NFL Power Rankings: Week 4

It’s Power Rankings time!

This week felt much easier as teams seemed to get into a groove and tended to be a touch more predictable. That being said there is still a few surprises along the way, as well as teams that I’m yet to see prove that they deserve to be higher on the list.

Let’s start with my beloved Chicago Bears.

 

32) Chicago Bears: I need to try and cap this at about 50 words, so I can’t voice my disappointment, not at the loss, but the nature of the loss. The Bears just seemed to give up. There is no doubt they’re the worst team in the league, but a little fight would have been nice.

31) New Orleans Saints: Probably a little harsh after nearly toppling the 3-0 Panthers, but in 3 games they’ve failed to look good doing anything on both sides of the ball. The defence is woeful and the offence can’t bail them out. This is a bad team.

30) San Francisco 49ers: The Niners are in no man’s land. Their talented QB simply isn’t doing it and is, if anything, regressing. There’s more issues to this team, but if Kaepernick can’t get it together you have to imagine they might be looking elsewhere in the off-season.

29) Cleveland Browns: Cleveland’s offence is actually doing a decent job at moving the ball. It’s surprisingly the defence that’s treading water, a unit that was considered to be one of the best in the league. There are major changes needed in Cleveland.

28) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Winston seems to improve with every game and the defence looks good. That being said there is still a massive amount of room for improvement. This is a team that with a few changes could be pretty good… next year.

27) St Louis Rams: The Rams dazzled in week 1 with a master class in how to beat the Seahawks. Since then they’ve looked ordinary. I feel a 7-9 season coming…

26) Miami Dolphins: There are some huge fundamental issues with this team. The defence looked set to be a world beater, but instead has failed to gain any traction (1 sack in 3 games). On offence they look predictable. This team needed a culture change last season and it still does.

25) Houston Texans: Improved game from Mallett this week, which helped Alfred Blue move the ball. The defence is solid, but the offence simply can’t capitalize on it. This team needs Arian Foster back in the worst kind of way.

24) Washington: This team looks like one of the tougher teams to beat if they get ahead. But if they get behind they struggle. They’ll beat the teams that struggle run up the score.

23) Jacksonville Jaguars: There is improvement on this team despite having 50 points dropped on them this week. The Jags did a solid job of slowing down Gronk in the redzone and managed to put some points on a decent Patriots defence.

22) Detroit Lions: I want to put them lower, but the sheer amount of talent on this team means I can’t. The Lions will not do anything with Matt Stafford at the helm.

21) Philadelphia Eagles: Ryan Matthews changed the dynamic of this whole team this week. By drawing out offensive drives, by getting 1st down, Ryan Matthews single-handedly kept the defence off the field, meaning they didn’t wear down nearly as quick. There are still some huge questions though and Chip is by no means safe.

20) Tennessee Titans: They look good even when they throw away a lead. Mariota alone should win them a few games this year, but the taking their foot off this week against a ‘down but not out QB’ like Luck was a huge mistake.

19) New York Giants: There is so obviously talent there, that it becomes frustrating that it took this long to win a game. The defence is still a mess, but with their offence they should (key word there), be able to win shoot-outs.

18) Dallas Cowboys: Dallas are down a number of key pieces, yet still they remain relevant in the NFC East. If they can hang around in a couple of games over the coming weeks, they should nick a couple of them. Don’t count this team out as a playoff contender.

17) Baltimore Ravens: Easily the best 0-3 team in the league. All 3 games have been tight and if they had even a marginally better secondary, they could have a better record. A bit of time in the Trestman offence could see Flacco improve as time goes on too.

16) Oakland Raiders: I don’t think I’ve ever put the Raiders in the top half of a power ranking, but right now they deserve it. Oakland has pro-bowl talent on both sides of the ball. I can safely say I was wrong about Derek Carr (A.K.A the nicest man in the NFL) and that he does look like a franchise QB.

