Week 4 is complete. Most teams have played 4 games, though a few have only 3 in the books. We seem to have figured out who the top 8-10 teams are and who the bottom 8-10 are, but everything in between is still a mess. Be sure you’re following us on Twitter during the NFL games on Sunday and let us know what you think of the rankings.
| Ranking(Last Week) | Team | Commentary |
| 1(1) | Pittsburgh Steelers | The Steelers lost a close one to their rival Ravens on Sunday, but they’ll get their starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger back after a bye this week. The last-second drive they gave up against Baltimore must be of some concern, but look for Pittsburgh to be one of the handful of teams competing for an AFC title. |
| 2(4) | New York Jets | LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 133 years against a hapless Bills defensive squad as the Jets improved to 3-1 with a full sweep of their first round of divisional play versus the AFC East. New York has the division in-hand through the first (roughly) quarter of the season. |
| 3(6) | Green Bay Packers | After going up 21-7 in the second quarter against the Lions, the Packers offense stalled and they let the Lions back in the game. A win is a win, but not exactly a dominating performance by Green Bay. |
| 4(11) | Baltimore Ravens | The Ravens notched a last-second win at Pittsburgh to take their record to 3-1. Joe Flacco and the offense look to have turned a bit of a corner, and the return of Ed Reed in a few weeks should help solidify what’s been a surprisingly good pass defense. |
| 5(7) | New England Patriots | After giving up no fewer than 24 points in the first three weeks of the season, the Patriots defense held the Dolphins to 14 points and were opportunistic on both defense and special teams on their way to a 41-14 rout on the road. The win allows New England to keep pace with the Jets in the AFC East heading into their Bye week, with New York holding the slight edge on head-to-head result. |
| 6(3) | New Orleans Saints | The Saints’ three wins have been by a combined 10 points. Not exactly the dominate, high octane offense we saw last year. They have three upcoming games against JV teams to get back to their 2009 form. |
| 7(8) | Houston Texans | The Texans sat stud halfback Arian Foster for the entire first quarter against the Raiders, and Foster still managed scoring TDs and 131 yards on the ground for the game. While that might be more of an indictment of the Oakland squad’s shortcomings, the truth is that the Texans are 3-1 and leading the AFC South. |
| 8(9) | Atlanta Falcons | Arizona rattled off it’s third straight win although they didn’t do so in dominating fashion against the 49ers. Atlanta has a top 5 offense and with a borderline easy schedule this year which means they could roll. |
| 9(2) | Indianapolis Colts | In 2009, the only way to beat the Colts in the regular season was to wait until they had nothing to play for at the end of the season; in 2010, Indianapolis has already lost twice in meaningful games after a 59-yard field goal from Jaguars kicker Josh Scobee won the Week 4 game in walk-off fashion. You can never sleep on the Colts, but this team seems to have a little bit less to offer than previous versions. |
| 10(16) | Kansas City Chiefs | While 28 other teams were fighting it out on the field, the Chiefs were able to sit and rest their players after a 3-0 start; next week, Kansas City visits Indianapolis with the last undefeated record in the NFL on the line. Do you believe in miracles? |
| 11(5) | Philadelphia Eagles | No one’s quite sure what to make of the Eagles, who were looking like a top-10 team until Mike Vick got hurt on Sunday. Once again, the fate of the Eagles falls on the shoulders of the inexperienced Kevin Kolb. |
| 12(18) | San Diego Chargers | Every player on the Chargers had to be licking their lips all week looking at a game against the Cardinals which would help them move past the bad taste of last week’s loss to the Seahawks. San Diego forced an ineffective Derek Anderson out of the game and took advantage of all of their opportunities en route to a 41-10 win. |
| 13(10) | Miami Dolphins | The Dolphins made the Patriots defense look bad early on in their Monday Night Football match-up, but special teams turned the tide in a big way in the second half as Miami lost 41-14. After starting the year with wins over Buffalo and Minnesota, the Dolphins find themselves at 2-2 heading into their Bye week. |
| 14(13) | Cincinnati Bengals | The Bengals, who have struggled to find offensive consistency, find themselves at 2-2 and at third place in the division they won last year. With the way the Ravens and Steelers are playing, Cincinnati must turn it around quick if they want to keep up. |
