ESPN's Joe Theismann answers five key questions on Week 3 of the NFL season:

Who is the team to beat: the Rams or Ravens?
I think the Rams are the team to beat. Their defense has improved so much, and their offense is doing its usual thing.

	Rams RB Marshall Faulk has 464 all-purpose yards and four TDs in three games.

If the Rams continue to win, they'll get home-field advantage in the playoffs -- and it will be tough to beat them at home, where they play on that turf that is so friendly to their speed-oriented offense.

The Rams' defense is actually better than it was two years ago when they won the Super Bowl. That's because the offense is better.

I don't see the Rams' D giving up as many big plays as it did last year. And the St. Louis offense puts incredible pressure on opposing offenses to match them point for point.

The guy who really makes the Rams go is Marshall Faulk. When you have the best player in football on your team, it goes a long way in terms of making a great offense.

The Rams are definitely back. If they had beaten New Orleans in the wild-card round of last season's playoffs, I think they would have gotten back to the Super Bowl. I picked the Rams and the Ravens to be in the Super Bowl in 2002, and I picked the Rams to win. So I still like those picks. They're certainly two of the best teams in the NFL.

Is there a QB playing better than Brett Favre right now?
I think Kurt Warner and Donovan McNabb are playing great football. But Brett Favre is one of those guys who is very special in this league.

To me, Favre and Emmitt Smith are the kind of guys you root for. They have fun playing the game. McNabb has fun playing the quarterback position; he smiles and he gets into it with defensive players.

Brett Favre is a guy everybody roots for. You can't wait to watch him play, because he's so creative and unpredictable. What he's done this year is get back to the discipline of playing quarterback. He's throwing the football the way he did a couple of years ago -- and he's not worrying about being the man who has to make all the plays.

But when you talk about Favre playing well, you have to look further and say, "Wow, isn't Ahman Green playing well." Anytime a quarterback is having success, you've got to look at the guys on his team who are helping him. Kurt Warner has Marshall Faulk. QBs definitely get help.

If I had to rank the top three quarterbacks so far this season, it would be: Favre, Warner and then McNabb.

Was the Colts' flop in Foxboro just an aberration?
I think so. The Colts aren't as bad as they played Sunday. We know Peyton Manning is better than he played Sunday.

But you can't take away what the Patriots did. They played hard. With Drew Bledsoe injured, they start a guy at quarterback (Tom Brady) who hadn't played much football, and they beat an Indianapolis team that had been on fire the first two weeks. Antowain Smith (94 yards, two touchdowns) did a terrific job running the football.

Plus, you saw how good a defensive football coach Bill Belichick is. Shutting down an offense as prolific as the Colts is impressive.

When you drop the football as often as the Colts dropped it Sunday and put yourself in long-yardage situations, I don't care how good you are -- it's going to be tough to win. That's the case for any NFL team.

What's the biggest difference in this year's Browns?
First, it's been the coaching. New head coach Butch Davis has done an excellent job with this football team. He's got them believing and he's got them playing hard.

Then there's the health of Tim Couch. Last year. ex-coach Chris Palmer really didn't have a quarterback. With a healthy Tim Couch, you've got some leadership and a guy who can make plays at QB.

Defensively, the Browns were pretty good last year. Now they've got an offense to complement it, and they're running the football well. Last year, they couldn't run the football, they didn't have a quarterback and their wide receivers were playing out of position. All of those things are in place this year.

Who will win more games in 2001, the Cowboys or Redskins?
That could be the toughest question I've ever been asked ... actually, in two weeks these teams play on Monday Night Football. That outcome and their other regular-season game will help determine who has more wins.

The Redskins should win more games, because their quarterback situation is more solid. Ironically, the Cowboys had current Redskins QB Tony Banks but released him because they wanted to find out about Quincy Carter. Whenever a team has an inexperienced quarterback, it's tough to be consistent on offense.

Still, regarding the Redskins, I don't know how much heart or passion they're going to display. And I don't think the Cowboys will quit. But based on the veteran play at QB, I would lean toward the Redskins having more wins, with the Cowboys perhaps winning a bit later in the season.

This much is clear: Neither team will win often (if they win five apiece, that would be a lot). The NFC East is split this year between the haves (Eagles, Giants) and the have nots (Cowboys, Redskins, Cardinals).

A game analyst for ESPN's Sunday Night Football, former NFL QB Joe Theismann won a Super Bowl and a league MVP award. He reviews the NFL each week for ESPN.com in Cup o' Joe.