NFL Power Rankings Week 5: AFC, NFC Standings and Pre-MNF Predictions

The fourth week of the 2016 NFL season has almost wrapped up. After the New York Giants and the Minnesota Vikings do battle on Monday night, we'll be ready to turn the page on the first month of 2016 and move ahead.

We've learned quite a bit about the league landscape over the past few weeks, and we learned an awful lot just this past weekend.

Week 4 has already seen two teams knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten, and the Vikings could become the third if they can't hold serve at home on Monday Night Football. We also saw the Pittsburgh Steelers rebound from an embarrassing Week 3 loss to dominate the Kansas City Chiefs, 43-14.

That win puts the Steelers right back into the thick of the race for an AFC playoff bye—and no, it's not too early to be considering such things.

The Denver Broncos remain undefeated, of course, which means they stay atop our power rankings, even if a quarterback injury could muddle the team's future.

Where does the rest of the league stand?

Well, that's what we're here to examine today. We'll be taking a look at all 32 teams and making our ranking based on what we've seen thus far in 2016 and what we predict will happen on Monday night. We'll also take an in-depth look at some notable rankings.

Rank	Team	Record
1	Denver Broncos	4-0
2	Minnesota Vikings	4-0*
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	2-2
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

Notable Rankings

Joe Sargent/Getty Images

4. Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers fell hard in Week 3, getting embarrassed by the upstart Philadelphia Eagles, 34-3. That obviously hurt the Steelers in the power rankings, and it left some wondering if the team was a legitimate contender or simply an offensive sideshow.

Well, the Steelers answered questions about their legitimacy by absolutely thrashing a quality Kansas City Chiefs team on Sunday night. Pittsburgh leapt out to a 22-0 first-quarter lead and then essentially coasted to a victory.

By coasted, we don't mean the Steelers looked lackadaisical; they made it look easy.

Make no mistake, this is still a team built on offense—it's rated just 22nd in overall defense by Pro Football Focus through Sunday of Week 4. However, the defense showed on Sunday that it is capable of limiting opponents when things are clicking.

All 14 Kansas City points came in the fourth quarter after the game had been decided.

The scary part is that if the defense in Pittsburgh can be merely average, this team really is a potential title contender. The offense is that good. It helps that running back Le'Veon Bell is back from suspension—he racked up 144 yards rushing in his return.

Don't be surprised if Pittsburgh losses are few and far between from here on out.

3. Philadelphia Eagles

Rich Schultz/Getty Images

Now that we know just how dangerous the Steelers can be when firing on all cylinders, it's fair to wonder if their Week 3 loss to the Eagles was merely a fluke. If it was, do the Eagles deserve to sit above Pittsburgh in the standings.

Right now, it's hard to justify putting Pittsburgh ahead of the only team that has beaten the Steelers this season. Sure, the Eagles were on bye this week, but Philadelphia remains undefeated and has been playing extremely well with rookie Carson Wentz at the helm of the offense.

Plus, it's hard not to remember the words of Steelers safety Mike Mitchell following that loss to the Eagles.

"We take our hats off to them—they put a thorough butt-whipping on us," Mitchell said, per Mark Narducci of Philly.com.

The Steelers seemed to know they weren't the better team in Week 3. Whether they are the better team for the season remains to be seen. Since the only way the Eagles and Steelers will meet again is in the Super Bowl, it's going to take a few more games to sort out.

For now, were leaving the Eagles at No. 3. Don't worry, Pittsburgh fans, this in no way is a negative statement on your team.

5. New England Patriots

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

The New England Patriots lost on Sunday, and they lost badly. In fact, their 16-0 shutout loss at home to the rival Buffalo Bills almost seems unfathomable.

Yet we're not inclined to drop New England too far for the loss, especially considering this was a game that featured a rookie third-string quarterback—and an injured one at that.

Plenty of folks were ready to go out and proclaim the Patriots the top team in the NFL after they went 3-0 despite losing Tom Brady to suspension and Jimmy Garoppolo to injury. Folks were definitely ready to crown Patriots coach Bill Belichick as perhaps the greatest football mind after he took the aforementioned rookie, Jacoby Brissett, and whipped the Houston Texans, 27-0.

What we have to hold onto here is the knowledge that this is a very good football team that managed to go 3-1 without the face of the franchise and, for the most part, without star tight end Rob Gronkowski.

Yeah, New England might still be undefeated if Brady, or even Garoppolo, had suited up for all four games. If you were to tell a Patriots fan before the season, though, they would get Brady back with a 3-1 record, you'd probably hear few complaints.

Brady is indeed coming back, and the rest of the league can likely expect to be the receiving end of one powerful revenge tour.

Unfortunately for the Cleveland Browns—who are the league's lone remaining winless team and at the bottom of our rankings—Brady and Co.'s first stop is at FirstEnergy Stadium.