NFL Power Rankings – Week 4, John Crowe

Sunday, October 04, 2020

John Crowe, Sports Contributor

In a week where we've seen the first Presidential debate play itself out more like an 8th-grade school fight than like a civilized exchanging of ideas, we've seen two NFL superstars stand up, rise in the spotlight and show us how to elevate their games and their teams.

Thy names are Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson.

First, in Seattle, we get Wilson and the Seahawks facing reality in the form of another furious Dallas comeback. Down 31-30 in the final minutes, all #LetRussCook does is serve up an 8-play, 75-yard drive culminating in a 29-yard masterpiece of a TD to DK Metcalf to keep the Seahawks undefeated. It was the cherry on top of second-straight 5-touchdown day for Big Russ, who now has 14 for the season to lead the NFL.

Not to be outdone, Mahomes takes hold of the year's first huge game of the season as the Chiefs dominated the Ravens in Baltimore 34-20 on the arm of Patrick's 4 touchdown passes. How's this for a stat: Mahomes has thrown 32 touchdowns against 0 interceptions in his career in September. That's unprecedented. If you thought Kansas City would have a Super Bowl hangover, it hasn't presented it yet and it's not likely to anytime soon.

And if you don't believe Mahomes is in Jackson's head, just listen to what he said after the game, according to the Ravens' website.

"Our kryptonite," Jackson said before a reporter could even finish his question about his third straight loss to Mahomes.

So, as we look at the NFL's top 10 heading into week 4, it's no surprise who's on top. But, fear not, there's lots of competition waiting to knock them off.

Best of Rest: San Francisco 49ers (2-1, Last week: not ranked); Arizona Cardinals (2-1, Last week: ranked 8th)

I'll give the 49ers credit. Playing without QB Jimmy Garoppolo, TE George Kittle, CB Richard Sherman, DE Nick Bosa, RB Raheem Mostert and many others, they put another whooping on a team at MetLife Stadium. Last week it was the Jets, this week it was the Giants. Now, they get the Eagles and Dolphins in the next two weeks, so they'll be alright, but then the iron hits with games against the Rams, Patriots, Seahawks and Packers. That will really tell how good this team is and will give the walking wounded time to heal.

As for the Cardinals, they squandered a golden opportunity to take over first place in the NFC West with a last-minute loss to Detroit at home. If you're going to be a playoff team, you can't lose a lead late at home to a Lions team that was 0-2 up to that point. Having said that, there's time for QB Kyler Murray to rebound and I think that they will. And how about DeAndre Hopkins - 32 catches for 365 yards. Now that's starting a relationship with a new team and quarterback on the right note!

10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1, Last week: ranked Best of Rest)

Denver has always been a house of horrors for quarterback Tom Brady but it was far from that on Sunday. TB12 throws for 3 touchdowns and even gets his buddy TE Rob Gronkowski involved with six catches. The Bucs are in first place in the NFC South and with the Saints struggling, they could stay that way most of the season.

9. Chicago Bears (3-0, Last week: not ranked)

The Bears may be the most flawed 3-0 team this season, but with another comeback victory Sunday in Atlanta, they may have fixed their biggest flaw. With Nick Foles taking over for starting quarterback Mitch Trubisky after the Bears went down 26-10 and leading the Bears all the way back to a 30-26 win with three TD passes, Chicago can now be explosive on offense to go with a quality defense. To think that the Bears should be 1-2 and are 3-0 speaks volumes. It hasn't been pretty but they'll take it.

