NFL Power Rankings: Oakland Raiders and 3 Teams Who Will Rebound

One loss in the first four weeks of the NFL season isn't likely to cost a team the playoffs, but it does serve to cancel out momentum and bring fans back to Earth, at least for one week.

The Oakland Raiders, however, should rebound quite well after their Week 4 loss to the New England Patriots. Even at home, defeating the Patriots doesn't come easy, and while a loss never feels good, there are ones that certainly feel worse.

Raider fans have every reason to be excited about this season; year after year, the team seemed stuck in a rut of under-performance, with no stability with coaching or quarterback.

Now, with Jason Campbell under center for the second year in a row, a coaching change that caused no alterations to the playbook and one of the best running backs in the league tearing through every team in his path, the Raiders should end up as a real threat to win the AFC West title for the first time since 2002.

This week, the Raiders travel to Houston to take on the Texans, who are fresh off a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Texans have proven to be one of the more dominant teams in the NFL, but their propensity for mistakes combined with an injury to star wide receiver Andre Johnson gives the Raiders more than just a fighting chance to win.

The Buffalo Bills, who hosted and beat the New England Patriots in flashy fashion in Week 3, succumbed to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 4. This has many backpedaling on their three weeks of praising the Bills as legitimate contenders, but I believe this is done too hastily.

A good team can fall, especially after a big win. While the Bills might have glossed over the Bengals after their big Week 3 win, setting them up to be caught in a trap, this doesn't mean that as the weeks go on, the Bills will slide lower and lower in the standings.

Hosting the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday, the Bills face another challenge; the Eagles are one loss away from a wholesale implosion, and they will be in Buffalo to fight. However, the cooler-headed Bills will methodically chip away at Philadelphia and get back on the winning path.

Bye weeks start in Week 5, and there's no team that will benefit more from a break this early on than the Dallas Cowboys.

More murmurs of meltdown are swirling around Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who again crumbled under pressure in Week 4, giving up a 20-3 halftime lead over the Detroit Lions by throwing three second-half interceptions and losing the game, 34-30.

While the Cowboys have a lot of work to do—and a lot of difficult opponents ahead—they have a good chance to win games and climb in the power rankings if they can address the inconsistencies that are plaguing the team.

With only four weeks in the books this NFL season, few teams can be declared already dead. Fortunes can shift in the league in the a matter of a day; the Cowboys, Raiders and Bills have every reason going for them to rebound from disappointment and continue on the winning path.

NFL Power Rankings, Week 5

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