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Well, well, well. Lookie here. The Rams are moving on up in the power rankings. Sure, a loss on Thursday would send us back down in the deep 20s, allowing ESPN to continue to ignore the Rams. But it's a nicer place to be.
Last year, we practically owned a place at the corner of 30th and 31st. This week, Pro Football Talk had us at 15th...15th, man. As in we're better than half of the entire NFL right now. That's chicken soup for the soul. And for the trash talk.
(NOTE: If you'd like me to add any other source, let me know in the comments.)
| Average ranking (# of rankings) | 19 (11) |
| Average change from last week | +7.27 |
| Highest ranking (source) | 15 (multiple sources) |
| Lowest ranking (source) | 23 (Pro Football Weekly) |
| Biggest positive change (source) | +11 (Pro Football Talk) |
| Biggest negative change (source) | +5 (NFL.com - Harrison) |
SB Nation: 22nd (28th last week)
There we go. I've been on the Rams bandwagon since early this season and now they have a chance to move past .500 -- that's a big deal in St. Louis -- by beating Arizona this weekend.
The rest of the major power rankings after the jump.
The Rams are 1-0 in NFC West after going 4-26 in the division from 2007-2011.
NFL.com (Power Poll): 19th (28th)
NFL.com (Harrison): 18th (23rd)
Zuerlein 1, Seahawks 0. Can Missouri Western State produce dominant football players or what? Terrific home win for the Rams after a rough second half at Soldier Field in Week 3. The defense showed admirable resilience, especially after giving up an opening-drive touchdown.
CBS Sports: 18th (24th)
At 2-2, they've proven to be feisty at home. They will battle you at their place, that's for sure.
Yahoo! Sports: 21st (28th) - switched to the Shutdown Corner rankings
It's probably not a good thing when you have players openly saying that the placekicker is their team's MVP through four games. These are the Rams, though, and it's not often that they're .500, so they wouldn't even care if their punter manufactured their only touchdown of the day. Which he did.
Pro Football Talk: 15th (26th)
From Cortnoris to Legatron, the Rams are leading the NFC West in great nicknames.
Pro Football Weekly: 23rd (30th)
Elite field-goal unit: Fake works perfectly, PK Zuerlein has record day.
Fox Sports: 18th (25th)
When you don't match up from a talent perspective, you must manufacture points with scheme and creativity. That is exactly what the Rams' fake field goal was on Sunday, and the greatest part about it was it was a fake that had no risk. If Amendola was covered, they just simply kick the FG. Brilliant job by Jeff Fisher.
National Football Post: 21st (28th)
Don’t sleep on the Rams’ young defense. They can play.
Sports Illustrated: 15th (24th)
A big jump up our board for the Rams this week, but they did just beat the Seahawks head to head, so it's only fair to have them higher than Seattle. But the Seahawks a few weeks back thrashed Dallas head to head, so they need to be at least one rung better than the Cowboys. See? There's a lot to keep track of and consider with these power rankings, and it gets tougher to keep it all straight and equitable the longer the season goes. And when I screw up, my faithful readers out there have a way of letting me know about it.