NFL Power Rankings: Week 4, 2019
Welcome to quarterback honeymoon season.
There’s something magical about the promising debut of a young quarterback. Just one impressive performance is enough to ignite hope for the future in an entire fanbase.
Of course, it’s far too early to accurately determine whether these quarterbacks will go on to have the lengthy, successful careers the fans will envision. Perhaps they’ll be stars for years to come, but poor play, injuries, and off-field issues can derail the stardom.
Still, the honeymoon phase with a new QB is a uniquely exciting time, and due to an unprecedented amount of teams already having gone to backups (a record 40 quarterbacks have started games through three weeks), we’ve already gotten a few of these stories this season.
Jacksonville’s Gardner Minshew was called into action following a Nick Foles injury in the first week of the season, and quickly became something of a folk hero, with his legendary mustache and equally enthralling backstory. But it’s more than just his persona — Minshew has balled out through three weeks and earned his first career win on Thursday Night Football in a Week 3 victory over the Titans.
Week 3 also saw the first W for another quarterback selected in the 2019 NFL Draft. When the New York Giants selected Daniel Jones with the sixth pick in the draft, they were universally booed. However, all those original takes were quickly put in their place when Jones, in his first start for a benched Eli Manning, recorded four total touchdowns and led his team to an 18-point comeback win in Tampa Bay.
Jones is refreshingly confident and mobile on the field, but off of it, he’s essentially the second coming of Eli. He looks like Eli, talks like Eli (anyone who’s ever listened to Eli speak to the press will be astounded by how similarly calm and modest he is), and even used to wear an Eli jersey. They played for the same college coach, and Jones is even a two-time counselor at the Manning Passing Academy.
Eli Manning is a New York legend and has led the team to two Super Bowl victories. Giants fans are hoping Daniel Jones can do the same.
The Cardinals have to be encouraged by what they’ve seen from Kyler Murray so far, but against Arizona, the Panthers’ Kyle Allen threw for four touchdowns in just his second career start. A record 20 quarterbacks age 27 or younger started last week, and for some of their teams, the future will be bright.
All this hype surrounding the quarterbacks also speaks to another truth about the position — successes (and failures) are more noticeable at the QB position than at any other. In one of my classes, we broke into groups and did a redraft of the beginning of this year’s draft.
Four quarterbacks were taken during the first seven picks of our redraft. Kyler Murray went #1 again and I happily took Daniel Jones at #6 as the Giants had originally, but Gardner Minshew went to the Jaguars at #7 (only 171 spots before the Jags actually picked him), and Dwayne Haskins rose all the way to the Bucs at #5 despite not having played yet this season. One can only assume that the team responsible was not high on Jameis Winston.
But since we’re on the subject of the Bucs, they provide a great example of how QBs steal all the attention. Tampa Bay’s linebacker Shaq Barrett has a league-high and a record-tying eight sacks through three games. In fact, he had a $250,000 contract incentive for reaching eight sacks, which he’s already achieved with more than 80% of the season left to play.
Yet, this fact goes relatively unnoticed compared to many of the other headlines league-wide. That’s just how it is in a quarterback-driven league. Let’s check out how the power rankings look through three weeks now that we can begin to suss out who’s who in 2019.
32. Miami Dolphins (0–3, Last Week: 32)
Once the Dolphins, who had been outscored 102–10 through their first two games of the season, trailed just 10–6 at halftime against the Cowboys, the game was on to see if they could manage to cover the ridiculous 23.5-point spread on the game.
It was a nailbiter, going down to the last drive of the game, but once the Dolphins were stopped on fourth down at the Cowboys’ 39-yard line with less than a minute to go, we got our answer. No, they couldn’t cover. The game finished 31–6. This team is miserable.
31. New York Jets (0–3, LW: 28)
In all fairness, the Jets played the Patriots this week — it wasn’t exactly the easiest matchup for Luke Falk’s first start. Still, the Jets managed a pitiful 105 yards and scored approximately zero offensive points.
Outside of the second-half touchdowns provided by their defense and special teams, it couldn’t have been much worse. At 0–3, the Jets’ hopes of doing anything this season rely on Sam Darnold’s ability to get on the field as quickly as possible. Luckily, the Jets have the early Week 4 bye this season, which will give him more time to recover.
30. Washington Redskins (0–3, LW: 30)
I recently heard someone say the following: “the Dolphins are trying to lose, but the Redskins are actually trying to win and still lose.” I think that sums things up pretty nicely.
You know, for a moment there, I thought the Redskins were going to have a UCLA-esque comeback from 28–0 down. Unfortunately, that didn’t prove to be the case. There could be a QB changeup coming. Apparently, Dwayne Haskins is “not far away”.
