NFL 2013 Power Rankings – Week 4

We’re 1/4th through the regular season and we’re starting to see what some teams are going to look like for the rest of the season. Of course, its never too late for some teams (Giants, I’m looking at you) to turn it around. Then again some other teams (Jaguars, pay attention) aren’t going to look much different in their next 12 games. On to the rankings.

32. Jacksonville Jaguars (0-4) (32) – I think its tome for Jacksonville to consider putting Denard Robinson at quarterback. Play to his strengths. He’s one of the more dynamic players on the offense and besides, he can’t be any worse than Blaine Gabbert. Next game: @ St Louis Rams

31. Pittsburgh Steelers (0-4) (31) – The Steelers are 0-4 for the first time since 1968. No team has come back from 0-4 since the San Diego Chargers in 1992. The Steelers didn’t play a bad game offensively and the fans at Wembley Stadium in London certainly got a good game. Ben Roethlisberger passed for almost 400 yards but only one touchdown. LeVeon Bell came back from his foot injury and did well, scoring the first two rushing touchdowns of his career. Defensively, the Steelers made their fair share of mistakes. No team is looking forward to a bye week more than the Steelers right now. Next game: Bye week

30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-4) (30) – The Bucs took the advice from my power rankings last week and started Glennon and despite losing, he played well. Or at leas he played as well as Josh Freeman might have played. Here’s another team looking forward to their bye week. Next game: Bye week

29. Oakland Raiders (1-3) (25) – This game could’ve have gone either way, especially if Terelle Pryor had played. Matt Flynn was harassed all game long and was sacked 7 times, the Raiders could’t move the ball on the ground as both Rashad Jannings and Darren McFadden to 74 yards on 20 carries and no touchdowns. Next game: vs San Diego Chargers

28. New York Giants (0-4) (22) – The Giants are 0-4 for the first time since 1987. The offense started the game a little better than they have in past weeks and the defense forced the first two turnovers of the Chiefs season, which is a bright spot. That being said, the offense is still anemic and the defense can’t seem to string together a complete game and have fallen apart in the second half of every game they’ve played this season. Special teams looked terrible, giving up another big punt return, this time giving up an 84 yard return to Dexter McCluster. The good news is the Giants have a very winnable game next week at home. Next game: vs Philadelphia Eagles

27. Philadelphia Eagles (1-3) (19) – The Eagles were demolished by the Broncos so you can’t really blame them for losing to what can only be described as a machine led by Peyton Manning. Chip Kelly has to be looking at what Oregon has continued to do in his absence and kicking himself for leaving. Granted, he might have faced some NCAA violations but it might be a little worth it to avoid the drubbing he’s taking in the NFL. Next game: @ New York Giants

26. St Louis Rams (1-3) (18) – The Rams didn’t look good at all. Sam Bradford doesn’t look like he wants to play football. He looks like he wants to go back to Oklahoma and hug all the Sooner cheerleaders. He looks like he’d be totally satisfied with going back home, buying a Maltese puppy and selling life insurance. That has to be better than standing behind that terrible offensive line and throw passes that will eventually be dropped by anyone not named Chris Givens. But there’s good news! The Jaguars come to town. That should help his confidence. Next game: vs Jacksonville Jaguars

25. Atlanta Falcons (1-3) (17) – The Falcons aren’t as bad as their record indicates but you can tell they really miss Stephen Jackson. The combination of Jason Snelling and Jaquizz Rodgers aren’t cutting it and Julio Jones/Roddy White/Tony Gonzalez can’t be the entire offense as crazy as that might sound. Again, there’s good news on the horizon…they play the Jets at home. Next game: vs New York Jets (MNF)

24. Carolina Panthers (1-2) (24) – Bye Week. Next game: @ Arizona Cardinals

23. Cincinnati Bengals (2-2) (16) – The Bengals were an early dark horse pick and they’re disappointing so far this season. Andy Dalton hasn’t looked very good and the running game isn’t quite there yet. The Bengals have the weapons in place to win their division and they’ll have to play a whole lot better if they want to do so. Next game: vs New England Patriots

