NFL Week 4 Power Rankings

Five Quick Hits

* The 2-2 San Diego Chargers lead the NFL in most yards gained and fewest yards allowed per game.

* Colts receiver Reggie Wayne leads the NFL with 33 receptions. Colts receiver Austin Collie is tied for second, with 32 receptions. In a related story, Peyton Manning is good.

* Apparently some people were displeased last week when I wrote that I didn't enjoy Enrique Iglesias' halftime performance and that there was a good reason he was no longer famous. I apologize to all six of you.

* What on earth happened to Cameron Wake after the first quarter on Monday night? He was tearing apart the Patriots' offense, and then he just disappeared.

* The first half of Sunday night's battle between the Giants and Bears provided a terrific example of a really interesting defense-oriented game. That was equal parts good defense and bad offense, and it was great entertainment.

***

Eagle fans surprised me Sunday by giving Donovan McNabb a standing ovation, even though their former quarterback was introduced wearing the uniform of a division rival. It was a classy move by fans who gave their star player plenty of reasons to feel underappreciated, and it was also instructive concerning McNabb's classiness.

When Brett Favre went to Green Bay last year wearing Viking purple, he was resoundingly booed in the same scenario in which McNabb was cheered. That's not because Packer fans are nasty, and it's certainly not because Philadelphia fans are unusually generous. It's because McNabb is a basically good guy who was traded in a situation largely out of his control, and Favre is a narcissist who deliberately made things difficult for his old club. Packer fans knew it, and Eagle fans knew it. I salute the former for booing their old QB, and the latter for cheering theirs. Good show, Philadelphia.

On to the Week 4 power rankings. Brackets indicate last week's rank.

1. Pittsburgh Steelers [1] — Yeah, they lost, but I'm not ready to rank the Chiefs here. Ben Roethlisberger comes back next week, and while he's likely to show some rust, he's also likely to put some more life in Pittsburgh's underachieving pass attack. Mike Wallace has got to be a bigger part of the offense.

2. Baltimore Ravens [4] — Two fantastic games, beating the Steelers and Jets, sandwich a pair of really mediocre performances, losing to the Bengals and squeaking by the Browns. Baltimore's passing game, anemic the first two weeks, has taken flight the last two. Fantasy football owners who gave up on Joe Flacco after Week 2 and made aggressive trades to get Michael Vick are now punching themselves in the head.

3. New York Jets [5] — The offense, written off following a pitiful Week 1, now appears to be among the league's best. The team ranks second in rushing yards, third in passer rating, fifth in scoring, and first in turnover differential. The Jets are poised to add Santonio Holmes (suspension) and Darrelle Revis (injury) to a lineup that already looks great without them. The Jets lead the NFL in point differential (+45).

4. New England Patriots [15] — Won with special teams. The Patriots had fewer yards, fewer first downs, worse third down percentage, and less time of possession, but they won by 27. Second-year safety Pat Chung, who has been impressive all season, blocked a punt, blocked a field goal, and returned an interception 51 yards for a touchdown. Randy Moss didn't catch a pass, but Wes Welker caught 8, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushed for 76 yards and a touchdown.

5. Green Bay Packers [6] — Looked great the first two weeks, mediocre the last two. The Packers ran only 40 offensive plays this weekend, barely half as many as the Lions (78), and lost time of possession by more than 15 minutes. After giving away last week's game against Chicago with penalties and other miscues, this week Green Bay was the beneficiary as Detroit racked up 13 fouls for over 100 yards.

6. Atlanta Falcons [7] — What a special player Roddy White has become. He's second in the NFL in receptions, sixth in receiving yards, and his hustle on Sunday created a turnover that led to Atlanta's game-winning drive.

7. Indianapolis Colts [2] — They're 0-2 in the AFC South, 2-0 outside it. Don't panic too much about the loss to Jacksonville. The game ended on a kick that misses 90% of the time, and the Jaguars always play Indy tough. Apart from the time left on the clock, that was a classic Peyton Manning drive to tie the game, and as long as he still has the magic, this team can compete with anyone. The Colts got no sacks this weekend, and this team does need more consistent play from its defense.

