NFL Power Rankings Week 4: Reaction and Standings After Thursday Night Football

Thursday Night Football in Week 4 was destined to tell us much about the NFC playoff picture. 

The Los Angeles Rams played host to the Minnesota Vikings and escaped with a 38-31 victory behind five touchdowns from breakout star Jared Goff, an outburst the visitors couldn't match despite running more plays. 

Outside of those season-long implications, a handful of other Week 4 games will provide similar ripple effects. New England is on the ropes coming up against Miami, Pittsburgh is flirting with danger against Baltimore and Kansas City and Denver both have an eye on a divisional crown. 

Before the rest of the slate unfolds, here is where the league stands after Thursday's result. 

2018 NFL Power Rankings

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

Miami Dolphins

The New England Patriots are in trouble because the rest of the NFL can't seem to figure out the undefeated Miami Dolphins. 

Miami has Ryan Tannehill back under center, and he's back to playing like his 2015 breakout self when he threw for 4,045 yards, 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions—he's already sitting on 687 yards with seven scores and two picks. 

Tannehill continues to toss one of the prettier deep balls in the NFL and has three different receivers with at least two touchdowns. He certainly has Bill Belichick paying attention: 

Miami's turnaround is a testament to its coaching considering it lost a top offensive weapon when Jarvis Landry left. The offensive approach has been well complemented by a defense only permitting 17.3 points per game on average, a top-six mark. 

The result is a win over Tennessee, a divisional win over New York and a win over Oakland, all by seven or more points. It hasn't always been pretty, but this is the sort of Dolphins team that doesn't need a gimmick like the Wildcat to go into Foxborough and steal a win from the Patriots. 

And if the Dolphins do that in Week 4, it's going to be hard to ignore them. 

Chicago Bears

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Unlike the Dolphins, the Chicago Bears are one solid quarterback away from serious contention. 

But that hasn't stopped them from winning. 

The Bears are 2-1 despite Mitchell Trubisky struggling somewhat under center, with the 2017 No. 2 pick throwing for 591 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions. But any reactions are premature at this point—it isn't shocking in any way that a guy who only attempted 571 passes in college before spending his rookie pro season. 

In other words, Bears fans can crawl back from the ledge, as Trubisky will need a few years to realize his potential. Until then, a defense permitting less than 19 points per game on average with 14 sacks over all of three contests could have them winning an NFC North crown. 

The Bears were already good defensively before Khalil Mack arrived, but he's clearly still had a major impact: 

Chicago's lone loss so far this year was going on the road and losing to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers by a point in the season opener. 

In Week 4, Mack and the Bears will get a visit from a floundering Tampa Bay team on a short week. Should the defense shutter an elite cast of weapons at the skill positions, making it three wins in a row, the Bears could be the biggest power-rankings riser of the week. 

Cleveland Browns

Don't be surprised if the Cleveland Browns are another fast-riser candidate after Week 4. 

The Browns broke the miserable losing streak on Thursday Night Football last week. As most even non-NFL fans know, the 2018 No. 1 pick Baker Mayfield threw for 201 yards and keyed the comeback. 

The effect on a team that was as low as the Browns isn't hard to figure out: 

But what really gets lost in the noise right now is one of the NFL's best defenses. This has been budding on paper for a while now, but Cleveland has finally become a defensive powerhouse like the rest of the AFC North. 

The Browns allow fewer than 20 points per game and not only held the Pittsburgh Steelers to 21 points in a tie, but then turned around and held Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints to 21. Pittsburgh has scored 37 and 30 in its other two games, New Orleans 40 and 43. 

Holding the Jets to 17 points in Week 3 was the first time the elite defense didn't have to counteract one of the NFL's best offenses. The idea moving forward is to slow lesser offenses while Mayfield provides a bigger spark than Tyrod Taylor for the offense. 

The first test is a road game against the winless, rebuilding Oakland Raiders, so don't be surprised if the owners of one of the biggest winning droughts in sports history now cobbles together a streak and climbs further north on the power rankings.