NFL 2023-2024 Power Rankings a Quarter into the Season; Two Teams Remain Undefeated
- Anthony Martinez
- Oct 4, 2023
- 11 min read
LR – Stands for Last Ranking
We’re a quarter into the 2023-2024 NFL season and a lot of movement in the rankings has started to take place as expected, especially around the bottom and mid-pack of the league. These are the teams that have not started the season well by any means and in some circumstances, it’s been a disaster.
#32 Chicago Bears (LR:22) – The Chicago Bears have been an absolute mess. For three weeks their performance and competitiveness have been borderline nonexistent. They managed to be competitive with the Bucs but still came up short. Finally, in week four the offense let loose and fans saw the Justin Fields they started to love last season, but, the defense collapsed and some horrific coaching decisions hurt them and they lost yet again and moved to 0-4.
#31 Carolina Panthers (LR:21) – 0-4 and they don’t have their first-round pick next year so it’s a rough start, to say the least. Mix that with a defense that isn’t playing well and a horrible running game, it’s hard to get Bryce Young comfortable and let him perform. Still, he’s an accurate passer and seems talented enough to be a good quarterback in the league, time will just tell.
#30 Denver Broncos (LR:19) – They finally got a win but it was against the disaster that is the Chicago Bears. If they had lost that game, they would be at the bottom of this list to match their historically bad defense. The offense has been improved over last season but not elite enough to offset their defense.
#29 New York Giants (LR:15) – Maybe the worst offense in the league, Daniel Jones hasn’t played well and his offensive line has been even worse for him, not helping him in the slightest. They had the one comeback against the Cardinals for their lone win, but, it was against lackluster competition and they haven’t even been competitive in their other three games this season.
#28 Arizona Cardinals (LR:32) – Even though they lost to the Giants, they placed higher than for the sole reason of being competitive in their games. They’re not as talented as most of the teams and probably still the least talented team in the league but they fight hard and Dobbs has played better than most expected him to.
#27 New England Patriots (LR:23) – Competitive the first two games despite definitely being overmatched in their games, they managed to keep it close. Got a close win over the Jets who were reeling after the loss of Rodgers. Then they got pummeled by the Cowboys and it’s been overall a big disappointment for this team. Mac Jones hasn’t played well, their run game has been horrible and their defense got exposed by the Cowboys, a rough start for the Patriots.
#26 Las Vegas Raiders (LR:31) – The Raiders offense is nonexplosive, to say the least. Josh Jacobs is averaging 2.7 yards a carry and if he isn’t going, the offense won’t go. Their defense is suspect like most suspected and with Garoppolo’s injury still in question, it could continue to get worse for the Raiders.
#25 Washington Commanders (LR:25) – Somewhat a weird team so far, sometimes they look solid and won two close games but, it was against bad competition in the Cardinals and Broncos. Then got handed a beating by the Bills and came up short in a close game against the Eagles surprisingly. It’s hard to tell where this team is held up in comparison to the competition, a lot could be answered against their Thursday night game against the Bears.
#24 Atlanta Falcons (LR:24) – This offense isn’t good enough, and Desmond Ridder isn’t dynamic enough. His saving grace was not throwing a bunch of interceptions but then proceeded to throw two bad ones against the Jaguars. Bjian is superbly talented and the defense is solid but this passing game is really going to hold them back unless they make some big changes.
This section is for teams that have enough talent to be a hard win for just about any team and while they might not compete for a division title this year they may not be far off.
#23 New York Jets (LR:6) – This one hurts, for Jets fans and just fans of football overall. Losing Aaron Rodgers is the biggest loss this team could have obviously and it happened immediately. They managed a shock win against the Bills and have been mostly competitive and played well against the Chiefs. Zach Wilson’s growth is the thing to watch out for, for one his maturity seems to be improving a lot and he’s going to get the respect and love from his teammates. He’s taking accountability and wants to win for his brothers, he’s going to gain a lot of supporters who want to see him do well.
#22 Indianapolis Colts (LR:26) – Let’s be real this team should be 1-3, that win over Baltimore had many questionable calls by the refs that went against the Ravens. Still, they won and also beat the Texans, so this team feels like it belongs in this area, they have not swung one way or the other and a big division matchup against the Titans this upcoming Sunday will be telling.