8. Tennessee Titans [3] — Is it time to worry about Chris Johnson? In Week 4, he carried 19 times for 53 yards, the third straight week he's averaged under 4 yards per attempt. If we include preseason, which we probably shouldn't, it was the sixth time in his last seven games that Johnson was held under 4 yds/att, the fourth time time he was under 3 yds/att. I'd like to see Vince Young run more, to open things up for the rest of the offense.

9. Dallas Cowboys [11] — Every team in the NFC East has two losses. I still believe Dallas is the outstanding team in the division. If DeMarcus Ware can consistently perform the way he did in Week 3 (or the past five seasons, for that matter), the Cowboys have the best defense in the group, and if Jason Garrett is willing to call runs once in a while, they have the best offense, too.

10. Kansas City Chiefs [13] — The most intriguing matchup of Week 5 pits the undefeated Chiefs against the 2-2 Colts. We're about to find out which of these two teams is for real.

11. New Orleans Saints [8] — Averaged 31.9 points per game last season. So far this year, they're at 19.8, right between the Lions (20.5) and Rams (19.2). Drew Brees' continuing excellence notwithstanding, they look like a pretty average offensive team. The opponents they've beaten have a combined record of 1-10.

12. Houston Texans [12] — Players who have gained at least 500 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in the first four games of a season: Jim Brown, Billy Sims, Emmitt Smith, and Arian Foster. The '63 Browns, '80 Lions, and '95 Cowboys all opened 4-0. Houston is 3-1. That's a heck of a track record.

13. San Diego Chargers [18] — A rankings rollercoaster, great one week and awful the next. Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates are always exceptional, but this time around they were even a little better than usual, and some of their teammates showed up, too. Shaun Phillips had four sacks and an interception.

14. Miami Dolphins [9] — Last season, the Dolphins beat the Jets in Week 8 because of superior special teams. On Monday night, they lost because of special teams disasters: a pair of blocked kicks and a kickoff returned for a touchdown. Offensively and defensively, the game was close.

15. Minnesota Vikings [16] — Last season, relying on a strong running game and playing a remarkably weak schedule, Favre threw only 7 interceptions. Through three games this year, Favre already has 6 INTs, putting him on pace for 32. His passer rating is 60.4, about the same as Derek Anderson (59.5).

16. Cincinnati Bengals [10] — Terrell Owens, at age 36, is fifth in the NFL in receiving yards (374). Last season, when they won the AFC North, the Bengals were one of four teams with at least 500 rushing attempts, averaging 128.5 rushing yards per game. This year, they're 16th in rush attempts per game and average just 92 yards on the ground.

17. Denver Broncos [23] — It has come to this, Bears fans: Kyle Orton leads the NFL in passing yards. He's actually on pace, and this doesn't mean much after four games, for 5,676 yards, which would shatter the single-season record (5,084, set by Dan Marino in 1984). I'm not sure this is a good thing, but Orton actually led the Broncos in rushing this week, too, with 11 yards.

18. Washington Redskins [20] — I'm not sure how they're doing so well. There's not anything they're particularly good at. They're don't have a great passing game or a consistent ground attack, and they're terrible on third down. They're not a great run defense, and they can't stop the pass. They're pretty average rushing the passer, and they don't create turnovers. But they protect the ball and make plays when they have to, and they're 2-0 in their division. A couple funny bounces the other way, and this team could be 0-4, or 4-0.

19. Philadelphia Eagles [14] — I wrote two weeks ago about how often Michael Vick gets hit, and now it looks like he's probably out for at least a couple of weeks with a rib injury. Kevin Kolb's stats against Washington weren't awful, and he put the team in position to win. Certainly, the loss doesn't fall solely on Kolb. But DeSean Jackson caught three passes for 19 yards on Sunday, with a long of 9. This guy is one of the premier deep threats in the NFL, and you simply cannot ignore him to check it down to the running back 12 times.

