1. Buffalo Bills (3-1)
Last Week: 3
The Bills have looked unstoppable lately. Josh Allen is back to looking spectacular and the defense looks even better. The Bills forced 5 turnovers enroute to a 40-0 win against the Texans. Buffalo has outscored their last three opponents 118-21. Next week will be a fun test as they travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs on Sunday Night Football.
2. Arizona Cardinals (4-0)
Last Week: 7
The Cardinals are passing every test that comes their way. Arizona blew out the also undefeated Rams behind Chase Edmonds 120 yards and Kyler Murray’s 2 touchdowns. Murray cements himself as the lone MVP favorite as the Cardinals become the last undefeated team left.
3. Los Angeles Rams (3-1)
Last Week: 1
The electrifying defense in LA was shown that they bleed this week against the Cardinals. The Rams lost the turnover 2-0 and couldn’t keep Arizona out of the endzone. It’s clear the Rams have some room to grow and improve on their way to New York to face the Giants next week.
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1)
Last Week: 2
Tom Brady’s return to Foxboro resulted in a fun back-and-forth game against Mac Jones and the Patriots. The Bucs escaped with a victory after Ryan Succop hit a 48-yard field goal with two minutes left in the game. The issue is that the Buccaneers are far too good of a team to be going back-and-forth with New England.
5. Cleveland Browns (3-1)
Last Week: 4
The Browns were able to win with a lackluster performance in Minnesota on Sunday. Their defense remains dominant, which keeps them in the top 5. The Cleveland defense held Dalvin Cook to just 34 yards on 9 carries and Alexander Mattinson to 20 yards on 10 carries. Their defense remains Superbowl level, but their offense has some issues that need to be worked out.
6. Kansas City Chiefs (2-2)
Last Week: 5
The Chiefs captured what felt like a must-win in Philadelphia this Sunday. Patrick Mahomes threw a once again great 5 touchdowns on the way there. Clyde Edwards-Helaire ran for 102 yards on 14 carries and Tyreek Hill had a monster game coming down with 11 catches for 186 yards and found the endzone 3 times. The offense is clearly still elite, but their defense will be tested against the Bills next week.
7. Green Bay Packers (3-1)
Last Week: 6
Aaron Rodgers continues to prove that even in his off games, he can lead this Packers team to wins. Randall Cobb also had a great welcome back party in Green Bay by finding the endzone twice. The defense held the Steelers to 17, but considering the Steelers offense, that’s only so impressive.
8. Baltimore Ravens (3-1) Last Week: 8
It didn’t come pretty, but the Ravens were able to find a win against an undefeated Broncos team in Denver on Sunday. Lamar Jackson continues to do most of the work on this Baltimore team, but as long as they’re winning on Sundays, I don’t think anyone minds. The Ravens were also able to keep their 100 rushing yards a game streak going. (Not to the pleasure of Vic Fangio)
9. Dallas Cowboys (3-1)
Last Week: 9
Dak Prescott continued to find the endzone with 4 passing touchdowns, and Zeke looked great with 143 yards and a touchdown. But the most impressive player on this team so far is Trevon Diggs. Diggs has 5 interceptions in 4 games so far, including 2 against Sam Darnold this week.
10. Los Angeles Chargers (3-1) Last Week: 10
Justin Herbert found the endzone 3 times with 222 yards and Austin Ekeler exploded with 117 yards and a touchdown to keep this Charger offense rolling through week 4. The Charger defense also held Derek Carr and the electric Raiders offense to just 2 touchdowns, which I consider a massive win.
11. Seattle Seahawks (2-2)
Last Week: 15
After a slow first half, the Seahawks were able to wake up in the second and come away with a huge divisional win in San Francisco. Russell Wilson continues to shine as an MVP candidate, but Chris Carson going down is worrisome considering how important the run game is to this Seattle offense.
12. Carolina Panthers (3-1)
Last Week: 14
Despite the loss with Christian McCaffrey in Dallas, there is plenty to be excited about in Carolina. The Panthers defense is 3rd in the NFL in points per game allowed, 3rd in yards per game allowed, 2nd in pass yards per game allowed, second in sacks, and 1st in 3rd down percentage for opponents at 23.8%. Plus they just traded for 2019 DPOY Stephon Gilmore. The Panthers have the best defense in the league going forward.
13. San Francisco 49ers (2-2) Last Week: 12
In the loss against the Seahawks on Sunday, Jimmy G went down and Trey Lance came in. It seemed pretty likely that this was going to happen, the bigger question was when. Lance had a mediocre performance but scored 2 touchdowns. It will be interesting to see if he can lead this team to wins this early in the season, and next week will be a huge test as he’s set to start against the Cardinals.
14. Las Vegas Raiders (3-1) Last Week: 13
The Raiders lost their first game of the season on Monday night to the Chargers in LA. The Raiders were dominated by LA when it came to time of possession, which caused them to be slow on offense and only put up two touchdowns, while the Chargers were able to run to victory with Austin Ekeler.
15. Cincinnati Bengals (3-1)
Last Week: 18
The Bengals showed they can fight back after being down 14-0 to the Jaguars at halftime. The issue is that nobody should be down 14-0 to the Jaguars. But Joe Burrow had another good game, throwing 25 completions on 32 passes for 348 yards and two touchdowns, and at the end of the season all that matters is the W on the schedule.
16. Minnesota VIkings (1-3) Last Week: 19
Minnesota, as a 1-3 team, are still on the cusp of being in the upper half of the league because they continuously show that their talent outshines their record. Kirk Cousins has played surprisingly well this year and the Vikings defense looked great against the Browns. The Vikings just need to clean up their running game, which I expect to happen when Dalvin Cook is back to 100%.
