12. New England Patriots (2-2)
How about the New England Patriots? This was a massive, absolutely massive win for the franchise, as even at 1-2, things felt out of control a bit. QB Drake Maye has largely been bad this year, he went toe-to-toe with Josh Allen in his house, which is saying something.
Yes, Maye turned it over again, but he also threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns, out-dueling Allen. The Patriots now move to 2-2 on the season and are suddenly very much alive in the AFC, let alone just the AFC East.
The way this game went is honestly a classic Mike Vrabel coaching masterclass - for years when he was with Tennessee, Vrabel constantly got a ton out of some banged-up teams and rosters that weren’t that great.
The Patriots are dealing with some injuries, but clearly that didn’t matter. Good for the Patriots - this was a major win for the season.
11. Cleveland Browns (3-1)
The Cleveland Browns are 3-1!
The Browns are 3-1! What a time! This team is flawed and might not make the playoffs or anything, but a 3-1 start is nothing to scoff at. The Browns were able to beat the Steelers on Thursday Night Football in rather dramatic fashion.
The biggest thing that has come from this, in my opinion, is QB Deshaun Watson looking quite solid. Through four weeks, Watson is on pace for the following stat line across 17 games:
340/489 (69.53 percent)
3,634 yards
26 touchdowns
9 interceptions
101 passer rating
If this is what the Browns actually got from Watson this year, which is what he’s on pace to produce across the first quarter of the season, they’d have to stick with him as their starting QB after 2026.
Todd Monken, their new head coach, appears to be the right guy for the job. The young talent on this team on both sides of the ball is also evident, as General Manager Andrew Berry has honestly done a rather awesome job outside of the Watson trade, which is still a failure.
But for now, we have bumped up the Browns in our power rankings, and they deserve it, too.
Add us as a preferred source on Google