#21 Tennessee Titans (LR:28) – This team is flip-floppy, lose a close game, win a close game. Lose badly against the Browns, win big against the Bengals. Not consistent at all so they’re hard to place. Tannehill seems like he has regressed this season and it would be surprising to see him return as the starter next season.
#20 Los Angeles Rams (LR:30) – The Rams have overachieved in a sense this season so far. Had a dominant win in week one against a good Seattle team and while they’re 2-2 in total they’ve been competitive in their losses. They also found a huge steal in Puka Nacua who now has the record for most receptions through four games with 39, averaging almost 10 a game.
#19 Pittsburgh Steelers (LR:18) – This team could be lower realistically if it wasn’t for their coaches’ reputation and the expectation that they’ll manage to win games in spite of themselves. They got slammed in two different games, against the 49ers and the Texans with a combined score of 13-60.
#18 Minnesota Vikings (LR:16) – This is definitely the best 1-3 team currently in the NFL, they lost to good teams in competitive fashion and took their first win of the season against the Panthers. Kirk Cousins is still playing well and Justin Jefferson is unstoppable. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get much easier in the next couple of weeks for the Vikings as two of their next three games are against the Chiefs and 49ers.
#17 Houston Texans (LR:27) – One of the biggest jumps of the list, the Texans have looked very good the last two weeks and seem to be building momentum quickly. CJ Stroud has been great for a rookie quarterback and good in general, throwing 300 yards a game six touchdowns, and zero interceptions. He’s matured quickly, now they just need to focus on getting a run game going.
These teams have a good shot of making the playoffs for the upcoming season, whether that be as a Wild Card team or a winner of a weaker division.
#16 New Orleans Saints (LR:14) – This team is hard to judge, could easily be 3-1 if they hadn’t collapsed against the Packers. Mix that with the injury to Derek Carr and them just getting Alvin Kamara back but also losing Jamaal Williams. Still, their two wins were really close and they got controlled by the Buccaneers which is concerning but if they can get healthy and get in rhythm, they should still be a solid team.
#15 Green Bay Packers (LR:17) – There seems to be a clear ceiling for this team, they’re outmatched by the Lions, they’re on the level right below, and can compete with teams like the Saints. In terms of the big change with Jordan Love starting it’s been a mixed bag. He was being clean with not tossing interceptions although now he’s had a few and his biggest issue is just overall accuracy, completing just 56% of his passes and he’s clearly just missed on a number of throws. Enough to be concerned about for the Packers but there is still plenty of season left to see if he grows more and starts being on target or is he simply just not an accurate quarterback.
#14 Cincinnati Bengals (LR:5) – A disclaimer, this ranking is simply because of expectations of what we expect of this team and how much talent they have. Joe Burrow has been dealing with injury but this offense has just been shockingly bad. The worst offense up there with the Giants so far which no one expected. It seems more likely that they’ll eventually figure it out but time is running out. Either Burrow needs to improve or he needs to rest and come back stronger later in this season.
#13 Cleveland Browns (LR:20) – The defense of the Browns is serious. Super Bowl level defense and that’s no exaggeration. Flipping to the offense and it gets tricky. They lose Nick Chubb for the rest of the season which is a huge loss that can’t be overstated. In recent news, there was an odd situation where Deshaun Watson didn’t play the last game but his head coach the next day said he was cleared to play but he chose to sit himself out of the game. Truly a bizarre situation that should make Browns fans a bit uncomfortable when situations like these happen.
#12 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (LR:29) – The Buccaneers have had the biggest jump out of any of the teams through the first quarter, jumping from 29th all the way to 12th. The offense has been pretty mild still through the 3-1 record, and the run game is below average but Rachaad White is talented. Baker Mayfield has taken care of the ball better than expected but has had some glimpses of his past issues against the Eagles and the end zone interception against the Saints. Still, their defense has led them to the 3-1 record and their receiver duo is still playing at a very high level and if Baker can continue to feed them they can compete further in the season.
#11 Jacksonville Jaguars (LR:9) – Not been the ideal start, most figured this team would be 3-1 right now and thriving more offensively but there have been some struggles. The offense has been solid regardless and the game against the Texans was just overly sloppy. Multiple dropped passes even some in the end zone and the random kick-return touchdown by a full back. The Texans are their bogeyman for whatever reason but, they looked clean against the Falcons. Look for them to improve a lot through the rest of the season.
