Conor Orr’s Week 4 NFL Power Rankings: Bills Take Over Top Spot

Buffalo found a way to win ugly and maintain its unbeaten start to the season, while the much-hyped Rams keep tumbling down.

Josh Allen and the Bills are 3–0 for the third straight season. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Welcome back to another week of NFL Power Rankings. There is much to discuss. To get you caught up on everything, be sure you are subscribed to The MMQB Podcast audio version, as well as our YouTube channel. This was a weekend that provided the full NFL experience. A large quantity of great games coming down to the wire, a few high-profile officiating blunders that could alter the course of the season, Tom Brady calling an interception a Meatball Sub and more Case Keenum than you probably ordered. Let’s get right to it. 

1. Buffalo Bills (3–0) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 2
Last week’s result: beat Chargers, 24–16
This week: vs. Patriots

As Joe Brady told Albert Breer in his Monday morning notes, this was a perfect situation for the Bills, who weathered the most horrendous of in-game circumstances—four turnovers and a pedestrian game from Josh Allen—to grind out a victory over a winless, but still quality opponent. A season is littered with trials of different kinds, but this one was about winning ugly. 

2. Kansas City Chiefs (3–0)

Last week’s ranking: No. 3
Last week’s result: beat Dolphins, 24–10
This week: at Raiders

Here is a bit of a mea culpa and explainer on why the Kansas City Chiefs are very real. I’d check it out if I were you. 

3. Seattle Seahawks (2–1) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 1
Last week’s result: lost to Commanders, 33–31
This week: vs. Chargers

What if I told you the Seahawks got four passing touchdowns from Sam Darnold and were playing against the Jayden Daniels-less Commanders and somehow lost the game? You would say that each year there are four to five games that we’ll probably never think of again because they are so inexplicable and strange in hindsight and are closer to a dream than reality. This would be one of those games. 

4. Denver Broncos (2–1)

Last week’s ranking: No. 7
Last week’s result: beat Rams, 30–26
This week: at 49ers

In a game like this one, I go back to something Marvin Lewis told me for a profile I did of Vance Joseph last year leading into the postseason. Joseph has probably saved Sean Payton’s behind a few more times than Payton would care to admit. Such was the case in a frantic finale against the Rams that showcased just how heartbreaking this defense can be. 

Wide receiver Parker Washington has emerged as a star for the Jaguars to begin the season. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

5. Jacksonville Jaguars (2–1)

Last week’s ranking: No. 11
Last week’s result: beat Patriots, 35–6
This week: at Bengals

Fourth in EPA per play on offense. Fourth in EPA per play allowed on defense. The only negative on the Jaguars’ resume right now is a difficult early-season cross country road trip to Denver. In short, the Jaguars are a legitimate contender that will only look better a month from now. 

6. San Francisco 49ers (3–0)

Last week’s ranking: No. 4
Last week’s result: beat Cardinals, 36–30
This week: vs. Broncos

A convincing win over the Cardinals was bittersweet as it exposed what seems to be the redline of San Francisco’s depth. Like last year, there is only so far this team can go without its best players—or even enough players. Still, Brock Purdy with an early throw of the year candidate. 

7. Los Angeles Rams (1–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 5
Last week’s result: lost to Broncos, 30–26
This week: at Eagles

I was skewered for this take on Monday, so what better way to proceed than to double down? If Myles Garrett is in that game are we talking about Denver erasing a 16-point deficit? The issue with the Rams is going to be patience as we wait for the team we were promised to finally materialize together. When Aaron Donald signed, I predicted it would look a little like trying to see the Dodgers at their playoff roster strength. That feels accurate a month into the season. 

8. Chicago Bears (2–1)

Last week’s ranking: No. 12
Last week’s result: beat Eagles, 27–7
This week: vs. Jets

I think about my dear, late friend Chris Wesseling at least once a day. What a treat it was to see Case Keenum back in the mix, and, because of that, one of Chris’s wonderful little gems. 

Let your Case Keenum flag fly!

— Chris Wesseling (@ChrisWesseling) November 17, 2013

9. Las Vegas Raiders (3–0)

Last week’s ranking: No. 21
Last week’s result: beat Saints, 35–27
This week: vs. Chiefs

The Raiders are getting their Mariah Carey moment in this week’s power rankings. Every year, Carey peaks on the Billboard charts and we celebrate her arrival and understand her departure without judgement. Las Vegas has earned its moment here after a third shape-shifting victory, this time over the Saints. Brock Bowers is the most imposing receiver we’ve seen since peak A.J. Brown. 

