Who sits atop — and at the bottom — of the league entering this week’s matchups?

1. New England Patriots (3-0) | Last week’s rank: 1

No Antonio Brown in the lineup? No problem, at least not Sunday. But the WR depth becomes an issue again, particularly in the short term with Julian Edelman’s injury.

2. Kansas City Chiefs (3-0) | Last week’s rank: 2

Patrick Mahomes is so good that a 27-for-37, 374-yard, three-TD, no-interception passing day seems, ho hum, rather routine for him by now.

3. Los Angeles Rams (3-0) | Last week’s rank: 3

The offense wasn’t all that crisp Sunday night in Cleveland, and QB Jared Goff had three turnovers.

4. Dallas Cowboys (3-0) | Last week’s rank: 4

The Cowboys played down to the Dolphins’ level for a while but woke up in plenty of time to post an appropriately lopsided triumph.

5. Green Bay Packers (3-1) | Last week’s rank: 6

It’s time to include the Packers in the conversation, with the Rams and Cowboys, about which team is the NFC’s best.

6. Baltimore Ravens (2-1) | Last week’s rank: 5

The real bottom line of Sunday’s loss at Kansas City was that the Ravens went on the road and played on relatively even terms with an AFC heavyweight.

7. Chicago Bears (2-1) | Last week’s rank: 8

The pleasant surprise was the progress made by QB Mitchell Trubisky, notwithstanding his one very bad interception, and the offense against the Redskins.

8. Houston Texans (2-1) | Last week’s rank: 9

The narrow triumph over the Chargers has the Texans back in good early-season shape, with consecutive victories and home games against the Panthers and Falcons coming up.

9. Buffalo Bills (3-0) | Last week’s rank: 10

The Patriots come to town this weekend. That will either provide a sobering reality check for the Bills and their fans or the ultimate boost to their confidence in a rebuilding program that is on fast-forward.

10. San Francisco 49ers (3-0) | Last week’s rank: 11

The Niners overcame their five turnovers to beat the Steelers. That’s not easy to do. It’s not quite time to declare this team a legitimate contender, but things are beginning to get interesting.

11. Indianapolis Colts (2-1) | Last week’s rank: 14

Jacoby Brissett was terrific against the Falcons. No one is exactly forgetting Andrew Luck at this point. But if Brissett can continue to play like this, the sting of Luck’s abrupt retirement at least will begin to fade a bit for the Colts.

12. Detroit Lions (2-0-1) | Last week’s rank: 16

The victory in Philadelphia, even with the Eagles in their depleted state, suggests that the Lions’ improved earlyseason play perhaps is to be taken seriously.

13. New Orleans Saints (2-1) | Last week’s rank: 18

Teddy Bridgewater’s performance and the victory over the Seahawks reinforce the notion that the Saints just might be able to hold things together until Drew Brees returns from thumb surgery.

14. Minnesota Vikings (2-1) | Last week’s rank: 19

Again, less was more from Kirk Cousins. He had a modest 21 passing attempts and didn’t even throw for 200 yards. But he avoided the major mistakes and the Vikings rode the running of Dalvin Cook to the win over the Raiders.

15. Seattle Seahawks (2-1) | Last week’s rank: 7

The Seahawks’ big fourth quarter against the Saints couldn’t quite make up for their sluggishness over the first three quarters.

16. Atlanta Falcons (1-2) | Last week’s rank: 12

The Falcons just can’t seem to sustain any positive momentum. They’re 0-2 on the road and, with the loss in Indianapolis, failed to build on a good win over the Eagles the previous week.

17. Cleveland Browns (1-2) | Last week’s rank: 13

It simply isn’t working for Coach Freddie Kitchens and the Browns. That fourth-and-nine draw play during Sunday night’s defeat to the Rams was about as ill-conceived as it gets.

18. Philadelphia Eagles (2-2) | Last week’s rank: 15

The injuries have handcuffed the offense but no one particularly wants to hear about it.

19. Los Angeles Chargers (1-2) | Last week’s rank: 17

It might be time for the Chargers to do something about getting holdout RB Melvin Gordon back into the fold.

20. Carolina Panthers (1-2) | Last week’s rank: 24

Is there a QB issue brewing here?

21. New York Giants (1-2) | Last week’s rank: 26

The euphoria over Daniel Jones’s performance in his first NFL start after last week’s QB switch was tempered by the high ankle sprain that could keep RB Saquon Barkley sidelined for as long as eight weeks, according to estimates.

22. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2) | Last week’s rank: 29

If Tom Brady really turned off the Jaguars-Titans game Thursday night, he missed the return of the “Sacksonville” defense.

23. Tennessee Titans (1-2) | Last week’s rank: 20

No, it’s not time for Marcus Mariota to be benched in favor of Ryan Tannehill. But it at least becomes a consideration relatively soon, if things continue like this.

24. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-2) | Last week’s rank: 21

Coach Bruce Arians and rookie kicker Matt Gay were kind enough not to trample all over the story line of the legend of Daniel Jones being born Sunday in Tampa.

25. Oakland Raiders (1-2) | Last week’s rank: 22

The good feelings from the opening victory over the Broncos have faded with the losses to the Chiefs and Vikings.

26. Pittsburgh Steelers (0-3) | Last week’s rank: 23

Mason Rudolph was decent against the 49ers. But the Steelers are probably going to have to trust him to be more aggressive in the passing game if they’re going to have any chance to turn this thing around.

27. Denver Broncos (0-3) | Last week’s rank: 27

How can a team with Vic Fangio as its coach and Von Miller and Bradley Chubb in its lineup have zero sacks and zero takeaways through three games? It’s inconceivable.

28. Arizona Cardinals (0-2-1) | Last week’s rank: 28

29. Washington Redskins (0-3) | Last week’s rank: 25

30. Cincinnati Bengals (0-3) | Last week’s rank: 30

31. New York Jets (0-3) | Last week’s rank: 31

32. Miami Dolphins (0-3) | Last week’s rank: 32