29. Cincinnati Bengals (0–3, LW: 29)
Cincy climbed back from a 14–0 deficit at halftime to take a 17–14 lead with about five minutes remaining, only to allow a Bills touchdown and see the game slip away on an Andy Dalton interception.
The good news? In all, the AFC North has just three total wins. Plus, the Bengals’ next three games are against the winless Steelers, winless Cardinals, and one-win Jaguars. Plus, A.J. Green will return at some point. Actually, that’s quite a bit of good news — the opportunity is still there for the Bengals to right the ship, but it needs to happen fast.
28. Arizona Cardinals (0–2–1, LW: 27)
This wasn’t a great performance on either side of the ball for Arizona, but they were especially exposed on defense, allowing four touchdowns to Kyle Allen in his second career start. Already playing in one of the league’s toughest divisions and one still with two undefeated teams, a win in Week 4 vs. the Seahawks is a must. A loss would put them at least three wins behind every team in NFC West.
27. Denver Broncos (0–3, LW: 25)
I don’t have much to say about the Broncos, who allowed six sacks in another largely uninspiring performance, so instead, I’ll just copy-paste the opening paragraph of George Orwell’s 1984 and see who notices.
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.
26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1–2, LW: 26)
And once again, the Bucs have found a new, creative way to lose an NFL football game. Amazingly, coach Bruce Arians took a delay of game penalty on his team’s game-winning field goal because he believed the kick was easier from five yards back. Of course, Matt Gay missed the 34-yarder, along with two extra points in his team’s one-point loss.
Also — maybe the Bucs should do away with their Ring of Honor? The team has lost their last five games including an induction at halftime.
25. Oakland Raiders (1–2, LW: 24)
After the opening play of the second quarter, the Raiders never got closer than 14 points to the Vikings in what would become a 34–14 loss. Two big losses in a row mean things have cooled down for Oakland after their opening win against the Broncos. Darren Waller has more than lived up to the hype, but it’ll take more than a tight end to turn this team around.
24. New York Giants (1–2, LW: 31)
Even though I may have preferred Dwayne Haskins entering the draft, I thought Daniel Jones should have started for this team from Week 1. That’s because he seemed to be the obvious successor to Eli Manning, something I couldn’t say about Davis Webb and Kyle Lauletta, who the Giants had taken in the previous two drafts. Neither of those guys is still on the roster.
Jones, on the other hand, looks great. Unfortunately, just when Jones got the nod, Saquon Barkley went down with a high ankle sprain, for which he could miss two months. Wayne Gallman will have a chance to prove himself in Barkley’s absence. Even without Barkley, the Giants are trending upwards.
23. Pittsburgh Steelers (0–3, LW: 23)
Mason Rudolph’s offense provided just 76 yards in the first half, yet the Steelers were bailed out over and over again by poor decision making and sloppy ball-handling from the 49ers, who turned it over four times in the first half and five times total. That’s how a team outgains its opponent 436–239 yet still needs a game-winning drive.
On paper, the Steelers kept this one close. In reality, it probably shouldn’t have been so tense late. Make or break time against the Bengals in Week 4.
22. Tennessee Titans (1–2, LW: 17)
Where is the Titans team that spanked the Browns 43–13 on the first Sunday of the season? After just 24 points in the last two weeks, the Titans have proven that early performance to be a fluke.
We shouldn’t be surprised — the Titans seem to have a couple of unbelievable games a year, and then disappear for much of the rest. Last season, they beat the Patriots 34–10 and then lost to the Colts 38–10 the very next week. I maintain my belief that this team cannot reach their full potential with Marcus Mariota at QB.
21. Cleveland Browns (1–2, LW: 18)
Baker Mayfield can fire back to people like Rex Ryan all he wants, but until he puts together even one solid performance this season, the concerns about the Browns offense, which some people jumped the gun and suggested could even break records in 2019, will stand. Until then, we’ll continue to laugh at Freddie Kitchens calling a draw on 4th&9.
20. Jacksonville Jaguars (1–2, LW: 20)
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves — while Gardner Minshew certainly looks good, the Jaguars have still yet to crack 300 yards of offense in either of his two starts, and the flailing Titans aren’t exactly the toughest team to beat at home.
Jalen Ramsey’s trade standoff remains ongoing, and now the corner, who has missed practice this week with illness, has left the team for the birth of his second child.
19. Carolina Panthers (1–2, LW: 21)
We now know more details about Cam Newton’s injury, and it seems the former MVP might be out for longer than anticipated. Newton has a Lisfranc injury in his foot, which features bone or ligament damage in the midfoot, and typically requires 6–8 weeks of rehab.
Right now, Newton is trying to avoid surgery, but in the meantime, Kyle Allen’s performance in Week 3 has the team believing they can still compete this season. In fact, it was so encouraging that some are wondering who will get the starting job when Newton returns.
