4. Baltimore Ravens are going to be fine: The Ravens are fine in the same way Ross was fine after he saw Rachel kissing Joey in the final season of \u201cFriends.\u201d There was a moment of respite when they pounced on the Cleveland Browns in Week 2, but aside from that, it\u2019s been a lot of bad news for Baltimore this season. The fourth-quarter collapse against the Buffalo Bills in Week 1 stung, the defense has looked atrocious in games in which it isn\u2019t playing a quarterback headed toward a benching, and the injury bug is feasting on the roster like it\u2019s a buffet. Now a quarterback aside from Lamar Jackson will likely start games from them, which I thought wasn\u2019t possible for the next 10 years.<\/a><\/p>\n 3. Bryce Young arrived late last season: Even when Young got benched early last season, I wasn\u2019t ready to give up on the 2023 No. 1 pick. It was a tough look with C.J. Stroud\u2019s quick success in the NFL but Carolina hasn\u2019t exactly fostered the best environments for quarterbacks in recent years Just ask Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield, both of whom found success after leaving the Panthers. Maybe the same happens for Young, but it\u2019s getting tougher in Year 3 to build a case for him. However, his next two weeks are against a bad Miami Dolphins defense and literally the worst defense in the NFL in the Cowboys. If Young doesn\u2019t get right in these games, that might be it, at least in Carolina.<\/p>\n 2. Aaron Rodgers is washed: The Browns get a lot of ridicule for their quarterback situation the past three decades but it\u2019s been a rough go for the New York Jets since the golden days of Chad Pennington. Brett Favre\u2019s year in New York faltered down the stretch before he found one more gear in Minnesota. Mark Sanchez was fine riding the coattails of an elite run game and a stellar defense. They struck out big through the draft with Zach Wilson, and Geno Smith and Darnold both found success after leaving the Jets.<\/p>\n If you were wondering if Rodgers\u2019 disappointing stint in New York was more the player or the team, the answer might be the latter. Rodgers isn\u2019t elite anymore but through four games, his completion percentage is around where it was in 2021, when he last won league MVP honors, and his touchdown percentage is higher than it was that year. His quarterback rating is also above 100 for the first time in four years.<\/p>\n 1. Cowboys defense can be competent: When you trade away an elite pass rusher a week before the season, you\u2019re obviously bracing for a bit of a setback, especially when you add in being without star linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and then losing top cornerback DaRon Bland for a couple of games. But this Cowboys defense has been beyond awful and ranks dead last in passing yards allowed per game and total yards allowed per game. The run defense gets talked about more favorably, but Dallas is 20th in rush yards allowed per game. If Matt Eberflus gets some Tabasco sauce in his eyes<\/a>, we\u2019ll have a full return to the defensive lowliness of 2020.<\/p>\n Not ranked: Daniel Jones\u2019 career revival \u2014 I promise I\u2019m not a hater, but I\u2019m just not fully there yet on the Jones bandwagon. It\u2019s remarkable that he leads the NFL in QBR after four weeks and has the Indianapolis Colts at 3-1, albeit two of those wins were against the Dolphins and Titans. Maybe I\u2019ve watched too much New York Giants football in recent years but some of those moments from Jones in the Big Apple are hard to shake. That said, if this goes on for much longer, I will start eating crow for lunch.<\/p>\n \n How will Daniel Jones and the Colts respond to their first loss? (Sean M. Haffey \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Road to Santa Clara<\/p>\n The five teams with the best chance at winning the Super Bowl<\/p>\n 5. Los Angeles Rams: The Rams are a blocked field goal away from being 4-0, and they\u2019ve looked more complete for longer stretches this season than the Philadelphia Eagles, who handed them their one loss. A veteran quarterback, the best receiver in the game right now and a top-10 defense set things up quite nicely for Los Angeles.<\/p>\n 4. Los Angeles Chargers: We\u2019re not hitting the panic button after one bad loss. Linebacker Daiyan Henley said that the performance was uncharacteristic<\/a> of the Chargers, and I\u2019m buying that, for now. Two of their next three games come against the Washington Commanders and Indianapolis Colts, so we\u2019ll get a reality check soon.<\/p>\n 3. Detroit Lions: Ever since the loss to open the season, the Lions have looked like a wagon. They\u2019ve won in different way, from a blowout over the Bears to a shootout style over the Ravens to a good ole beatdown over the Browns. Reports of their demise after one week appear to be overblown.<\/p>\n 2. Philadelphia Eagles: I\u2019m kind of going against my own standard for this space because this is not a power ranking so the Eagles being 4-0 is just one factor. Overall, it feels like a few teams from the NFC look more equipped to win the Super Bowl right now but the defending champs have earned the right for some more patience. However, having the 31st-ranked passing offense and 30th-ranked offense overall is not a recipe for sustained success.<\/p>\n 1. Buffalo Bills: Buffalo handled its bye week against the New Orleans Saints well. On to New England.<\/p>\n Not ranked: Green Bay Packers \u2014 We gave the Packers a pass for a fluky loss to the Browns but there\u2019s no way to excuse the performance against the Cowboys on Sunday night. The defense was supposed to be top-tier but let the Cowboys, who scored 14 points against the Chicago Bears one week prior, pour on 40 points. The special teams miscues need to get cleaned up, too, because those are the things that provide the edge in close matchups. The offense bungled the end of the first half and gifted Dallas seven points. The Cowboys are a good offense, and Dak Prescott is playing as well as any other quarterback in the league right now, but Dallas was without its top receiver and two starting offensive linemen. That kind of performance was unacceptable.<\/p>\n Bottom five<\/p>\n The five teams with the best chance to land the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n 5. Cleveland Browns: Lost in the side drama<\/a> that comes with having Shedeur Sanders on the roster is that many draft experts didn\u2019t exactly give raving reviews<\/a> to the Browns for drafting Dillon Gabriel, even before they drafted Sanders two rounds later. Now, Gabriel has his shot,<\/a> so it\u2019ll be interesting to see how he performs.<\/p>\n \n The Browns have moved to the Dillon Gabriel era. Will the Shedeur Sanders era be next? (Nick Cammett \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n 4. Miami Dolphins: The Dolphins picked up their first win of the season, while also losing their best player<\/a> to injury in Tyreek Hill. The Mike McDaniel leash gets a bit longer.<\/p>\n 3. New York Jets: When you lose to the Dolphins to remain winless, the first victory of the season becomes harder to spot on the schedule. However, there is a three-game stretch on the horizon against Carolina, Cincinnati and Cleveland. The Jets have to find a win somewhere in there, right?<\/p>\n 2. New Orleans Saints: The Saints might be the most unsurprising of the bad teams. They\u2019re not better than what you thought they\u2019d be and, unlike the No. 1 team on this list, they\u2019re not that much worse, either. In the words of the late Dennis Green, they are who we thought they were.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2237950246-scaled.jpg\")
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