NFL Power Rankings: Reviewing Week 5 Standings After Sunday's Action

What the Denver Broncos have managed to do so far this season is nothing short of impressive. The defense the team puts on the field might be even better than the one that won the Super Bowl last season, and the team continues to get strong quarterback play from whoever lines up under center.

Starter Trevor Siemian, who torched the Cincinnati Bengals for four touchdown passes last week, exited Sunday's game after suffering a shoulder injury. According to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, the initial prognosis is a joint sprain.

With Siemian out, the Broncos were forced to turn to rookie first-round pick Paxton Lynch. All he did is go 14-of-24 for 170 yards and a touchdown in about a half of work. Denver ultimately bested the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-7.

Seeing as how Denver is playing quality football, remains undefeated and is the defending title-holder, it's difficult to not view the Broncos as the top team in the league. How do the other 31 teams in the NFL stack up, though? Well, let's take a look.

Our rankings here won't be based solely on records, though those certainly play a part. Since the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles are on bye this week—and the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings don't play until Monday night—we'll be basing our ranking on what we've seen on the field through Sunday of Week 4.

Rank	Team	Record
1	Denver Broncos	4-0
2	Minnesota Vikings	3-0
3	Philadelphia Eagles	3-0
4	Pittsburgh Steelers	3-1
5	New England Patriots	3-1
6	Atlanta Falcons	3-1
7	Houston Texans	3-1
8	Dallas Cowboys	3-1
9	Los Angeles Rams	3-1
10	Seattle Seahawks	3-1
11	Oakland Raiders	3-1
12	Baltimore Ravens	3-1
13	Cincinnati Bengals	2-2
14	Green Bay Packers	2-1
15	New York Giants	2-1
16	Buffalo Bills	2-2
17	Kansas City Chiefs	2-2
18	Washington Redskins	2-2
19	Arizona Cardinals	1-3
20	Carolina Panthers	1-3
21	Jacksonville Jaguars	1-3
22	New York Jets	1-3
23	Indianapolis Colts	1-3
24	Chicago Bears	1-3
25	Detroit Lions	1-3
26	New Orleans Saints	1-3
27	San Francisco 49ers	1-3
28	Miami Dolphins	1-3
29	Tennessee Titans	1-3
30	San Diego Chargers	1-3
31	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	1-3
32	Cleveland Browns	0-4

Back on the Rise: 4. Pittsburgh Steelers

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

The Pittsburgh Steelers took a thumping at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3, and virtually nothing about the matchup was pretty.

Pittsburgh lost the game 34-3, the Steelers defense was about as sturdy as a wet paper cup and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had a miserable day. He finished that game with just 257 yards passing, zero touchdowns, one interception and two fumbles (one lost).

As a result, it looked like the Steelers might just be a fancy offensive force with a defense that can't keep the game within reach when the offense is struggling. In other words, it seemed like the Steelers might not really be contenders.

However, Pittsburgh rebounded in a big way on Sunday night against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Roethlisberger threw for 300 yards and five scores, the defense produced two turnovers and four sacks, and running back Le'Veon Bell racked up 144 yards on the ground in his return.

The game really wasn't even as close as its 43-14 final score might indicate. The Steelers scored 22 points in the first quarter and never looked back.

"Hopefully, we'll use this experience as positive fuel as we go forward," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said, via the team's official website.

As we go forward, we can probably do so with the Steelers again viewed as a legitimate contender. The defense is still a work in progress—Pro Football Focus rates it 22nd overall through Sunday of Week 4—but the offense is good enough to handle anyone when things are clicking.

After Sunday's dominating performance, it's appearing likely that the game against Philadelphia was merely a fluke, or that the Eagles are just that good.

Fading Fast: No. 20 Carolina Panthers

What in the world happened to the Carolina Panthers?

Carolina looked virtually unstoppable during last year's run to the Super Bowl. Sure, the team ran into a brick wall called the Broncos defense in the big game, but most thought the Panthers would at least be a strong contender again this season.

Instead, 1-3 Carolina has already tripled last year's loss total and has dropped two in a row in convincing fashion.

Injuries have played a role, sure. Running back Jonathan Stewart is still out, and quarterback Cam Newton suffered a concussion during Sunday's loss.

Injuries aside, though, this just doesn't appear to be close to the same Panthers team of 2015. The defense has taken a clear step backwards—Pro Football Focus rated Carolina fourth in overall defense in 2015 and rates the team 11th so far this year. The decision to let Pro Bowl cornerback Josh Norman walk in the offseason may play a part, but there are issues all over the defense.

Newton doesn't seem to be playing the same brand of winning football that he did a year ago, either. His current passer rating of 80.2 is nearly 20 points lower than the rating he finished the 2015 season with (99.4).

As Jason McIntyre of Fox Sports pointed out, Newton isn't playing like an elite quarterback:

The Panthers are still ranked fifth in total offense (386.5 yards per game) but are giving up way too many points on the other side of the ball. The team is actually ranked a mere 28th in scoring defense, allowing an average of 29.5 points per game.

On Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons made the Panthers defense look like the New Orleans Saints defense during their 48-33 shellacking of Carolina. Newton and the offense aren't doing enough to compensate, and, as a result, the Panthers are looking like a team that doesn't deserve to return to the postseason this year.