NFL Power Rankings heading into the fourth quarter of the 2021 season

13. Cincinnati Bengals (7-5)

While I thought it would be a tight contest, I really believed that with the way they had been running the ball and how they could shut down the Chargers underneath passing game, the Bengals would win their third straight following the bye week and establish themselves as contenders in the AFC. I wouldn’t say they can’t be anymore now, and the Steelers actually did their division-rivals a favor, by knocking off the actual AFC North leaders in the Ravens, but when you go through Cincy’s schedule, their dominant showing over Baltimore doesn’t look as impressive anymore now, and that remains their only win over a team that would currently be in the playoffs. Joe Burrow, I believe, is right on the fringe of being a top-ten quarterback, the O-line is, at least, better than they had been, and they have a seriously dangerous group of skill-position players. Defensively, they make a lot of impact in the opposing backfield, as they’re third in tackles for loss (64) and eight in total pressures (120), and they’re very good at playing off in the secondary and then driving on routes. Their big concern now is the status of middle linebacker Logan Wilson, who left Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury.

14. San Francisco 49ers (6-6)

Rarely have I seen a team dominate both their games against division-rivals, especially the first halves, yet lose both matchups, like the Niners did with the Seahawks. They allowed the up-man to go 73 yards to the end-zone untouched when faking the first punt of the game and fumbled the second-half opening kickoff, while Jimmy G gifted the home team several other possessions. He had been playing fairly well during San Francisco’s three-game win streak, but he had two absolutely disgraceful picks this Sunday, with the latter setting up the game-winning touchdown ultimately. This is a really good offense – they are tied for fourth in yards per play (6.0), now average a league-high 7.6 yards per dropback, hitting chunk plays with their trio of YAC threats (once Deebo returns) and Garoppolo has been pressured at the third-lowest rate in the NFL (18.5%). They’re the most effective red-zone offense (75.8% TDs), even though they couldn’t do so on their most crucial one so far arguably, and they’re now number three in DVOA on that side of the ball. Trey Lance has unfortunately looked like a rookie for the most part, but Jimmy doesn’t deliver anything outside the structure of the offense, so if he now turns the ball over, I don’t really see the upside. Defensively, they’re now just one off the lead-league in tackles for loss (67), and Nick Bosa is a one-man wrecking crew on passing downs, but have a real hole on the boundary and opponents know it.

15. Washington Football Team (6-6)

Don’t look now, but the Football Team is now riding a four-game winning streak, as underdogs in all of them, even though it was pretty much a pick’em at Seattle. It’s not like their offense truly scares you with anything, other than obviously the guy who has that description in his nickname – Terry McLaurin – but they’re tough to get off the field, thanks to a physical run game led by Antonio Gibson that puts them ahead of the chains and then Taylor Heinicke finding ways to convert when necessary, which is why they are second in plays and time per drive offensively. Unfortunately, what holds them back is that only the Giants cash in for touchdowns less than Washington once they get into the red-zone, where it’s exactly a 50-50 proposition. And similarly on defense, they have now improved to allowing “only” half their attempts against them on third downs to convert, where they’ve actually been better at creating pressure since Chase Young has been lost for the year and rookie Jamin Davis is starting to get more playing time now, looking to sure up the middle of their defense. They just find ways to win and are now only two wins behind the Cowboys, who they host on Sunday.

16. Miami Dolphins (6-7)

I know I called the Colts the second-hottest team in the AFC right now, but it’s actually Miami who’s tied for the second-longest winning streak in the league (at five straight). The offense is still pretty limited, I would say, as they’re tied for the second-fewest yards per play (4.8) and average a league-low 3.3 yards per rush (along with the Texans), as well as being tied for the fewest explosive runs (two). However, with Tua Tagovailoa under center, they’ve been much better at sustaining drives and heavily feeding their dynamic rookie receiver Jaylen Waddle. Yet, it’s been the turnaround by this defense, which has really sparked this second-half of the season run. With everybody healthy on the back-end, they feel comfortable with showing a lot of pressure and trusting their guys in zero-coverage, where they aggressively jump on routes and largely play with their eyes in the back-field. And later on, they start bailing out of those looks and still manage to create free rushers, because quarterbacks have no idea what’s coming at them. The one issue they have on that side of the ball, now that avoid getting burnt on deep balls, has been missed tackles, where only the Jaguars have “outdone” them (88).