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FALLING

1. Mike Singletary, 49ers coach. The "falling" list isn't long enough to single out every 49ers individual worthy of mention under the designation. We can start and end with the head coach. Mike Singletary's coaching future appears shakier with every defeat. His stock is falling. Singletary's most important decision as head coach -- hiring an offensive coordinator -- came unraveled with Jimmy Raye's firing after only three games this season.

2. Andre Roberts, Cardinals wide receiver. The Cardinals are desperate for help at receiver, but Roberts hasn't been ready. The team tried him at punt returner against Oakland and Roberts, a third-round choice, misplayed at least one of two punts that fell shorter than anticipated. The Raiders recovered both of them and nearly won the game as a result.

3. Tim Hightower, Cardinals running back. The running game perked up immediately with Beanie Wells making his 2010 debut. Hightower was on the "rising" list a week ago after his 80-yard touchdown run gave the Cardinals their only touchdown against Atlanta. There was not much he could do about Wells' return. He had 11 carries for 40 yards against the Raiders.

RISING

1. Leon Washington, Seahawks running back. Two kickoff returns for touchdowns allowed the Seahawks to beat San Diego even though Seattle squandered two clear scoring chances in the first half. The Seahawks' personnel people deserve some credit here, too. They're the ones who identified Washington as a low-risk, high-reward acquisition.

2. Steve Spagnuolo, Rams coach. Spagnuolo badly needed a boost after a disappointing performance at Oakland in Week 2. Beating a Washington Redskins team featuring defensive coordinator Jim Haslett and quarterback Donovan McNabb should carry extra meaning. Haslett coached the Rams previously, so losing to him would have looked bad on Spagnuolo's résumé. McNabb was familiar with the Rams' coaching staff from the time they shared in Philadelphia, and there was some thought St. Louis should have pursued McNabb during the offseason.

3. Beanie Wells, Cardinals running back. Wells had 14 carries for 75 yards against the Raiders. He ran with authority. The Cardinals might need to rely on him even more now that knee surgery will sideline No. 2 receiver Steve Breaston for the next couple of games, at least.

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FALLING

1. Discipline: There were a total of 43 penalties in the two NFC North intradivision matchups in Week 3. The Green Bay Packers set a team record with 18 in their 20-17 loss to the Chicago Bears. The Minnesota Vikings had 12 in their 24-10 victory over the Detroit Lions, who had eight. Only the Bears (five penalties) contained themselves. As a result, the Packers, Vikings and Lions all rank among the NFL’s 10 most-penalized teams. One word describes our second-ever NFC North four-fecta: Sloppy.

2. Deep thinking: Packers coach Mike McCarthy and Bears coach Lovie Smith each missed an opportunity to take an unconventional approach to the final two minutes of Monday night’s game. McCarthy elected not to allow the Bears to score a quick touchdown, thus giving his offense a better opportunity to score a game-tying touchdown. And Smith decided against kneeling on the ball to guard against that possibility. I still don’t think either coach should be criticized for his approach, but the alternatives would also have been defensible. Historically, teams who have been in the situation the Packers would have been in have still lost 90 percent of the time.

3. Patience in Detroit: The Lions didn't necessarily plan on going 16-0 this season, but it's clear that frustration is mounting after their 0-3 start. "It's just getting old," center Dominic Raiola said. "I mean, just the whole losing around here, it needs to change. Right away." I'm guessing that had something to do with a number of second-half scuffles between Lions and Vikings players, culminating with quarterback Shaun Hill charging after Vikings defensive end Jared Allen. Hill said afterwards that the Lions' wouldn't be anyone's "punks."

RISING

1. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings tailback: He’s off to the best three-game start in his career after a 160-yard performance Sunday against the Lions. A career-long 80-yard touchdown run demonstrated two interesting components of his game: a newfound patience and the return of his breakaway speed. Last season, Peterson scored on a bruising 64-yard touchdown run in Week 1 but wasn’t much of a long threat thereafter. Meanwhile, he followed his teammates' advice to lull the Lions defense by staying with the original call for as long as possible before cutting back to the right sideline.

2. Greg Olsen, Chicago Bears tight end: New coordinator Mike Martz’s offense has no room for a pass-catching tight end. That’s obvious. Just look at his history. And we all know Martz is too inflexible and not smart enough to figure out how to incorporate a tight end. I mean, look at Olsen. He caught a team-high five passes Monday night and now has 10 receptions and two touchdowns in three games. That means Olsen is well on his way to setting new records for tight end receptions and touchdowns in Martz offense. The current high marks are 38 and six, respectively. Olsen is on pace for 53 and 10. What a waste.

3. Chicago Bears offensive line: How many sacks did Packers linebacker Clay Matthews add to his season total Monday night? That’s right. None. With Frank Omiyale making his first career start at left tackle, and a right tackle rotation of Kevin Shaffer and rookie J’Marcus Webb, the Bears more than held their own against the Packers’ pass rush. Quarterback Jay Cutler wasn’t sacked after the first series of the second quarter, and the Bears' offense managed 18 first downs and 276 yards despite getting off only 48 plays and holding the ball for 24 minutes, 11 seconds.

