This week showed us how dominant the top teams in the NFL are, and shuffled around the bottom of the league. Let’s stack up the teams 1-32 now that a quarter of the regular season is over.
1 – 
Chiefs (4-0) 
Kansas City struggled offensively for a while on Monday evening against one of the best defenses in the league, to no fault of their own. Patriots HC Bill Belichick will always gameplan such that you struggle against him, especially with an extra day of planning. But that isn’t enough to make me bump this team down at all. They’re still at full strength and will continue to win games. This game against the Patriots might have been the toughest test they face this year. We’ll find out soon enough, as they take on the Bills in a couple weeks.
2 – 
Packers (4-0)
As I said yesterday, Aaron Rodgers is still a very bad man. The Packers QB thew 4 touchdowns in a dominating victory over the Falcons. Green Bay continues to look extremely solid on both sides of the ball, even when they’re missing their top 2 receivers. Who knew Robert Tonyan would be a viable weapon on offense? They’ll likely be getting WR Davante Adams back after their bye week. Next up for the Rodgers and the Pack: Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. I can’t wait to see that.
3 – 
Seahawks (4-0)
Seattle is still annoying me. QB Russell Wilson continues to cook, but this team continues to have no defense. They need to beat teams like Miami by more than just 8 points. I trust this team to win games for as long as Russ is the QB, but if they truly want to cement themselves as a Super Bowl contender, then they need to go out and get a pass rusher. They have Jamal Adams as an anchor in the secondary and Bobby Wagner as one in the box, but they have no presence on the defensive line. If they don’t find it, then the likes of Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers will have field days against this team.
4 – 
Bills (4-0)
Buffalo could honestly be higher than this, but I’m ok with keeping them at 4 for another week. QB Josh Allen has played every game this season masterfully, and WR Stefon Diggs is looking like one of the best offseason pickups in the NFL. Diggs now leads the NFL in receiving, and Allen is 2nd to only Cowboys QB Dak Prescott in passing yards (if only Dak didn’t love statpadding so much). The defense also showed up when it needed to on Sunday, forcing a turnover that led to a touchdown to all but ice the win for Buffalo. This team now faces back to back unbeaten teams in Tennessee and Kansas City. It’s time to see if the Bills are truly a contender.
5 – 
Buccaneers (3-1)
I’m starting to sound like a broken record here. The Bucs are improving every week, still. Tom Brady’s chemistry with his weapons offensively is increasing, still. This team did get off to a sluggish start on Sunday with a Brady pick 6 and the defense giving up bombs to Justin Herbert and the Chargers, but they controlled the game from being down 17 until the final whistle, in large part due to 5 Tom Brady TD passes. Now this team has shown us that they can play from behind, and they can win games with both their offense and their defense. I’m not sure what else I can say about this team. They are much better than anyone in the media is giving them credit for.
6 – 
Ravens (3-1)
Baltimore took the short trip down to Landover on Sunday for a contest with Washington and came out with a… somewhat unconvincing win. Yes the Ravens lead wire to wire, but they were gifted some short fields and got very lucky on a risky fake punt conversion when they were only up 7. They only outgained Washington by 7 yards on offense. It seemed like Washington was controlling the tempo for a while, but those aforementioned mistakes/gifts helped the Ravens put the game away early. It’s not like they needed to do much to win that game, but it was simply unconvincing. I’m sure they’ll be fine and blow out teams in these next few weeks, but I’ll have to see it myself before I bump them up again.
7 – 
Steelers (3-0) 
1
The Steelers got COVID’d thanks to the Titans and now look ahead to taking on the cross-state rival Eagles. I think they should dispatch of Philly quite handily. This is a team that is still very good on both sides of the ball. And they now had an extra week off to rest and prepare. They’ll be fine
8 – 
Titans (3-0) 2
This team is lucky I bumped them up after almost ruining the league with COVID-19 issues. But they were the beneficiary of teams above them losing games. Not much I can say about the Titans here. I’m interested to see how they play against the Bills this weekend. That is, if they play against the Bills this weekend.
9 – 
Rams (3-1)
Going into Sunday’s game against the Giants, the Rams were 12.5 point favorites. They didn’t even score that many points until they were 54 minutes into the game. Yes, LA went home with a win, but it was very ugly, slow, and sluggish against arguably the worst team in football. It was very uncharacteristic of a team that had put on 3 consecutive impressive outings, especially offensively. I’m fairly confident in saying that this will be a one-time thing for a team coached by Sean McVay, but you never know. This week, they travel east again to take on a Washington team with a fairly solid defense. I personally hope they score 100.
