NFL Power Rankings after the first quarter of the 2020 season

17. Arizona Cardinals (2-2)

What is very surprising for the Cardinals is that their offense has been anything but explosive, being outside the top 20 in yards per play (5.5). QB Kyler Murray averages just 6.4 yards per pass, but on the other hand he is on pace for over 1,000 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground. RB Kenyan Drake has been a major disappointment so far -- especially for fantasy owners – as he could not capitalize on a couple of great matchups against the Lions and Panthers. The most encouraging part of this team is actually the defense, which has allowed just 23 points per game – that’s not bad in 2020. I like the way Arizona has constructed their fronts and they can present a lot of different looks. Overall, I would say that this is pretty disappointing 2-2 for Arizona. They beat a fully healthy 49ers squad in the opener and then convincingly took care of a Washington team that was impressive themselves in their debut under the new name. Now the Cardinals have lost to Detroit and Carolina, scoring just 23 and 21 points each against below-average defenses. Thank God a meeting with the Jets is coming up.

Kyler Murray leads the NFL averaging 8.3 yards per carry this season, and is tied for 2nd with four rushing touchdowns. pic.twitter.com/T7v4WRk8uy

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) October 9, 2020

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18. Dallas Cowboys (1-3)

I kind of feel bad for not putting the Cowboys even lower than this in the power rankings, but the talent is still there -- even if they could easily still be winless. Their offense is on a record-setting pace. Only the Packers and Seahawks have averaged a higher yards per play (6.6). The Cowboys are easily averaging the most first downs per game (29.8) despite possessing the ball less than all but one other team and right now QB Dak Prescott is on pace for 6,760 (!) passing yards, but so much of that has come in garbage time with the game out of hand. Prescott hasn’t been super precise all the time and the offense is too sloppy for stretches in the middle. I get that this is a passing offense and you want to make use of all those receivers, but why do you pay a running back $90 million if you throw it almost 69 percent of the time anyway? The defense is an absolute crap-show, giving up 36.5 (!) points; only Atlanta has surrendered more 20+ yard plays (20), coming off a game where the Browns steamrolled them with over 300 yards on the ground. And Dallas is dead-last in turnover differential thanks to only two takeaways compared to nine times they have given it away.

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19. Philadelphia Eagles (1-2-1)

Philly has been average at best defensively, despite being first in sacks with 17 (thanks to eight in the Bengals game) and holding opposing teams to 37 percent on third downs. The real disappointment, however, has been the offense. I mean, they are tied with the Jets at 4.5 yards per play and QB Carson Wentz still has the worst passer rating of all 32 starting quarterbacks in the league (66.9). The Eagles are tied for the league’s third-worst turnover differential at -5 thanks to tying their divisional rival Cowboys with nine giveaways. They showed a lot of fight in this past game at San Francisco, however, after basically punting away a chance to win against Cincinnati. Injuries have decimated this team from the very first time we saw this them on the field and at some point you just can’t pull up offensive linemen and pass-catchers and still expect to win games. That’s why I have them just behind Dallas in the power rankings, even if they are a half-game ahead of those guys.

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20. Los Angeles Chargers (1-3)

Coming into the year, when we thought about the Chargers, our mind went to a heavy rushing attack and a smothering defense. Well, they are averaging just 3.6 yards per carry and after surrendering only 19 points on average through the first three weeks and looking great in the first half of the Bucs game, they got lit up for five TD passes by Tom Brady. Instead, rookie QB Justin Herbert has really opened up the entire field for this Chargers offense, while Tyrod Taylor had really limited what they can do (as bad as I feel for him to lose his job in the fashion he did). With the rookie QB at the helm, L.A. is quietly behind only the Packers, Cowboys, Seahawks, Bills and Chiefs in terms of yards per game – all elite teams you can argue. They have now suffered plenty of injuries, with RB Austin Ekeler being the most recent one, and the six turnovers over the last two games combined is highly concerning. If they play a little cleaner and Harrison Butker doesn’t have one of the impressive kicking showcases of all time, this team is not too far from being 4-0 potentially.