PITTSBURGH — The NFL season is only three weeks old, but there are some trends that seem to be developing, and one of them is that the Steelers might be the third-best team in the AFC. And that is only as of now because the Steelers have the look of a team, especially on offense, that will only get better as they get more experience under their belt.

I know, it is a bit of an overreaction given that there is so much of the season left to be played and so many things can happen between now and the end of the season. But I have seen no evidence the Steelers can't beat anyone in the AFC not named the Bills and Chiefs in this early part of the season, and there are some teams that many thought were contenders that look awfully pedestrian at this point.

The first step is to win the AFC North, and the Steelers appear to be in really good position already, as the other three teams have not been nearly as good as they were billed. The Steelers have won three games, and maybe they haven't yet beat a playoff team, but a quick look around the NFL through three weeks shows that every team is vulnerable.

Start with the Bengals, who many believed would be a force to be reckoned with in the AFC North. They have a healthy Joe Burrow and allegedly rebuilt their defense, but after watching them get sliced and diced by a rookie quarterback on "Monday Night Football," I am not sure their defense is any better than it was a year ago.

And they sit at 0-3 after Monday with a tough schedule on the horizon. It is entirely possible that next week against Carolina is their only "easy" game (though Andy Dalton has certainly breathed life into the Panthers) until they play the Titans in December and, by then, they could be buried.

The Browns are a mess. Deshaun Watson is the biggest mess and Myles Garrett is hobbled. They look to me like a team that is not going to get out of their own way at any point this season, and now they have three road games in a row. By the time the Steelers see them late in November, they could be on their way to another rotten season, and that's especially true if Watson's legal troubles finally catch up to him.

Dallas ran out of time Sunday against Baltimore, or the Ravens might be 0-3, as well. The Ravens should be the class of the AFC North, but they have a penchant for late-game collapses and sit at 1-2 with a really tough schedule ahead of them over the next five games.

So again, I ask, why shouldn't the Steelers be the favorite to win the division? They have by far the best defense in the division — and perhaps the entire NFL — and their offense seems to be improving each week as Justin Fields finds his way. If they can improve their passing game even a little bit, they will be a real problem for anyone they play.

The Steelers' prospects have improved significantly, as well, if you've paid attention to the rest of the teams in the conference.

Yes, they are still behind the Bills and Chiefs because those two teams have the two most dynamic quarterbacks in the NFL. Monday night, Josh Allen and the Bills showed how scary good they can be when they are hitting on all cylinders. The Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes, and as long as he is healthy, the rest of the conference is playing for second as far as I am concerned.

Once you get beyond those two teams, who else would you not give the Steelers a really good chance to beat in a playoff game?

The Dolphins are probably cooked because their quarterback situation is up in the air. They have not looked good in any of their games, even their lone win against the Jaguars. And their vaunted defense has been shredded for 55 points in the last two games, which is not a good sign for a team that suddenly has quarterback problems.

The Jaguars are a mess, Houston is coming off an ugly loss to the Vikings, and the Steelers just beat the Chargers, who are likely the second-best team in the AFC West. The lone wild card is the Jets, but their entire season is built on the idea that 40-year old Aaron Rodgers can somehow stay healthy.

Barring a rash of injuries, the Steelers defense isn't going anywhere, and will keep them in every game no matter who they play. That gives them an edge over just about every other team in the AFC, so it suddenly doesn't seem so farfetched that they could win 12 games and be the second or third seed in the AFC.

That's not something I thought I would be writing about before the season started, but after watching the first three weeks, it is something that not only seems like a real possibility, it is creeping into the territory where it is a probability.

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