These teams on paper should be close to locks to make the playoffs, even if it’s in a wild card spot. There is a chance that they won’t but there is so much talent it would be a disappointment if they failed to make the postseason.
#10 Seattle Seahawks (LR:13) – The Seahawks could not have started worse in all honesty when they got beat down by the Rams and couldn’t handle their scheme. Since however, they’ve looked more like last season and maybe even a better team overall. The clutch win over the Lions was huge for their momentum and have ridden it to the 3-1 start. The run game is consistent, Geno continued his success from last year and the defense has improved, it could be a good year overall for the Seahawks.
#9 Los Angeles Chargers (LR:10) – Los Angeles Chargers may just be 2-2 but their talent is much higher and even in their losses they’ve been very competitive almost beating the Dolphins and a close loss to the Titans. Still, they’ve looked better despite some questionable coaching, Khalil Mack just had a huge game with 6 sacks. Justin Herbert has been fantastic and once Ekeler gets and remains healthy the run game will help provide and take some pressure off this effective passing game.
#8 Detroit Lions (LR:12) – The Lions are at the clear top of the NFC North division. They handled the Packers without too much of an issue. If it wasn’t for a surprising collapse against the Seahawks this team could very well be undefeated. They handled the Falcons as they did with the Packers and even had a huge win against the Chiefs in week one. The defense is better than expected and the offense is what we expected which is definitely a good thing.
#7 Baltimore Ravens (LR:11) – Like what was mentioned in the Colts entry, this team could’ve very well won that game and probably should have and would be 4-0. They dominated the Browns and have been the only offense that has looked good against them. Speaking of the offense they weren’t looking like themselves or at least comfortable the first couple of weeks but were building on it and Lamar Jackson has begun to look like himself recently which is scary for the rest of the league.
#6 Dallas Cowboys (LR:8) – The Cowboys bounced back in a big way against the Patriots, absolutely demolishing them, winning 38-3. Their three wins have been beyond comfortable. My only hesitation to place them even higher is the fact that their wins have been against weaker competition and their loss was a shock upset to a bad Cardinals team so they have to play better competition before they go onto the next tier.
These are the teams that should be considered the favorites to not only have a successful season but make a deep playoff run if not make it to a Super Bowl.
#5 Miami Dolphins (LR:7) – Miami obviously has had a historic offense up to this point and looked unstoppable through the first three weeks of the season. The Bills brought them back down to earth a little bit but still, it’s a great team with an exciting offense and great coaching. 1st in passing and rushing yards and Tua Tagovailoa has a passer rating of 114.4. The defense is still suspect for sure though even if they have played some good offenses up to this point.
#4 Kansas City Chiefs (LR:1) – The defending champs started off the season short-handed and came up short in their opener against the Lions. Since then they haven’t lost but despite the 3-0 record It hasn’t been easy outside of the Bears game and the offense has been relatively tame and underwhelming for their standards. Patrick Mahomes has been forcing a lot of passes which he has always done but he’s missing on more than normal so we’ll see if he can get back to form and clean up the mistakes.
#3 Buffalo Bills (LR:3) – The Bills like the Chiefs started off slow, losing to a Jets who had lost Aaron Rodgers. Since then, it’s been the Buffalo Bills and we all know that their offense has been thriving and their defense is just as impressive. The last three games have had a total of 123-33. Pretty dominant stuff and even more impressive when one of those wins came against the Dolphins. Their schedule looks pretty favorable for the next few weeks so this could be a one-loss team for a good bit.
#2 Philadelphia Eagles (LR:2) – The Eagles have still not played their best ball as they had a surprisingly close game against the Commanders. Despite this, we can’t ignore the fact they are still winning every ball game they have been in and have not been overly dominant it’s been clear they’re the better team the first three weeks and still have one of the best rosters in the NFL. In a couple of weeks, they play the Dolphins which should be a huge game and telling for both of their trajectory this season.
#1 San Francisco 49ers (LR:4) – It feels clear that at this point in the season, this is the best team in the NFL. Their game against the Rams was close but outside of that they’ve been moving without issue and having the third-ranked offense and defense. Brock Purdy still misses a couple of throws here and there, mainly deep ones but he’s played great. Christian McCaffrey has been tremendous and there are other playmakers around him like Kittle, Deebo, and Aiyuk that make this team so dangerous. A big game against the Cowboys this Sunday as well.
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