10 – 
Patriots (2-2) 
3
I will honestly admit that I am being very harsh on the Patriots this week. Their starting QB Cam Newton tested positive for COVID-19, leading to very poor QB play in KC on Monday night by backups Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham. This team looked absolutely fantastic defensively, and they probably would have won that game if Cam was healthy. Unfortunately, their terrific defensive performance meant nothing. But it has proven that this team can compete with anyone in the league as long as they have this defensive personnel and Bill Belichick wearing a headset. Star CB Stefon Gilmore did test positive for COVID-19 today, which could set the defense back just a bit, but I still think they’ll be fine in the long term.
11 – 
Saints (2-2) 1
The Saints finally got back to looking like the Saints on Sunday afternoon in Detroit. New Orleans got off to a slow start and found themselves in a 14-0 hole thanks to a tip drill INT by the Lions defense, but scored 35 straight from there on out and never looked back. Now this team gets WR Michael Thomas back ahead of a very intriguing Monday night showdown against one of the league’s most compelling teams in the Chargers, led by QB Justin Herbert. That should be quite a fun game to watch.
12 – 
Browns (3-1) 5
Cleveland’s rise to not only relevance, but stardom, is almost complete. This team has looked absolutely spectacular in the last 3 weeks, scoring 35, 34, and 49 points respectively. Their defense is also improving by the week, led by superstar DE Myles Garrett, who might be the best defensive player in football right now. Don’t let the defensive stats from Sunday’s game in Dallas fool you, since most of the Cowboys’ yards came in garbage time. This team is figuring out how to run their offense to perfection, especially by integrating WR Odell Beckham Jr. more. Star RB Nick Chubb unfortunately got placed on IR this week, but they still have a great back in Kareem Hunt to carry the load for the next month or so. HC Kevin Stefanski has figured out how to get things going on both sides of the ball in Cleveland, and it is working wonderfully.
13 – 
Colts (3-1) 5
I will now give Indianapolis all the credit they deserve. The Colts boast a defense that might be the best in football, even without S Malik Hooker. This team leads the NFL in PPG and YPG defensively and has given up just 18 points in the last 9 games. The Bears only put up 3 points the in the first 58 minutes against them on Sunday. The offense also continues to do its job by scoring however much they need to. QB Philip Rivers only has 1 TD in every game so far this year, but that formula works just fine because the defense is that good. This is certainly a playoff team that might contend with the Titans for the AFC South title.
14 – 
49ers (2-2) 3
Sunday night’s loss to Philadelphia was an inexcusable one for this 49ers team, but I’ll cut them some slack. They were missing their starting QB Jimmy Garoppolo and were extremely thin defensively, especially in the secondary. They did not get any help from QB Nick Mullens, who put up a stinker against a bad Eagles defense. Once Jimmy G comes back, this team will be fine and be back to winning games in normal fashion, which is why I’m still giving them the benefit of the doubt and keeping them up here.
15 – 
Raiders (2-2) 1
The silver and black fell victim to another tough loss against a great team on Sunday, so I wont’ penalize them too much. Buffalo is a very tough team to play, even at home, and the Raiders played them very close for most of the game. Even when the Bills made it a 2 score game late, Vegas almost mounted a comeback. I’m still very confident in what this team can do offensively, but their defense has looked very suspect this whole season. If they don’t tighten up defensively, then it will cost them many close games like on Sunday and could hurt their chances at a wild card spot.
16 – 
Cardinals (2-2) 3
As I said yesterday, it appears that the Cardinals were tricking us. Back-to-back losses against teams that they should have beaten easily if they played like the Cardinals of weeks 1 and 2. This team is still very talented on both sides of the ball and very well coached, but they are not playing like it at all right now. Hopefully for them, this is just a cold spell, and they’ll be back to winning games very soon. If not, then this is not a playoff team like we all thought a few weeks ago.
17 – 
Bears (3-1) 2
Chicago looked absolutely dreadful offensively against the Colts on Sunday. Yes, they were playing an elite defense, but only being to muster 11 points the whole game is a bit embarrassing. This team has talent all across the board, and they really should be playing a lot better than they are this season. The one thing they can’t seem to figure out is the QB position. I don’t think there is a clear cut right choice between Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles, but regardless of who is under center, they should lead their team to better performances than what we saw at Soldier Field last week. It doesn’t get any easier, as they welcome Tom Brady and the Bucs into town on Thursday night for what will likely be another offensive struggle.
18 – 
Panthers (2-2) 8
Carolina is another team that I will start to give a lot more respect. After a slow start to 2020, this team has strung together back to back impressive wins against 2 good football teams. QB Teddy Bridgewater is playing some good football, even without his main weapon, RB Christian McCaffrey. HC Matt Rhule’s system is starting to take place and work very well. I can only imagine how well it’ll work once McCaffrey returns. I don’t think this is a playoff team, but they won’t be horrible by any means. They have impressed me.
