Some big shakeups in the rankings after an exciting Week 4. It really feels like the middle of the pack is so close together and there are still a ton of teams with playoff hopes.
1. Philadelphia Eagles (+0)
2. Buffalo Bills (+0)
3. Detroit Lions (+1)
The top tier of teams is shrinking week after week. While Philadelphia had another scare this week I ultimately decided to keep them at #1 due to beating a great team on the road. Buffalo did as well as can be expected but a win over the Saints doesn’t boost a resume. The Lions win over the Browns also doesn’t do much for them although the ease at which they were able to pull away was impressive.
4. Kansas City Chiefs (+2)
5. Los Angeles Rams (+4)
6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+1)
7. Los Angeles Chargers (-4)
8. Indianapolis Colts (+2)
9. Denver Broncos (+6)
The Chiefs looked like the Chiefs of old in their clean win over the Ravens. They were happy to have Xavier Worthy back and will be even happier to get Rashee Rice back. The Rams beat the Colts but both teams climb in my rankings. The Rams climb due to their quality win, but the Colts climb due to looking like the better team for a majority of the game. The Buccaneers and Chargers both lost but are still teams I believe in over the rest of the field. The Broncos made a statement against the Bengals, but it remains to be seen how much a blowout of the Bengals actually means at this point.
10. Seattle Seahawks (+3)
11. Pittsburgh Steelers (+6)
12. Green Bay Packers (-1)
13. Washington Commanders (-5)
14. Baltimore Ravens (-9)
15. Minnesota Vikings (-2)
The Seahawks and Steelers both had nice 3 point victories over solid teams to solidify their places in this ranking. The Packers don’t get punished too much for a tie, but after looking like the best team in football through 2 weeks they are primed to drop quickly if they don’t turn it around. The Commanders have been playing worse than this but I’m giving them a little benefit of the doubt due to the Marcus Mariota of it all, they need Daniels back ASAP. The Ravens drop a league leading 9 spots after another poor performance against a top tier team. They have the most impressive group of losses but those are still losses. A number of injuries that occurred in their week 4 loss also lower this ranking. The Vikings defense may not have been otherworldly this week, but they are good enough to win some games by themselves, although this game was not one of them. Carson Wentz has looked adequate enough to keep the team afloat.
16. Jacksonville Jaguars (+3)
17. Chicago Bears (+1)
18. San Francisco 49ers (-6)
19. Houston Texans (+2)
20. Arizona Cardinals (-3)
21. Dallas Cowboys (+5)
22. New York Giants (+6)
23. Atlanta Falcons (+2)
24. New England Patriots (+3)
A Big tier here, of all the playoff hopefuls that I don’t have faith in just yet. The Jaguars keep winning but don’t pass the eye test. The Bears frankly do pass the eye test recently but looked awful earlier in the season. The Cardinals are talented but just can’t put it together and have a depleted RB room. The Cowboys tied with the Packers but are still a flawed team. The Giants put together a great win but still just have 1 week of sample size on Jaxson Dart. The Falcons got a great win on paper, but without Jayden Daniels playing, beating the Commanders holds less weight. Drake Maye looks amazing but the rest of the Patriots roster just isn’t talented enough to compete it seems.
25. Cincinnati Bengals (-5)
26. Las Vegas Raiders (-3)
27. Cleveland Browns (-5)
These teams have shown flashes but are trending down. The Bengals obviously have not been the same without Burrow and put up just 3 points this week. The Raiders have multiple losses to subpar teams at this point. The Browns regressed from last weeks upset and got beat handedly by Detroit. They are also turning to Dillon Gabriel which I expect to lower their level of play, at least out of the gate.
28. Carolina Panthers (-4)
29. Miami Dolphins (+2)
30. New York Jets (-1)
31. Tennessee Titans (-1)
32. New Orleans Saints (+0)
These are the bottom feeders. The same group of 4, although Carolina rejoins the group after getting blown out by the Patriots. The Dolphins surprisingly beat the Jets this week but neither team rates highly, especially after the season ending injury of Tyreek Hill. The Titans continue to look lost, scoring 0 points this week. Despite all of this, the Saints remain at the bottom, likely until they win a game.
