NFL Week 3

Undefeated, unbelievably

1 The four eyebrow-raising 2-0 teams are -- in order of most to least surprising -- Detroit, Houston, Green Bay and San Francisco. They all face stiff challenges this weekend. The Lions play at Philadelphia, the 49ers are at Pittsburgh, the Texans play host to Indianapolis, and San Diego plays the Packers at Lambeau Field. Don’t rule out the possibility of Houston upsetting the Colts, a team that lost at Reliant Stadium last December.

Uh-oh . . . and 2

2 Winless after two weeks are Oakland, Miami, Buffalo, Kansas City, Atlanta, New Orleans, St. Louis, Philadelphia and the New York Giants and Jets. That’s not quite the kiss of death as far as reaching the postseason, but it’s close. According to research by USA Today, among teams that started 0-2 since 2000, only five of 59 -- that’s 8.5% -- rebounded to make the playoffs.

Sacks, lies and videotape

3 New England Coach Bill Belichick says he has come clean with the NFL about videotaping the defensive signals of the New York Jets, but NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is reserving the right to punish the Patriots beyond draft choices and $750,000 in fines if he finds new or different information about other spying chicanery. The NFL reportedly is looking into allegations the Patriots wired their defensive linemen with microphones to record the audibles of opposing quarterbacks.

They’ll probably be Buffaloed

4 So much for the theory that the three-time-champion Patriots were just a bunch of tape worms who used spying to outsmart opponents. With their 38-14 throttling of the Chargers, Belichick & Co. showed they can backhand a talented opponent fair and square. That’s good news and bad news for Buffalo, their opponent Sunday. The bad news is obvious: New England remains the team to beat. Good news for the Bills? They don’t have to waste a bunch of time coming up with new hand signals. They probably wouldn’t make a difference.

Rose Bowl redux

5 With New Orleans 0-2 and Tennessee 1-1, a lot of the sexiness of the “Monday Night Football” matchup between the Saints and Titans is gone. One angle that hasn’t changed, though, is that the game features New Orleans running back Reggie Bush and Tennessee quarterback Vince Young, who were on opposite sides when Texas beat USC in the national championship game at the Rose Bowl, and a few months later were the Nos. 2 and 3 picks in the 2006 draft.

Now you see them . . .

6 Speaking of Bush, where did he go? He saved his rookie season with a spectacular string of games last winter, and later said that experience taught him patience. That’s good, because he needs it now. He was a non-factor in the Saints’ first two games. LaDainian Tomlinson is in search of his first breakout game of the season too. He played a part in two touchdowns against Chicago, although his numbers were modest, but he was a nowhere man against the Patriots. Maybe he’ll return to form Sunday at Green Bay. It would help if the Chargers’ receivers made some plays.

Secondary concern

7 Brett Favre set a record Sunday for most regular-season victories by a quarterback, with 149, but a more dubious mark is on the horizon. If defenders pick off three more of his passes, Favre will break George Blanda’s career mark of 277 interceptions. It’s conceivable that could happen this weekend against the Chargers, although San Diego’s secondary looked sloppy in the loss at New England. Look for Favre to pick on cornerback Quentin Jammer, who last season gave up a higher percentage of completions than any defensive back in the league.

Hester hysteria

8 Make room, M.J., Chicago is infatuated with another No. 23: return man Devin Hester. Rest assured, Dallas coaches are investigating every possible way to keep the ball out of Hester’s hands Sunday, especially after the Bears’ speed burner scored on a 73-yard punt return against Kansas City and would have scored on an even longer kickoff return had it not been negated by a holding penalty. After two games, the Cowboys’ punt-cover team is tied for 24th in average return given up.

The mouth that scored

9 For the first time in a while, Dallas receiver Terrell Owens is making headlines for the right reasons. After a great performance in Week 1, he turned a fourth-down play into a 34-yard touchdown reception in Sunday’s victory over Miami. On Sunday night against the Bears, the Cowboys will move the 6-foot-3 Owens around to create mismatches with 5-10 Nathan Vasher and 5-9 Ricky Manning Jr. in the Chicago secondary. The most advantageous matchup for the Bears could be having 6-1 Charles Tillman stick to Owens all night.

Silver (and black) lining

10 Oakland’s Lane Kiffin is still looking for his first victory as an NFL coach. His Raiders are looking better by the week, though, and made a more-than-respectable showing in a bitter overtime loss at Denver. But what might have looked like a soft spot in the Raiders’ schedule -- Sunday’s home game against Cleveland -- now looks a lot more daunting. The Browns scored 51 points in their stunner over Cincinnati, and quarterback Derek Anderson, who had five touchdown passes, showed he’s not your average third-string scrub.