19 – 
Chargers (1-3)
The Chargers did that thing where they almost win the game but then lose due to a series of unfortunate events for about the millionth time in franchise history. Los Angeles lost their 3rd consecutive game by 7 points or less. They looked to be in control after taking a 24-7 lead, but they got Tom Brady’d. Rookie QB Justin Herbert continues to look spectacular as he was throwing dime after dime downfield against a very solid Tampa secondary. Alas, it wasn’t enough once again. You can give the Chargers a new QB, move them to Los Angeles, give them new unis, and it still won’t matter. They will always be the Chargers.
20 – 
Vikings (1-3)
Minnesota finally got in the win column on Sunday against a reeling Texans team. It was a good win for a team that needed the confidence boost. QB Kirk Cousins is returning to form, and his WRs Adam Thielen and rookie Justin Jefferson are starting to put up some big numbers. RB Dalvin Cook is also continuing to do his thing as a top 5 rusher in the NFL. This team will be fine, and will likely still fight for a wild card spot this season, but they need to continue stringing together some wins. Sunday’s win was a step in the right direction.
21 – 
Cowboys (1-3) 5
I really don’t want to waste my time talking about this team. You can refer to yesterday’s excerpt about their game against Cleveland for how I feel about the Cowboys. In short: very talented offense, abysmal defense, head-scratching coaching decisions, and mind-boggling game trends. There is no reason for this team to start every game so lethargically just for them to statpad/”come back” in the end. It’s pretty exhausting, and I feel like they’re better than this. Of course, it doesn’t bother me, since I am ALL FOR Dallas losing games.
22 – 
Dolphins (1-3) 1
Miami put up a good fight against the Seahawks on Sunday, as every team seemingly does. It was a very “Ryan Fitzpatrick” game for the Dolphins and their current starting QB, resulting in calls from a lot of fans to start rookie QB Tua Tagovailoa. I don’t know if it’s time for that just yet, as they want Tua to learn the system first, but I do think his time is coming soon. Although this team has a lot of talent, it’s not like they will be competing or contending any time soon. Might as well wait it out with Tua, much like the Chiefs did with Mahomes a few years ago.
23 – 
Bengals (1-2-1) 6
Congratulations to QB Joe Burrow for getting his first NFL win. He was due. Burrow and the Bengals offense looked very good on Sunday, racking up over 500 yards of total offense. RB Joe Mixon had himself a day with 3 total touchdowns. If Burrow can consistently get this kind of help from the weapons around him, then this team will win a lot more games. Cincy fans have to be delighted that they have found their franchise QB. I am very happy for those fans, and for Burrow himself. Both parties deserve it.
24 – 
Eagles (1-2-1) 4
QB Carson Wentz and Philadelphia finally decided they wanted to win a football game this year, and it was honestly fairly impressive. Wentz led his team to a 4th quarter comeback victory surrounded by a bunch of practice squad players who honestly might have side hustles bagging groceries. Seriously, who the hell is Travis Fulgham? The Eagles did get some help from San Francisco QB Nick Mullens, who pretty much gifted them a victory in the 4th quarter. Philly now sits atop the NFC East, which isn’t very impressive, but a division lead regardless. Next up is a very tough Steelers team that will likely put the Birds back in their place.
25 – 
Texans (0-4) 4
Houston dropped to 0-4 after a very tough home loss against the previously-winless Vikings, and decided to finally HC/GM Bill O’Brien. I went into the move yesterday, so check that out for my in-depth reaction to that. Romeo Crennel now has the keys to the Texans car, and will look to keep it on the road for the next 12 weeks. Luckily for Houston, they still have good offensive talent and can get themselves a great new HC this offseason. Unluckily, they are completely deprived of 1st and 2nd round picks for the next 2 years. Perhaps they should make some moves to get those back. If not, it’ll be a long rebuild for this team.
26 – 
Falcons (0-4) 4
Atlanta lost their fourth game in four tries in 2020, but at least they did it in style. Seriously, those all-white unis looked absolutely gorgeous under the Lambeau lights. It was an expected blowout loss for the Falcons, but I did not expect their offense to look so lethargic. Maybe it was the 9pm start, maybe it was the long road trip, or maybe it was the lasting effect of back to back blown leads, but this team did not look good at all. I’ll still keep them above some other 1-win teams because I simply think they’re better than those teams, but slowly, week by week, the Falcons are proving me wrong.
