-perfect.

6. Minnesota — Another Brett Favre moment … But I have reservations about this team come November.

7. San Francisco — Deserved to win that game and play as hard as any team in the league.

8. Philadelphia — Shined while giving extra rest to Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook; should be primed coming out of the bye.

9. Chicago — Jay Cutler making everyone forget about Week 1 woes.

10. Denver — You have to tip your cap to Josh McDaniels. The offense looks formidable and Mike Nolan has recharged the D.

11. New England — Big statement game from the Pats. Getting Wes Welker healthy would be huge.

12. Atlanta — Need to get running game going a little bit, but I like this team long-term.

13. Cincinnati — Bengals should be 3-0. That late comeback could buoy them for weeks. Kudos.

14. Green Bay — Still not as polished as I would like to see from my preseason NFC Super Bowl pick.

15. San Diego — Philip Rivers continues to get it done, but this team has a lot of injuries to overcome.

16. Buffalo — How long before T.O. explodes? He should remember how few other teams wanted to pay him before doing so.

17. Pittsburgh — Can’t expect to be on the right side of every miracle finish. Better find a running game.

18. Dallas — Will drop to the bottom tier if they can’t rebound against Carolina tonight.

19. Tennessee — No worse than 2-1 if not for special teams blunders. Still like their chances.

20. Arizona — Will keep them where they were last week, as I continue to wonder/worry about this outfit.

21. Seattle — Getting Matt Hasselbeck back would be big boost.

22. Jacksonville — Is there anyone more fun to watch than MJD? Huge, huge win for them.

23. Carolina — Most of the rest of the teams below them are so bad, I’m going to give them the benefit of not having played in Week 3 yet.

24. Houston — More like pretenders than contenders with their erratic performances and façade-like defense.

25. Detroit — The offensive line is much better than advertised, Matt Stafford is getting better each week.

26. Miami — I thought they would fall back to the pack …. just not quite this far.

27. St. Louis — The Rams managed to score some points, so I’ll give them the nod over Tampa.

28. Tampa Bay — Gave Josh Johnson a shot this week, and will keep grooming Josh Freeman.

29. Oakland — Guess I’ll put them ahead of K.C. since they beat ‘em. Raiders falling apart and JaMarcus Russell imploding.

30. Kansas City — Would Todd Haley bench his GM’s hand-picked QB?

31. Washington — Saw the Motown loss coming. Lucky not to be 0-3 right now amid suspect talent evaluation.

32. Cleveland — Quick QB hook was predictable, and predictably ineffective. This team looks lost.

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