NFL Power Rankings Week 4: The Curse Of The Power Rankings

At the start of the season, the defending Super Bowl Champion Giants were the top dogs in the power rankings. That only lasted until the beatdown at home at the hands of the Cowboys. Heading into week two, the Patriots were all the rage, until they lost to the Cardinals. That swept the over-hyped 49ers into the top spot, and they of course were promptly shown up by the lowly Vikings.

Same thing in the NFC East. Giants started out on top and were quickly replaced by the Cowboys heading into week two. After the Cowboys were manhandled in Seattle the big green hype machine out of Philadelphia briefly took the top spot heading into week three, but are giving up that spot after being run out of town in Phoenix by their former second string quarterback.

Heading into week four, the Giants once again hold the top spot in the NFC East, and if the Curse Of The Power Rankings is anything to go by, the Eagles will have their way with the Giants on Sunday night.

In this week's power rankings, the Cowboys are edging back into the top ten while the Giants and Eagles are headed in opposite directions; the Giants are knocking on the door of the top five while the Eagles are trying to reverse their stall as they freefall out of the top ten. The Redskins remain lost somewhere in the backwoods of the power rankings.

We kick off our Power Rankings summary with a video from the folks at SBNation:

Week 4 (previous rankings in parenthesis)

CBSsports.com: 6th (12th). "The offense didn't do much against Tampa, but the defense saved the day. The interior part of the line is struggling."

Fox Sports: 8th (13th). "The Cowboys were actually somewhat unimpressive in a win over the Buccaneers on Sunday, but they move up by default. Tony Romo looked like Wile E. Coyote peeling himself off the turf after every play. "

reddit.com: 10th (14th). "In what was expected to be a rebounding statement game, the Cowboys fall flat. If there is such a thing as a disappointing win, this would be it. Cowboy fans walked away from Sunday’s game with as many unanswered questions as they had the previous week."

Drafttek.com: 10th (13th). "A line, a line, my kingdom for an offensive line! Whether it's Tony Romo or King Arthur, that cry can be heard throughout North Texas . . . Cuzzin Jerra went on the cheap in free agency on the interior of the OL and now may need a right tackle as well!"

ProFootballTalk.com: 10th (17th). "Tony Romo felt like he’d been golfing on Sunday — and cold-cocked by a driver."

WEEI.com: 11th (11th). "The Cowboys improved to 2-1 but Tony Romo took an absolute beating in the process. The offensive line has been terrible at protecting its starting QB. If the team continues down this path, Romo won’t be healthy enough to start."

AP Pro32: 11th (14th). No further comments provided.

NFL.com's Brain Trust of Experts: 12th (15th). Comments are courtesy of Elliot Harrison, who also ranks the Cowboys 12th: "Dallas is 2-1, but the second win was ugly. The offensive line is killing this team. Right tackle Doug Free had an awful game. Mackenzy Bernadeau sounds like a french painter with a piece on "Antiques Roadshow." Owner Jerry Jones says the Cowboys "are built to win now." Yes, they can beat ITT Tech's defensive line."

ESPN: 12th (15th). "The offense should have looked better vs. Tampa Bay. The line could sink the season. (Graziano)"

Pro Football Weekly: 13th (13th). "Romo got off to a slow start, but "D" stepped up to beat the Bucs."

Peter King: 14th (14th). "I can't figure the Cowboys out. But they beat the Giants on the road, then took all the roundhouses the Bucs could throw and won again."

SB Nation: 14th (15th). "That offense really needs to improve. It can't keep up that pace and continue winning."

WhatIFsports: 8th (9th). These guys simulate every possible match-up in the NFL 100 times, and use the winning percentages from those nearly 50,000 games to evaluate every team, with updated rosters and depth charts.

Teamrankings.com: 9th (5th). This site measures the relative strength of all teams using team performance, home/away status, margin of victory and other factors.

Massey-Peabody Power Rankings: 9th (10th). These guys generate their predictions by working up from play-by-play data to calculate a performance figure for rushing, passing, scoring and play success.

Covers.com: 9th (9th). "A sluggish offensive showing for the second straight week was overcome by a dominating defensive effort, a very good sign for coordinator Rob Ryan's job security."

Oddsshark: 12th (7th). Oddsshark use a multitude of stats to establish an offensive and defensive power ranking, which they then adjust for the remaining strength of schedule.

Sagarin NFL rankings: 14th (16th). These are rankings based on W/L record, points differential and schedule strength. Cowboys enter these ratings ranked fifth.

Football Outsiders: 19th (20th). FO have the Cowboys with the 26th-ranked offense (-16), the 7th-ranked defense (+11) and the 26th ranked special teams (+2).

Below is how the NFC East fared in this week's power rankings, with next week's opponent, the Bears, added for good measure:

	wk4	wk3	wk4	wk3	wk4	wk3	wk4	wk3	wk4
CBSSports.com	6	12	12	4	8	15	25	21	7
Foxsports	8	13	11	4	5	7	22	19	9
Drafttek	10	13	11	6	6	11	23	18	9
reddit.com	10	14	15	8	6	7	21	19	9
Pro Football Talk	10	17	17	4	5	8	22	16	12
WEEI	11	11	14	5	6	13	19	23	10
AP Pro 32	11	14	12	6	4	8	21	20	10
NFL.com	12	15	10	5	5	9	21	17	11
ESPN	12	15	9	7	6	8	22	20	11
ProFootballWeekly	13	13	10	7	5	8	22	18	9
SBNation	14	15	10	5	5	9	21	17	8
PFF	- -	12	- -	6	- -	8	- -	21	- -
NFP	- -	18	- -	5	- -	9	- -	19	- -
Avg.Opinion-based	10.6	14.0	11.9	5.5	5.5	9.2	21.7	19.0	9.5
Whatifsports	8	9	17	19	16	13	27	30	7
Team Rankings	9	5	6	4	8	8	27	15	18
Covers.com	9	9	8	8	6	7	22	21	10
Massey Peabody	9	10	13	5	15	22	24	24	20
Oddsshark	12	7	4	10	2	9	15	11	13
Sagarin Ratings	14	16	17	7	7	14	21	19	11
Football Outsiders	18	20	16	11	10	22	20	25	5
Avg. Stat-based	11.2	10.8	11.5	9.1	9.1	13.5	22.2	20.7	12
Total Average	10.8	13.4	11.7	7.2	6.9	11.4	21.9	20.6	10.5

The missing rankings will be updated as they become available