NFL Power Rankings Week 4: Pittsburgh Steelers and 3 Playoff Pretenders

Three weeks into the NFL season is enough time to determine which teams are for real and which teams are pretending. There were a select group of teams that entered the season with legitimate postseason aspirations who have not played up to their potential.

Sometimes poor play is just a result of a team trying to figure itself out. Other times poor play is a sign that things are not going to work out well for a team in the season.

There is still plenty of time for these teams to figure things out, but based on the way they have played thus far, it is hard to find a lot of positive things to say about them.

Here are three teams with winning records right now who are going to slide down the power rankings as the season moves along.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Does anyone in this country actually believe that this Steelers team is ready to make a Super Bowl run?

Their two victories have come against Seattle and Indianapolis. They have not looked impressive in any game that they have played. Even in their shutout victory over the Seahawks, the offense left a lot of plays on the field.

The offensive line is going to be a bigger problem for this team than ever before and Ben Roethlisberger will be lucky to play in all 16 games this season.

The defense, aside from Troy Polamalu and James Harrison, looks like it has lost a step. They are not getting the same jump off the line that they used to. And they are giving up points much more frequently than they have in a long time.

The Steelers are good enough to make the playoffs, but they won’t win more than 10 games this season and they certainly aren't Super Bowl contenders.

Washington Redskins

The Redskins have been a pleasant surprise thus far, but that magic carpet ride is going to come to an end in a hurry. They lost an ugly game to Dallas on Monday night and things will only get worse for this team as the season moves along.

They have a winnable game against St. Louis this week. Then they have to play Philadelphia, Carolina, Buffalo and San Francisco.

Quarterback Rex Grossman has been better than expected through three weeks, but eventually he is going to remember that he is, in fact, still Rex Grossman.

This team is headed in the right direction; they just aren’t ready to contend in the NFC East right now.

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers could end up winning the NFC West by default. They have two wins already, which is the same number of wins as the other three teams in the division combined.

But that 2-1 start speaks more about the teams they have played—Seattle, Dallas, Cincinnati—and less about things turning around for this franchise.

They have their second straight road game on the East Coast this week when they travel to Philadelphia for a matchup with an angry Eagles team that will be out for blood.

If that isn’t bad enough, the 49ers have to play Tampa Bay and travel to Detroit in the next three weeks. If they can win one of those games to come out of this stretch 3-3, they should consider themselves lucky. 

Adam Wells' Week 4 NFL Power Rankings

1. Detroit Lions

2. Green Bay Packers

3. Baltimore Ravens

4. Buffalo Bills

5. New Orleans Saints

6. New England Patriots

7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

8. Houston Texans

9. Pittsburgh Steelers

10. San Diego Chargers

11. New York Jets

12. Philadelphia Eagles

13. Oakland Raiders

14. Dallas Cowboys

15. New York Giants

16. Tennessee Titans

17. Atlanta Falcons

18. Washington Redskins

19. San Francisco 49ers

20. Jacksonville Jaguars

21. Cleveland Browns

22. Chicago Bears

23. Carolina Panthers

24. Arizona Cardinals

25. Cincinnati Bengals

26. Minnesota Vikings

27. St. Louis Rams

28. Kansas City Chiefs

29. Denver Broncos

30. Seattle Seahawks

31. Miami Dolphins

32. Indianapolis Colts