NFL: Power Rankings at the quarter-mark of the 2018 NFL season

12. Tennessee Titans (3-1)

Is it always pretty when you watch the Titans play? No, but they are gritty and they just find a way to win games. Mike Vrabel has instilled a type of toughness in this team, that has allowed them to win one game with Blaine Gabbert taking the majority of the snaps, another one where cornerback Dane Cruikshank led them in receiving and they won at Jacksonville without reaching the end-zone.

I projected Tennessee to win the AFC South with an 11-5 record, but I didn’t know they would have to deal with missing both starting offensive tackles at times, losing their most dependable skill-position player in Delanie Walker for the season and Marcus Mariota not feeling his throwing hand properly.

With all that being said, they stand at 3-1 and have already beaten the Jaguars and Texans inside their division. I thought the Titans offense would make a big jump with Matt LaFleur coming in at offensive coordinator, and Mariota finally looked comfortable in that system on Sunday. Corey Davis is emerging as the number one receiver they drafted him to be last year and Derrick Henry has yet to have a big game.

Defensively, I’ve been a big fan of Dean Pees’ hybrid fronts and unpredictable coverage looks for a while now and when you have a rookie edge rusher in Harold Landry beating Lane Johnson for a sack that’s a wonderful sign.

13. Washington Redskins (2-1)

This team is built up front and when they win games they do so up in the trenches. The offensive line might be the most well-rounded group in the NFL, because of what they can do blocking power, zone, pull around and get hands on people on the second level and even how well they set up the screen game.

A 33-year-old Adrian Peterson has really taken advantage of those five guys and is on pace for over 1250 yards on the ground despite Chris Thompson being on the field more than half the offensive snaps. Alex Smith is best at managing a run-heavy offense and going play-action off that, where he has a healthy Jordan Reed coming across the field a lot of times.

Defensively, they are loaded with high draft picks up front and D.J. Swearinger is just a straight up baller on the back-end as the leader of the entire group. So far they are second in the league with less than 15 points allowed per game despite having faced Andrew Luck and Aaron Rodgers already. Washington is an oldschool football club and they are too much to handle for some of those smaller teams built on speed.