Aaron Rodgers told Packer fans on Tuesday on his weekly radio show (via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com), “Five letters here just for everybody in Packer-land: R-E-L-A-X. Relax. We’re going to be OK.”

I love Aaron Rodgers, but I am not relaxed. I believe him that HE is going to be okay, but the woeful offensive line, questionable play-calling by coach Mike McCarthy, and significant decline in Eddie Lacy‘s production are factors I can’t relax about.

In my rapid reaction to the embarrassment of a game against the Lions on Sunday, I asked why in the world did James Starks not get more work? McCarthy was giving DuJuan Harris the majority of the work in the fourth quarter, despite a predominantly productive game from Starks thus far (38 yards on eight carries). I understand going away from Lacy as it was clearly the worst game of his career, but why revert to Harris?

I respectfully disagree with our quarterback, I believe Packer fans have cause for concern. To relax would be to blind ourselves from what we’ve seen on the field this season. This concern is reflected in my week 4 ranks.

To clarify, the way I do power rankings is looking at every team and asking myself a series of questions (In order of importance):

If this team played all other 31 NFL teams today, how many games would they win? How good are the teams this team has beaten so far, and how convincingly did they beat them? What do I believe is the potential of how far the QB can take this team? Bad QB’s on good teams will ultimately lose playoff games (Andy Dalton), while good QB’s on bad teams can sometimes propel the otherwise poor personnel to the Super Bowl (Tom Brady 2001, best receiver was Troy Brown)

There are, of course, other factors (injury potential, coaching, home/road splits) that go into ranking teams, but these are the most important factors of ranking a team over another. With that, this unrelaxed (sorry, Aaron) Packer fan submits his Week 4 power rankings.

32 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0-3, Last Week: 31 (-1) The Bucs drop to last this week, the only reason being the Raiders showed a heck of a lot more competence against the Pats on Sunday than the Bucs did against the Falcons on Thursday. Again, the Bucs’ defense allowed 488 total yards to the Falcons’ offense, gained a whole 217 total yards on offense, and they just look lost right now. As I said last week, they certainly do not have their QB of the future so it’s difficult to evaluate the rest of the offense, but for now the cannon in Tampa will not be banging very often.

31 Oakland Raiders 0-3, Last Week: 32 (+1) Vince Wilfork interception. This game, if nothing else, shows how far the Patriots have dropped off. Barely defeating the Raiders at home? Unprecedented for Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. The Raiders are ahead of Tampa Bay for now, but look for those two and the Jaguars to fight for the worst record and the 2015 No. 1 draft pick. The Raiders actually showed semblance of being a real football team! They probably should’ve won, barring a dropped catch resulting in ainterception. This game, if nothing else, shows how far the Patriots have dropped off. Barely defeating the Raiders at home? Unprecedented for Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. The Raiders are ahead of Tampa Bay for now, but look for those two and the Jaguars to fight for the worst record and the 2015 No. 1 draft pick.

30 Jacksonville Jaguars 0-3, Last Week: 29 (-1) Derek Carr, the Jaguars are killing Blake Bortles. Why in the world would you put in a rookie quarterback down 30 points in a meaningless game, not to mention a meaningless season, when you know you’re going to be terrible? Packer fans know the benefit of letting their promising rookie get a year or two of reps (and learning under a Hall of Famer) in order to be ready to go. Don’t get me wrong, Bortles is good. I’m excited to see more of him, but I just wish it started with him having better personnel to work with. Much like the Raiders are doing to, the Jaguars are killing. Why in the world would you put in a rookie quarterback down 30 points in a meaningless game, not to mention a meaningless season, when you know you’re going to be terrible? Packer fans know the benefit of letting their promising rookie get a year or two of reps (and learning under a Hall of Famer) in order to be ready to go. Don’t get me wrong, Bortles is good. I’m excited to see more of him, but I just wish it started with him having better personnel to work with.

