Written by MMQB Staff at SI.com
Half of the Vegas-branded underdogs in Week 3 won outright. That’s a lot of upsets! And it wreaked havoc with The MMQB Power Poll, which became, like a Rubik’s Cube, impossible to solve. O.K., neither of those things are literally impossible to solve, so let’s go with: like a Rubk’s Cube, difficult enough to solve that after messing around with it for an hour-and-a-half you give up and go see if anything good is on TV, hopefully GoBots.
Scroll down for the full poll (as if you couldn’t figure that out). As for this week’s superlatives . . .
BIGGEST RISERS
Tennessee Titans (13th to Sixth): You know what’s not fun? Rubik’s Cubes. You know what else is not fun? Dealing with the Titans ground game when it’s oppressively hot and humid out. Each of the last two weeks, the Titans have pounded an opponent into submission in the second half: 121 second-half rushing yards (and 31 second-half points) at Jacksonville in Week 2, 165 second-half rushing yards (and 24 second-half points) in a home win over Seattle on Sunday. And it’s been a total team effort: On DeMarco Murray’s 75-yard TD run, everyone in the stadium wearing a Titans jersey made at least one key block. That’s how you make the leap into The MMQB Power Poll top 10.
Minnesota Vikings (17th to 10th): Who needs Sam Bradford? Well, the Vikings probably do, but at least for one Sunday Case Keenum proved to be more than enough under center. Keenum was sharp, and the Vikings’ secret star receiving duo of Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen overwhelmed a banged-up Bucs secondary. (Plus, Dalvin Cook is really hard to tackle.) With their defense, Minnesota had a good chance to survive without Bradford. But, with these offensive weapons, do they have a chance to thrive?
Jacksonville Jaguars (25th to 17th): The Jaguars were technically the week’s biggest riser, but they also received that honor after Week 1. They’ve won three straight in London now, and what they did to the Ravens on Sunday was downright rude.
BIGGEST FALLERS
Baltimore Ravens (10th to 18th): These things happen when your quarterback throws for 28 yards on 18 attempts. Joe Flacco’s 1.56 yards per attempt on Sunday was the lowest single-game mark a QB has put up since Derek Anderson’s 1.35—2 of 17 for 23 yards—in Cleveland’s victory at Buffalo in October 2009. (I was at that game, and some things you can’t unsee no matter how hard you try.) Flacco was bad, but his receivers were worst and, with Marshal Yanda out, the offensive line is quickly becoming a liability. The Ravens have the defense, but it’s going to be a desperate struggle to score points.
Miami Dolphins (15th to 23rd): A fresh batch of mopey Jay Cutler photos are now available. The Jets were actually supposed to be O.K. defensively this year, so maybe this was just the real Gang Green emerging after that unit’s refusal to tackle in Weeks 1 and 2. But for Miami, after going 1-for-12 on third down and rushing for 30 yards while getting shut out until the game’s final play (kudos to you if you played DeVante Parker in fantasy!), Adam Gase’s finger must be hovering over the panic button.
Also, the Bucs fell from eighth to 15th after making Case Keenum look like Aaron Rodgers if you squint. Tampa seems like they’re on the verge of big things, but they need Gerald McCoy and Brent Grimes back in the lineup (perhaps especially Grimes because they are thin at cornerback).
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