Week 4 NFL Power Rankings and Week 4 Picks

Miami Dolphins rise into the top 3. Cardinals are no longer the worst team in the NFL.

The Miami Dolphins’ offense was supposed to be good. But it wasn’t supposed to be scoring-70-points-in-one-game good. Tua Tagovailoa is anticipating and putting deep passes on target better than some gave him credit for. We all knew Tyreek Hill was fast, but he’s really faaaast. Coach Mike McDaniel had a whole offseason to analyze what happened last year and scheme up new ways to humiliate defenses. The running game is also better than I had projected in my preseason power rankings, and the offensive line, which was ranked as one of the worst in the league by PFF and Pro Football Network in preseason, has been ranked as No. 6 in the latest PFF ratings.

Scoreboard at a Dolphins game. Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash.

So the Dolphins are the biggest risers, moving up to No. 4, ahead of the Bengals, Ravens, and Cowboys, after ranking as No. 7 last week and No. 9 in Week 2.

The full Week 4 power rankings:

1 Kansas City Chiefs

2 Philadelphia Eagles

Are the stars aligning for another Kelce vs. Kelce Super Bowl? This time with Taylor Swift in the luxury box?

3 Miami Dolphins

4 San Francisco 49ers

5 Cincinnati Bengals

6 Dallas Cowboys

7 Baltimore Ravens

8 Buffalo Bills

9 Cleveland Browns

10 Green Bay Packers

11 Denver Broncos

12 Los Angeles Chargers

13 Detroit Lions

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The Detroit Lions face the division rival Green Bay Packers this week on Thursday Night Football! The Lions were projected to win the NFC North this year, but Packers QB Jordan Love has been off to a fast start.

Love is one of the leaders in terms of EPA per pass. Will Jordan Love begin a new era of Packers’ divisional dominance, or will Jared Goff and Jahmyr Gibbs author a new chapter? Watch Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime! (Purchases through affiliate link help support the publication of Mitch’s Picks.)

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14 Seattle Seahawks

15 New Orleans Saints

16 Jacksonville Jaguars

17 Pittsburgh Steelers

18 Minnesota Vikings

19 Washington Commanders

20 Indianapolis Colts

21 New York Jets

22 New England Patriots

23 Atlanta Falcons

24 New York Giants

25 Las Vegas Raiders

26 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

27 Tennessee Titans

28 Los Angeles Rams

29 Houston Texans

30 Chicago Bears

31 Arizona Cardinals

32 Carolina Panthers

Some analysis for Premium Subscribers

Tua Tagovailoa is the eighth-best quarterback in the NFL. He’s putting up better numbers than Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, and Trevor Lawrence, but those quarterbacks are more talented than Tua. Although Burrow, Hurts, and Lawrence are on cold streaks at the beginning of the season, I expect they will be playing better by the end of the season (unless Burrow’s calf injury gets worse).

The Dolphins’ offense (not including QB) is the second-best, behind only the Eagles. The Eagles still have a better overall running game and an elite offensive line, while the improved Fins’ line is above average but not elite.