NFL Rankings: Week 4 Reaction
By Al Stahl
NFL Rankings Week 4: Looking at the best teams in the league and reviewing some of the stand-out performances in an effort to try and wrangle these teams into an order of some sort. Very scientific.
When NFL schedules come out every year, fans discuss how easy or difficult the next year’s schedule will be. Do the Lions play the Panthers? The Patriots? The Broncos? And every year, we end up a quarter of the way through the season and a suddenly easy schedule looks a whole lot more daunting than it did a month ago.
Case in point: the Lions face surprisingly competent/downright good looking teams in Philadephia and Los Angeles in the next two weeks. The team follows that up with back to back games against Washington and Houston, two more teams that are also playing better than expected.
All told, those 4 teams are a combined 11-4. A month ago, the schedule looked like smooth sailing through October. A lot can change in a month.
On top of that, the Lions are so bad right now. They came out flat against an awful Bears team and continue to have more mental mistakes than just about any loyal fan deserves to see. Right now they are on pace for a 4 win season with an 0-2 start in the division and they haven’t even played the best team in the NFC North yet. Things are getting dark.
But still, a lot can change in a month. Hopefully October swings a little more positively in Detroit.
Around the League
Although it’s too early to talk playoffs, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
At the quarter mark of the season, let’s look at each conference and see how many playoff spots are truly up for contention.
AFC Locks
New England, Pittsburgh and Denver all look like playoff locks as does Houston. At 3-1, the Texans have a 2 game lead over everyone else in the worst division in the league. With five division games left to play, anything could happen, but the safe money is on the Texans.
While I’m not ready to call them playoff locks, the Raiders have looked impressive early on and could challenge Denver for the division crown. Tallying that up, that leaves one wildcard spot unclaimed at the moment. Baltimore is off to a fast start but Cincinnati, Kansas City and even the Buffalo Bills may pose a real threat to that last playoff spot.
NFC Locks
In the NFC, things are a little murkier. Outside of Minnesota (the Vikings are undefeated) and Atlanta (the Falcons have a 2 game lead already along with wins over two of their division rivals), the rest of the NFC is tough to sort out. It’s too early for me to call the undefeated Eagles a lock, especially when their division is as tight as it is.
You can probably count on Seattle taking one spot, and Green Bay might be good for another one, but you have the Rams playing well and, as mentioned before, the whole NFC East is a tight race. Add it all up and that’s seven teams racing for four spots. Oh, and Carolina isn’t one of them.
Top Performers
Instead of doing rankings for the best teams across the league, let’s focus on what teams are the worst. There are 13 teams that are 1-3. That’s almost half the league (!!!). But they aren’t all as bad as their records indicate.
Bottom of the Barrel
So who are the worst teams in the NFL a quarter of the way through the season? (Psst, this week’s rankings feature the Detroit Lions.)
46. The Colts were outdueled by Blake Bortles and the Jaguars in London. They have arguably the worst defense in the league. Andrew Luck is the only reason this team will win games this year.. (30-27). Previous: . Indianapolis Colts. 26. team
(27-20). Previous: . Tennessee Titans. 27. team. 35. Marcus Mariota seems to have taken a step back this year. The Titans’ putrid offense has managed only 62 points. That’s 15.5 per game. You aren’t going to win very many with an offense like that.
Chicago Bears. 28. team. 57. No one has scored fewer points than the Chicago Bears and they were just gifted their first win of the season by the terrible Lions. Even with San Francisco, Tennessee and Jacksonville coming to Soldier Field, there may not be many more home wins left to be found for the bad news Bears.. (17-14). Previous:
(35-34). Previous: . New Orleans Saints. 29. team. 15. The comeback victory against the Chargers got New Orleans in the win column, but they are still giving up the most points in the NFL. At least the offense can score enough to keep them in a handful more games.
team. 48. The Bucs have given up 128 points through four games which is 2nd worst in the league. When the offense can score points, they’re in a shootout. When the offense can’t score, they’re in a blowout.. (27-7). Previous: . Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 30
(17-14). Previous: . Detroit Lions. 31. team. 50. The Lions have had a terrible defense. The two worst offenses in the league based on points scored (Tennessee and Chicago) have both beaten Detroit. What’s worse is that a borderline great offense just can’t get out of its own way. Too many penalties, miscommunication, missed assignments, missed opportunities. Your 2016 Detroit Lions, ladies and gentlemen.
team. 53. The Browns are the only team with a zero in the win column. Despite some offseason optimism, the team has fallen flat on their face yet again.. (31-20). Previous: . Cleveland Browns. 32