15) San Diego Chargers: This team could be taking a nose-dive. Injuries have decimated this team and could see Philip Rivers struggle to move the ball. That being said there is clear talent on both sides of the ball and if they can weather this storm, they’re still very much playoff relevant.

14) Indianapolis Colts: The 4th quarter of this game gave me hope that this team can still perform. I just hope Andrew Luck feels the same. Sneaky good run defence too. With a decent run, they may still be post-season relevant.

13) New York Jets: This is a good team that made silly mistakes against a floundering Eagles team. This week should be a good matchup for their defence.

12) Pittsburgh Steelers: I describe it as a Ferrari that’s just been given to a learner. That being said Bell will get some yards and the defence has looked good over the last few weeks. This team should be okay till Ben gets back.

11) Carolina Panthers: They’ve won ugly, but still they’ve won. The Panthers are 3-0 with Luke Kuechly missing a couple of games. Cam Newton is in the form of his life after an injury strewn 2014. As long as he stays healthy, this is a good team.

10) Minnesota Vikings: Bridgewater has been up and down, but it doesn’t really seem to matter, with Adrian Peterson hitting form. The defence seems to be stepping up too. Maybe we should believe the pre-season hype with these guys.

9) Buffalo Bills: They lost one game against (spoiler) one of the best teams in the league. In the other 2 they’ve dominated and out-schemed teams on offence. This is a very good team as long as they’re not forced to deviate from the plan.

8) Kansas City Chiefs: Poor Kansas. After a strong start, week 1, they’ve lost 2 on the bounce to Denver and Green Bay, the former being an incredibly unlucky, contentious affair. There is talent in every area on this team and it should see them through to a winning record. Plus they had a wide receiver score a touchdown!

7) Seattle Seahawks: It was a convincing win against the worst team in the league, that seems determined not to try to win a game. That being said this was a much better performance, with Rawls filling in adequately for Marshawn Lynch. I’d imagine they’ll use this win to springboard up this list.

6) Denver Broncos: There are question marks ab0ut whether Peyton can last the season and actually whether he has anything left in him at all. All I know is this. They’ve won 3 games, their defence is excellent and Peyton looks much better with control of the offence.

5) Atlanta Falcons: I love the Falcons. This team looks a million times better than last year’s team with minimal changes. Matt Ryan and Julio Jones are as good a partnership as anyone else in the league, Devonta Freeman can run the ball and the defence looks much more effective than they have in the previous few years. This is a very good team!

4) Cincinnati Bengals: The Bengals have talent in nearly every area. Andy Dalton has been playing well. So over 3 games this is one of the best teams in the NFL, regardless of reputation. It’s worth mentioning as well that it took 3 games for this team to allow their first sack. That is one of the best units in the league. The problem is the reputation is there. We won’t trust this team until we see them win a playoff game…convincingly.

3) Arizona Cardinals: The Cardinals are another team that doesn’t seem to have any weaknesses. The defence looks like the Horton/ Bowles unit, but maybe actually a bit better. Carson Palmer, Chris Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald look like they’re in as good form as ever.

2) New England Patriots: Up until Monday the Patriots were number 1 and if you were to say I was wrong to move them down, I probably wouldn’t disagree with you. The fact is both the top teams look unbeatable at the moment with QBs that are in as good a form as they’ve ever been. For the Patriots the emergence of Dion Lewis, the continued progression of Jamie Collins and the unreal ability of Gronk, shows that they are more than a one man team.

1) Green Bay Packers: The Packers narrowly edge out the Patriots, thanks to Aaron Rodgers looking nothing short of unstoppable. There is no QB in the league with better movement in the pocket, which combined with excellent decision making, accuracy and a decent amount of athleticism make him a joy to watch. There are other players stepping up too. Clay Matthews seems to be wreaking havoc as a hybrid inside/outside line-backer. Mike Daniels in the last game pulled the Chiefs line to pieces and Randall Cobb is the best slot receiver in the league. Both the top 2 teams are playing at a different level to the rest of the league.

No. 32 Bears, No . 1 Green Bay. I’m now going to lock myself in my room until February!