| 15(14) | Tennessee Titans | The Titans have been, in a word, inconsistent so far this season; that word applied quite nicely when the Titans managed to let a winnable game slip away against the Broncos, thanks in part to a botched kickoff return. A 2-2 record is better than the 0-4 start they had last year, but the team will need to become consistent if they want to make a postseason push. |
| 16(21) | Denver Broncos | Denver has been about as inconsistent as their Tennessee opponnents from Week 4; the major difference was that the Broncos were able to do just enough to squeak out a 26-20 win and go 2-2. The AFC West is as up-for-grabs as it has been in years, so Denver will need to keep doing their jobs. |
| 17(20) | New York Giants | They’ve won two and lost two, and all of those games have been decided by 13 points or more. Not a good sign to win by 13 one week and lose by 24 the next. Much like their division counterparts, they’ve shown no consistency, and will have to make improvements to make it to the playoffs. |
| 18(12) | Chicago Bears | Despite their 3-0 record going into week 4, many people believed the Bears weren’t really that good. Sunday night they looked more like an 0-3 team, racking up a measly 110 yards of offense. |
| 19(15) | Minnesota Vikings | Even though they were on a bye this week, the Vikings are making the biggest headlines as Randy Moss is returning to Minnesota. A Moss, Harvin, and Rice combo may have Vikings fans thinking of the old days of Moss, Carter, and Reed. |
| 20(25) | St. Louis Rams | While they may not have been against high quality opponents, the Rams have won two in a row and have the potential to be at 3-2 after this week’s game in Detroit. Sam Bradford is proving that he has what it takes to be a NFL QB. |
| 21(17) | Dallas Cowboys | Despite starting the season, 1-2, the Cowboys are still in the thick of things in the NFC East. With the recent injury to Mike Vick, and the inconsistency of the Redskins and Giants, look for Dallas to make a serious run at this division. |
| 22(26) | Jacksonville Jaguars | Good for you, Jacksonville; fans are inexplicably flocking to the stadium, and you’re making it worth their money. After two dud performances, the Jaguars fought a heavyweight slugfest with the Colts and avoided giving away the game on their way to a 31-28 walk-off win. With a game in Buffalo next week, a winning streak is possible. |
| 23(24) | Washington Redskins | The Redskins continue to be the kind of team that will look good one week and awful the next. Unless Donovan McNabb and the offense can get things going, they’ve got 8-8 written all over them. |
| 24(22) | Tampa Bay Bucs | The Bucs hopefully spent their bye week being above .500 because in all reality that isn’t going to last too long. |
| 25(19) | Seattle Seahawks | Seattle may be a team that only performs well at home. With a road game this week in Chicago, I don’t see them changing this trend. |
| 26(30) | Cleveland Browns | After a series of close losses, the Browns finally their first win of the season over in-state rival Cincinnati. Don’t expect them to win a ton of games, but they’ll remain competetive and likely sneak in a few more upsets down the stretch. |
| 27(28) | Oakland Raiders | Cellar-dwelling Oakland had a chance to make a game of their battle with the Texans in Week 4, but it ultimately slipped away from them and the Raiders fall further behind their division rivals with the loss. Bruce Gradkowski outgained Matt Schaub in the match-up, but the final score was 31-24 in favor of Houston. |
| 28(27) | San Francisco 49ers | It’s hard to believe that the 49ers, with all the hype surrounding them and considering the awful division they hail from, are 0 and 4 right now. They need to figure out how to win close games, or for that matter, just to win. |
| 29(23) | Arizona Cardinals | Arizona got thumped by the Chargers and now have a date with the Saints. They’ve given up a combined 82 points in two games against good teams (Atlanta and San Diego) so the Saints could easily put up big numbers on them as well. |
| 30(29) | Detroit Lions | Detroit really isn’t as bad as their 0-4 record says. They had a nice comeback against the Packers and only lost by 2 points (on the road as well). Sure they won’t be a playoff team, but they seem to have enough talent to make some teams sweat. |
| 31(32) | Carolina Panthers | It’s not a typo. The Panthers only lost by 2 points to the Saints and actually had a lead going into the 4th quarter. Too bad “close” isn’t a category in the win loss columns. |
| 32(31) | Buffalo Bills | Remember when I said that Bills fans had to be happy with their team’s play last week in a close road loss to the Patriots? That window of happiness has closed once more after a 38-14 dismantling at home against the division-leading Jets. |
Commentary breakdown: Alex (AFC North, NFC East), Brian (AFC East/South/West), Pat (NFC North/South/West).
