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

21. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5-1)

Oh, boy! I already know how I’ll have to hear about Big Ben stepping out of his grave and the Steelers getting ready to become a factor once January hits, but I just don’t see why this offense would finally wake up now. They’re bottom-five with 5.0 yards per play and tied for third-worst with only 3.7 yards per rush. If you just hand it to Najee Harris 25 times right up the gut without getting any push and Big Ben solely depends on if Diontae Johnson can create separation – who opponents will only bracket more – you’re not running a real offense. And this past Sunday against Baltimore, they only had nine points and seven first downs heading into the fourth quarter, when the Ravens were down a couple of corners. The defense has shown some issues at times this year, getting steamrolled by the Bengals run game, allowing a league-high 14 runs of 20+ yards and not being able to get off the field against Justin Herbert. Still, when they are healthy, they can take over stretches of play – now again the NFL’s sack-leader T.J. Watt in particular. They currently are number one with 37 sacks and 68 tackles for loss, even though they’re tied for fourth-fewest takeaways (11) on the year.

22. Minnesota Vikings (5-7)

I don’t think there’s another team, which is so far off from how casual fans judge them. They do have a superstar running back, even though he misses a few games every year, and a star receiving duo, along with a quarterback who became the first one to receive a fully-guaranteed contract. They have a defense that is coached by what is still perceived to be one of the great gurus on that side of the ball. And the numbers actually look really good as well, where they’ve turned the ball over a league-low nine times and are tied for third with 49 explosive passes, while the defense is just one sack away from the lead-league (36), and they have one of the best turnover differentials at +6. However, Kirk Cousins is one of the greatest stat-compilers, who unfortunately throws the ball short of the sticks at a higher rate than everybody other than his counterpart this past Sunday in Jared Goff, and he has two or three games every year, where he absolutely kills his team. And the defense is just overrated. The pressure numbers haven’t quite adjusted to the loss of Danielle Hunter, and if you ever needed any proof of how their veteran corners provide free access in front of them, all you have to do is watch Detroit’s game-winning touchdown on Sunday. The best thing they have going for themselves is that they’ve only had rookie Kene Nwangwu for half their games, yet he easily leads the league with 39.9 yards per kick return and has more touchdowns through that stream than any other team.

23. Carolina Panthers (5-7)

Just imagine how different we would feel about the Panthers had they pulled out that win against Washington, when they had the chance to go on a game-winning touchdown drive at the end. With nobody emerging as the clear number six seed (even though I believe the 49ers are still positioned to win that race), a trip to the post-season could be right there for the taking at 6-6. However, with some of the head-to-head tiebreakers they’ve already lost this season to their competitors for those berths, they’ll probably have to go 4-1 the rest of the day, which includes a trip up to Buffalo and their season series against the Bucs. From what we see on the field, their offense simply hasn’t been able to produce if Christian McCaffrey hasn’t been available, and they are tied for the second-fewest yards per play (4.8) as a unit. Cam Newton had his moment of return, but he better have picked up that offense over their bye week to have a chance here. And while those numbers are heavily influenced by facing some very poor offenses and their early-season dominance, the Panthers defense is certainly still very good, ranking second in yards per play (4.9) and pressure percentage (28.7%), as well as top five on third-downs (35.1%). Their points surrendered at times recently are more so a reflection of the offense setting up their opponents off turnovers.

24. Seattle Seahawks (4-8)

I already discussed my disbelief in how Seattle beat the 49ers at home by a touchdown because of how dreadful they had looked – particularly, on offense – since Russell Wilson messed up his finger and how this continued even when he came back. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron hasn’t brought any creativity to the offense, with a lot of static receivers or unimpactful motions, and it took an outcry by their fans for them to force-feed D.K. Metcalf, who, outside of that one jump-ball he hauled in along the sideline on Sunday, has averaged 7.8 yards per catch over his last five games. They have actually improved now to only being the second-worst third-down offense in the league (32.6%), but they still run 0.2 plays less per drive than number 31 in the Texans. Defensively, San Francisco gifting them three turnovers just now has moved them up a little bit, where they were tied for the third-fewest before, and they are actually tied for number three in yards per rush, but I would say they’re a fairly average unit overall, which has benefitted from facing bottom-ten quarterbacks in six of their last seven games arguably. In theory, they could rattle off five wins here and maybe sneak into the postseason, but what I’ve seen from them throughout, I’d be pretty shocked.