NFL Power Rankings: Week 4

By Teddy Covers - Covers Expert

Houston is at the top of the Week 4 power rankings while three teams are locked for second place. Find out where your favorite team sits heading into Week 4's action.

NFL Power Rankings

Week 4 Rank Last Week Change Team W-L-T
(ATS) 		Power Rating Team Comments
1 4 move up in rankings3 3-0-0
(3-0-0) 		-7.5 Houston
I can't downgrade Houston just because they've played a weak slate of foes thus far. When this running game is working like it did at Denver, their offense is every bit as good as the defense.
2 5 move up in rankings3 3-0-0
(3-0-0) 		-7.0 Atlanta
A complete blitzkrieg in San Diego against the Chargers has me wondering if I've got Atlanta ranked too low – there's a case to be made for the Falcons at No. 1
3 6 move up in rankings3 2-1-0
(2-1-0) 		-7.0 Baltimore
Wild, come-from-behind Sunday Night win over the Pats cements my thought process – Ravens D is overrated, but their offense is underrated.
4 1 move down in rankings3 2-1-0
(2-1-0) 		-7.0 San Francisco
Yes, San Fran was as flat as a pancake at Minnesota, but they're certainly not due for a significant downgrade following a single sub-par effort.
5 2 move down in rankings3 1-2-0
(1-2-0) 		-6.5 Green Bay
The Packers managed only one offensive touchdown last week against Chicago and only one referee-aided offensive touchdown against Seattle on Monday Night.
6 7 move up in rankings1 2-1-0
(1-2-0) 		-6.5 N.Y. Giants
A plus-5 turnover margin certainly helped the Giants cause at Carolina, but make no mistake about it – the defending Super Bowl champs are still a force to be reckoned with.
7 3 move down in rankings4 1-2-0
(2-1-0) 		-6.5 New England
Belichick seems to get a pass for every stupid decision he makes. Wasting a timeout on offense just before the two minute warning, then not calling the other two was inexcusable.
8 8 no change in rankings 2-1-0
(0-3-0) 		-4.5 Philadelphia
Philly is the only team in the NFL with a winning record straight up but an 0-3 ATS mark to open the season. Chant it with me: Overrated.
9 9 no change in rankings 2-1-0
(1-2-0) 		-3.5 Dallas
A sluggish offensive showing for the second straight week was overcome by a dominating defensive effort, a very good sign for coordinator Rob Ryan's job security.
10 13 move up in rankings3 2-1-0
(2-1-0) 		-3.0 Chicago
Jay Cutler's last two games? One touchdown (garbage time in a blowout loss), five interceptions, 28-58 throwing for barely 300 yards with nine sacks.
11 10 move down in rankings1 1-2-0
(0-3-0) 		-2.5 Detroit
Matthew Stafford is hurt, the Lions defense and special teams are getting gashed, and Detroit is now 4-10-1 against the spread in its last 15 ballgames.
12 11 move down in rankings1 1-2-0
(1-2-0) 		-2.0 Pittsburgh
The Steelers mighty defense closed out their game in Oakland by allowing the bottom tier Raiders offense to score on each of their final five drives.
13 17 move up in rankings4 3-0-0
(3-0-0) 		-1.5 Arizona
Just because the Cardinals are 3-0, it doesn't mean they vault into the Top 5 or Top 10 from a power rating perspective. That being said, they are my single biggest riser since Week 1.
14 14 no change in rankings 1-2-0
(1-2-0) 		0.0 Denver
Defensive breakdowns doomed their chances for the second straight week. CB Tracy Porter – the hero of their win against Pittsburgh in Week 1 – was benched by the second half vs. Houston.
15 15 no change in rankings 2-1-0
(2-1-0) 		0.0 San Diego
Bad sign for Norv Turner – there was a lot of "quit" in San Diego last week, unable to muster any sort of comeback effort after falling behind early at home against the Falcons.
16 18 move up in rankings2 2-1-0
(1-1-1) 		0.5 Cincinnati
Cincy's new big-play offense scored three TD’s at Washington of 48 yards or longer. A.J. Green is quickly becoming one of the most dangerous playmakers in the NFL.
17 12 move down in rankings5 0-3-0
(0-3-0) 		0.5 New Orleans
