My NFL Power Rankings for Week 4

This is my first time doing the power rankings. For next week’s rankings, teams will be moved up or down depending on their performance and if they won or lost on Sunday.

1. Cowboys (3-0) Clearly the best team in football right now, beating the Eagles at home and the Packers in Lambeau, both legitimate NFC contenders. Even with Romo having a subpar game against the Pack, the running game picked up the slack with Barber and Jones both having big games.

2. Giants (3-0) Won a squeaker against the Bengals, but otherwise have been impressive so far. Should win their next three games (Seattle, at Cleveland, San Francisco) and be
6-0 heading into Pittsburgh on October 26.

3. Eagles (2-1) Great response in beating Pittsburgh after losing an offensive shootout last week at Dallas. Westbrook and McNabb are both banged up but are expected to play Sunday at Chicago.

4. Broncos (3-0) After barely beating San Diego and New Orleans at home, the Broncos can finally relax Sunday in Kansas City and should improve to 4-0. And Mike Shannahan won’t have to go for a 2-point conversion at the end of the game.

5. Steelers (2-1) Offense could not get anything going in loss to the Eagles. Steelers need to improve on pass protection as Eagle linebackers and defensive backs were constantly in the backfield.

6. Titans (3-0) Maybe losing Vince Young and having Kerry Collins was a blessing in disguise for this team. A pretty soft schedule has helped so far, but we’ll see if the Titans are for real in their next two games (Minnesota, at Baltimore).

7. Packers (2-1)The loss to Dallas on Monday night wasn’t pretty, neither was the site of Al Harris writhing in pain. If he’s out for the season, it’s a big loss for the Packers secondary.

8. Bills (3-0) The Bills barely survived the Raiders on Sunday after a shaky performance. They play the Rams Sunday and should improve to 4-0, but then play at Arizona and home against the Chargers and Dolphins. Check back with me in three weeks and I’ll let you know if this team is for real.

9. Carolina (2-1) Bad loss to the Vikings as Jake Delhomme was constantly harassed in the backfield. The defense did a credible job in containing Adrian Peterson. Should have two cake-walks against the Falcons and Chiefs the next two weeks.

10. Chargers (1-2) Dominated the Jets on Monday night football and made Brett Favre look awful out there. Good response after losing two heart-breakers to open up the season.

11. Buccaneers (2-1) Huge game against the Packers at home on Sunday. If Griese can play like he did in the last 5 minutes and in overtime against the Bears, the Bucs could be 3-1 and a legitimate NFC contender.

12. Redskins (2-1) Statement game Sunday against the Cowboys. Have responded nicely after losing to the Giants on opening night.

13. Patriots (2-1) Showed no emotion in loss to the Dolphins (yes the Dolphins). Has Tom Brady’s injury destroyed this team??

14. Jaguars (1-2) Big win in Indy. Showed the intensity and passion they demonstrated last year. David Garrard is a winner at quarterback.

15. Ravens (2-0) Opened with home victories over Cleveland and Cincinnati, two average teams. Now we’ll find out if this team is for real as they play at Pittsburgh on Monday night and then play Tennessee at home and at Indy.

16. Colts (1-2) This team has some issues right now. The running game is not on track, Peyton Manning still doesn’t look like Peyton, and the defense can’t stop anyone from running the ball (where are you Bob Sanders?) The bye-week could not have come at a better time.

17. Cardinals (2-1) Play at the Jets. If they don’t turn over the ball like they did at Washington, they should improve to 3-1.

18. Bears (1-2) Could easily be 3-0 right now and have led all three games in the 4th quarter. Need to find a way to close out the game and put teams away. The loss to Tampa could come back to haunt the Bears come playoff time.

19. Vikings (1-2) I give props to Brad Childress for making the switch to Gus Frerotte at quarterback. All he did was lead the Vikings to their first win of the season. If the offensive line can protect him, he should make enough plays down the field to open up running lanes for Adrian Peterson.

20. 49ers (2-1) I predicted the 49ers to win 3 games this year. A good start so far, but the schedule gets a lot tougher (at Saints, New England, Philly).

21. Jets (1-2) The Jets looked awful on Monday night against the Chargers. They couldn’t stop the Chargers on defense and Brett Favre looks like he needs another month to learn the playbook. Hello bye-week.


22. Saints (1-2) This team is struggling right now. Defensive lapses are killing them, especially in the secondary. Sound familiar Saints fans?

23. Seattle (1-2) Beat an awful St. Louis team to earn their first victory of the season. Have a bye-week this Sunday to get everyone healthy and regroup after a disappointing start.

24. Dolphins (1-2) Shocking win against the Patriots earned the Dolphins their first win of the season. Ronny Brown looked like a league MVP out there, accounting for 5 touchdowns. After a bye-week, we’ll see if the Fins are for real when they host the Chargers.

25. Falcons (2-1) The Matt Ryan era is off and running with the Falcons having won two of their first three, albeit against Detroit and Kansas City. Now comes the real test: games at Carolina and Green Bay and home against the Bears.

26. Raiders (1-2) Darren McFadden is playing like he can be the great running back many predicted him to be. At least the Raiders have been competitive in their past two games after getting destroyed by Denver the first weekend.

27. Browns (0-3) The Browns are struggling mightily on offense. There seems to be a lack of focus out there. Brady Quinn anyone????

28. Texans (0-2) Disappointing start so far. Now there is talk of a quarterback controversy. A win would help silence the skeptics.

29. Bengals (0-3) At least they played hard and gave the Giants a run for their money after two awful losses to start the season. Play Cleveland on Sunday, a must win if this team wants to have any playoff aspirations.

30. Rams (0-3) Boulder got benched. Not much going right for the Rams right now.

31. Lions (0-3) Matt Millen got fired. That’s good. Now what about the team on the field? Must win game against the Bears on 10/5 after a bye week this week.

32. Chiefs (0-3) Herm Edwards is playing musical quarterbacks and started one that no one had ever heard of this past Sunday. This team might not be able to beat USC or Oklahoma.