NFL Power Rankings 2024 Week 4: Bears fall in rankings |
Here are our power rankings for week 4:
1. Kansas City Chiefs 3-0 (no change) It will take some serious steps in the wrong direction to dethrone the Chiefs, who are firmly cemented as the NFL’s newest dynasty. An offense led by Patrick Mahomes and an aging Travis Kelce had acquired some new toys for Andy Reid: speedsters Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, and Hollywood Brown. Mix that with one of the league’s best defenses, and what you have is the NFL’s best teams. They could easily be 0-3, but you find a way when you have Patrick Mahomes and Harrison Butker. It feels inevitable. 2. Buffalo Bills 3-0 (up 1) Buffalo may have lost Stefon Diggs, but any team with a healthy Josh Allen at quarterback deserves some respect in our rankings. They’ve been on top of a division that includes some very talented teams and have won the first three games handily. For that reason, they’re still top two in our eyes. Could this be the year Josh Allen wins his MVP? 3. Philadelphia Eagles 2-1 (up 6) You could easily argue that the Eagles have the best roster in football, and they added Saquon Barkley to it. However, the end of the Eagles season leM a sour taste n the mouths if its fans — causing Philly to hire new coordinators. We should know quickly if this Eagles team is a contender or a pretender. They looked potent against Green Bay in Brazil and grinded out a win against the Saints in week 3. They’re a dropped pass away from a 3-0 record. 4. Minnesota Vikings 3-0 (up 15) It’s time to start discussing Sam Darnold’s career resurgence and Kevin O’Connell’s Coach of the Year candidacy. The Vikings were widely expected to finish in last place in the NFC North, and that’s before their rookie QB was out the year. Here they are, 3-0, absolutely dismantling the Texans in week 3. The defense is schemed in clever ways, and Darnold has been making plays. They are a tough team to beat. 5. Detroit Lions 2-1 (down 1) Seeing the Lions this high in our rankings is wild, but they’ve earned it. With elite playmakers on both sides of the ball, the Lions were a few different bounces away from representing the NFC in the Super Bowl a year ago. Dan Campbell has figured something out in the motor city, and the Lions are on the up and up. The Lions didn’t even play that well in week 1, beat a very talented Rams team, and followed that up with a tough loss to Tampa. Trust me, they’re still good and beat the Cardinals in week 3. 6. Baltimore Ravens 1-2 (up 5) Led by Lamar Jackson, who now has two MVPs in his trophy case, the Ravens had a solid season a year ago. The only knock on Lamar’s nearly perfect resume thus far is the fact that he hasn’t been able to get over the hump in the playoffs quite yet. Nonetheless, this team has crushed the regular season since Jackson has been in the league, and I don’t see any reason to expect any different. The Ravens gave the Chiefs all they could handle in week one, but they lost and followed it up with an upset by Vegas – but they were probably clearly the league’s best 0-2 team, and they answered the bell vs the Cowboys in Dallas on Sunday. 7. Pittsburgh Steelers 3-0 (up 11) Without an injured Russell Wilson, JusIn Fields has the Steelers off to a perfect 3-0 start in what is arguably football’s best division. Kudos, as always, have to be delivered to Mike Tomlin, who looks well on his way to avoiding a record below .500. TJ Watt and this defense are still a force to be reckoned with. 8. Houston Texans 2-1 (down 6) Houston was perhaps last season's most surprising team, as CJ Stroud emerged as a top quarterback in the league in his rookie season. Take that highly-ranked offense from a year ago and add Stefon Diggs and Joe Mixon to it, and you’re looking at an All-Star team. Houston should be poised for another exciting year, and two straight wins start the season on the right foot before a huge hiccup in Minnesota on Sunday. They’ll be fine, though. 9. Seattle Seahawks 3-0 (up 3) Seattle continues to get it done. To be fair, the Seahawks have played a fairly weak schedule to this point, but hey, you'll have to win the games. The offense, led by Geno Smith, certainly has some playmakers, but it’s been the new-look defense without Pete Carroll that has been impressive. 