NFL Power Rankings, Week 5: Biggest risers and fallers after Week 4

14. Atlanta Falcons (2-2)

How about the Atlanta Falcons, man.  The great thing about the Falcons is that they have a high floor.  Kirk Cousins at QB and the talent they have on defense can keep them in most, if not all games.  The flip side here is that Cousins also provides them with a lower ceiling, given that he’s Kirk Cousins.

The defense also doesn’t really have a true game-changer either, so Atlanta isn’t going to win anything of note this year.  I did pick them to win about 10 games and the NFC South, but they do trail the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by one game early on in the 2024 NFL Season.

The leg of Younghoe Koo gave Atlanta the win in Week 4 against the New Orleans Saints.

13. Denver Broncos (2-2)

I mean, a win is a win.  It was perhaps the ugliest win by any team in the 2024 NFL Season thus far, but don’t look now, but the Denver Broncos have had three of their first four games on the road, and both of their wins have come on the road.  The got their first win in Week 3 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and they blew them out to say the least.

And in Week 4, they held Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets out of the end zone in a 10-9 victory, but it was not without a ton of drama.  Bo Nix threw his first career touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton, and that scoring drive proved to be enough.  Denver’s kicker Wil Lutz missed a 50-yard field goal which gave the Jets the ball back, but Greg Zuerlein also missed his own 50-yard field goal which gave Denver the win.

The Broncos managing to split their first four games in this fashion with a rookie QB sets them up nicely, as they now have two straight home games coming up against the Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers.