Power Rankings: Week 4

For what it’s worth, playing without easily your best weapon on offense, against a good Kansas City team, the Fins were within one score the entire game. They only had 5 less yards than Kansas City the entire game. It almost begs the question, how close would it have been if Achane was able to play? Unfortunately, the team as it stands is in a position where losses are more helpful than wins. Unfortunate about Achane as well.

I think losing to the Winston-led New York Giants is a bit of an issue. The schedule literally does not get any easier from here. The easiest games on the schedule were the Jets, and the Giants, and they lost both. The offense can’t get anything going in the run game, and nothing in the passing game. I want to give the defense credit, except I can’t give much considering they were playing Jameis Winston. It’s going to take something short of a miracle to really see how this season can turn around for the Titans.

Well, Baker is going to miss the next 3 weeks of the season, meaning they will be riding with Jalon Daniels. Not a good sign for the already struggling 0-3 team. The defense was able to hold its own in essentially the debut of Kyler for the Vikings, but a lot of that was dysfunction from the Vikings offense. It’s going to take a lot for this team to snag a win with Baker out over the next 3 weeks.

I run out of things to say about this team. The defense held up its end in week 3, getting 5 turnovers, and holding the Bills to only 24 points, However the offense just seems so stagnant. It’s almost like the football gods were trying to help the Chargers win, and they still couldn’t. The schedule won’t let up, so the Chargers are going to have to find some offense FAST.

Thursday night was a disaster for Green Bay. Many are already sounding the alarms for the Packers, which makes sense. They are by far the worst rushing offense in the league, the offensive line has been terrible, and the defense hasn't shown anything special against what many would consider average at best QB's. The question is going to be who is to blame, and me personally, I think it's 40% GM, 40% Head Coach, and 20% Jordan Love. The roster is in a bad spot for most position groups, yet the blown leads, the inability to change the offense falls on the Head Coach. I give Love some blame, simply because they paid him a lot of money, and he needs to show at least glimpses that he is worth that kind of money. Could be a long season for Green Bay.

You can call me crazy... but I still believe. The Texans do this every season, they start off poorly, then rally back and play elite defense as the season goes on. Now, I'm not super confident they can be a better team than they were last season, as some of the problems that plagued them last year like the offensive line and penalties, have stuck around. However, Stroud isn't playing bad, and he's protecting the football pretty well. I think getting Collins, and eventually Dell back could help this offense take a leap, but until then, they are 0-3, and have to stick down here for a minute.

One of the ugliest wins I've ever seen. Their offensive gameplan was so outrageous, I believe they came into this game expecting to lose, yet they somehow won. I would expect almost every other NFL team would be able to take care of business against this team. Now, I am a little confused as to why they traded for McCarthy if they aren't going to play him. What do you have to lose?

I think if you want to take anything away from that Washington game (which you don’t have to, standard trap game), then the only takeaway is an uncomfortable truth: I’m not sure if you pay Jayden Daniels. This team is in an incredibly awkward position, as the roster isn’t quite there yet, and you have an injury-prone QB, who has a backup that can essentially get the same production. Daniels is supposed to come back at some point this season, so we will see if they can continue to win while he is hurt.

The Cardinals showed some fight at the end of the game, and the offense looked much better than last week, especially against a solid 49ers defense. Love looked explosive, which is also really exciting for Cardinals fans. No reason why they can’t have a fun year.

Amazing what a team with a QB can achieve. Penix looked great, the defense played very impressively, and the weapons stepped up in a big way. All Penix needs to do is distribute the ball to his weapons, and let the pretty solid defense do its job. I’m not going to overreact and say that we can expect 30 a week from Atlanta, as I think part of what was at play was the lack of a good Packers team, but I do think we can expect that weeks one and two are behind Atlanta.

Despite being 1-2, this is one of the best starts the Jets have had in years. Geno looks really solid, the defense is also pretty solid, and they can move the ball down field. They are going toe-to-toe with every opponent. I don’t see any reason why this team can’t be in the hunt for a wild card spot come the end of the season.

A truly, odd win. But, this team was desperate for a win in the worst way, so I'm happy for them. I'm not blown away by their performance, nor am I disappointed, so I feel it's best to just leave them here at 21.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, the Browns are… good? No, I’m not ready to say that, or at least yet. They won a relatively sloppy game against Carolina, a game in which their defense played very well to their credit. However, their offensive play and QB play were pretty below average. They were also outgained by Carolina by about 100 yards. The story of week 3 was very much the team that had more yards, lost somehow. I’ll give credit to the Browns by moving them up the rankings, but I’m still unsure whether or not to buy any stock in this team long-term. If they had won by larger margins, or looked consistently great on either side of the ball, I'd move them farther up, but this is where I feel most comfortable with placing the Browns this week.

A pretty solid outing and win for the Steelers. That being said, i’m still not buying too much stock of this team, and for one main reason: I’m still not buying the offense. Through 3 weeks, the offense has looked awful week 1, awful week 2, and solid against a divisional opponent week 3. Analytically AND yardage-wise, the Bengals were the better offense in week 3. I think it’s more likely that they play closer to those performances than in week 3. Although, a win is a win.

I don’t really know how this happened to Carolina. A really ugly game offensively, yet defensively they were very impressive. I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt here with this ranking, as I don’t think the offense will be this bad. I think it was more the Panthers were coming off an offensive explosion, which normally the following week for any team there is going to be less fireworks. They also ran into an underrated Browns defense that took away McMillan, and the injury to Coker didn’t help either. I expect them to bounce back, but I still gotta drop them.

The offense feels like Tyler Shough, Chris Olave, and Juwan Johnson are the only guys that can make a difference. If anyone else on that offense, especially one of their pro bowl running backs, that would make a massive difference. The defense didn’t do poorly, as they still rushed the passer well, the Raiders were just very efficient in the redzone and on 3rd down. I’m not too shaken about the Saints, as I was more impressed with the Raiders than disappointed in the Saints.

A lot of people are panicking about the Patriots, including their own head coach. There’s just something about the way they’re playing, it’s like they don’t have any confidence. They need to start playing like they are the defending AFC champs. The offense has been terrible, but the defense has proved that it’s relatively legit. If Maye and the offense can step it up even a little bit, they can start competing for a playoff spot, but it could be a long road.

Yeah, that was really bad. It’s excusable if it was against Caleb, but losing to Case Keenum is concerning, and exposing. I would say that a lot of people had a lot of confidence in the defense, yet it got gashed by Keenum, and the offense played worse than the defense, hardly getting any first downs in the second half. I’m giving them some grace since it’s only week 4, but a really concerning game all around for Philly.

A lot of people are speaking ill of how the Cowboys played on Sunday, as if they didn’t just play an excellent game against one of the best AFC teams in football? Like, realistically, 9 times out of 10, that game goes to OT. If that happens, then Dallas could have absolutely won that game. The offense looked great, they stopped Derrick Henry better than anyone thought they would, all while suffering over 7 injuries on the defensive side of the ball. Overall, it’s hard for me to come away from this game with anything other than the Cowboys are a good football team.

Well, the Bengals having a top defense was short lived. That being said, the offense played amazingly against a Pittsburgh defense that was the best against the pass coming into the week. So I don’t feel as bad about the Bengals this season, as I think they will be fine, this is just simply one of those random AFC North matchups. The defense got a little worse, and the offense got a little better, perfectly balanced.

Since the start of the season, there are really only more questions than answers with the Rams. Where is Puka? Why is that situation so weird? When is Myles Garrett coming back? Is Aaron Donald making that much of an impact? Is Stafford’s age showing? All these questions could have answers that ultimately are good for the Rams, but they could also be bad. Puka’s situation is extremely odd, Garrett could be even longer before he’s back, Donald isn’t making much of an impact as a game wrecker, and Stafford is turning it over in high leverage situations. The Rams can easily silence all these criticisms, but they can only do it with their play on the field.

The Lions have quickly established an identity, for better or for worse. They WILL score 31 points. Not any more, not any less. Their defense WILL let the opponent within one score of them. The 2026 Detroit Lions. Bet the over.

This may be a bit lower than other power rankings have the Broncos, and I can explain. By EPA, they are below league average on offense and defense. EPA isn’t the golden rule or anything, but I think it represents their season pretty well. They have been blown out in week 1, won a close game in week 2, and won a close game in week 3. History has shown us that these teams that skate by in one score games, and aren’t overly efficient on offense or dominant on defense, tend to get exposed at some point or another. Look at the Eagles on Monday night. They barely beat the Commanders and Titans, coming into the week had average to below average numbers as a team, and got thoroughly exposed. I’m not saying that’s going to happen this week, I’m just saying that it’s hard for me to trust teams like this. There hasn’t been consistency in their QB, offense, or defense, so overall I still have questions about the quality of all three. The 10 spot feels pretty fair, considering all the teams ahead of them have shown consistency in how they play. Also, their rushing defense is terrible, the worst in the league through 3 weeks. That has to turn around before they play explosive rushing attacks.

I think it’s about time to give this Raiders team some credit. The offense is progressively getting better, and the defense has been incredible thus far. Sure you can look at the fact they gave up 27 points, but they played a good offense in the saints, and held them to -0.04 EPA/play. The only thing that concerns me is their ability to run the ball efficiently. It is their one weak link, yet everything else is working. Oh, and Bowers is back. This could come back to bite me, but I do like how they've looked so far.

So they just blew out the Eagles with Case Keenum. 38 years old, hasn’t started a game in 3 years, Case Keenum. He was QB3. If that is what their QB3 can do, then I wonder how bad it would’ve been with Caleb in the lineup. The offense works because Ben Johnson works, but what I’m most surprised about is how well the defense has looked. Sure, we can say it’s only played by Carson Wentz in the rain and Jalen Hurts, but it’s honestly been incredible, so I have to give it credit.

Was Kyler bad? Yeah, he was pretty bad, but I’m going to extend an olive branch. Kyler hasn’t played an NFL game in almost a full calendar year, as remember he was benched for Brissett pretty early on last year. He was also playing in sloppy conditions without his WR1 in Jefferson. I don’t think it will look that bad moving forward, and I think that defense is crazy good.

I get that this could seem a bit high for the Jaguars, but I do think this team is really good, and the analytics support it. Statistically the #4 offense and #3 defense in the league by EPA/play. They have two blowout wins, one against a Browns team that has only proved that they could be something this season, and the defending AFC champions. I think in the Broncos game, they ran into a very angry and desperate Broncos team that needed to bounce back after being blown out against the Chiefs. Lawrence is playing great, and they can certainly keep this up in my opinion.

I may have too much faith in this team, but I just have confidence in a proven smart defensive head coach, paired with an elite QB. Lamar was incredible, and the whole offense looks dangerous. It was against a poor Dallas defense, but I have to give credit where it’s due. I can’t give the defense too much grace, as they have been pretty mid at best, but if they can be borderline top 10, then they can be a huge threat in the AFC.

I’m moving Kansas City up 2 spots, but I will say I wasn’t overly impressed with how they played. Miami is the worst team in the league, and they lost Achane, yet it was a 4 point game for most of the game. Miami is somewhat decent at stopping the run though, as they are league average (17th)compared to the previous two opponents, who are at the bottom of the league against the run, (32nd, 31st). They contained the rushing attack, holding them to under 4 yards a carry. Now, thankfully, the Dolphins are far and away the worst team against the pass, so the offense didn’t have hardly any issue, but the defense letting an Achane-less Miami team stick around for 3 and a half quarters, and the regression of the run game do have me taking a closer look at this team.

Well, that was a textbook trap game. It reminds me of their game they had against Tampa last season, as there are a lot of similarities: giving up touchdowns off turnovers, missing starting safeties, and losing the game on the last drive. I think it would be incredibly irresponsible to overreact to this loss, as you would be crazy if you genuinely think there is a good reason to be concerned about this Seahawks team. The only thing that slightly worries me is the run game, but I think it will naturally improve, especially as it gets healthier. In my personal opinion, they are still the best team in the league, but I guess I'll slide them down for a week until they beat the Chargers.

Is it a little lucky that they turned it over 5 times and still won? Maybe a hair, but the defense showed some strides this past week. It’s still an elite offense, they were just due for some turnovers. Overall, I don’t feel super inclined to move them up to the number one spot after a 5 turnover game, but I didn’t want to slide them down either.

To me, easily the best team in the league. Purdy is playing extremely well, the defense is still pretty good despite some of the injuries, and it’s the best offense in the league. Great offense + good defense + great QB play + Seattle loss = best team in the league.