With three quality wins on their 2011 regular season schedule, the Baltimore Ravens have moved up in the NFL Power Rankings, according to the National Football Post. Victories over both of the teams in last year's AFC Championship Game (Pittsburgh Steelers & New York Jets) plus a win this past weekend over a tough Houston Texans team vaulted the Ravens up to the #3 slot, behind the #2 New England Patriots and the #1 Green Bay Packers.
Since the Packers are the lone undefeated team in the league and defending Super Bowl Champs, it's certainly hard to argue that position, but many people think that the Ravens are the only team out there that could give Green Bay a decent game. Although the Patriots are 5-1 compared to the Ravens 4-1 record, they are thought to have a pretty weak defense, which would virtually allow the Packers to score at will if the two teams met in the Super Bowl. At least if Baltimore played Green Bay in the Big Game, it would be the unstoppable offense against the immovable force, defined as the best offense versus the best defense.
Of course, with less than a third of the season complete, these rankings do not mean anything and of course will certainly change as the season progresses. However, with the Ravens playing the one-win Jacksonville Jaguars and Arizona Cardinals the next two games, the Ravens could conceivably be 6-1 heading into their rematch with the Steelers in Pittsburgh in week nine on November 6th.