The contender/pretender picture is starting to get a little clearer after three weeks in the NFL, but of course there is still a lot of football to be played.

Rest assured that if your team is anything but 0-3 or the Oakland Raiders – you have a shot to see your squad playing in Miami in a couple of months.

Here is a look at the class and trash with nothing in between after Week 3:

1. Indianapolis Colts (3-0)
Previous Rank: 1
Hard fought win for Tony Dungy’s squad against division rival Jacksonville. As mentioned in the intro, however, this team has some glaring weaknesses. The Colts rank in the bottom half of the league in both rushing and stopping the run – not necessarily a good combination for a Super Bowl contender. Peyton Manning throwing for 750 yards a quarter doesn’t hurt at this point in the season though, and he’ll carry this team throughout the regular season.

2. Cincinnati Bengals (3-0)
Previous Rank: 2
The Bengals were dominated in virtually every aspect of the game last week in Pittsburgh, but it doesn’t matter – they won. Cincinnati got its annoying monkey off of its back once again and made Ben Roethlisberger look just as bad as he did in Jacksonville. Despite during their best Portland Trailblazer impersonation with the number of convicts they employ – the Bengals are tough and playing solid defensively.

3. Seattle Seahawks (3-0)
Previous Rank: 4
Once again a team falls to the Madden curse – what an impressive, consistent jinx that no player can escape from. Reigning MVP Shaun Alexander will be out several weeks with a broken bone in his foot and now Maurice Morris takes over in the Seahawks backfield. Call me crazy, but with the success in which Seattle throws the ball and how much Mike Holmgren likes Morris, I think the Seahawks are going to be just fine. They are virtually unbeatable at home, but going into Chicago on Sunday night will be a true test of how good this team can recover from setbacks (something they didn’t endure that much last season).

4. Chicago Bears (3-0)
Previous Rank: 5
They had every chance to lose to Minnesota on Sunday, but the Bears didn’t. They didn’t fold on offense – something they have been prone to doing over the years – and still played stiff defense on the road. As noted above, the Bears will have a great advantage of getting Seattle at home this weekend. The Seahawks will gamble a lot on defense to get the game-changing turnover, so if Rex Grossman can stay out of Seattle’s danger zones, he can have a lot of success against a unit that is ranked 22nd in the league.

5. Baltimore Ravens (3-0)
Previous Rank: 3
This is the only team that fell in the rankings after a win. Once again the Ravens defense saves a game, but the Browns really exposed how bad Baltimore’s passing attack could be. If it wasn’t for WR Derrick Mason going after balls like a child possessed, Steve McNair looks less than ordinary. I’ve got a hunch that the San Diego Chargers will be sitting in this spot come next weekend after their tilt in Baltimore this Sunday.

28. Detroit Lions (0-3)
Previous Week: Unranked
I’ve been giving these guys the benefit of the doubt after watching them hang with Seattle – but not after getting shredded once again by Brett Favre for the better part of nine decades. If Favre quarterbacked Nicholls State he would beat the Lions.

29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-3)
Previous Week: Unranked
How ironic is Chris Simms’ injury in Tampa? I don’t want to make light of the situation, because the kid is as tough as a dog’s chew toy after playing an entire half with a ruptured organ. But, last year Brian Greise goes down for the count and Simms takes over for the Bucs and leads the team to a division title. I’m not saying lightening will strike twice, but Jon Gruden has raved about former Toledo stud Bruce Gradkowski and gets a week off to prepare the kid before heading into the most dangerous situation known to man – New Orleans (seriously, who wants to play there after what the Saints did to Atlanta Monday night?).

30. Houston Texans (0-3)
Previous Rank: 30
Amazing how QB David Carr is one of the best (statically speaking) quarterbacks in the league right now and Houston is still winless. The Texans are just plain awful defensively. They can’t stop the pass, can’t stop the run and I’m not even sure if they could burn toast right now. Mario Williams watch – eight tackles, no interceptions and continuously wishing that Reggie Bush never existed.

31. Tennessee Titans (0-3)
Previous Rank: 31
Tennessee actually played pretty tough in Miami last weekend. Though, I don’t know if that had more to do with the Titans or the Dolphins just showing the rest of the free world that they aren’t quite there yet. Jeff Fisher has said that he will stick with QB Kerry Collins and not turn the keys of the car over to rookie Vince Young yet. I guess that isn’t a bad idea with a tough Dallas defense on the schedule this weekend.

32. Oakland Raiders (0-2)
Previous Rank: 32
Congratulations Oakland – your problems are right where you left them.