NFL Power Rankings heading into the fourth quarter of 2019

#29 Washington Redskins (3-9)

Look at these guys now! Through ten games, Washington’s only win came early on against the Dolphins and they had not been within one score outside of that since week one. Now they have pulled off two straight victories over the Lions and Panthers after this team looked to be completely lifeless just prior to that. With that being said, this team just isn’t very good.

The Redskins are dead-last in both points scored with 14.4 and yards gained (262.4) per game and as much as Dwayne Haskins wants to take selfies with fans, Washington’s recent success has been due to their running game, defense and nearly perfect kicking/punting. I mean this game at Carolina was the first time they had even scored 20 points since week two.

The defense, however, has played pretty well when the offense has been somewhat competent, but they struggle to get opposing teams off the field, as they allow them to convert 46.7 percent of their third downs and 21.6 first downs per game. This is still one of the worst-run organizations in pro sports and Dwayne Haskins has looked anything but impressive, but let’s see what changes they will make in the front office and coaching staff. I like some of those pieces on the offensive and defensive lines and Terry McLaurin has probably been the best rookie receiver so far.

#30 New York Giants (2-10)

So how does it feel to be maybe be the worst sports team in New York? I know the Knicks suck, but the Mets were at least average and the Jets have twice as many wins as the G-Men. We haven’t heard a lot from the Giants organization recently about how everybody was wrong on Daniel Jones coming out of the draft. Since the rookie won his first two games as a pro, Big Blue has lost eight straight, with five of those teams at or below .500 and that even includes the team I have ranked right below them.

They are ranked 25th in points scored and 29th in points allowed, leading to a losing margin of -9.1 points a game. They are tied with Jameis Winston’s Buccaneers for the most giveaways on the year and also tied with the Dolphins for the worst turnover differential at -14.

For as bad as it has been, there are some bright spots – Danny Dimes looks like he could be the guy with more support around him, if he learns to hold onto the ball, Darius Slayton has made some big plays for them and in terms of talent, they have one of the more impressive defensive lines. To me, it is time to make a change at head coach and if that isn’t an offensive mind, find somebody who will utilize Saquon Barkley the correct way, as well as taking more pressure off their young QB.

#31 Detroit Lions (3-8-1)

First of all, let’s start by saying this ranking does not take into account Matthew Stafford, since I don’t think he is coming back for a three-win team this season, and I just have yet to see the Lions win a game without. So I can’t put them any higher than this right now. I won’t say they haven’t been fighting, because they have been within a possession in every one of those contests without Stafford, but their season has completely gone off the rails.

That’s a shame, since Detroit started the season off so well, as they were 2-0-1 heading into a matchup against Kansas City, which they almost won. The next week Trey Flowers was flagged twice for those controversial “hands to the face” calls and they ended up losing to Green Bay. They simply haven’t been the same ever since unfortunately.

The defense, which I thought looked pretty good early on, is now near the bottom in yards and points allowed. The offense, on the other hand, is too dependent on deep shots to their duo of wide receivers and has not been able to run the ball consistently without Kerryon Johnson. I’m not sure if Matt Patricia hasn’t lost the locker room when he traded away starting safety Quandre Diggs and he has now entered the hot seat.

#32 Cincinnati Bengals (1-11)

The Bengals have finally won a game! Of course, it doesn’t help them in my power rankings, since they are still the worst team in football, but at least they won’t have that shadow hanging over themselves and can move on. It is now too late for A.J. Green to come back and it is pretty clear that we will see a move under center, as they already benched Andy Dalton and have obviously seen enough from Ryan Finley to know he is not their guy going forward, as they went back to Dalton.

To think this squad went into Seattle and came up just one point short of pulling the upset in the season-opener now is definitely a head-scratcher. Once again the defense has shown little resistance for the most part, as only Miami has fewer takeaways than them and is tied for giving up an NFL-worst 6.2 yards per play.

Offensively the Bengals are only ahead of Washington with 14.9 points scored per game, which is also pretty confusing even without their star wideout, since they brought in Zac Taylor to give Joe Mixon and the run game a boost, while Tyler Boyd has been very productive as well out of the slot. Whoever they are targeting in the draft, they now have avoided an 0-16 campaign and are still on track to grab whoever they have their eyes on with the first pick.