Forbes NFL power rankings: Week 4**

in Sports by griffn — September 29, 2009 at 8:00 am | 3 comments

1. Baltimore Ravens (3-0, last week: #1)
Defense posted its first dominant performance of the season against the Browns. Hey, gotta start somewhere.

2. New York Giants (3-0, last week: #2)
Held the Bucs offense to 86 total yards. Total. In the entire game.

3. New England Patriots (2-1, last week: #4)
The aging still amazing Fred Taylor finally gives the Pats a semi-legit running game.

4. Indianapolis Colts (3-0, last week: #5)
Manning is undefeated in his last 12 regular season starts and doesn’t look like he misses Marvin Harrison at all.

5. New York Jets (3-0, last week: #10)
After shutting down Andre Johnson, Randy Moss, and now Nate Washington (whoo!), Darrelle Revis is making a serious case for being the best cornerback in the NFL.

6. Philadelphia Eagles (2-1, last week: #7)
Did what they were supposed to do against a really bad Chiefs team. DeSean Jackson is a beast.

7. New Orleans Saints (3-0, last week: On the bubble)
Drew Brees had his first bad game of the season, didn’t throw a touchdown, and they still beat the Bills by 20 points. Time to start taking the Saints seriously.

8. Minnesota Vikings (3-0, last week: #9)
Racked up their first respectable win of the season against a good 49ers team. Three games in, the Brett Favre signing looks like a stroke of genius. Wait till the playoffs start. Assuming he doesn’t find a way to blow this 3-0 start.

9. Atlanta Falcons (2-1, last week: #8)
Couldn’t get the Patriots offense off the field and lost the time of possession battle by an incredible 39:49 to 20:11.

10. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2, last week: #3)
Glass half full: The Steelers have taken 10-point leads into the 4th quarter of both their losses. Glass half empty: Three games into the season, the Steelers have already blown two 10-point 4th quarter leads. Glass half emptier: They’re a coin toss in overtime away from being 0-3.

On the bubble: Tennessee Titans (0-3, last week: #6), Green Bay Packers (2-1), San Diego Chargers (2-1), Dallas Cowboys (2-1), Chicago Bears (2-1)

** If you’re wondering why the power rankings went from “Week 2” last week to “Week 4” this week, first of all, congratulations for being the only person who caught it. Looking around at other power rankings, I realized most people label them for the week upcoming, not the week past. So, that’s what that is.

Tags: football NFL power rankings

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I'm a young black man with a 401(k) plan.

3 Comments

cx2020
2009-09-29
12:55:23
The titans on the bubble is funny. keeping the steelers among the top ten teams in the nfl is funnier.

where are the broncos? do you realize that football is set up to reward the winners? winners make the playoffs. winners play for championships. all the broncos have done so far is do their job perfectly. and don't mention the brandon stokley catch. stuff like that happens. the pats have the tuck rule, the colts have bettis's fumble.

where are the bengals? they beat a top ten team, according to you, and could easily be 3-0.
aaron lucier
2009-09-29
14:45:08
can we add the unpower rankings. i think someone is just upset because the skins arent on here.
griffn
2009-09-29
21:50:29
cx2020,

If you want someone to just make a list of the 3-0 teams, then follow that with the 2-1 teams, then the 1-2 teams, etc., either look at the NFL standings or read Peter King's power rankings. But if you're looking for some semi-thought-out analysis of which teams are actually the best, despite the early records, this is the spot.

We've already discussed the Broncos. You don't make the power rankings by beating the Bengals (barely), Browns, and Raiders. You gotta show me something. They have the Cowboys, Patriots, Chargers, Ravens, and Steelers next up on their schedule. They could easily be 3-5 by midseason, and then you can come talk to me about their spot in the top ten. On the other hand, if they show they can run with those teams, I'll gladly put them up where they belong. But teams got to earn their way in the top ten (the way the Saints did this week), I'm not gonna just hand it to them.

As for the Bengals, they did indeed beat two top ten caliber teams in the Packers and Steelers. But they simply are not better than any of those bubble teams (maybe the Bears). Like the Broncos, the Bungles have a similarly tough stretch coming up in the next month or so. We'll see how they look at the end of that. In the meantime, they're basically the same team that's had one winning season in the last, what, seven, eight, nine years? Earn it.

Now let's talk about the Redsk**ns, who barely, barely beat the Rams at home and then lost to the 0-19 Lions. Let's just put it this way. If my "On the Bubble" picks included the next 21 teams instead of the next 5, the Redsk**ns wouldn't make it. Do that math, homey.