18. Buffalo Bills (3–0, LW: 19)
Look — I’ve seen the Bills as high as #6 in multiple other sets of power rankings, and honestly, I don’t understand it. Anyone can sort standings and slap them together into a list, but if you go any further than that, the Bills’ case just isn’t that strong.
Have they won three games? Yes. But they needed a late touchdown to beat the Jets, a late touchdown to beat the Bengals, and played their best game of the year against the Eli Manning Giants. I’m going to need to see more to start giving them the respect Bills fans probably think they deserve. But guess what? If they perform well against the Patriots, they’ll move up.
17. Atlanta Falcons (1–2, LW: 15)
Once again, we had the classic “Falcons go down big before Matt Ryan tries to save the day with a remarkable comeback that winds up just short.” The regularity with which this situation unfolds is staggering. Coach Dan Quinn may already be on the hot seat, as the Falcons struggle to return to their NFC Champion form. If they fall to the Titans this week, it will spell real trouble.
16. Detroit Lions (2–0–1, LW: 22)
I was just about ready to write off the Lions following their collapse late against the Cardinals in Week 1. However, following consecutive wins against the Chargers and Eagles, two teams we certainly expected to make the playoffs, it’s time to re-evaluate.
The Lions play in the NFC North, a division which is remarkably undefeated (7–0–1) against the rest of the league. They’ll have six games coming up against these three juggernauts, but the Lions have proved themselves worthy of a fighting chance.
15. Los Angeles Chargers (1–2, LW: 12)
Melvin Gordon to the rescue! While the Chargers running back won’t be active for the team’s Week 4 game, you’d hope they wouldn’t need him to take down Miami. Still, the holdout is over, and following his team’s 1–2 start, it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Two games behind the Chiefs in the AFC West, the Chargers should have their sights on playing themselves into the Wild Card picture, and are still very capable of doing so. Following their victory over the Eagles, the Lions don’t look like a bad loss anymore. However, still having to play the rest of the NFC North and Kansas City twice means there is little room for error.
14. Seattle Seahawks (2–1, LW: 8)
One look at Russell Wilson’s statistics would lead one to believe that the Seahawks’ offense is firing on all cylinders. However, that’s not the case, as this team relies almost solely on Wilson’s ability to make huge plays to get them out of trouble.
Far too often, the inconsistency leads the Seahawks to be perhaps the most frustrating team in the league to watch. It seems they’re either an unstoppable force, or they can’t get out of their own way, and when they’re giving up two non-offensive touchdowns as they did against the Saints, the whole is too big for Seattle to dig out of.
13. Indianapolis Colts (2–1, LW: 16)
Maybe the sky isn’t falling after all. Jacoby Brissett seems comfortable in his role as the starter, which makes sense, considering he started for this team in 2017. He wasn’t terrible then, but he looks better now. In a shocking twist, learning under Tom Brady and Andrew Luck might teach a guy some things. At 2–1, the Colts are currently in a tie for the division lead with the Texans, which is exactly where we thought they’d be before Luck’s sudden retirement.
12. Philadelphia Eagles (1–2, LW: 7)
America met its new favorite hero (literally) this week when Hakim Laws described catching babies as they were being tossed out of a burning building while throwing shade at Eagles wide receiver Nelson Agholor in the process. In a great gesture, Agholor invited Laws and his family to the Eagles’ next game.
Philly’s depleted wide receiver corps struggled against the Lions, dropping seven passes in the game. They’ll need to do better moving forward. Perhaps Agholor and the rest of the group should get some pointers from Laws.
11. San Francisco 49ers (3–0, LW: 14)
The 49ers are 3–0 but will need to take better care of the ball moving forward to continue their winning ways. Jimmy Garoppolo has turned the ball over in every game so far, and the 49ers committed five turnovers in a 24–20 win over the Steelers they were lucky to pick up.
On a more positive note, Raheem Mostert has continued to run the ball effectively following success in limited action a year ago, and provides a dynamic 1–2 punch with Matt Breida. With Tevin Coleman set to return after the team’s bye, we’ll see how the backfield strategy will adapt.
10. Chicago Bears (2–1, LW: 13)
After no turnovers in their first two games, the Bears defense came out angry, the result of which was a very bad day for Case Keenum. Keenum gave the ball up five times, including two fumbles which were both forced by Khalil Mack. When you’re ending that many drives, it’s almost impossible to lose.
Offensively, Taylor Gabriel had a career day, catching three touchdowns from Mitch Trubisky in the second quarter, including this beauty.
