NFL Power Rankings after the first quarter of the 2020 season

21. Detroit Lions (1-3)

Only three teams in the league are allowing more than the Lions’ 31.8 points per game, which means proclaimed “defensive guru” Matt Patricia has to answer some questions. Their defense allows opposing quarterbacks to average an NFL-high 9.3 yards per attempt – and it’s actually not to close to No. 2, while also surrendering the third-most rushing yards per game (170.3) on 5.2 yards per carry. This past Sunday, the Lions only got the ball three times in the second half because they could not stop the run or get off the field on third-downs, which they did score touchdowns on the two of those where they didn’t start inside their own five. QB Matt Stafford has played pretty well outside of a couple bad decisions leading to interceptions, they haven’t cracked 100 yards on the ground in any of the last three weeks and the QB has been in a lot of third-and-long situations. They have now blown double-digits in all three of their losses.

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22. Miami Dolphins (1-3)

A 1-3 team that I think could be on their way is Miami. They did not look good in the season opener at New England, but they blew out the Jaguars and were pretty close against two of my top five teams in the power rankings (Buffalo and Seattle). The Dolphins can move the ball against most teams, because they have a physical offensive line to creat vertical movement and a horizontal passing attack to consistently get positive yardage. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has played better than the numbers would indicate and they haven’t turned the ball over outside of him. The defense has the less encouraging side of the ball, as they are allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete 71.5 percent of their passes against them and they have given up 17 plays of 20+ yards through the air, leading to an NFL-high 6.6 yards per play against them. However, a lot of that has to do with starting CB Byron Jones missing most of the year and his replacement in rookie Noah Igbinoghene having some “growing pains” to be nice. They have to finish more in the end-zone themselves to overcome that, as they kicked five field goals against the Seahawks last Sunday.

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23. Cincinnati Bengals (1-2-1)

I can’t remember a team putting as much pressure on the rookie quarterback from the very start as the Bengals are doing with Joe Burrow. They have the third-highest percentage of passing plays at 64.9 percent and through the first three weeks 75 percent of their total yardage came through the air, but we saw RB Joe Mixon go off last week, in part because that spread attack with five guys in the pattern forces defense to go sub and open up room in the box. My biggest concern for the Bengals has been how Burrow has gotten killed for most of the season by the opposing pass-rush, but that O-line had by far their best game of this young season last Sunday, when they set the table for Mixon’s big day, came through in short-yardage situations and kept Burrow clean for the most part. Unfortunately, they are getting torched for 158.5 yards on the ground per game and only the Lions are pressuring quarterbacks at a lower rate (15.7%).

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24. Carolina Panthers (2-2)

A lot of the credit for the Panthers winning these last two games goes to Matt Rhule and his coaching staff, with Joe Brady creating open receivers with the way they space the field and Phil Snow having the defense flying around the field. Even without their best player on offense in RB Christian McCaffrey, they have found holes in the opposing coverage and kept drives going. Defensively the two areas they really struggle in is that they have only recorded three sacks so far (fewest in the league) and only the Giants allow their opponents to convert a higher percentage of third downs (52.2%). I still see some issues on the back-end and I haven’t seen QB Teddy Bridgewater deliver on some tight-window and deep throws. One of their biggest keys to success is that they are tied for the fifth-best turnover differential at +7.