22. New York Jets (1-3) (14) – The Jets should really be 0-4. They got a lucky loss against the Bucs and haven’t played that well since. The defense is supposed to be the best part of the team but they played like ass against the Titans. They let Jake Locker (and Ryan Fitzpatrick throw all over them. Geno Smith still looks like a rookie and Bilal Powell looked alright in spots. It’ll be interesting to see how they play going forward with both Stephen Hill and Santonio Holmes leaving the game with injuries. Next game: @ Atlanta Falcons (MNF)

21. Washington Redskins (1-3) (29) – The Skins finally get a win against the lowly Oakland Raiders and I’ll be honest…if Terrell Pryor plays this game, the Redskins don’t win. RGIII looked a whole lot better than he has in the previous three games. He looked more mobile and made some plays with his legs. The Redskins need to send a gift basket to Matt Flynn and thank him for being terrible. Next game: Next game: Bye Week

20. Minnesota Vikings (1-3) (28) – After losing to the Browns, the Vikings could have folded and called it a season but they picked themselves up, went all the way to London and took care of business against a struggling Pittsburgh Steelers team. Is Matt Cassel the answer up there? Maybe. I know Christian Ponder isn’t. Next game: Bye Week

19. Cleveland Browns (2-2) (27) – I want all the Browns fans right now to pay attention to the next few sentences. This is very important. CALM THE HELL DOWN. I know its extremely easy to jump on that bandwagon and get your hopes up. Brian Hoyer is playing well, you’ve gotten over losing Trent Richardson and the defense is playing some inspired ball right now. Not to mention the fact that the division is pretty wide open for the taking. But I want you to stop and look in the mirror. Your quarterback is still Brian Hoyer and you’re still the Cleveland Browns. I don’t see Jim Brown or Bernie Kosar anywhere in the vicinity. Just take it one game at a time and enjoy your two game win streak. And for the love of God, if you win your next very winnable game, try to enjoy the win with some class, you animals. Next game: vs Buffalo Bills (TNF)

18. Arizona Cardinals (2-2) (26) – The Cardinals did what they had to do. They went into Tampa and played just well enough to win. It wasn’t a pretty game and there were a lot of turnovers, but the run defense held Doug Martin in check and did a relatively good job against the Bucs receivers. Lets call it what it is. They played like ass and their best player made a play when it mattered. I’m curious if Darelle Revis gets beat like that if he never got hurt. Next game: @ Tennessee Titans

17. Buffalo Bulls (2-2) (23) – The Bills get a well deserved bump here for the play of their defense. They got after Flacco and when they weren’t sacking him, they were picking him off. EJ Manuel didn’t play very well and the running game left a lot to be desired but they answered the bell and beat the defending Super Bowl champions. Next game: @ Miami Dolphins (TNF)

16. San Diego Chargers (2-2) (21) – Dear Chargers, who the hell is this dude playing quarterback? He looks nothing like the Phillip Rivers I’m used to seeing. This guy is confident, accurate and poised. He’s not yelling at the other team’s quarterback and he looks like a guy capable of leading his team to the playoffs. Unfortunately he probably doesn’t realize he’s playing on the third best team in the AFC West, but hey…he’s fun to watch…whoever he is. Next game: @ Oakland Raiders

15. Tennessee Titans (3-1) (20) – The Titans look like the poor man’s Kansas City Chiefs. The defense looks competent, the quarterback play is playing well enough to keep the team in it and the running game could be worse. The Chiefs are clearly playing better football right now but you see where I’m going with this. Jake Locker could miss a lot of time but luckily they have a capable quarterback in Ryan Fitzpatrick. Next game: vs Kansas City Chiefs

14. Dallas Cowboys (2-2) (10) – The Cowgirls…i mean the Cowboys (pardon my bias) got shellacked by the Chargers from the opening whistle. Danny Woodhead took the Cowboys defense to the…Woodshed in the first half. Excuse my pun but I can’t help it. I get so much joy out of a Cowboys loss. What made it even better was that the Cowboys had the lead going into halftime and that secondary had a meltdown. Offensively, Tony Romo played a clean game and DeMarco Murray played well but that defense let the team down. Next game: vs Denver Broncos

13. Green Bay Packers (1-2) (13) – Bye Week. Next game: vs Detroit Lions

12. Indianapolis Colts (3-1) (15) – They played the Jaguars. Do we really need analysis and reasoning for this? We’ll save that for next week. Next game: vs Seattle Seahawks

