Time for the NFL's best and worst to be outed and the weekly Power Rankings to come to your cellphone and computer screens! The past two weeks have been a mix of dominant performances from teams and otherwise atrocious fall from graces from others. With the first 4 weeks of the season seeing so many injuries, this list needed a bit of tweaking and deep thought so here's the breakdown of how I made my decisions of placements.
The power rankings will be based on:
-Current teams' rosters (including injuries)
-Current season performances
-Season Record
-Offensive Yards and Touchdowns
-Defensive Yards and Touchdowns allowed
The regular season is almost a quarter of the way over and we've gotten a decent grasp on teams that are true contenders, teams that are playing above their ability, teams that are not living up to expectations and teams that are already looking forward to the offseason. When figuring out this list, we took teams' abilities to win in their current state very seriously, (meaning injuries to star players will hurt their placement) while being aware that returning players will improve them in the long run.
That's enough jibber-jabber, without further ado, here are the Best of the Best and Worst of the Worst:
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1. Chiefs (4-0) Next Week: vs Saints
Offensive Rating: 14th Defensive Rating: 16th
At our #1 spot for 3 weeks now, the Chiefs seem to be getting closer to the rest of the league rather than pulling away. With a 4th one-possession-score win to start the season, the Chiefs haven't had a single game where they've proven to be the best in the world. Add that with Patrick Mahomes troubles and the injuries to Isaiah Pacheco and now Rashee Rice and the Chiefs are starting to crack.
2. Ravens (2-2) Next Week: @ Bengals
Offensive Rating: 1st Defensive Rating: 13th
Winners of last week's Game of the Week where they dominated the Bills, the Ravens offense has been the most explosive in the league. Averaging 220+ yards on the ground, the Ravens have scored 20, 26, 28 and now 35 points this season and have shown no signs of slowing down.
3. 49ers (2-2) Next Week: vs Cardinals
Offensive Rating: 2nd Defensive Rating: 9th
Injuries or not, this team can still be the most dominant in the league on any week. Still without McCaffrey, the team is averaging over 400 yards and over 25 points per game and have gotten backup RB Jordan Mason to almost replace CMC without a hitch. If the 49ers get healthy towards the end of the year the league will be on notice.
4. Bills (3-1) Next Week: @ Texans***
Offensive Rating: 20th Defensive Rating: 14th
After a devastating loss to the Ravens the Bills need to take stock and move forward. One of the most dominant teams in the first three weeks, the Bills are still in a good place with their team and in first place of the worst division in football. With a tough matchup in Houston upcoming, the Bills will either show they're elite, or start a slow tumble towards the middle of the league.
5. Buccaneers (3-1) Next Week: @ Falcons
Offensive Rating: 16th Defensive Rating: 18th
The Buccaneers have been a great story this year and if not for an out of pocket performance against Denver two weeks ago, they would be sitting at 4-0 and near the top of our list. Baker Mayfield's connection with Chris Godwin and Mike Evans have made him an early MVP-candidate and has made this team an easy front runner for the NFC South crown.
6. Vikings (4-0) Next Week: vs Jets (in London)
Offensive Rating: 10th Defensive Rating: 23rd
There will be a lot of people that don't like the Vikings being this far down on the list after having such a strong 4-0 start to the season. The bottom line is the Vikings are prime candidates to be "the team" that starts off better than any expectations and then falls to earth by the end of the season. Their opponents' combined record is 8-8 and it's very unlikely Sam Darnold can continue his MVP form all year... right?
7. Lions (3-1) Next Week: Bye
Offensive Rating: 4th Defensive Rating: 22nd
The Lions have been solid this year as expected, including a masterpiece from Jared Goff last week on MNF. The sole disappointment is their secondary they "did so much to improve" this offseason. With an early BYE week this week to tool around with their defense, look for them to only improve throughout the rest of the season.
