Peter King has his Fine Fifteen, ESPN has its own composite power rankings, and the legendary Dr. Z’s weekly power rankings were a must-read until he was stricken silent by a stroke last year. So, why can’t TBL get in on the fun? Here’s the third installment of the 2009 NFL in-season power rankings:

1. New York Giants (3-0): A week after being ripped by the Cowboys for 250-plus rushing yards, the Giants held the punchless Bucs to 86 total yards while controlling the ball for 46 minutes. We’re assuming Mike Lupica still stands by his Eli > Brees statement he made Sunday morning.

2. Baltimore Ravens (3-0): It’s hard to take too much from a 30-point thrashing of the Browns (they certainly won’t be the last to do that this season), but the Ravens currently look like the most complete team in the NFL. They’re averaging just over 34 points a game while only surrendering 17. And they’re now two games up on the Steelers in the AFC North.

3. Indianapolis Colts (3-0): From the possibly-meaningless stats dept: the Colts have not lost a regular-season game since last October, and in those 12 straight wins Peyton Manning has thrown 24 TD’s against just five INT’s. Cause for concern: early Defensive Player of the Year candidate Dwight Freeney is likely out for at least a month.

greg lewis catch4. New Orleans Saints (3-0): Drew Brees didn’t throw a TD pass and the Saints looked ordinary for three quarters – until Pierre Thomas and the New Orleans’ running game gouged the Bills for 17 fourth-quarter points in murky Buffalo. Next up, the…

5. New York Jets (3-0): Mark Sanchise and Rex Ryan are the collective toast of New Jersey. Speaking of Jersey, anyone seen that Cory Booker reality show Brick City that recently premiered on Sundance Channel? Good stuff. Not as good as Larry David and fellatio, but then again, what is? Wait a minute, there’s gotta be a better way to say that.

6. Minnesota Vikings (3-0): VF Corp knew what it was doing when it acquired Wranger before this Graybeard mess began anew.

7. New England Patriots (2-1): These aren’t your 2007 Patriots, who scored at will and often threw inside the five-yard line late in blowouts just because they could. These Patriots aren’t that good. Unfortunately for the rest of the NFL, this version more closely resembles their gritty title teams from the earlier part of this decade. Don’t sleep on the Elvii.

8. San Diego Chargers (2-1): Sunday night’s trip to Pittsburgh could catapult the Chargers into the AFC homefield discussion, with a bye week, Denver, Kansas City and Oakland following their playoff “revenge” game with the champs. Marmalard, mothertruckas!

saved by the bell9. Green Bay Packers (2-1): The good news is that their home loss to the Bengals doesn’t look so bad now. The not-so-good news is that blowing out the Rams doesn’t mean much and they still needed four Jay Culter turnovers to beat the Bears at home in week one. Hard team to pin down right now. We’ll know more after the Monday Night Game That Shall Not Be Mentioned (from this point on) takes place.

10. San Francisco 49ers (2-1): If Mike Singletary had it to do over, would he still employ the prevent in the waning moments of the Niners’ loss to the Vikings? Probably not. But his team is the clear NFC West frontrunner at the moment, even though that’s like saying Mark Paul Gosselaar’s had the best post-Saved by the Bell career. Although, if you’re ever in the Van Nuys area, you can catch Dennis Haskins doing some karaoke (Billingsley, Belding, it’s all the same).

11. Philadelphia Eagles (2-1): Whither the McRib (invented by the Black Irish, BTW)? Resting up, enjoying his team’s bye week, waiting for the inevitable “Vick wants more snaps” stories to overrun the NFL airwaves. Peter King hinted at it this morning.

12. Atlanta Falcons (2-1): The Falcons’ defense unraveled against the Patriots in Foxboro, giving up 445 total yards and being kept on the field for nearly 40 minutes. If the Patriots hadn’t gone one for five in the red zone, this one could’ve gotten ugly, er, uglier.

knowshon_moreno13. Denver Broncos (3-0): Is slotting them behind six one-loss teams a slap in the face? Probably, but it took them 59-plus minutes to score on the Bengals and they haven’t exactly been facing worldbeaters since then. And besides, they needed some divine intervention to beat the Bengals, anyway. This team has upcoming four-game skid written all over it, which means they’ll probably start 7-1 just to spite everyone.

