The Las Vegas Raiders are one of the best stories in the NFL right now. It may still be early in the season, and they’ve beaten struggling teams with a combined record of 1-8 — but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re one of five undefeated teams in the league after three weeks.
Klint Kubiak has worked wonders in his first year as head coach, and it’s not just the 3-0 record that shows this, but more critically how the Raiders are winning. The team currently ranks 7th in points scored (up from 32nd in 2025), and 8th in points allowed (up from 25th in 2025). After signing Kirk Cousins, Tyler Linderbaum, Quay Walker and others during an offseason spending spree, the Raiders have become a Top-10 team on both sides of the football and are now riding high with confidence.
Here are our complete NFL Power Rankings for Week 4, then we’ll dive into the biggest risers and fallers.
Biggest rise: Las Vegas Raiders (+11)
The wild thing about the Raiders is that they’re poised to only get better from here. Week 3 was the first time they got to add Brock Bowers back to their receiving corps, and it paid immediate dividends as he finished with 10 catches for 116 yards. Pairing Bowers with Tre Tucker’s breakout season has made this offense really, really scary — and when you factor in Ashton Jeanty’s recent improvement it gives the basis for something special.
Is this a playoff team? Maybe not, especially with their upcoming schedule and the brutal AFC West, but the Raiders are far better than anyone imagined. This is the most hopeful the franchise has felt in over a decade.
Biggest fall: Houston Texans (-13)
Yes, the Texans have been bitten by the injury bug — but they’ve also run out of excuses. Lots of teams around the league have lost key players, and with each passing week many of them are finding ways to win … Houston isn’t. While it’s fair to note that the Texans have played three good teams, they’re also 0-3 right now, tied for bottom place in the AFC South. Moreover, their schedule only gets tougher from here.
A lot of the blame falls on the floundering offense, with C.J. Stroud struggling behind a sieve of an offensive line, but this team is struggling on defense as well, giving up 25.0 points per game, and ranking 19th in the league in total defense. That is abysmal, and something needs to change soon.
Team to watch: New Orleans Saints (No. 19)
The Saints might be sitting in the 19th spot right now, but something tells us that might be changing very soon. This team is either poised for another climb in the rankings, or a fall back down to earth depending on what happens against the Falcons on Monday Night Football.
Up to this point the Saints are 1-2, but swinging above their weight class and keeping games close. This NFC South divisional matchup should be theirs for the taking based on roster alone, and if they can get the job done we might need to start talking about this team as real playoff contenders. A loss would do a lot of damage to that perception.
Source: SB Nation
