NFL Power Rankings Week 4

We are currently enjoying that wonderful time of the year when nothing is at it seems in the rankings. With so many early ups and downs in the season, teams can jump or drop ten spots from week to week. Don’t like where your team sits this week? No worries, there’s a good chance they’ll be somewhere drastically different by next week. With that in mind, let’s get down to it. Here are my rankings heading into Week 4.

NFL Power Rankings

1 Last Week: 4	Pittsburgh Steelers (3-0) Pittsburgh’s D leads the Steelers to the top of mountain heading into their huge rivalry match-up with Baltimore this week. Playing without Big Ben for four weeks might be a blessing in disguise for the Steelers, who have rediscovered their running game. With Rashard Mendenhall leading the charge, Pittsburgh is averaging 150 yards rushing per game, good for third in the league.
2 Last Week: 5	Indianapolis Colts (2-1) I’m thinking about putting on some football pads and trying to make it into the football Hall of Fame as a wide receiver. My only requirement will be that I play for the Colts, seeing as Peyton Manning can make just about anyone into a receiving superstar. Just check out Austin Collie’s numbers so far this season. The second-year pro is leading the league in receiving yards, receptions and receiving touchdowns.
3 Last Week: 1	New Orleans Saints (2-1) I just gave props to Garrett Hartley for hitting the game-winner last week, now it looks like he might get cut. But the Saints wouldn’t be relying so heavily on Hartley if their offense wasn’t struggling so much to start the year. After leading the league in yards per game last year, the Saints are 14th in that category through three weeks this season.
4 Last Week: 9	New York Jets (2-1) You gotta give credit where it’s due, and it looks like Mark Sanchez has turned the corner after his disastrous season debut. In his last two games, Sanchez has tossed six TD passes and has yet to throw an interception this season.
5 Last Week: 13	Atlanta Falcons (2-1) Don’t sleep on these Falcons. They’re the first team to beat the Saints since January and they almost knocked off the Steelers in Pittsburgh in overtime in Week 1. I see a couple of blowouts in the Falcons future with games coming up against the winless Niners and Browns.
6 Last Week: 16	Philadelphia Eagles (2-1) There’s no way to avoid the Michael Vick story, and Vick has been phenomenal this season, but you also can’t ignore the Eagles D. Philly is second in the league in sacks, which is going to be a huge factor in Donovan McNabb’s homecoming game this week.
7 Last Week: 7	Cincinnati Bengals (2-1) There’s a legend about a monster named Medusa who was so ugly, she turned anyone who looked at her to stone. Well I’m pretty sure every Bengals fan who watched Carson Palmer in Week 3 hasn’t moved since Sunday afternoon. Then again, the standings don’t differentiate between ugly wins and pretty wins, so does it really matter how you get that W?
8 Last Week: 8	Baltimore Ravens (2-1) What is up with this Baltimore D? Teams are salivating at the chance to run the ball down the throats of this once-feared unit. In the first three weeks of the season, Ray Lewis and company are giving up over 127 yards per game in the ground.
9 Last Week: 2	Green Bay Packers (2-1) The most penalized team in the league last year resorted to bad habits in their Week 3 loss to the Bears. The Packers set a team-record by committing 18 penalties and basically handing the game to their biggest division rival. Still, the Pack almost won, and if they can straighten out their mistakes, they should be one of the best teams in the league.
10 Last Week: 3	Houston Texans (2-1) Same ol’ Texans. Just when we start taking this team seriously, they go and waste a golden opportunity to claim the title of Best Football Team in Texas. With a gimme game scheduled against Oakland, the Texans have another opportunity to prove they’re a serious contender this season. But if they blow it against the Raiders, I’m officially leaping off the Texans bandwagon.
11 Last Week: 14	Kansas City Chiefs (3-0) If you had Kansas City undefeated heading into their bye week, raise your hand. (Put your hand down, Tony Moaeki, you don’t count.) The honeymoon may be over, though, as KC has back-to-back road games against the Colts and Texans after their vacation.
12 Last Week: 12	Chicago Bears (3-0) The Bears are a couple of penalties and one replay review from being 1-2. Lucky or good? With their upcoming soft schedule, we might not know until the second half of the season. What we do know is that Chicago needs to fix their ground game (29th in the league) if they want to be taken seriously.
13 Last Week: 6	Miami Dolphins (2-1) I’m not sure what’s uglier, the Dolphins orange jerseys or their goal line offense. Miami was one yard away from taking early control of the tough AFC East. Now they’re back in the pack with the Jets and Pats. Looks like it’s gonna be a dogfight all year long in that division.
14 Last Week: 10	New England Patriots (2-1) I hope Tom Brady did a lot of push-ups this off-season, because the Pats are going to work that arm ‘til it falls off. Not only does New England still lack a dominant running back, the New England defense is ranked 25th or worse in points allowed, yards allowed and passing yards allowed.
15 Last Week: 19	Tennessee Titans (2-1) I wonder how sore Chris Johnson’s legs are. You know, because he’s carrying the entire Tennessee Titans offense on his back. (And some of those offensive lineman are pretty heavy.) No running back in the league has more carries than Johnson so far, while no quarterback has thrown fewer passes than Vince Young. If the Titans don’t get that balanced out, look for Johnson to fade in the second half of the season.
