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

16. Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2-1)

On this episode of “General Hospital,” we have a football team whose star running back has yet to show up, offensive linemen bad-mouthing him, an All-Pro receiver complaining about targets despite being second in the league in that category and a defense that has yet to stop anybody.

This is your 2018 version of the Pittsburgh Steelers. There is so much drama going on with this proud franchise that I just can’t put them any higher. They have a Hall of Famer at quarterback, one of the all-time great receivers in Antonio Brown, maybe the best number two in the game in Juju Smith-Schuster, two quality tight-ends and one of the better offensive lines in football.

However, without Bell setting up their blocks those five guys up front haven’t looked like one of the elite units and the entire offense gained less than 50 yards in the second half as the Ravens shut them out on Sunday night.

However, it has been the defense that has struggled ever since Ryan Shazier’s horrific injury that has doomed this team. They continuously get burned with two seam routes against one high safety looks, they mess up simple coverages and their guys seem to be out of position constantly.

17. Atlanta Falcons (1-3)

How in the world do you play cover-two versus A.J. Green singled up in a short-split alignment and not sink with him if you’re the cornerback to his side? There were 12 seconds left on the clock and the Bengals didn’t have any timeouts left. If they complete it in front of you, you make the tackle or you push him out of bounds and have one more play.

The Falcons could easily be 4-0, but mistakes and a boatload of injuries have my Super Bowl pick reeling right now. They are now without three of their five or six most important defensive players, when I thought the speed on that unit could be the difference when they meet those high-powered offenses in the playoffs, but at this point, it’s highly questionable if they even make it there.

There’s a lot more pressure on that Atlanta offense, that has Matt Ryan playing like one of the game’s elite, Julio Jones leading the lead in receiving, Calvin Ridley looking like the rookie of the year and Devonta Freeman not even being back yet. The Falcons will be involved in plenty of shootouts for the rest of the season, but they need a couple of big plays on defense to win.