10. San Francisco 49ers 1-2 (down 5) The 49ers once again represented the NFC in the Super Bowl last season. Despite coming up short, the 49ers returned almost the same team that had been dominant all season long. There are some quesIon marks in terms of an aging core, but this team remains a force to be reckoned with. Plus, they’ll be on their revenge tour in 2024-2025 — which started with a thrashing of the Jets on Monday Night Football in week 1. However, this team looks beatable with Christian McCaffrey on the IR, Deebo Samuel, and George Kittle out. 11. Green Bay Packers 2-1 (up 2) Thanks to an extremely strong close to the regular season, the Packers squeaked into the playoffs and had an impressive display. The Packers went into Dallas, destroyed the Cowboys, and then gave the 49ers all they could handle — leading Jordan Love to sign a contract that makes him the highest-paid QB in the league. The offense added Josh Jacobs to replace Aaron Jones, and the rest of the team is pretty much the same. It’ll be up to Love to prove that his strong finish wasn’t just a flash in the pan — which might be hard to do moving forward as he was injured in the 4th quarter against the Eagles. But his backup, Malik Willis, secured a win in the last two weeks. 12. New Orleans Saints 2-1 (down 6) I know it’s hard to imagine a team could shoot up 19 spots in our rankings in just two weeks, but that’s how good the Saints have looked in week 2. Don’t just take it from me; take it from the fact that the Saints—in their brand new offensive system—put up 15 straight scoring drives to start the season. Derek Carr looks excellent, and this defense is legit—although they took a significant step back against Philly last week. 13. Tampa Bay Bucs 2-1 (down 6) Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers have looked like one of the NFL’s best teams. A balanced offensive attack by Mayfield and Mike Evans mixed with a solid defense leaves the Bucs as contenders in what should be an entertaining NFC South, even with their loss to Denver on Sunday. 14. LA Chargers 2-1 (down 6) Something crazy happened when the Chargers acquired Jim Harbaugh as their head coach. They found an identity. Week one against the Vegas Raiders showed the Chargers a game they have lost a million Times over the last few years, but they are on it. The Chargers might be better than we expect, and a 2-1 start extrapolates that. 15. Dallas Cowboys 1-2 (down 5) The Dallas Cowboys are the league’s most top-heavy team. Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons are three of the best in football, but there is a steep drop-off behind them. They also have their OC and Tony Pollard. Is Dak Prescoc capable of carrying a team? We’re about to find out. They dismantled Deshaun Watson, and the Browns won week one but were crushed by the Saints in week two and the Ravens in week 3. 16. New York Jets 2-1 (down 2) The Jets have arguably the best defense in football, and now they have a healthy Aaron Rodgers to pair with Garrec Wilson and Breece Hall. The biggest question to answer is whether it can last more than 4fourplays. They'll have some kinks to work out, but I’m not hinting at the panic button on the Jets, as they’ve won back-to-back games. 17. Los Angeles Rams 2-1 (up 3) 18. Washington Commanders 2-1 (up 7) 19. Atlanta Falcons 1-2 (up 2) 20. Arizona Cardinals 1-2 (up 2) 21. CincinnaJ Bengals 0-3 (down 6) 22. Indianapolis Colts 1-2 (up 1) 23. Chicago Bears 1-2 (down 6) The Bears had some hype entering the season and won a game in week one that they didn’t deserve to win. Then, in week 2, the Bears took on an incredibly talented Houston Texans team, and the defense certainly looked as if they belonged — the offense, not so much. Caleb Williams was pressured 36 times on 45 dropbacks and took seven sacks, and the Bears had more of the same against the Colts. Caleb is loaded with talent; it’s up to the Bears to put him in a position to succeed. 24. Cleveland Browns 1-2 (no change) 25. Miami Dolphins 1-2 (down 9) 26. Denver Broncos 1-2 (up 3) 27. New England Patriots 1-2 (down 1) 28. Las Vegas Raiders 1-2 (down 1) 29. New York Giants 1-2 (up 2) 30. Carolina Panthers 1-2 (up 2) 31. Jacksonville Jaguars 0-3 (down 3) 32. Tennessee Titans 0-3 (down 2) Stay tuned as we update these power rankings periodically.