20. New York Giants [21] — In Week 4 of the 2007 season, Osi Umenyiora sacked Donovan McNabb 6 times. For 30 minutes, culminating in a concussion that knocked Jay Cutler out of the game, it looked like that kind of night in the Meadowlands. Justin Tuck and Umenyiora registered 3 sacks each, combining for 3 forced fumbles, and led the Giants to a win in which only two offensive skill players (Ahmad Bradshaw and Hakeem Nicks) did anything to speak of.

21. Chicago Bears [17] — That's a night Jay Cutler will want to forget ... and there's a good chance he'll get his wish. Sorry, no more concussion jokes. The Bears went 0/13 on third downs Sunday night, and their offense was ineffective in pretty much every way possible. As of this writing it is not clear who will start at quarterback next week. Cutler apparently might, and I'm not sure that's such a good idea.

22. Cleveland Browns [28] — This is a different, much better offense with Seneca Wallace and Peyton Hillis. Those two should keep their jobs even when the whole team is healthy. It's nice to see Josh Cribbs getting more touches on offense, too. Matt Roth sacked Carson Palmer twice this weekend, and Kenyon Coleman recovered two Palmer fumbles. It's entirely possible that the Browns should rank higher than this.

23. Seattle Seahawks [19] — Bye in Week 5, so they have plenty of time to mull over the fact that they lost to the Rams by 17. The last time the Rams beat anyone by 17 was two years ago, and it was two years before that, too. I think it's even money that the NFC West champion will finish below .500.

24. San Francisco 49ers [24] — This is how bad the NFC West is: the 49ers are 0-4, and they still have a very real chance to win their division. Nate Clements made what should have been a game-ending interception against Atlanta, giving the Niners their first win of the season. Fall on the ball, run out the clock. Clements, though, went for personal glory, losing the ball and the game.

25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers [25] — This is much too early in the season for bye weeks.

26. St. Louis Rams [27] — James Hall is not particularly well-known to most fans, but this is his 11th season in the NFL. Against Seattle, Hall picked up his 50th career sack and his third forced fumble of the season, tying him with James Harrison and Umenyiora for the league lead. Everyone wants to talk about Sam Bradford having an okay game, but you'll beat just about anyone when you only allow three points.

27. Jacksonville Jaguars [31] — Offense came alive against the Colts, with huge games from both David Garrard and Maurice Jones-Drew. The hero, of course, was Josh Scobee, who made a 59-yard field goal as time expired, and then went appropriately crazy. That's a huge kick. I'm not sure what this means, but Garrard threw exclusively to Tiquan Underwood on the final drive. Mike Sims-Walker, the team's leading receiver in 2009, was held without a catch for the second time this season.

28. Detroit Lions [26] — Against the Packers, Shaun Hill passed for 331 yards and ran for 53 more. Hill has played well in relief of the injured Matthew Stafford, though probably not well enough to start a serious quarterback controversy, especially in a year when the Lions are clearly not playoff-bound. Four Lion receivers, including two tight ends (Brandon Pettigrew and Tony Scheffler), have at least 20 catches this season. Pettigrew leads the team in both receptions (22) and yards (249).

29. Oakland Raiders [29] — Tight end Zach Miller had a career game: 11 catches, 122 yards, 1 TD. Apart from Darren McFadden and Miller, the passing game was not successful, with Bruce Gradkowski taking four sacks and committing three turnovers. NFL teams need wide receivers in order to win.

30. Arizona Cardinals [22] — Derek Anderson could single-handedly get Kurt Warner into the Hall of Fame. Most fans expected a dropoff in the Cardinals' passing game, but not like this. Rookie Max Hall came in for Anderson this Sunday, and it seems unlikely he can be any worse. Arizona was out-gained by nearly 300 yards in this weekend's rout.

31. Carolina Panthers [32] — James Anderson had a huge game against the Saints: 14 tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble. Steve Smith's ankle injury drops their pathetic passing game to the level of a good college team.

32. Buffalo Bills [30] — Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick led the Bills in rushing this weekend, and that's seldom a good sign. Worse is that Fitzpatrick led the team by 50 yards. Buffalo has been outscored by 64 points this year, an average of more than two touchdowns per game.