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New York Giants: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#19)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings, Giants, Uncategorized

Last week: 16 (-3)

Like the Steelers, the Giants can’t be expected to lose the turnover battle by an average of -3 by game. That would be a -48 turnover margin that would blow the modern day record for a season out of the water. The Giants are probably too talented to even get close to the record. Eli Manning won’t continue throwing an interception on 7.0% of his passes and they won’t continue recovering just 22.2% of their fumbles. If there is any division in football you can win after starting 0-3, it’s the NFC East, but I don’t see that happening. 2nd place isn’t out of the question at all though, with the division having 3 combined wins.

Week 3 Studs

CB Aaron Ross

Week 3 Duds

RT Justin Pugh

RG Chris Snee

LOLB Jacquian Williams

ROLB Mark Herzlich

DT Shaun Rogers

LT William Beatty

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St. Louis Rams: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#20)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings, Rams, Uncategorized

Last week: 22 (+2)

The Rams have spent a lot of money in the past two off-seasons and it hasn’t really seemed to have gotten them anywhere. Cortland Finnegan and James Laurinaitis, two of their big money guys, are struggling mightily, which puts the Rams in a tough situation. The Rams can’t really cut either, even if they continue to struggle, but they can’t upgrade them either so they have to hope they rebound. Finnegan has been the worst offender, allowing 13 completions on 15 attempts for 175 yards and 2 touchdowns through 3 games, grading out as ProFootballFocus’ worst ranked cornerback thus far. Fortunately, they could have two top-10 picks on their way if they and the Redskins continue to struggle.

Week 3 Studs

None

Week 3 Duds

WR Chris Givens

TE Jared Cook

RG Harvey Dahl

LE Chris Long

MLB James Laurinaitis

CB Cortland Finnegan

DT Jermelle Cudjo

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Arizona Cardinals: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#21)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings, Cardinals, Uncategorized

Last week: 23 (+2)

The offense is significantly improved this season, but the defense is now the problem and it’s not going to get better as they’ve lost 3 of their top-4 rush linebackers for the season with injury in the past week. Sam Acho, Lorenzo Alexander, and Alex Okafor, a 4th round rookie in line for a bigger role, are all out and they are left with John Abraham, who is showing his age, Matt Shaughnessy, and Dontay Moch, the latter of whom was recently signed off the street. Fortunately, they get talented middle linebacker Daryl Washington back from injury after one more game and we’ll see if he can play as well as he did in 2012, before the suspension.

Week 3 Studs

C Lyle Sendlein

LE Darnell Dockett

Week 3 Duds

LT Levi Brown

ROLB John Abraham

MLB Jasper Brinkley

SS Yeremiah Bell

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Pittsburgh Steelers: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#22)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings, Steelers, Uncategorized

Last week: 22 (-4)

The Steelers had 21 first downs, 2 punts, and 459 total yards to 15, 6, and 258 for the Bears, but lost by 17 because they committed 5 turnovers, 2 which went for touchdowns, without forcing a single turnover. They are now -9 in turnovers on the season, tied with the also 0-3 Giants for worst in the NFL. Fortunately, that kind of thing tends to be inconsistent in the long run. Also fortunately, they return Le’Veon Bell from injury this week and get safety valve Heath Miller back at full strength after he returned in limited fashion last week. That’s not going to be enough to push them from 0-3 into the playoffs, but they’re going to be overlooked going forward. They can still play defense and it’s only a matter of time before they start forcing takeaways (0 on the season).

Week 3 Studs

WR Antonio Brown

LOLB LaMarr Woodley

MLB Lawrence Timmons

SS Troy Polamalu

Week 3 Duds

LT Mike Adams

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Philadelphia Eagles: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#23)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings, Eagles, Uncategorized

Last week: 20 (-3)

With the exception of the first half against the Redskins, one of the worst defenses in the NFL, the Eagles’ have really not played that well this season. I still believe in Chip Kelly as an NFL coach, but there’s only so much he can do given how bad their defense is and how flawed Michael Vick is as a quarterback. They aren’t moving the ball as well as they were early in the season, as they’ve been facing tougher defenses, they don’t catch teams by surprise, and Michael Vick is missing open guys and turning the ball over. This is putting so much pressure on their defense, as a result of the faster pace, and they just don’t have the talent to handle that.

