NFL Week 4 Power Rankings: Patriots Back On Top After Beating Up On Texans

Here’s a look at where each team stands in NESN.com’s NFL power rankings as we head into Week 4. (To see our Week 3 rankings, click here.)

1. New England Patriots (Week 3: 3): We dropped the Patriots out of this spot after Jimmy Garoppolo went down. They responded by destroying the Texans with a third-string rookie under center. Lesson learned.

2. Denver Broncos (5): Trevor Siemian looked like more than just a serviceable quarterback against the Bengals. With how nasty Denver’s defense is, that could be bad news for the rest of the NFL.

3. Green Bay Packers (6): Aaron Rodgers ripped apart the Lions’ defense as Green Bay rebounded from its Sunday night loss to Minnesota.

4. Seattle Seahawks (7): Seattle’s slumbering offense finally stirred against the 49ers, but Russell Wilson’s knee injury put a damper on the blowout win. Losing him for any significant stretch of time obviously would be a huge blow.

5. Pittsburgh Steelers (1): Suffering your worst loss in 27 years is a pretty easy way to fall out of the top spot in these rankings.

6. Minnesota Vikings (10): No Teddy Bridgewater, no Adrian Peterson, no Matt Kalil, no problem so far for the Vikings, who’ve now knocked off the Packers and Panthers in consecutive weeks.

7. Arizona Cardinals (2): Last week, we called the Bills “a sinking ship.” They beat the Cardinals by two touchdowns Sunday.

8. Carolina Panthers (4): The defending NFC champs are 1-2 after the Vikings followed the Broncos’ lead and beat the stuffing out of Cam Newton.

9. Kansas City Chiefs (14): The Chiefs inspired confidence for the first time this season by picking off Ryan Fitzpatrick six (six!) times in a 24-3 win over the Jets.

10. Cincinnati Bengals (9): The 1-2 Bengals have played a tough schedule thus far, so we’ll wait before dropping them too far down this list.

11. New York Giants (12): The G-Men lost by a point to the Redskins, and we still have no idea what to make of the NFC East.

12. Dallas Cowboys (18): Dak Prescott looked legit Sunday night as the Cowboys pounded an awful Bears team.

13. Houston Texans (8): The Texans take a big tumble after laying an egg Thursday night in Foxboro.

14. New York Jets (11): Six!

15. Philadelphia Eagles (20): We had the Eagles 31st in our Week 1 rankings. Now, we’re all aboard the Wentz Wagon.

16. Oakland Raiders (13): The Raiders beat the Titans on Sunday despite not scoring a single second-half point.

17. Baltimore Ravens (15): On the other end of the spectrum from the Bengals, the 3-0 Ravens have played a ridiculously easy schedule, beating the Bills, Browns and Jaguars, all by less than a touchdown.

18. Washington Redskins (19): The four NFC East teams are almost interchangeable at this point in the season.

19. Indianapolis Colts (16): A last-minute touchdown powered the Colts past the Chargers for their first win of the year.

20. Miami Dolphins (17): Miami also picked up its first win, but it came against the Browns in overtime. No bump for that.

21. Buffalo Bills (26): The Bills visit the Patriots this week in a game you know Rex Ryan wants to win with every fiber of his being.

22. Atlanta Falcons (24): Matt Ryan’a team hung a 45-spot on the lowly Saints on Monday night.

23. Detroit Lions (25): Four first-half touchdown passes from Aaron Rodgers were too much for Detroit to handle in a 34-27 loss.

24. San Diego Chargers (22):

Poor Chargers. pic.twitter.com/jNmOuRxBSV

— Zack Cox (@zm_cox) September 25, 2016

25. Jacksonville Jaguars (21): The Jaguars appear bound for the bottom once again.

26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (23): Seventy-seven points allowed in two weeks. No bueno.

27. Los Angeles Rams (29): The Rams finally scored a touchdown!

28. Tennessee Titans (27): A return to relevancy doesn’t appear to be in the cards for the boys from Nashville.

29. San Francisco 49ers (30): The Niners’ defense can’t stop a soul.

30. New Orleans Saints (31): One of four winless teams entering Week 4.

31. Cleveland Browns (32): No longer the absolute worst team in the league.

32. Chicago Bears (28): Congrats, Cleveland!

Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images