16 Last Week: 22	Dallas Cowboys (1-2) At least the Cowboys got one win under their belt before the bye week. You ever wonder what teams do during their week off? If I were a Cowboys player, I’d ask Jerry Jones to host movie night at the stadium on that huge HD TV screen and set-up Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore in 3D. Can you imagine how cool that would look?
17 Last Week: 20	Minnesota Vikings (1-2) Now that he’s gotten his fumble issues taken care of, the Vikings need to get the ball to Adrian Peterson at least 25 times a game if they plan on bouncing back from their slow start. Peterson is second in the league in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns while Brett Favre (2 TDs, 6 INTs) seems to have lost his magic from last year.
18 Last Week: 23	Seattle Seahawks (2-1) For a guy who had one rushing attempt and zero catches, Leon Washington still might have had the biggest impact performance of Week 3. Washington’s two second half kickoff returns for touchdowns inspired Seattle’s upset win over the Chargers and sent his team into first place in the NFC West.
19 Last Week: 24	Arizona Cardinals (2-1) They may be 2-1, but this Cardinals team really misses Kurt Warner. Arizona ranks 25th in passing yards per game and 25th in scoring. With a defense that’s ranked 31st against the run and giving up over 25 points per game, prepare for their record to eventually even out.
20 Last Week: 11	San Diego Chargers (1-2) Apparently Groundhog’s Day comes in September in San Diego, where the Chargers keep doing the exact same thing every year. Mark my words, thanks to the Chiefs, this is the year that San Diego finally pays for its poor start and misses the playoffs for the first time since 2005.
21 Last Week: 21	Denver Broncos (1-2) This Denver offense looks awesome between the 20s – too bad they don’t love the end zone as much as they love the red zone. The Broncos took five trips inside the Colts 20-yard line in Week 3…and scored ZERO touchdowns. Ouch.
22 Last Week: 15	Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1) The bye couldn’t have come at a better time for the Bucs, who need the extra rest after that brutal beating they took from the Steelers in Week 3…and before two straight games against 2009 playoff teams (at CIN, NO).
23 Last Week: 17	New York Giants (1-2) It’s still early in the season, but it feels like the Giants season is on the line in Week 4. Not good when you consider center Shaun O’Hara, linebacker Keith Bullock, and wide receiver Mario Manningham all sat out Wednesday’s practice.
24 Last Week: 18	Washington Redskins (1-2) This weekend is going to feel more like a soap opera than a football game for Donovan McNabb, who is retuning to Philly for his first game as an opposing player. Even as an Eagle, McNabb heard boos, so don’t expect him to get frazzled. None of it matters anyways unless the ‘Skins can fix up their defense, which is giving up the most yards in the league right now.
25 Last Week: 29	Oakland Raiders (1-2) Darren McFadden has officially arrived. It just took a couple years longer than expected for the fourth overall pick of the 2008 draft. McFadden currently sits at third in the league in rushing yards per game. That and the fact that the Raiders are one flubbed Sebastian Janikowski kick away from being 2-1 could signal a turn around for this long-suffering franchise.
26 Last Week: 30	St. Louis Rams (1-2) As if it’s not hard enough for the Rams to win games, now they have to deal with Steven Jackson’s balky groin injury. Jackson’s showing signs of breaking down. The Rams offensive centerpiece has missed 10 games over the last three seasons.
27 Last Week: 26	San Francisco 49ers (0-3) It’s not too surprising that the Niners can’t score points (their 12.7 points per game ranks 31st in the league), but it is downright shocking that they’re last in the league in points allowed. Head coach Mike Singletary made a living out of stuffing opposing teams as a Hall of Fame linebacker in the 1980s for the Chicago Bears. Maybe he needs to put down the clipboard and lead by example to get his players fired up.
28 Last Week: 25	Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2) When the best move your team can make at the quarterback position is to grab a guy (Trent Edwards) that the Buffalo Bills cut, your franchise is moving in the wrong direction.
29 Last Week: 27	Detroit Lions (0-3) They haven’t won a road game in three years, but on the bright side, Ndamukong Suh has been everything Lions fans hoped for. Suh leads all rookies with two sacks and has been a dominant presence on the defensive line.
30 Last Week: 31	Cleveland Browns (0-3) Peyton Hillis may have exploded onto the scene with his 144 rushing yards in Week 3, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s seen him run this season. Hillis has scored one touchdown in every game this season while averaging 5.6 yards per carry. Look for Hillis to continue his solid play all year long. This is no flash in the pan.
31 Last Week: 32	Buffalo Bills (0-3) The Bills score 17 points in their first two games under Trent Edwards, then explode for 30 against the Patriots in Ryan Fitzpatrick’s first start. Is Fitzpatrick the next coming of Peyton Manning? Don’t count on it. But do count on the Bills being a lot more fun to watch with Fitzpatrick looking downfield more and rookie C.J. Spiller emerging as the talented playmaker the Bills envisioned.
32 Last Week: 28	Carolina Panthers (0-3) The Panthers are 0-3 for the second consecutive season. Yes, they still have the two-headed running monster of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, but it’s hard to accumulate any rushing attack when you’re always playing from behind. (The Panthers are averaging a league-worst 10.7 points per game.)

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