NFL Power Rankings 2016: Week 4 Edition
Photo by: USA Today Sports.
The third week of the 2016 NFL schedule is over. Now it’s time to see how all 32 teams stack up. Let’s dive right in to this week’s edition of NFL Power Rankings. For reference purposes, here’s a link to last week’s order.
WEEK 4 POWER RANKINGS
1 – Denver Broncos (Last Week: 1) – The reigning Super Bowl champions are still undefeated. Trevor Siemian threw four touchdown passes and no interceptions on the road against a respectable Bengals defense. Who saw that coming?
2 – New England Patriots (LW: 2) – It doesn’t seem like it matters who the Patriots start at quarterback. As long as they have Bill Belichick, they’re always a threat to be great. This mantra might be tested this week, though, if the Patriots have to start wide receiver Julian Edelman under center.
3 – Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 13) – The Birds have the best point differential in the NFL after blowing out a legitimate Super Bowl contender at home. The Steelers were averaging nearly 32 points per game in their last 10 regular season games and Jim Schwartz’s defense only kept them to three. Carson Wentz continues to look sharp and Doug Pederson is already an early Coach of the Year candidate. There’s something special going on with this team right now. They’re defying expectations.
Another important angle to the Eagles’ big win:
#Eagles beating the Steelers is definitive proof that Wawa > Sheetz.
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) September 25, 2016
4 – Minnesota Vikings (LW: 6) – Minnesota’s defense has been integral to their 3-0 start. The Vikings completely shut down 2015 NFL MVP Cam Newton.
5 – Green Bay Packers (LW: 8) – A week after looking terrible in Minnesota, Aaron Rodgers bounced back in a big way at home against the Lions. R-e-l-a-x, part two.
6 – Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 10) – Andy Reid’s Chiefs are 2-1 after a convincing win over the Jets. Even better news for Kansas City is that the return of Jamaal Charles seems to be on the horizon.
7 – Carolina Panthers (LW: 4) – The Panthers haven’t had the easiest schedule, but the reigning NFC Champions are 1-2 to start the new season.
8 – Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 3) – The Steelers are now 0-9 in Philadelphia since 1966. Pittsburgh suffered the worst margin of defeat they’ve had since 1989.
9 – Seattle Seahawks (LW: 12) – Seattle’s offense finally came to life after only managing to score 15 points in their first two games. Playing the worst team in the NFL helps with that.
10 – Arizona Cardinals (LW: 5) – Uncharacteristic loss for Bruce Arians. The Cardinals got absolutely smoked in Buffalo.
11 – Baltimore Ravens (LW: 14) – Last week I wrote that the Ravens might be the least impressive 2-0 team in the NFL. This week I will write that they are definitely the least impressive 3-0 team as they only managed to beat the Jaguars by two points. Despite being undefeated, there are nine teams that have been point differentials than the Ravens.
12 – Oakland Raiders (LW: 16) – Oakland’s defense ceased being a tire fire this week as the Raiders held the Titans to only 10 points.
13 – Buffalo Bills (LW: 19) – Maybe Rex Ryan firing Bills offensive coordinator Greg Roman was a good call? Buffalo scored 33 in a win over the Cardinals.
14 – Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 11) – The Bengals are 0-2 in their last two games after beating the Jets by one point in Week 1. It’s been a tough schedule for the Stripes, so they deserve some slack.
15 – Houston Texans (LW: 7) – Yikes. Houston’s offense looked terrible in New England as they managed to score a whopping zero points. Brock Osweiler really isn’t off to a great start with his new team.
16 – New York Jets (LW: 9) – Ryan Fitzpatrick threw SIX interceptions as the Jets only managed to score three points on the road in Kansas City. There’s a reason why New York took so long to re-sign him this offseason.
17 – Atlanta Falcons (LW: 21) – The Falcons lead the NFL in points scored with 104, which is 34.7 per game. Kudos to Atlanta for going on the road in back-to-back weeks and going 2-0.
18 – New York Giants (LW: 15) – So all of that talk about the Giants having a much-improved defense just might have been premature. New York allowed Kirk Cousins, who really struggled in the first two weeks, to guide Washington to 29 points on Sunday.
19 – Dallas Cowboys (LW: 22) – Cowboys rookie quarterback Dak Prescott finally threw a touchdown pass. It came against a depleted Chicago defense, but Prescott has played well for the Cowboys. So does Dallas stick with him or go back to Tony Romo when the veteran is healthy?
20 – Indianapolis Colts (LW: 23) – The Colts don’t have a ton of great things going for them, but they do have Andrew Luck, so that really helps.
21 – San Diego Chargers (LW: 17) – The Chargers continue to lose key players to injury every Sunday. First it was Keenan Allen, then it was Danny Woodhead, and now it’s Manti Te’o. The Chargers also lost the game this week.
22 – Los Angeles Rams (LW: 28) – What a weird team. After getting shutout in the season opener against a bad 49ers team, the Rams are now 2-1. Jeff Fisher’s squad beat the Seahawks last week before getting a road win in Tampa Bay on Sunday.
23 – Detroit Lions (LW: 18) – The Lions would be 0-3 if not for a last minute comeback against the Colts in Week 1. Detroit showed some fight after getting down big at Lambeau Field but it wasn’t enough to beat the Packers.
24 – Washington Redskins (LW: 27) – Washington avoided dropped to 0-3 overall and 0-2 in the division by squeaking by the Giants. Washington’s defense is still giving up a lot of points (fourth most in the league), but their offense is showing some signs of life.
25 – Miami Dolphins (LW: 25) – The Dolphins needed three missed field goals from the Browns to beat Cleveland in overtime at home. Not exactly an impressive win.
26 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 20) – Tampa Bay’s defense has allowed 101 points in three games. That’s good for the most in the NFL.
27 – Tennessee Titans (LW: 26) – The Titans, who were the worst team in the league last year, don’t look like the worst team in the league so far this year. They don’t look good by any means, but they don’t look as dreadful.
28 – New Orleans Saints (LW: 24) – Remember how the Saints’ defense was terrible last year? It’s still very bad. The Saints have allowed the second most points (96) through three games. Drew Brees has got to be frustrated about that.
29 – Chicago Bears (LW: 29) – The Bears weren’t good to begin with, but losing Jay Cutler has made them even worse. Brian Hoyer just isn’t a viable starter.
30 – Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 30) – One can only wonder how much longer Gus Bradley will be the head coach in Jacksonville after the Jaguars are off to an 0-3 start.
31 – Cleveland Browns (LW: 32) – The Browns lost a close game in overtime on the road despite being down to their third string quarterback. Cleveland is still very much Cleveland, but that has to be at least worth a moral victory in these rankings. In former Eagles news, Cody Parkey missed three field goal attempts on Sunday.
32 – San Francisco 49ers (LW: 31) – The Seahawks had only scored 15 points in two weeks before facing the 49ers on Sunday. San Francisco allowed Seattle to score 37. Something tells me Chip Kelly’s team won’t be going very far with Blaine Gabbert at the helm.