Week 4 NFL Power Rankings: Panthers move up one after first victory

1. Kansas City Chiefs (Last Week: No. 1)
2. Seattle Seahawks (Last Week: No. 3)
3. Baltimore Ravens (Last Week: No. 2)
4. Buffalo Bills (Last Week: No. 4)
5. Green Bay Packers (Last Week: No. 5)

It's perhaps become an overused nugget at this point to cite that Russell Wilson has never received an MVP vote, but you get the sense that the future Hall of Famer got tired of hearing about it and is on a mission to change that in 2020. After finishing as the runner-up in NFL MVP voting a season ago, Wilson has opened the 2020 season by tossing 14 touchdowns to just one interception and leading the Seahawks to a 3-0 start. If not for a fairly egregious tip by Greg Olsen in Week 2 and D.K. Metcalf allowing a sure touchdown to be punched out of his hand on the one-yard line in Week 3, Wilson may have 15 touchdowns and zero interceptions right now. In any event, Wilson is the early MVP favorite, and his Seahawks seem as good as any team in the NFC right now.

6. New England Patriots (Last Week: No. 11)
7. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last Week: No. 7)
8. San Francisco 49ers (Last Week: No. 6)
9. Tennessee Titans (Last Week: No. 12)
10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last Week: No. 13)

For all the talk there was leading up to the season about whether Ben Roethlisberger could return at age-38 from a major elbow surgery, he's done so and to this point the Steelers are 3-0. Certainly, an elite defense led by Bud Dupree is a major reason for that, but over the Steelers' first three games, Roethlisberger has tossed seven touchdowns to just one interception. It feels like every team in the AFC that isn't the Chiefs is playing for runner-up, but with a few more wins, the Steelers could play themselves into the discussion for teams with a chance of knocking off the Chiefs in January.

11. New Orleans Saints (Last Week: No. 8)
12. Los Angeles Rams (Last Week: No. 10)
13. Arizona Cardinals (Last Week: No. 9)
14. Indianapolis Colts (Last Week: No. 16)
15. Chicago Bears (Last Week: No. 17)

Nick Foles has long since cemented his status as the greatest backup quarterback in NFL history, but he added onto the legend in Week 3, replacing Mitchell Trubisky and tossing three touchdowns in a comeback win against the Atlanta Falcons. The test now will be to see whether he's able to thrive as a starter. Despite tossing 27 touchdowns in 2013 and leading the Eagles to a Super Bowl title in the 2017 season, he's never played more than 11 games in a regular season. If all goes well in 2020, Foles will play 14 games and the Bears will return to the postseason. If not, he may never get a chance to start in the NFL again.

16. Dallas Cowboys (Last Week: No. 14)
17. Cleveland Browns (Last Week: No. 18)
18. Las Vegas Raiders (Last Week: No. 15)
19. Detroit Lions (Last Week: No. 24)
20. Los Angeles Chargers (Last Week: No. 20)

Even with a blowout loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 2 acknowledged, the Lions could very easily be 2-1 right now. They went into Arizona and handed Kyler Murray and the Cardinals their first loss of the 2020 season. If D'Andre Swift catches a ball Matthew Stafford placed perfectly on his hands in the endzone late in the team's Week 1 loss to the Chicago Bears, the Lions could easily be 2-1 right now. Week 4's matchup with the New Orleans Saints will be an interesting test for the Lions. At this stage, Stafford is almost certainly a better quarterback than Drew Brees. But is Matt Patricia up to the task of out-scheming Sean Payton?

21. Houston Texans (Last Week: No. 19)
22. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last Week: No. 22)
23. Minnesota Vikings (Last Week: No. 21)
24. Philadelphia Eagles (Last Week: No. 23)
25. Atlanta Falcons (Last Week: No. 25)

Carson Wentz has had his issues with fumbling, but in each of the last three seasons, he's thrown just seven interceptions. In his four prior season in the NFL, picks have been few and far between for Wentz. However, through the Eagles' 0-2-1 start, Wentz has already been picked off six times. In recent years, general manager Howie Roseman has done a pretty poor job of surrounding Wentz with talent. After looking like one of the NFL's elite head coaches in the Eagles' run to winning Super Bowl LII, Doug Pederson has been relatively uncreative in each of the last three years. There are issues in Philadelphia that run deeper than Wentz, but in 2020, he hasn't been a solution to the organization's problems, he's added onto them. Wentz would have been the NFL MVP if not for tearing his ACL in 2017, and rallied the troops for a run to the postseason last December. But his development has been underwhelming, and it is fair to wonder if he's ever been able to move past another quarterback leading his team to a Super Bowl title in his absence.