NFL Power Rankings, Week 4: Lions and Chargers vault into top five, while Colts crack top 10

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If you were hoping for continuity in the Power Rankings, this edition isn’t for you.

No part of the league hierarchy is above scrutiny after a week when everything was seemingly thrown into the blender.

The Packers shockingly lost in Cleveland. The Jets nearly stunned the Buccaneers. Carolina blanked Atlanta, 30-zilch. The Colts remained white hot. The Texans lost another one.

Then came the Monday night statement, with the Lions out-Ravening the Ravens at Baltimore in a terrific all-around performance from Detroit. Dan Campbell’s group isn’t going anywhere.

Oh, and there were four blocked field-goal tries across the league on Sunday, two of which were run back for touchdowns and all of which occurred at critical points in the fourth quarter. The Rams-Eagles instant classic provided us with two of the swats and Jordan Davis’ epic return. Just batty stuff.

But it wasn’t all fun and games. Last week, quarterbacks were struck hard by injuries. This week, it was all-world edge rusher Nick Bosa and two former Pro Bowl running backs going down for the season and weakening three contenders.

Naturally, there was some serious shuffling of the league pecking order. As always, I recommend trying not to get too hung up on how many spots a team moved up or down. The Power Rankings are a two-way street, my friends, and everyone is moving all at once. But if you’re still mad with your favorite team’s placement, social media remains a fine place to rip me to shreds. Kindly.

NOTE: Up/down arrows below reflect movement from the Week 3 Power Rankings.

Yes, I did consider making a change at the very top — flip-flopping Philadelphia and Buffalo — for the first time this season. And yes, I am aware other Power Rankings pulled that lever. But with the Bills needing to scrap their way to victory over winless Miami, and following the Eagles’ rousing comeback against the Rams, I just couldn’t do it. Hearing Jalen Hurts talk after the game to Pam Oliver convinced me to keep the order as is: “If that doesn’t show you what type of team we are, I don’t know what does,” Hurts said. He also made an important point about the Eagles showing everyone who they were offensively in the second half. At halftime, they had 33 yards on 22 plays, the worst first half of offense in the Nick Sirianni era. Then, on the second snap of the second half, the Eagles fumbled it away inside their own 10-yard line. That’s how you fall behind 26-7 at home. But for the final 29 game minutes, Philly outscored L.A. 26-nothing, clamping down on defense and special teams and ringing up three long TD drives in four tries. This team just knows how to win games, with a fourth-and-goal TD and a blocked kick at the buzzer epitomizing that clutch gene.

The offense was methodical and effective against the Dolphins but really lacked a big-play element in the passing game, something that lingered a bit from the Jets game. Defensively, Buffalo also kept the door open for Miami to steal a win by allowing 10-of-15 third-down conversions. In the end, the Bills made enough plays and are earning a reputation as closers, having grown some thicker skin in the past few years. There’s also no real reason to panic, given that their next three opponents before the Week 7 bye (New Orleans, New England and Atlanta) all lost Sunday and have a combined two victories. The Bills will receive some defensive line reinforcements after the bye with Michael Hoecht and Larry Ogunjobi coming off suspension, and we could see rookie CB Maxwell Hairston (currently on injured reserve with a knee injury) prior to that point. Those should be some welcome additions to the defense.

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