Week four of the NFL has delivered once again with many events, either terrific, or terrifying. With blocked field goals during final seconds, to great teams losing, the NFL excitement is nonstop. But recently, this week’s power ranking has taken a different direction. While some undefeated teams are still trying to get their teams together, ESPN’S reporters went into this situation with concerns for not only the best teams in the NFL, but all of them.
Let’s talk about the No.1 in week four rankings, the Philadelphia Eagles (3-0) who moved up a spot after their win against the Los Angeles Rams. Even after their undefeated start, the Eagles are starting to lose that streak. According to ESPN it stated that this week, they ranked dead last in defensive rush success rate which was 45.1% and over 133 yards per game on the ground.
On the other hand, the Buffalo Bills were sitting at No.2. Even though they shut down the New York Jets in week two, they allowed the Miami Dolphins to move 10 of 15 third downs and still managed to struggle. Player Ed Oliver and Matt Milano, with terrible injuries, have also made the future for this team concerned.
Other top tier teams, like the Detroit Lions, have climbed up to No.3 after a win over the Baltimore Ravens, but that doesn’t mean that this team should be ranked in the top three. The Lions pass rush this week lacked depth, and consistency. With Marcus Davenport, the Lions defensive end, out because of injuries, the Lions are counting on other players to provide relief for this team.
At No.4 and No.5, the Los Angeles Rams, and the Green Bay Packers. For the Rams, they face more of a situational issue with stopping opponents on fourth down. With the Green Bay Packers, who dropped two spots after an embarrassing loss to the Cleveland Browns. However, the main issue for the team would be their final takeaways. After these few games, it’s obvious that the defense is failing to generate passion for this team, as well as trying to turn their performance into a way they would get more recognition.
Teams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Fransico 49ers, have also had some issues getting a great head start. The Bucs defense moved in the fourth quarter, which allowed big plays late in the game, but still left undefeated. But for the San Fransico 49ers, the loss of pre-defensive end Nick Bosa to a season ending torn ACL in week three was a massive issue.
The last two teams to wrap up the major power rankings of week 4 are the Baltimore Ravens, and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Ravens have missed 200 yards after contact, The Chiefs pressured on 51.9 percent of his drop backs in week 4, marking the second-straight week for Kansas City with a pressure rate over 50 percent. They are still searching for pass rush support rather than Chris Jones.
There are so many exciting matchups this upcoming week, and viewers will see if any of these teams will improve this week, or if any of the big teams will get upset by another team. Will their defenses get better and see the outcome from the before and after? With this NFL season just starting, and many more weeks to come, the NFL has just started to shape how these teams will address their outstanding issue, and if it will impact their many more games to come.