8. New England Patriots (2-1, Last week: ranked Best of Rest)

Raise your hand if you thought the Patriots would be 2-1 with Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Dont'a Hightower, Marcus Cannon, Patrick Chung, not to mention the departures of Kyle Van Noy, Ted Karras, Jamie Collins, Duron Harmon, Phillip Dorsett and more! And to boot, the Pats have given the Raiders their first loss in 2020 and shut down a team that had been averaging 34 points a game. QB Cam Newton wasn't flashy, but the combination of Sony Michel, JJ Taylor and Rex Burkhead combined for 250 yards (GoLocal Prov) and 3 Burkhead runs into the end zone. Ground and pound is effective, especially when you add in the fact that the Pats were without center David Andrews (broken hand) and shifted Joe Thuney over to take his place which means it was three-fifths of a new line. Up next: the Chiefs in Kansas City. With the Coronavirus hitting both teams, we do not know when they will play.

7. Tennessee Titans (3-0, last week: ranked 9th)

Just imagine where the Titans would be without former Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski. He hit game-winners in week one and two victories over the Broncos and Jaguars. Then, for an encore in week 3, all Gostkowski does is kick six field goals, two from beyond 50-yards and the game-winner to put the Titans over 31-30 after trailing most of the day. These Titans are tough like their head coach Mike Vrabel, which means they're in it for the long haul. They are going to have to be now with the latest COVID-19 incident that has left 3 players and 8 total Titans personnel test positive and have the team’s facility shutdown until Saturday, according to the Titans’ website. Sunday’s game with Pittsburgh is up in the air as the NFL says it will take it day-by-day to see what unfolds and if there are more positive tests. The league’s options are to keep the game played as scheduled, move it to Monday night or move it to mutual bye week for both the Steelers and the Titans. Stay tuned!

6. Buffalo Bills (3-0, Last week: ranked 7th)

Just like that, the Bills were up 28-3 on the Rams Sunday. And just like that, they were losing 32-28 in the final minutes. But fear not Bills Mafia, Josh Allen threw his fourth touchdown of the day to rally the troops and keep Buffalo undefeated and ahead of the Patriots atop the AFC East. In all, Allen accounted for nearly 320 yards of offense and 5 scores.

5. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-0, Last week: ranked 6th)

Look out AFC, the Steelers are not going away. The Steelers got after Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, holding him scoreless in the final quarter and came from behind to beat the Texans, 28-21.

4. Green Bay Packers (3-0, Last Week: ranked 3rd)

How impressive are the Packers?! QB Aaron Rodgers threw for 3 more TD passes (9 for the season) and Green Bay's opportunistic defense stopped the reeling Saints late to keep the Pack undefeated.

3. Baltimore Ravens (2-1, Last week: ranked 2nd)

The stage was set for the Ravens. Home game. Primetime Monday night game. 2-0 record with a pair of 20+ victories over Cleveland and Houston. The Chiefs coming off a West Coast overtime game with the Chargers. Yet, all they did was it was 97 yards passing from Lamar Jackson and watching Patrick Mahomes steamroll over them in a game that wasn't as close as the 14-point outcome.

2. Seattle Seahawks (3-0, Last Week: ranked 3rd)

What can you say about Russell Wilson? Five touchdown passes for the second straight week and a last-minute rally over the Cowboys keeps Seattle supercharged at 3-0. Ho hum, Wilson just tosses a 29-yard TD to DK Metcalf on third down like it was practice. The best team in the NFC is keeping plenty of teams sleepless around the league.

1. Kansas City Chiefs (3-0, Last week: ranked 1st)

Just when you think the Chiefs might be vulnerable, they do this. We get Patrick Mahomes counting on his fingers how many players, including his QB counterpart Lamar Jackson, were put ahead of him on the NFL's Top 100 list. 1, 2, 3, 4. That's the number. It's also the number of touchdown passes Mahomes threw, including one to his fullback Anthony Sherman and one to his offensive lineman Eric Fisher. In this season where only the top seed in each conference gets a first-round bye, this KC victory over Baltimore is like a two-game swing. The Chiefs now have a game lead and the tiebreaker in their back pocket.

Last week:

Best of rest: Raiders, Patriots, Buccaneers
10. Rams
9. Titans
8. Cardinals
7. Bills
6. Steelers
5. Saints
4. Packers
3. Seahawks
2. Ravens
1. Chiefs