11. Houston Texans (2-2) (6) –  The Texans probably should have won this game. They were up for the majority of the game and played pretty well despite some glaring mistakes by Matt Shaub. Arian Foster finally had a game where he actually looked like Arian Foster. JJ Watt left the game a bloody mess and you have to feel bad for the defense that left it all out there against a team that got hot late in the game. Next game: @ San Francisco 49ers

10. Baltimore Ravens (2-2) (5) – The Ravens didn’t look good in any facet of the game. Offensively, Joe Flacco had his worst game ever, throwing five interceptions. The coaching was off as we saw Ray Rice, arguably the best player on the team, only get five carries in the second half. Defensively, they did what they could but they were probably worn out from constantly having to go back out after a turnover. The injuries are starting to pile up for the Ravens and they look like they miss a lot of the free agents that left in the offseason. Next game: @ Miami Dolphins

9. Chicago Bears (3-1) (7) – This might be sacrilege but I don’t think the Chicago Bears have a  good defense anymore. I think there are good individual players on the defense like Julius Peppers and Peanut Tillman but as a whole, I don’t think the defense is very good. Maybe the Lions are just that good, but I don’t think thats it. Having said that, I think the Bears offense, despite Jay Cutler’s three interceptions, is pretty good. Next game: vs New Orleans Saints

8. San Francisco 49ers (2-2) (12) – If any team needed a bounce back game, it was the Niners. Luckily they got to play the Rams. Frank Gore had a fantastic game and finally looked like a featured back again. Colin Kaepernick played a clean game and Anquan Boldin looked good. Even Kendall Hunter, managed to have a good game for a backup running back. The defense held the Ram to 18 yards rushing and forced two turnovers. Next game: vs Houston Texans

7. Detroit Lions (3-1) (11) – The Detroit Lions look like they might be the real deal. The only issue is their inconsistency. If they can put it all together, they can be scary. Reggie Bush is healthy and looked every bit like the running back we all hoped to see out of USC so many years ago. Stafford and Megatron are what they are and Brandon Pettigrew might finally be coming along…but probably not. Next game: @ Green Bay Packers

6. Miami Dolphins (3-1) (9) – The Dolphins get their first loss of the season against a solid Saints team. Last week I said they had their first test of the season and for the most part, they failed. Offensively, Ryan Tannehill made some mistakes and the Saints took advantage. Defensively they let Drew Brees have another career day as he passed for over 400 yards and four touchdowns. Next game: vs Baltimore Ravens

5. Kansas City Chiefs (4-0) (8) – The Chiefs aren’t really going to be tested until week 11 when they play the Broncos. My inept Giants finally managed to get Alex Smith to turn the ball over but that wasn’t enough. The defense looked legit, even without Brandon Flowers. Don’t be surprised if they go into that Denver game 9-0, especially if the defense holds up the way they have been. Its about time. Chiefs fans haven’t had too much to cheer about over the last few years. Next game: @ Tennessee Titans

4. New England Patriots (4-0) (4) – The Pats are going to get better and better as the season goes along and this was a real test for them on the road against the Falcons. Defensively, they did a good job. Tony Gonzalez had a great game but didn’t do much when it mattered. I have to credit Aqib “Adebisi” Talib for his excellent coverage on Julio Jones. Next game: @ Cincinnati Bengals

3. New Orleans Saints (4-0) (3) – The Saints offense once again has made history. Drew Brees had his 10th career 400 yard game. He’s in second place all time behind Dan Marino, who has 13. Its only a matter of time before he breaks that record. The Saints are a solid squad and should be a favorite to come out of the NFC. Next game: @ Chicago Bears

2. Seattle Seahawks (4-0) (2) – I’ve said it a million times- good teams find ways to win. When they’re down 20 to another playoff team and they can’t move the ball, good teams always find ways to pull it out. Did the Texans choke at home? Maybe they did. I mean, they probably did. But the fact of the matter is that the Seahawks came back from a 20-3 halftime deficit and won in overtime…on the road. And now they’re 4-0 for the first time in franchise history. Kudos to them. Next game: @ Indianapolis Colts

1. Denver Broncos (4-0) (1) – If you need me to break this down for you in words other than, “The Denver Broncos are a machine not of this world.” then I don’t know what to tell you. You’re lost. That being said, the Denver Broncos are a machine not of this world.

Questions or comments? Email me at s_talouis@yahoo.com or you can follow me on twitter and instagram @FunnyManStan