32. Oakland Raiders (Last Week: 31)
They fired Dennis Allen this week. Four games into the season. That’s all there is to know about the 2014 Raiders.
31. Jacksonville Jaguars (LW: 30)
Blake Bortles looked promising in his first professional start, but the defense might be the worst in the league and Toby Gerhart is the worst starting running back in the league.
30. Tennessee Titans (LW: 28)
Even if Jake Locker returns this week, there’s no reason to feel good about Tennessee’s outlook for the remainder of the season. No one in the backfield can get anything going, and they’ve allowed at least 26 points in each of their past three games.
29. St. Louis Rams (LW: 29)
The Rams next eight games: Eagles, 49ers (twice), Seahawks, Chiefs, Broncos, Cardinals and Chargers. They’ll be sitting with one win at least through Week 13.
28. New York Jets (LW: 26)
Each week, the Jets seem to be hanging around. Their strong run defense allows them to stay in games and forces three-and-outs at the end of games when opposing teams are trying to milk the clock. But each time they get the ball back, Geno Smith and his sub-par group of receivers seems to do something that throws the defense’s performance out the window.
27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LW: 32)
Tampa Bay’s defense took a huge step forward with Gerald McCoy back in the lineup, and Mike Glennon looked like a starting NFL quarterback against the Steelers. But throughout Sunday’s game, Pittsburgh looked like the better team for the entire game, and the Bucs relied on some dumb, long pentalties from the Steelers to win.
26. Washington Redskins (LW: 20)
Washington will play the Seahawks this weekend, and then the Cardinals. If Kirk Cousins turns the ball over as often as he did last Thursday, and Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson both continue to struggle, they’ll soon fall very far back from the Cowboys, Giants and Eagles in the NFC East.
25. Buffalo Bills (LW: 21)
Buffalo is already pulling the plug on E.J. Manuel, instead opting to go with Kyle Orton. Even if Orton is a better passer than Manuel, the receiving talent outside of Sammy Watkins isn’t particularly good, and the secondary gave up 268 yards and a touchdown to Ryan Fitzpatrick.
24. Minnesota Vikings (LW: 25)
If Teddy Bridgewater’s ankle was guaranteed to be at least 80 percent for the remainder of the season, and that he wouldn’t miss a single start, I’d move the Vikings up to 22. But if Christian Ponder has to start games for Minnesota, who’s already without Adrian Peterson, the Vikings have basement that’s lower than the Bills and Washington.
23. Cleveland Browns (LW: 22)
If Cleveland’s run defense can take a step forward coming off a bye week, the Browns will be in great position going into a stretch where their next five opponents are 4-16 right now. Even if the run defense is average, the rest of this team is good enough to actually make some noise in the middle part of the seaosn.
22. Miami Dolphins (LW: 18)
Miami looked great against the Raiders, but it is the Raiders. Knowshon Moreno still seems a way off from returning, and Tannehill’s accuracy will continue to be a concern until he can string multiple solid performances together.
21. New Orleans Saints (LW: 14)
Although the Saints look awful now, their season is still completely open with the way the NFC South has been playing out. No one team looks dominant, and if the Saints defense can just be at league average, they’ll stay in the running for a playoff spot with Atlanta’s offensive line woes and Carolina’s struggles on offense.
20. New York Giants (LW: 23)
The offense is finally clicking, and Eli Manning has limited his dumb turnovers. But when the Giants are facing the strong passing offenses in Philadelphia and Dallas, the secondary is going to be a concern.
19. Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 19)
Last week, I was lower on the Steelers than almost everyone else covering the league (as shown by their ranking going unchanged). Until I see more out of Pittsburgh’s defense, I’m keeping the Steelers near the middle of the pack.
18. Carolina Panthers (LW: 10)
DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart and Mike Tolbert are all injured for Carolina, and Kelvin Benjamin has been the only reliable wide receiver for the Panthers so far. Cam Newton can’t run at the moment with his rib problems, and they’re now missing two defensive ends for presumably the year with Frank Alexander’s new 10-game ban. Not a good time for Carolina.
17. New England Patriots (LW: 7)
Speaking of being in a rut, the Patriots had one of the worst losses Monday night in the history of the Tom Brady era. New England frankly doesn’t do one thing particularly well right now, no matter who you want to put the blame on. Still, in the AFC East, they will probably make the playoffs.
16. Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 24)
Despite the big game against New England, I think that game was more about New England being bad than Kansas City being good. Travis Kelce seems to be the one and only reliable pass catching option, but if the running game keeps clicking like it has been, the Chiefs can surprise some people.
15. Houston Texans (LW: 27)
I’ve seen some power rankings that have the Texans inside the top 10. Despite a 3-1 record, that’s still ridiculous. The passing game hasn’t been able to get anything going consistently with Ryan Fitzpatrick under center, and they’ve only beaten the Bills, Raiders and Redskins so far, who are all 25th or lower in this week’s rankings. Yes, J.J. Watt is the best football player on the planet, but that’s where Houston’s upside ends.
14. Atlanta Falcons (LW: 9)
When a tight end is in at right tackle for your team, it’s never a good sign. During the first portion of the season, I was constantly bringing up Julio Jones and Roddy White’s health. Now, if the offensive line can’t get healthy, the Falcons are going to be in serious trouble.
13. Chicago Bears (LW: 8)
Kyle Fuller is shaping up to be a great cornerback, but outside of him, the rest of Chicago’s defense is suspect. They also have the second worst special teams this season, according to Pro Football Focus. With all the talent at receiver and running back for the Bears, they should be performing much better.
12. Dallas Cowboys (LW: 17)
If DeMarco Murray stays healthy all year, he can make a real case to be this year’s MVP. He’s been the best player on this team by far. But, if the Cowboys get into games where they’re playing from behind, Murray won’t be of any use and Dallas will have to rely too much on Tony Romo and the passing game.
11. San Francisco 49ers (LW: 16)
With the alleged drama going on in the locker room and all the rumors surrounding Jim Harbaugh going back to Michigan, it’s going to boil over at some point. But for now, the defense has been playing well enough and Frank Gore has been running well enough for the 49ers to be consistently competitive.
10. Indianapolis Colts (LW: 15)
If DeMarco Murray isn’t the MVP through a quarter of the season, Andrew Luck is. And in the AFC South, Luck is worth at least nine wins, if not more.
9.Baltimore Ravens (LW: 12)
The Ravens certainly looked dominant against the Panthers, but before I move them up ahead of the Packers, Eagles or Lions, I need to see more improvement from the secondary, and a second receiver needs to become involved in the passing game besides Steve Smith.
8.Green Bay Packers (LW: 13)
This is the Aaron Rodgers I was thinking of when I ranked the Packers as the second best NFC team before the season starts. The secondary took a step forward against the Bears, but Eddie Lacy is still only averaging three yards per carry, and unless that improves, the offense is going to be limited.
7. Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 4)
Like the Falcons, the Eagles have some serious offensive line problems. But the offense has been clicking so well that Nick Foles and Jeremy Maclin are getting by. They weren’t going to go 16-0, and there are worse teams to lose to than the 49ers.
6. Detroit Lions (LW: 11)
The main reason why I pushed Detroit ahead of Philadelphia: Defense. After years of being the team’s biggest weakness, the secondary has stepped up, and is allowing the front seven more time to rush the passer. Even withou Calvin Johnson on the field for the majority of the game, Golden Tate still played well against the Jets. Detroit also enters a stretch where it plays the Bills, Vikings, Saints, Falcons and Dolphins in the next five games, which are all very winnable.
5. Arizona Cardinals (LW: 6)
I was on the edge of actually bumping the Cardinals down, but prior to their bye week, they beat the Chargers (one of the five best teams in the league right now), the Giants (quickly improving) and the 49ers (one of the 12 best teams in the league). There’s no arguing with that, and if the Cardinals are at least competitive with the Broncos this weekend it’ll prove that they’re here to stay, even without Carson Palmer.
4. San Diego Chargers (LW: 5)
By the time everything is said and done this season, Philip Rivers could certainly be a candidate for MVP. The offense is humming along, and as long as they’re generating pass rush, the Chargers can beat anyone in the league
3. Denver Broncos (LW: 3)
The top three remains unchanged, mainly because none of them played last weekend. Sundays 4:05 matchup between the Broncos and Cardinals will be the battle for the No. 3 spot next week.
2. Cincinnati Bengals (LW: 2)
Again, no reason to change this ranking one way or another. If anything, the Bengals should get more credit for destroying the Ravens in Week 1 after seeing how well Baltimore has played this week.
1. Seattle Seahawks (LW: 1)
With Seattle’s upcoming schedule (Washington, Dallas, St. Louis, Carolina and Oakland) I don’t see Seattle falling out of this top spot for a while.