Leading 24-6 at home against K.C., the Saints last five offensive drives went like this: interception, three-and-out, three-and-out, safety, three-and-out.
18 20 move up in rankings2 2-1-0
(2-1-0) 		0.5 Seattle
Yes, the Monday Night win was both lucky and controversial. But Pete Carroll's squad must get credit for holding GB to 12 points and sacking Aaron Rodgers eight times.
19 16 move down in rankings3 1-2-0
(1-2-0) 		1.0 Carolina
Carolina's lone win this year – at home against New Orleans – doesn't seem quite so impressive now, does it?
20 19 move down in rankings1 2-1-0
(2-1-0) 		1.0 N.Y. Jets
Mark Sanchez completed less than half his passes at Miami, and threw an ugly interception in the end zone. Lucky for New York that Miami kicker Dan Carpenter was off.
21 23 move up in rankings2 2-1-0
(2-1-0) 		1.5 Buffalo
Ryan Fitzpatrick's turnovers tell the story for Buffalo each week. 3 INTs in week 1 = 20 point loss. Last two weeks? 5 TDs 0 INTs and two straight Bills wins and covers.
22 21 move down in rankings1 1-2-0
(1-2-0) 		2.0 Washington
Over bettors have officially fallen in love with this team. The Redskins combined point totals for the first three weeks: 72, 59 & 69, flying over the total by a combined 58.5 points.
23 22 move down in rankings1 1-2-0
(3-0-0) 		3.0 Tampa Bay
Rutgers went 40-23 ATS as an underdog in Greg Schiano's final 10 years on the job in New Brunswick, and the Bucs are the only non 3-0 SU team to be a perfect 3-0 ATS so far.
24 26 move up in rankings2 2-1-0
(1-2-0) 		3.5 Minnesota
Linebacker Chad Greenway talking about QB Christian Ponder: "He's playing some of the cleanest football I've ever seen somebody play at any age… He just has that poise about him."
25 24 move down in rankings1 1-2-0
(2-1-0) 		4.0 St. Louis
We're seeing real signs of a home/road dichotomy for St Louis: 14.5 points per game on the road in a pair of losses; 31 points scored in their lone home game, a win.
26 25 move down in rankings1 1-2-0
(1-2-0) 		4.0 Tennessee
When your defense allows 36 first downs and 583 yards of total offense, including two TDs in the final 18 seconds of regulation against a backup QB, there are clearly problems to solve.
27 27 no change in rankings 1-2-0
(1-2-0) 		4.5 Kansas City
Lost in the shuffle of the Chiefs' wild, come-from-behind win at New Orleans last Sunday? K.C. was -2 in turnovers and failed to convert any of their four red zone opportunities into a TD.
28 28 no change in rankings 1-2-0
(1-2-0) 		5.0 Miami
Miami converted on ten different third-down tries against the Jets; ranked in the top quartile of the NFL in third-down conversion percentage. That's a positive sign for a team with a rookie QB.
29 29 no change in rankings 1-2-0
(1-2-0) 		5.5 Oakland
The most penalized team in the NFL on a yearly basis got some home cooking on Sunday; whistled for only three flags in their upset over the Steelers.
30 31 move up in rankings1 0-3-0
(1-1-1) 		6.5 Cleveland
Through his first three NFL games, Brandon Weeden has a 60.7 QB rating, ranked No. 30 out of 32 NFL starting quarterbacks.
31 30 move down in rankings1 1-2-0
(1-2-0) 		6.5 Indianapolis
Indy is not going to win many games if their secondary can’t stop a simple slant route from turning into an 80 yard TD with less than a minute left in the game.
32 32 no change in rankings 1-2-0
(2-1-0) 		7.0 Jacksonville
Prior to his game winning 80 yard touchdown pass to Cecil Shorts in the final minute, QB Blaine Gabbert had completed nine passes for 75 yards against a bottom tier defense.
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Power Ratings compute offensive and defensive statistics into one number for each team, while accounting for factors like recent performances and strength of schedule. Power Ratings can be used as a baseline for relative spread index to compare current or future match-ups between two teams. The relative spread does not account for non-statistical factors like home-field advantage, recent injuries, game time decisions, rivalries, publicity, and weather.