10. Baltimore Ravens (2–1)

Last week’s ranking: No. 10
Last week’s result: beat Cowboys, 34–31
This week: vs. Titans

While the victory came on the heels of a disastrous procedural error (errors?) by the Cowboys, this was a narrative-changing moment for the Ravens, who have struggled long before the days of Jesse Minter with the idea that they wilt late in football games. Can it be a Jayden Daniels Hail Mary-type exorcism? 

11. Minnesota Vikings (3–0)

Last week’s ranking: No. 8
Last week’s result: beat Buccaneers, 23–16
This week: vs. Dolphins

The Vikings hover in this territory, dropping just a tad to reflect the disappointing debut of Kyler Murray. That said, if he ascends even to his career average and the defense and special teams hold serve, this team is going to be postseason-bound and dangerous. 

12. Philadelphia Eagles (2–1)

Last week’s ranking: No. 9
Last week’s result: lost to Bears, 27–7
This week: vs. Rams

There’s a lot of very real discussion to be had about the Eagles, but I am still absolutely gobsmacked by how fresh-from-Cabo tan Big Dom looked on the broadcast Monday. I can’t be the only one who noticed this. 

13. Cincinnati Bengals (2–1)

Last week’s ranking: No. 6
Last week’s result: lost to Steelers, 30–27
This week: vs. Jaguars

Losing to the Steelers, an offense that I felt was one of the worst in the NFL over the first two weeks of the season, was incredibly disappointing on its face but also underneath the hood. Coverage busts. Missed or unwilling tacklers. The AFC North is less of a division than a bizzaro circle that exists outside time and space that must conform to certain truisms—one being that all teams must play down to the level of one another. 

14. Detroit Lions (2–1)

Last week’s ranking: No. 18
Last week’s result: beat Jets, 31–24
This week: at Panthers

Jared Goff is one of six quarterbacks in NFL history to start the season with more than 800 yards passing and eight touchdowns in three games. If the Lions can go out and get themselves Joey Porter, all will be right in the world, as the offense is holding up its end of the bargain. 

Josh Downs has been the Colts' leading receiver through three games. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

15. Indianapolis Colts (1–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 16
Last week’s result: beat Texans, 19–17
This week: vs. Commanders (London)

The Carlie Irsay-Gordpn discourse has become strange to me. So many teams suffer due to the indifference of penny-pinching absentee owners. You can argue that her presence on the sideline is performative, but I would argue that this is the development of a bulls— detector that will come in handy when Irsay-Gordon has to sit in on important interviews in the coming months. 

16. Houston Texans (0–3) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 13
Last week’s result: lost to Colts, 19–17
This week: vs. Cowboys

When you get as involved in a team’s success as I did, the absolute breakdown of its most vulnerable unit—the one you believed would look brand new—feels especially difficult to stomach. But I would like to be a fly on the wall during the next phase of offensive meetings for the Houston Texans. Where is the machine coming unplugged? 

17. Cleveland Browns (2–1)

Last week’s ranking: No. 26
Last week’s result: beat Panthers, 21–18
This week: vs. Steelers

Kudos to Browns defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg, who broke into the league back in 2013 and finally climbed into the defensive coordinator chair this season, months before the team dealt their best defensive player. Since that moment, all we’ve heard about is the rapid development of young stars like Mason Graham and the continued development of Carson Schwesinger. 

18. Pittsburgh Steelers (2–1) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 30
Last week’s result: beat Bengals, 30–27
This week: at Browns

I think Steelers fans getting overly excited about this Bengals victory should ask themselves how many games will feature Aaron Rodgers approaching four seconds on average in every dropback and having Rodgers arrive to his post-game media availability intact. A strange Bengals defensive outing, letting a gunslinger do what he does best: hang in there, manipulate coverage and make good throws. 

19. Dallas Cowboys (1–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 19
Last week’s result: lost to Ravens, 34–31
This week: at Texans

We talk often about the magic dust wearing off of coaches in Year 2 and, for some of the lucky ones, in Year 3. While Brian Schottenheimer is certainly a candidate, I thought his complete and total willingness to take the blame for Dallas’s poor playcalling down the stretch was an appropriate self-own that will diffuse a season that hasn’t started according to plan. 

Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has thrown six interceptions with just one touchdown in three games. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

20. New England Patriots (1–2) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 15
Last week’s result: lost to Jaguars, 35–6
This week: at Bills

We spent the entire playoff run telling Mike Vrabel miracle healer stories (guilty as charged). Well, his quarterback is pressing, making throws out of frustration and abandoning the flow of the offense. It’s time for that Mike Vrabel to show up for Drake Maye. 

21. New Orleans Saints (1–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 14
Last week’s result: lost to Raiders, 35–27
This week: vs. Falcons

The Travis Etienne hamstring injury is definitely going to scramble the equation for the Saints, though this team is still my overwhelming favorite at this point to eventually take charge of this miserable division. 

22. Green Bay Packers (1–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 17
Last week’s result: lost to Falcons, 35–14
This week: at Buccaneers

We’re at the panic-sign Mekhi Becton and Laken Tomlinson portion of the 2026 NFL season in Green Bay. Needless to say, this has not gone according to plan. 

23. Carolina Panthers (1–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 20
Last week’s result: lost to Browns, 21–18
This week: vs. Lions

Amid a three-way tie for first place in the NFC South, with all teams currently resting at 1–2 (a very NFC South sentence), the Panthers are the only team with a positive point differential. This, despite giving up 59 points in the season opener. This has been your Carolina Panthers minute, and now a word from our sponsor.  

24. New York Giants (2–1)

Last week’s ranking: No. 22
Last week’s result: beat Titans, 12–7
This week: vs. Cardinals

My 5-year-old son is a Giants fan and on Sunday he said he wanted to cover the game with me. If you want my J.J. McCarthy takes you can check out the column here. But in this space, I’ll spend just one more moment reflecting on a great afternoon. His takeaway: with a little more practice, Jameis Winston can be really good! 

25. New York Jets (1–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 23
Last week’s result: lost to Jets, 31–24
This week: at Bears

Kenyon Sadiq is an absolute boss, and the perfect archetype in the post-12 personnel era where the tight end wide receiver hybrid is going to evolve along the lines of Brock Bowers. 

26. Washington Commanders (1–2)

Last week’s ranking: No. 28
Last week’s result: beat Seahawks, 33–31
This week: vs. Colts (London)

I really loved this story about the rest of the Commanders’ captains coming together to insist Marcus Mariota was made a season-long captain in Jayden Daniels’s absence. He seems to be one of the game’s true beloved souls. 

27. Los Angeles Chargers (0–3)

Last week’s ranking: No. 24
Last week’s result: lost to Bills, 24–16
This week: at Seahawks

Column on the Chargers, who should be investigated for wire fraud. 

Falcons receiver Drake London erupted for 194 yards on nine catches in Thursday's win over the Packers. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

28. Atlanta Falcons (1–2) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 31
Last week’s result: beat Packers, 35–14
This week: at Saints

Michael Penix Jr. was one of the best quarterbacks of Week 3, which is incredibly impressive considering he was essentially coming straight off injured reserve. Atlanta has him getting rid of the ball quickly and decisively. Thankfully, also, in the hands of his elite playmakers. 

29. Arizona Cardinals (2–1)

Last week’s ranking: No. 25
Last week’s result: lost to 49ers, 36–30
This week: at Giants

A fun stat from Cardinals Reddit (fun is subjective): Of the three 80-plus yard scoring plays so far of the 2026 season, two of them were surrendered by Arizona. 

30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0–3) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 27
Last week’s result: lost to Vikings, 23–16
This week: vs. Packers

Given that Baker Mayfield finally got his contractual due from an NFL franchise, I feel less bad about expressing just a slight amount of excitement in seeing his backup, the 2026 undrafted free agent Jalon Daniels. This season is close to curtains for Todd Bowles & Co., but I don’t think anyone would mind seeing the kid take a shot.  

31. Tennessee Titans (0–3)

Last week’s ranking: No. 29
Last week’s result: lost to Giants, 12–7
This week: at Ravens

I’m legitimately sad for Cam Ward, who had two chances for signature moments stolen in crunch time in subsequent weeks. The Eagles game at the hands of Jalen Hurts and the Giants game coming on one of the most ill-advised passes you’ll see. The kid is tough, but he could have used that touchdown to get an irritable fanbase off his back. 

32. Miami Dolphins (0–3) 

Last week’s ranking: No. 32
Last week’s result: lost to Chiefs, 24–10
This week: at Vikings

De’Von Achane is out for the season. The Dolphins are nearly eight times as likely to receive the No. 1 pick than the next-closest contender according to ESPN analytics. How will Arch Manning like South Beach, I wonder?