NFL Power Rankings

The Saints D keeps them at the top

Welcome to the Week 4 edition of the Cubicle GM NFL Power Rankings. Every Tuesday you can look forward to our composite rankings, as well as a bit of brief insight and analysis about each of the 32 teams.

The rankings are determined by simply taking the average of each of the contributors here at The Cube. For Week 4, we have rankings from the full complement of the Cubicle GM team, including me, Gideon, Mickey, Joey, Walker and Smokey.

Four of the five remaining undefeated teams make up the top four spots in the rankings, and 4-0 Denver has turned some into believers as they crack the Top 10. The Ravens and Jets each dropped four spots after their first losses of the year, but held their positions in the Top 10.

The bottom of the rankings finally became unanimous, as all six teams voted the St. Louis Rams as the No. 32 team after their shutout loss to the 49ers. The Cleveland Browns remain in the bottom five, but moved up three spots after showing some life in their OT loss to Cincinnati.

After four weeks of play, it appears teams are still settling into place. There were 25 teams that moved at least one spot in the rankings, but the big jumps have slowed down a bit. Only Denver, which jumped six spots while staying undefeated, moved by five or more places this week.

The Broncos were the biggest upward mover this week, followed by the Jaguars, who moved up four spots after their destruction of the Titans. Five teams tied for the biggest drop, as the Ravens, Jets, Chargers, Cowboys and Seahawks each dropped four spots after their respective losses.

Bye weeks didn’t affect teams much, as the only team that didn’t play which moved in the rankings was the Panthers, who moved up one spot thanks to the Seahawks’ drop.

The disagreements between the contributors in the ranks have increased this week, thanks mostly to Smokey’s return from his Carolina-induced hangover. Fourteen teams saw a gap of seven or more spots in their ranks, with five of them reaching double digits.

Pittsburgh Steelers (12) – Smokey 2, Jacob 14

San Francisco 49ers (10) – Walker 9, Joey 19

Cincinnati Bengals (10) – Smokey 11, Gideon 21

Chicago Bears (10) – Jacob 10, Smokey 20

Carolina Panthers (10) – Mickey/Smokey 21, Joey 31

On the divisional side, the NFC East still leads the way with the Giants and Eagles in the Top 10, coming in with an average score of 9.25. Coming in second was the AFC North with a score of 14.17, helped by jumps from Pittsburgh, Cinci and Cleveland. At the bottom sits the NFC West, checking in with a 21.67 average rank, followed by the NFC South with a 20.83 average despite having the No. 1 Saints.

As a reminder, you can check out all the backup data here. Without further ado, onto the rankings. As always, last week’s ranks are in parentheses.

1. New Orleans Saints (1) – The Saints improved to 4-0 despite no TDs from Drew Brees for the second straight week. Great news for NO fans, bad news for fantasy owners.

2. New York Giants (3) – The 4-0 Giants should be 5-0 with or without Eli Manning as they host Oakland next week.

3. Indianapolis Colts (6) – It’s going to be very difficult to beat the Colts at home this season.

4. Minnesota Vikings (5) – Lost in the Brett Favre beating the Packers story were the two impressive onside kick recoveries by WR Sidney Rice to seal the victory.

5. New England Patriots (7) – The Patriots are the new Broncos when it comes to predicting who will lead the team in carries.

6. Baltimore Ravens (2) – The Ravens were a drop away from improving to 4-0 and beating the Pats at home.

7. Pittsburgh Steelers (10) – Rashard Mendenhall literally had a career day against San Diego, besting his career rush attempts and yardage total in this game alone.

8. New York Jets (4) – Apparently Mark Sanchez is human, as two costly turnovers were the difference in a loss to New Orleans.

9. Philadelphia Eagles (9) – You don’t necessarily have to play to move up in the rankings.

10. Denver Broncos (16) – Welcome back to the spotlight Brandon Marshall. Apparently winning solves all feuds.

11. Atlanta Falcons (11) – The Falcons first four opponents after the bye currently have a combined 12-4 record.

12. San Diego Chargers (8) – The Chargers made an impressive effort in their fourth quarter comeback in Pittsburgh, but should be more concerned about their poor first three quarters.

13. San Francisco 49ers (15) – Impressive day for the Niners’ D, scoring three times in the win over the Rams.

14. Green Bay Packers (12) – Green Bay now has November 1^st circled on their calendar as the most important game of the year.

15. Cincinnati Bengals (17) – The Bengals did not make it easy on themselves while improving to 3-1 against the lowly Browns.

16. Chicago Bears (14) – The Bears made some good halftime adjustments to slow the Lions, but need to figure out how they let a rookie QB carve them up in the first place.

17. Dallas Cowboys (13) – It’s already been beaten to death, but why would you throw to Champ Bailey with the game on the line? Twice!

18. Arizona Cardinals (18) – With their first place schedule, it’s possible that the Cardinals could be out of it before they even get to face the Rams.

19. Jacksonville Jaguars (23) – David Garrard threw for over 300 yards for the first time this year, but the story was Jacksonville’s D, which forced four punts and three turnovers in Tennessee’s first eight possessions.

20. Houston Texans (20) – It’s not often you see a team score on the safety punt return. It’s good to play the Raiders.

21. Miami Dolphins (24) – The Fins didn’t hold the ball for three quarters, but 37 minutes and 250 yards on the ground was more than enough to take care of the Bills.

22. Buffalo Bills (19) – While most of the damage done against them was on the ground, the Bills still allowed 38 points to Chad Henne.

23. Tennessee Titans (22) – If I didn’t watch pretty much every game from the ’08 season, I wouldn’t have believed Tennessee was 13-3 last year.

24. Carolina Panthers (25) – At least they didn’t lose this week right?

25. Seattle Seahawks (21) – It’s really hard to beat the Colts this season, and even tougher when your starting QB and LT don’t play.

26. Washington Redskins (28) – The Skins only points came in the third quarter, but they were enough to beat the lowly Bucs.

27. Detroit Lions (27) – Matthew Stafford looked great against the Bears, but a nasty knee injury will likely keep him out until after the Lions Week 7 bye.

28. Cleveland Browns (31) – The Browns offense showed some life with Derek Anderson under center, but they were again doomed by turnovers in the OT loss to the Bengals.

29. Oakland Raiders (26) – Don’t look for the Raiders to win another game before their Week 9 bye, as the Giants, Eagles, Jets and Chargers are their next four opponents.

30. Kansas City Chiefs (29) – It was a tough matchup against the Giants, but Matt Cassel needs to complete more than 50% of his passes for more than 127 yards if the Chiefs want to win.

31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (30) – It apparently doesn’t matter who is under center or getting the carries for TB. Their offense is just bad.

32. St. Louis Rams (32) – I’m really trying to think of something positive. Honest.