27 – 
Jaguars (1-3) 3
Jacksonville is back to their losing ways, but I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault in particular. They have simply been playing better teams. QB Gardner Minshew II is still putting up big numbers, which means the Jaguars are left out of the Trevor Lawrence Sweepstakes™ for another week. Sunday’s game is a reflection of how much of this season has been and will go for the Jags: staying in the fight but coming out on the losing side. This team is a couple of pieces away from being truly competitive, but I don’t think they have it this year.
28 – 
Lions (1-3) 3
Detroit needs to make some changes. With Sunday’s loss after being up 14-0, the Lions became the first team in NFL history to lose 6 straight games in which they were up double digits. Yes, that definitely is in the nature of Detroit sports, but that doesn’t mean changes can’t be made to help remedy it. HC Matt Patricia is now 10-25-1 in his Lions tenure. It’s time for him to go. The Lions have some good pieces on offense, but have struggled mightily on defense in 2020. They need to improve that area of the team in this rebuild if they want to be competitive in the future. Based on this team’s history, I do not see it happening.
29 – 
Broncos (1-3) 1
Denver got their first win of 2020 in exciting fashion on Thursday night against the Jets behind a decent outing from temporary starting QB Brett Rypien. Of course, anyone can look good when they face a team like the Jets. This team is still pretty bad, but they showed a lot of good flashes, especially rookie WR Jerry Jeudy and new RB Melvin Gordon. They might be in some games this year, but I don’t expect them to win many more in 2020.
30 – 
Washington (1-3) 3
Good God in heaven, if I could rank this team 32nd I absolutely would. Today’s decision to bench QB Dwayne Haskins for the foreseeable future in favor of backup QB Kyle Allen is one of the most upsetting decisions this team has made in a very long time. Haskins is a guy that has now been through 3 head coaches (none of whom have wanted him), 3 systems, has not even started a full NFL season’s worth of games, has been ridiculed by fans and the media for playing “poorly” when he was getting the job done, and has now likely played his last game in a Washington uniform. He is coming off one of the best games of his career in which he played perfectly fine, despite what some people might have you believe because of a couple of checkdowns here and there. It’s not Haskins’ fault that OC Scott Turner’s plays and designs are absolutely awful and limit what this team can do on offense. And for someone who has been labeled as “careless with the football”, he has only had 1 multi-turnover game as a starter. Additionally, Haskins has absolutely nothing to work with. He has a true WR1 in Terry McLaurin, and that’s about it. His starting tight end is a converted QB for crying out loud. This move is a testament to the incompetence and impatience of HC Ron Rivera, who knew exactly what he was getting with Haskins at QB, and a franchise who refuses to develop their young QBs, so they leave them out to die. It’s absolutely disgusting and heinous. Now, Kyle Allen gets the keys to the offense. Allen is a true turnover machine, unlike Haskins (who has been turnover-less in 3 of 4 games in 2020). Allen was 2019’s WORST GRADED PASSER according to PFF, and had as bad as 4 INT games last season. He gets the chance because he “knows the system” better and because the NFC East is so bad that Rivera thinks this team can win enough games with Allen to win the division. Yes, the division is bad, but we were already in first place for almost the entire season with Haskins playing the way he was playing. His confidence was going up, his chemistry with his receivers was going up, and this team was poised to start winning again. Instead, we get Kyle Allen. I genuinely hope we lose every game that Allen starts, and Haskins is able to go somewhere that he can truly be appreciated and developed into a winning QB. It’s what he deserves. I will always love him and appreciate what he had to offer in DC. It’s a shame that Dan Snyder and Ron Rivera didn’t. Today is one of the saddest days in recent memory with this team, and I am embarrassed to be a Washington football fan right now.
31 – 
Giants (0-4)
The Giants put up a much better fight than I ever could have imagined they would on Sunday in Inglewood. They were in that game from start to finish, and it wasn’t until a Daniel Jones turnover in the final minute that they were officially out of it. As I said when talking about the Rams, I think this is a one-time thing, but still, it must be a good confidence boost to not get absolutely curbstomped. This team still isn’t winning any games anytime soon, and is a real contender in the Trevor Lawrence Sweepstakes™, but I am proud of the fight they put up this week.
32 – 
Jets (0-4)
Yeah. You know what it is. The New York Jets, Adam Gase torture victims, ruiners of Sam Darnold, leaders of the Trevor Lawrence Sweepstakes™, permanent residents of the #32 spot on Raza’s weekly power rankings. Why isn’t Adam Gase fired yet? Who knows. All I know is that Sam Darnold is being wasted, as is the time of Jets fans. I’m sure they’ll enjoy watching Joe Flacco start the next couple of games at QB.
All stats taken from ESPN.
Raza Talks Sports 