14. Dallas Cowboys (2-1): Alright, the Cowboys got that first win in the JerraDome out of the way, so can we stop talking about the giant TV now? It’s huge, it’s expensive, punts hit it, and we’ve now covered the Ultimate Jumbotron ad nauseum.

15. Chicago Bears (2-1): Apparently, the columnists in Chicago were uneducated before, but now that Cutler’s arrived, they’re Rhodes Scholars.

16. Cincinnati Bengals (2-1): Could the Hard Knocks curse be over? Well, let’s not go looking for cell phones on each other’s floorboards just yet. But this Bengals team is no NFC North doormat, that much is clear. Do they have enough talent to keep Marvin Lewis in tiger stripes for one more year?

17. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2): Last season, the Steelers always managed to pull out close regular-season wins at the end (except for against the Giants and Colts). This season, they’ve already failed twice in that regard. It’s probably the offensive line’s fault. Or the kicker’s. Or the Troy P.-less defense. But once they start winning the tight ones again, You-Know-Who will be the reason. [Ed. Oh no he didn't!]

terrell-owens18. Buffalo Bills (1-2): Rodney Harrison vs. T.O., let’s get those picks in! Or wait until the pre-fight drug screens come back, whatever.

19. Seattle Seahawks (1-2): Seneca Wallace was servicable in Matt Hasselbeck’s stead Sunday. Their kicker, on the other hand, might want to keep the classifieds glued to his hand this week.

20. Arizona Cardinals (1-2): Sunday night once again illustrated the longtime nagging flaw in Kurt Warner’s game (other than his health): turnovers. When the pocket isn’t clean, Kurt will cough it up. Now, the Cardinals are staring up at the Niners in the division and already lost to them.

21. Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2): You know the once-rugged AFC South has fallen on hard times when a lame duck coach oversees the division’s second-place squad.

22. Houston Texans (1-2): If they go 7-6 from here on out…

23. Tennessee Titans (0-3): Starting 0-3 is supposedly a playoff death sentence. We may be watching the last days of Kerry Collins unfold. If they have some Asia Argento areola, count me in.

jay_cutler24: Detroit Lions (1-2): Losing streak over. Nightmare over. Now go play the Bears and Steelers back-to-back. Gee thanks, NFL!

25: Oakland Raiders (1-2): When the Redkins run Jason Campbell out of town after this season (and they will), maybe the Raiders should make a run at him? He can’t do any worse than JaMarcus Russell, who’s currently carrying a blistering 39.8 QB rating.

26. Washington Redskins (1-2): Who’s to blame – Zorn? Snyder? Campbell? All three? As the Redskins head toward a 3-13 or 4-12 season, expect someone’s head to roll. And it won’t be the one sucking face with Tom Cruise in the owner’s box.

27. Miami Dolphins (0-3): The Dolphins HAVE to win Sunday against the Bills. If not, their next-best chance for a win isn’t until week 10 when they take on Tampa Bay. Last year’s cinderella season feels a long way off right now in South Beach. Good thing they have that sweet ownership group.

28. Carolina Panthers (0-3): Last night’s game was a must win. They didn’t. Bill Cowher’s currently breaking down Panthers’ game tape, figuring out which guys he wants to keep for next year. Jon Beason, DeAngelo Williams, Steve Smith, Jordan Gross, Jeff Otah and Jonathan Stewart should all be good. Everyone else? Not so much.

29. St. Louis Rams (0-3): That’s 13 straight L’s for the Goats, who can now look forward to Kyle Boller under center for at least the immediate future. Luckily, the Cardinals just clinched the NL Central so no one in Hamsterdam cares.

30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-3): We had a Josh Johnson sighting in Raymond James Stadium Sunday, as an ineffective Byron Leftwich was benched late. Johnson’s been the named the starter, at least on an interim basis. Can the beginning of the Josh Freeman era be far behind?

31. Kansas City Chiefs (0-3): Hey, the $60 million man completed 14-of-18 passes for two touchdowns Sunday! His completions only covered 90 yards, but it’s going to be a year of small victories for the Chefs.

32. Cleveland Browns (0-3): At this point any kind of joke would just be piling on.