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FALLING

1. Kareem McKenzie, New York Giants right tackle: It's never a good day when your head coach has to yank you off the field in the fourth quarter because of two personal fouls. McKenzie doesn't really have the reputation of being a hothead, but he lost his cool against the Tennessee Titans last week. The Giants' offense moved the ball throughout the afternoon but personal fouls against McKenzie and left tackle David Diehl put the team in a bind it couldn't overcome. McKenzie is a veteran who should know better.

2. Jim Haslett, Washington Redskins defensive coordinator: I had a tough time figuring out which defensive player to single out, so let's just go with the architect of this unit. Steven Jackson's 42-yard touchdown run gave the hapless Rams hope early in this game. The linebackers were undisciplined on the play and you could see safety Kareem Moore whiff on Jackson. He's a talented running back but there's no excuse for letting him take it to the house on that play. The defense also allowed a rookie quarterback to find his rhythm. Sam Bradford made plays on third down, and as Mike Shanahan pointed out, that's why he gets paid the big bucks. But the Redskins should've done a better job with the pressure.

3. Ahmad Bradshaw, New York Giants running back: He had some nice moments in this game, but his fumble at the Titans' 5-yard line in the second half was a killer. The Giants had a chance to climb back in the game in the third quarter but Titans safety Michael Griffin poked the ball out from behind. Ball security has to be a huge thing near the goal line. Bradshaw was running like he was at the 50-yard line. The running back was also called for a chop block when center Adam Koets was engaged with a defender. That play started the second-half collapse.

RISING

1. Roy Williams, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver: No one in the Cowboys organization has received as much criticism as this player since he arrived during the '08 season. His lack of chemistry with Tony Romo has been one of the biggest mysteries in Dallas since "Who Shot J.R.?" But for one Sunday, Williams and Romo were on the same page. On the second of his two touchdowns, Williams and Romo made a sight adjustment at the line of scrimmage and opted out of a running play. If Williams has truly turned the corner, it will open things up for the rest of the offense. And he's actually played pretty well in all three games.

2. Trent Cole, Philadelphia Eagles defensive end: I realize that Michael Vick could be on the list every week, but let's praise a member of a defense that held the mighty Jaguars without a touchdown. Cole had two sacks, eight tackles and a pass deflection. He's so good at keeping his pad level low and forcing offensive tackles to sort of lunge at him. It will also help as Brandon Graham continues to develop on the other side. Cole anchored an excellent defensive performance against what appears to be an awful team.

3. DeMarcus Ware, Dallas Cowboys outside linebacker: Folks had been waiting for Ware to have a breakout game and it happened against the Houston Texans. The Cowboys took full advantage of left tackle Duane Brown being out with a suspension. Ware set up his man with power early in the game and then turned on the speed. He had three sacks in the game and also looked good in coverage on a couple of occasions. Ware is back on pace to have his usual 16 or 17 sacks.

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FALLING

1. Marques Colston, wide receiver, Saints. The guy who is supposed to be New Orleans’ best wide receiver and maybe even the best receiver in the NFC South had just four catches for a very inconsequential 25 yards Sunday. Colston has yet to catch a touchdown pass this season. With his mediocre start and the quarterback struggles in Carolina taking a toll on Steve Smith, it’s become abundantly clear that Atlanta’s Roddy White is the best wide receiver in the division.

2. New Orleans’ defense. When it’s not forcing turnovers, this unit is rather ordinary. The first three games have shown teams can run the ball on the Saints and teams are going to continue to do that. Sean Payton and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams are two strong personalities. They co-existed when the defense was making turnovers and the Saints were winning big last year. But a few more losses could really put this relationship to the test.

3. Garrett Hartley, kicker, Saints. It appears as if the Saints are going to hang onto Hartley even though they’re bringing in veteran John Carney. The Saints aren’t completely ready to give up on a talented young kicker who has made some big kicks in his career. But his miss of a 29-yard field goal in overtime cost the Saints a victory Sunday. They can’t afford to carry two kickers for too long, so Hartley better figure out what’s causing his inconsistency and fix it quickly.

RISING

1. Matt Ryan, quarterback, Falcons. People like to debate if Ryan’s an “elite’’ quarterback or not. I’m not sure what the exact qualifications for that are. But, if going into an extremely hostile environment and playing a nearly flawless game against the defending Super Bowl champions is on the list, then I’d lean toward calling Ryan an elite quarterback.

2. Atlanta’s pass rush. The numbers still aren’t dominant. But the Falcons are generating pressure. They didn’t make any dramatic moves in the offseason because they said they believed in what they had. Turns out, they were right. John Abraham's bouncing back, Kroy Biermann is on the rise, Jonathan Babineaux is one of the better interior pass-rushers in the league and the much-maligned Jamaal Anderson put enough pressure on Drew Brees to force a huge interception Sunday.

3. Lance Moore, wide receiver, Saints. You don’t replace all that Reggie Bush does with a single player. But Moore took on Bush’s role as punt returner and spent some time at slot receiver Sunday. Moore was quieted by injuries much of last year. But he’s an athlete and a playmaker and he’s going to get a chance to showcase those abilities while Bush is out.