29 St. Louis Rams 1-2, Last Week: 30 (+1) Austin Davis good? Or is the Cowboys defense really really terrible? Davis threw all over the Cowboys, with 327 yards and three touchdowns with a 71 percent completion rate. Even though they lost, this was actually an exciting game because if Davis can continue to play well, they’ll give San Francisco and Arizona decent competition when they play their two divisional games. Isgood? Or is the Cowboys defense really really terrible? Davis threw all over the Cowboys, with 327 yards and three touchdowns with a 71 percent completion rate. Even though they lost, this was actually an exciting game because if Davis can continue to play well, they’ll give San Francisco and Arizona decent competition when they play their two divisional games.

28 Minnesota Vikings 1-2, Last Week: 26th (-2) Teddy Bridgewater try and turn the Vikings’ luck around. He looked good coming in after Matt Cassel left with an injury. Teddy threw for 150 yards and ran for an additional 27. He, at the very least, makes the Vikings exciting to watch. Teddy time! I’m excited to watchtry and turn the Vikings’ luck around. He looked good coming in afterleft with an injury. Teddy threw for 150 yards and ran for an additional 27. He, at the very least, makes the Vikings exciting to watch.

27 Tennessee Titans 1-2, Last Week: 22 (-5) Bishop Sankey gave fantasy owners in keeper leagues a smidgen of hope, running for 61 yards on 10 carries against the tough Bengals defense. Other than that, the Titans don’t have anything to look forward to. Jake Locker is probably not their QB after this year. gave fantasy owners in keeper leagues a smidgen of hope, running for 61 yards on 10 carries against the tough Bengals defense. Other than that, the Titans don’t have anything to look forward to.is probably not their QB after this year.

26 Miami Dolphins 1-2, Last Week: 20 (-6) Lamar Miller had 108 yards on just 15 carries, an impressive 7.2 yards per carry. The problem was the defense gave up 132 yards to a backup running back. The team that overcame the Patriots in the season opener has not shown itself ever since. Amazingly, the run game was not the problem for the Dolphins last Sunday.had 108 yards on just 15 carries, an impressive 7.2 yards per carry. The problem was the defense gave up 132 yards to a backup running back. The team that overcame the Patriots in the season opener has not shown itself ever since.

25 Houston Texans 2-1, Last Week: 24 (-1) Third-down efficiency told the story for the Houston Texans on Sunday–2-for-12 on third down against a woeful Giants defense. This was an odd game, the Texans still put up 411 total yards but somehow only scored 17 points. Regardless, any team that loses by double digits to another mediocre to poor team is not going to crack the top 20 for a while.

24 New York Giants 1-2, Last Week: 27 (+3) Eli Manning actually gave fans some hope by throwing no–that’s right, ZERO–interceptions against the Texans. Rashad Jennings looks like a stud as well, so don’t count the Giants out quite yet as I did last week. I still believe this ends up as a bottom-dweller team, but they have a glimmer of hope. Not to mention the same record as the Packers. Sigh. An adept reader pointed out that my claim that the NFC East division is the worst in the league may be contradicted by my own rankings. I do have the Eagles as a top-five team, but the average rank of all four teams this week is 17. The AFC South, on the other hand, is at an average of 22.75. So I in fact believe (by way of my own rankings) that the AFC South is the worst division in the league. As for the Giants,actually gave fans some hope by throwing no–that’s right, ZERO–interceptions against the Texans.looks like a stud as well, so don’t count the Giants out quite yet as I did last week. I still believe this ends up as a bottom-dweller team, but they have a glimmer of hope. Not to mention the same record as the Packers. Sigh.

23 Kansas City Chiefs 1-2, Last Week: 23 Alex Smith, the man that allowed Aaron Rodgers to fall to us, actually has been quietly good the last couple years. He only threw for 186 yards against the Dolphins, but completed 19 of 25 passes and threw three touchdowns. , the man that allowed Aaron Rodgers to fall to us, actually has been quietly good the last couple years. He only threw for 186 yards against the Dolphins, but completed 19 of 25 passes and threw three touchdowns.

