Week 3 of the 2026 NFL season was filled with close matchups. There were 12 such games on Sunday, tying the most matchups decided by eight or fewer points in a single day in NFL history, per ESPN Research.
Along with those close contests came plenty of intriguing fantasy performances. So in addition to our 1-32 rankings, we asked our NFL Nation reporters to look at every team's fantasy football surprise (good or bad) this season. They went off ESPN Fantasy's draft rankings, average draft position (ADP) and current scoring leaders in PPR leagues.
To form the list, our power panel of more than a dozen NFL analysts evaluates how all 32 teams stack up against one another, ranking them from No. 1 to 32. And here are a few highlights from this week's rankings:
The 3-0 Raiders are shooting up our list, climbing up six spots after doing the same last week. They're the first team in the common draft era (since 1967) to start 3-0 after drafting a QB No. 1 (Fernando Mendoza) in the previous draft, per ESPN Research. And against the Saints, they broke a franchise-worst 39-game streak of regular-season games without scoring 30 points. New England fell six more spots after quarterback Drake Maye registered a 15.5 Total QBR in a blowout loss to the Jaguars -- a career worst with at least 15 dropbacks. Through three games, the Patriots' offense is averaging the lowest EPA per play and points per drive by any team since the 2023 Jets, who had Zach Wilson at QB, per ESPN Research. After starting 0-3, the Buccaneers are ahead of only the Titans and Dolphins. This is the team's worst record to begin a season since 2014, when it finished 2-14 in its first year under current general manager Jason Licht. And things might not get easier for the Bucs, who are expected to play undrafted rookie free agent Jalon Daniels in place of the injured Baker Mayfield (thumb) for at least the next three weeks. Let's get into the full list, starting with the same No. 1 team as last week.
Previous rankings: Week 2 | Week 3
Jump to a team: ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND JAX | KC | LAC | LAR | LV | MIA | MIN NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | PIT | SF SEA | TB | TEN | WSH
1. Buffalo Bills (3-0)
Week 3 result: Beat the Chargers 24-16 Week 3 ranking: 1
Fantasy surprise: TE Dalton Kincaid
Through three weeks, Kincaid leads all NFL tight ends in receiving yards and has caught 14 of the 17 passes thrown his way. He ranks top 10 among tight ends in targets, posting the best catch percentage (82.4%) of any tight end or wide receiver with at least that many targets. Not bad for someone who was ranked as TE15 in ESPN's preseason rankings. -- Nick Suss