Week 3 Studs

WR Jason Avant

LG Evan Mathis

RE Fletcher Cox

CB Cary Williams

Week 3 Duds

WR Riley Cooper

RT Lane Johnson

RG Todd Herremans

MLB DeMeco Ryans

MLB Mychal Kendricks

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Washington Redskins: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#24)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings, Commanders, Uncategorized

Last week: 21 (-3)

Their defense continues to make it near impossible for them to win games and that’s not something that’s going to change going forward. They’re too young and don’t have another talent. Unfortunately, they won’t get their pick this year, what will probably be a top-10 pick, to fix their defense, but I don’t think they’d trade Robert Griffin and the promise he still has going forward for their 3 picks back if they could.

Week 3 Studs

LG Kory Lichtensteiger

C Will Montgomery

LOLB Ryan Kerrigan

DT Barry Cofield

Week 3 Duds

QB Robert Griffin

RG Chris Chester

SS Brandon Meriweather

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New York Jets: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#25)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings, Jets, Uncategorized

Last week: 29 (+4)

The Jets have plenty of problems, but they have one of the best front 7s in football. The 8 sacks they had against the Bills were no fluke. Damon Harrison and Demario Davis have broken out as first year starters, while David Harris, who was at one point a great player, is having a huge bounce back year. And that doesn’t even include recent 1st rounders Muhammad Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson, and Quinton Coples, who returned from injury last week. They still need another edge rusher and could grad one with a high pick in 2013 to make their front 7 even more talented, but this is a very talented bunch.

Week 3 Studs

QB Geno Smith

RT Austin Howard

LE Muhammad Wilkerson

DT Damon Harrison

MLB David Harris

Week 3 Duds

TE Jeff Cumberland

LG Vladimir Ducaase

C Nick Mangold

ROLB Calvin Pace

MLB Demario Davis

CB Kyle Wilson

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San Diego Chargers: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#26)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings, Chargers, Uncategorized

Last week: 24 (-2)

Philip Rivers is enjoying a resurgent season this year, completing 70.0% of his passes for an average of 8.0 YPA, 8 touchdowns, and 1 interception. This is despite the fact that he doesn’t really have a lot to work with in terms of receivers, offensive linemen, and running backs. The impact of Mike McCoy can’t be overstated. However, their defense has been even worse than their offense has been good. They have allowed 71 first downs and forced a league worst 9 punts. That’s what keeps this down here.

Week 3 Studs

RB Danny Woodhead

TE Antonio Gates

MLB Andrew Gachkar

Week 3 Duds

ROLB Dwight Freeney

MLB David Harris

LG Chad Rinehart

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Buffalo Bills: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#27)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings, Bills, Uncategorized

Last week: 27

How do you lose to a team that commits 20 penalties? Justin Rogers played one of the worst games by a defensive back in recent memory, getting torched with ease by Geno Smith, no matter whether he was covering Stephen Hill or Santonio Holmes. The 2011 7th rounder out of Richmond allowed 6 catches on 8 attempts for 247 yards and 2 touchdowns and it’s not like Smith, Hill, and Holmes are Manning, Thomas, and Welker. They really need Stephon Gilmore and Jairus Byrd back.

Week 3 Studs

LT Cordy Glenn

ROLB Manny Lawson

MLB Kiko Alonso

Week 3 Duds

QB EJ Manuel

RB CJ Spiller

LG Colin Brown

C Eric Wood

LOLB Mario Williams

CB Justin Rogers

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings (#28)

stevenlourie 2013 NFL Power Rankings, 2013 Week 4 NFL Power Rankings, Buccaneers, Uncategorized

Last week: 26 (-2)

Every game, Josh Freeman looks more and more like a lame duck quarterback. He’s completing 45.7% of his passes for an average of 6.1 YPA, 2 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions this season. In his last 8 games, he’s completed 174 of 356 (48.8%) for 2210 yards (6.2 YPA), 8 touchdowns, and 12 touchdowns, winning just one of those games. It was in their best interest to start Mike Glennon as soon as possible to evaluate him for the future and determine whether or not they’ll need to draft a quarterback with what is starting to look like a top-5 pick. Credit them for making the move.

Week 3 Studs

LT Donald Penn

RT DeMar Dotson

Week 3 Duds

RE Adrian Clayborn

LE Daniel Te’o-Nesheim

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