8. Texans (3-1) Next Week: vs Bills***
Offensive Rating: 8th Defensive Rating: 5th
The Texans have had a troubling two weeks, getting beat up by the Vikings and then almost losing to the winless-Jaguars at home. With the hardest matchup they've had so far this year coming to town this week, the Texans need to put their problems to the side and play the football we expected them to or this season could start to get away from them.
9. Packers (2-2) Next Week: @ Rams
Offensive Rating: 3rd Defensive Rating: 20th
The Packers finally got Jordan Love back and almost had a comeback for the ages but fell short to the Vikings. We are wondering if a QB-controversy could be in the works to make matters worse. Jordan Love has 649 yards, 6 TDs and 5 INTs in 2 games with an 0-2 record and Malik Willis has 438 total yards, 3 total TDs and 0 INTs. This roster is far too talented to waste on a turnover-prone QB.
10. Eagles (2-2) Next Week: Bye
Offensive Rating: 7th Defensive Rating: 29th
The Eagles find themselves at a generous placement of 10th in the league after a 2-2 start to the season. This roster (when healthy) is easily Top-5 in the league but injuries and poor QB play; Jalen Hurts has 6 TDs and 9 turnovers on the year. With a BYE week coming up, the Eagles need to get healthy and address ball security. If they can hold on to the rock, this team could be deadly for the rest of the season.
Best of the Rest
11. Seahawks (3-1) Next Week: vs Giants
Offensive Rating: 5th Defensive Rating: 8th
12. Cowboys (2-2) Next Week: @ Steelers
Offensive Rating: 13th Defensive Rating: 26th
13. Commanders (3-1) Next Week: vs Browns
Offensive Rating: 6th Defensive Rating: 27th
14. Colts (2-2) Next Week: @ Jaguars
Offensive Rating: 15th Defensive Rating: 32nd
15. Steelers (3-1) Next Week: vs Cowboys
Offensive Rating: 17th Defensive Rating: 4th
16. Falcons (2-2) Next Week: vs Buccaneers
Offensive Rating: 19th Defensive Rating: 19th
17. Saints (2-2) Next Week: @ Chiefs
Offensive Rating: 9th Defensive Rating: 17th
18. Bengals (1-3) Next Week: vs Ravens
Offensive Rating: 11th Defensive Rating: 15th
19. Cardinals (1-3) Next Week: @ 49ers
Offensive Rating: 12th Defensive Rating: 25th
20. Jets (2-2) Next Week: @ Vikings (in London)
Offensive Rating: 22nd Defensive Rating: 3rd
21. Chargers (2-2) Next Week: Bye
Offensive Rating: 28th Defensive Rating: 7th
22. Rams (1-3) Next Week: vs Packers
Offensive Rating: 18th Defensive Rating: 31st
23. Raiders (2-2) Next Week: @ Broncos
Offensive Rating: 24th Defensive Rating: 21st
24. Broncos (2-2) Next Week: vs Raiders
Offensive Rating: 27th Defensive Rating: 2nd
25. Bears (2-2) Next Week: vs Panthers
Offensive Rating: 30th Defensive Rating: 10th
26. Jaguars (0-4) Next Week: vs Colts
Offensive Rating: 25th Defensive Rating: 30th
27. Panthers (1-3) Next Week: @ Bears
Offensive Rating: 23rd Defensive Rating: 28th
28. Titans (1-3) Next Week: Bye
Offensive Rating: 29th Defensive Rating: 1st
29. Giants (1-3) Next Week: @ Seahawks
Offensive Rating: 21st Defensive Rating: 12th
30. Browns (1-3) Next Week: @ Commanders
Offensive Rating: 31st Defensive Rating: 11th
31. Patriots (1-3) Next Week: vs Dolphins
Offensive Rating: 32nd Defensive Rating: 24th
32. Dolphins (1-3) Next Week: @ Patriots
Offensive Rating: 26th Defensive Rating: 6th
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