9. Minnesota Vikings (2–1, LW: 11)
It seems clear that the Vikings are a run-first team, and that the fewer times Kirk Cousins has to throw the ball, the better off they are. While this might be unfortunate for Stefon Diggs fantasy owners like myself, the numbers speak for themselves. Cousins threw 10 passes in a 28–12 win over the Falcons, 32 passes (including two interceptions) in a 21–16 loss to the Packers, and 21 passes in a 34–14 win over the Raiders.
8. Houston Texans (2–1, LW: 9)
Despite a poor start and the total absence of a running game, this was one of those times where the Texans’ passing attack solves all problems, a pleasant sight following their struggle-fest with the Jaguars the week prior. It was an incredibly balanced game plan through the air, with five different receivers going for between 49 and 89 yards.
A pair of 1–2 NFC South teams are next on the agenda, as the Texans head to the southeast with matchups in Carolina and Atlanta over the next two weeks.
7. New Orleans Saints (2–1, LW: 10)
It was a full team effort for the Saints in their first game without Drew Brees. Before Teddy Bridgewater and the offense could even take the field, New Orleans held a 7–0 lead thanks to a Deonte Harris punt return touchdown. The team’s next points came from a Vonn Bell fumble return touchdown.
But they still needed Bridgewater and the offense to step up, and they were up to the task. Alvin Kamara had one of his best games, and the Saints led by 20 after three quarters. The Seahawks attempted a comeback, but their deficit was too large to overcome.
6. Baltimore Ravens (2–1, LW: 5)
Baltimore made things close at the end, but by the time the Chiefs wrapped up their 33–28 victory over the Ravens, there was little doubt as to who the best young quarterback in football is. The reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes torched even the Ravens defense for 374 yards and three touchdowns, looking generally invincible as always.
But in no significant way should this change our opinions about the Ravens or their place in the AFC. They remain the top team in the AFC North, one of the most creative teams in the league. Look at how cool this onside kick attempt was from Justin Tucker. It’s a dropkick!
5. Green Bay Packers (3–0, LW: 6)
Through three games, Aaron Rodgers still hasn’t quite put it all together, with a line of just 647 yards and four touchdowns. Yet, the Packers are rolling at 3–0, the team’s best start since 2015. The success has been largely due to everyone else besides Rodgers, which must be thrilling for Green Bay, seeing as how Rodgers will no doubt improve as the season goes on. For now, he’ll just be appreciating the lack of need to score 40 points per game.
4. Dallas Cowboys (3–0, LW: 4)
It took a bit longer than expected to get things rolling, but once the second half hit, the Cowboys took full control of Miami, leading to a win just as easy as anticipated. Of course, like the Bills, it’s worth mentioning that the Cowboys have played absolutely nobody — the Giants, Redskins, and Dolphins won’t be striking fear into the hearts of anyone. Still, they’ve taken care of business, and there’s no reason to believe they can’t be the Super Bowl contenders the Cowboys see themselves as.
3. Los Angeles Rams (3–0, LW: 3)
What everyone anticipated being a high-scoring Monday Night Football affair turned out to be a less-than-thrilling 20–13 win for the Rams in Cleveland, and a game where Jared Goff turned the ball over three times.
The Rams’ one real impressive win this season came against a mostly Drew Brees-less Saints team. However, after the Saints were able to beat Seattle shorthanded, that victory carries more weight. All in all, the Rams don’t look as strong as last season, but they haven’t lost, either. Let’s just admire how Cooper Kupp has been balling out this season.
2. Kansas City Chiefs (3–0, LW: 2)
Patrick Mahomes is pacing 6,373 yards and 53 touchdowns through three games. Even more impressively, two of the teams he’s done this against are the Jaguars and Ravens, who have two of the better defenses in the league and have allowed just a combined 11.5 points per game in their non-Chiefs matchups this season.
With the Chargers at just 1–2, and neither the Raiders nor Broncos looking any more intimidating than we thought they would, it feels like we can almost call the AFC West already. So much for a Mahomes regression.
1. New England Patriots (3–0, LW: 1)
Believe it or not, the Patriots have now gone four straight games without allowing an offensive touchdown. Beginning with their Super Bowl victory, the streak continued through New England’s 30–14 victory over the Jets, in which they surrendered touchdowns on a muffed punt and a pick-six.
In Week 4, the Patriots head to Buffalo in a matchup between two undefeated teams for first place in the AFC East. Last season, the Patriots faced a 3–0 Miami Dolphins team in Week 4 and won 38–7. We’ll see if the Bills provide more of a challenge after their hot start.
Connor Groel is a writer who studies sport management at the University of Texas at Austin. He also serves as editor of the Top Level Sports publication on Medium, and the host of the Connor Groel Sports podcast. You can follow Connor on Medium, Facebook, and Twitter, and view his archives at toplevelsports.net.