17. Tennessee Titans (2-2) Last Week: 11
Coming right after a couple big wins against the Seahawks and Colts, the Titans suffer an embarrassing loss against the awful New York Jets. Tennessee allowed Zach Wilson and the Jets to put up 27 points in the overtime outing, and Ryan Tannehill was sacked 7 times. Games like these that should be easy wins will work the Titans right out of the playoffs this year if they’re not careful.
18. Denver Broncos (3-1) Last Week: 17
In the 23-7 loss against the Ravens, the Broncos virtually proved that their undefeated streak was because of the lack of competition. Bridgewater went down and Lock came in and didn’t look impressive. Luckily for Denver, Bridgewater looks to be good to go for week 5.
19. New Orleans Saints (2-2)
Last Week: 16
The Saints seem to be flip-flopping every week between being a very good team and a very bad team. Jameis Winston was efficient, passing 17/23 for 226 yards; and Alvin Kamara looked good, running for 120 yards, but it didn’t matter as the Saints had trouble putting up a lot of points in their 27-21 OT loss against a not very good Giants team.
20. Indianapolis Colts (1-3)
Last Week: 20
This was the first time the Colts showed promise this season. Carson Wentz played well, throwing for 3 touchdowns; and Johnathan Taylor was able to reach triple digit yards for the first time this season. Indianapolis was able to hold Miami to only 17, but that’s not too astounding considering it was against a Dolphins offense that didn’t have Tua.
21. Philadelphia Eagles (1-3) Last Week: 22
The Philly offense looked good against the Chiefs, putting up 30 points on Jalen Hurts' back. Hurts finished with 387 passing yards and 2 touchdowns while leading the team in rushing yards with 47. But the defense was horrendous, giving up 42 to Kansas City, erasing everything Hurts did to win.
22. New England Patriots (1-3) Last Week: 24
The New England defense played a great game at home against Tom Brady, holding the Bucs to 19. On the other side of the ball, Mac Jones played an efficient game, with 275 yards and 2 touchdowns, while going 31/40. It wasn’t enough to get the win against the reigning champs, but playing like that will lead the Pats to a decent amount of wins this year if they can stay consistent.
23. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-3) Last Week: 21
It is clear that Big Ben’s age has caught up with him and he doesn’t look good. But it doesn’t help that they’re asking him to throw the ball 40 to 50 times a game and the team averages a league's worst 55.3 rushing yards a game. No matter how good their defense is, Pittsburgh won’t win games when the offense looks like this.
24. Chicago Bears (1-3)
Last Week: 28
The Bears had to get a win this week and they did. Justin Fields played well (it’s crazy what you can do when you’re not being sacked 9 times) and David Montgomery took on much of the workload on offense. Montgomery ran for 106 yards and found the endzone twice. The Bears got a big win against the Lions, but next week will be much tougher as they travel to Vegas to take on the Raiders.
25. Miami Dolphins (1-3) Last Week: 23
The Dolphins continue to slip as the team just looks completely deflated. Jacoby Brissett is playing decent football but it’s not enough for wins, the run game is bad with Malcolm Brown totaling 23 yards on the ground, and the defense gave up 27 against a struggling Colts team.
26. Washington Football Team (2-2) Last Week: 25
The Football Team got a win but they still move down because it was against a bad Falcons team and the best part of Washington going into the season seems to be non-existent: Their defense. The Football Team gave up 30 points on Sunday which is still winnable against Atlanta, but may be trouble when it comes to playing a lot of teams left on the schedule
27. Atlanta Falcons (1-3) Last Week: 26
Matt Ryan played well, racking up 283 yards and 4 touchdowns. Cordarrelle Patterson continues to play great after coming out of nowhere, putting up 82 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns. The Atlanta offense was able to score 30 points and still lose, as their defense gave up a miserable 34 against Washington at home.
28. New York Giants (1-3)
Last Week: 29
Of course it’s the immediate week after I say the Giants could possibly go winless that they pick up their first win. New York took the Saints to overtime and ran in a touchdown with Saquon Barkley to come out of New Orleans with a win 27-21. We’ll see if they can do the same thing in Dallas next week.
29. New York Jets (1-3) Last Week: 32
The New York Jets also picked up an unlikely overtime win this Sunday against the Titans. Tennessee dominated nearly every statline of the game, but the Jets took the most important one, which is a win.
30. Detroit Lions (0-4) Last Week: 27
After looking decent against a good Ravens team last week, the Lions looked pretty uncompetitive against a bad Bears team this week. Jared Goff threw the ball well, but had two costly fumbles; and the defense let Chicago find the endzone three times for a loss.
31. Houston Texans (1-3) Last Week: 30
The Texans won’t be competitive until Tyrod Taylor is back. Davis Mills is proving just how magically Tyrod’s playing was. Mills threw for 4 interceptions, no touchdowns, and 87 yards this week against the Bills. Houston is not a good team and it was a miracle that Tyrod Taylor was able to lead them to a week one win, which won’t happen again without him,
32. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-4)
Last Week: 31
The Jags blew a 14-0 halftime lead in the only decent game it felt like they’ve had all season. But in the end, Evan McPherson made a last second field goal for the Bengals sending the Jags home with a loss and a quiet plane ride back-except for Urban Meyer. Meyer skipped the plane ride only to get himself into more trouble in Ohio, something that is unheard of for NFL coaches. It feels as though Meyer has lost his locker room and could be out the door sooner that anyone thought.