22 Cleveland Browns 1-2, Last Week: 18 (-4) I still maintain that no team in the NFL looks forward to playing the Browns, and they didn’t look terrible against the Ravens, but that confidence I had in them after defeating the Saints is gone. This isn’t the fault of the Browns, I’m just lower on New Orleans than I was before and beating them doesn’t seem as impressive anymore. Still noteworthy, but doesn’t bolster the Browns as much now.

21 Washington Redskins 1-2, Last Week: 28 (+7) Kirk Cousins is a hell of a lot better than I thought. They took a really tough Eagles team to the last few minutes behind a really solid performance by Cousins–427 passing yards and three touchdowns against the Eagles is really promising. This team will be a nuisance to juggernauts. I was way wrong about this team last week. Well,is a hell of a lot better than I thought. They took a really tough Eagles team to the last few minutes behind a really solid performance by Cousins–427 passing yards and three touchdowns against the Eagles is really promising. This team will be a nuisance to juggernauts. I was way wrong about this team last week.

20 Pittsburgh Steelers 2-1, Last Week: 25 (+5) Another team I was way wrong about. At first glance at the box score, you’d think the Steelers were an offensive juggernaut, putting up 37 points against the vaunted Carolina defense. Self-destructive mistakes by the Panthers contributed to this, but the Steelers are definitely better than I thought.

19 Buffalo Bills 2-1, Last Week: 16 (-3) E.J. Manuel is not good. Some of his passes just look terrible, he makes major mistakes (penalty resulting in safety), and he reverts to running out of the pocket far too often. I don’t think teams are scared of the Bills at all and they only reason I have them this high is because of their record.

18 Dallas Cowboys 2-1, Last Week: 21 (+3) Tony Romo and have an irrational belief that they’re going to turn it around soon. The Cowboys have an atrocious defense, allowing 448 total yards to the lowly Rams. The Cowboys are going to continue to put up points, and they’ll have to win games 40-37 every week, but I loveand have an irrational belief that they’re going to turn it around soon.

17 Baltimore Ravens 2-1, Last Week: 18 (+1) Barely defeating Cleveland isn’t actually something to feel ashamed about anymore! The Ravens are going to continue to defeat mediocre teams by scoring five field goals and playing good defense, but when they play good NFC teams I believe they are going to be exposed.

16 New York Jets 1-2, Last Week: 17 (+1) Matt Forte. I am really tempted to rank the Jets higher. If they didn’t have such costly mistakes at the end of games, this would be a top 10 team. Their defense is just so good, giving up just 33 yards to one of the best running backs in the league,

15 New Orleans Saints 1-2, Last Week: 11 (-4) If I did tiers, the Saints, Packers, and Patriots would be in the “what the hell is wrong with us?” tier. Another ugly game for the Saints’ offense, scoring just 20 points against a really bad Vikings team. I am curious to see how the Saints will play against better teams, they may just get blown out.

14 Green Bay Packers 1-2, Last Week: 9 (-5) The Houston Texans have a better record than us. This really pains me to rank the Packers this low, but I can’t ignore that fact. See intro to article for real analysis.

13 Carolina Panthers 2-1, Last Week: 7 (-6) I can’t figure out Carolina. Every time they convince me to go the other way, they either get blown out or obliterate the opposition. If their defense plays as poorly as it did against Pittsburgh, the Panthers will win 3-4 games more this year.

12 New England Patriots 2-1, Last Week: 10 (-2) I feel a breakout game coming. It was supposed to be against the Raiders last weekend, but I still believe. Putting up 16 points against the Raiders is pretty pathetic, but I just can’t see them stooping any lower.

11 Chicago Bears 2-1, Last Week: 13 (+2) Jay Cutler style of play. Destroy mediocre teams, and struggle against formidable ones. The Bears are a great team right now, don’t get me wrong, but I think they’ve really benefitted from poor QB play of the opponents, especially second-half Colin Kaepernick and Geno Smith It is so like the Bears to get a gimme pick six to open the game on Monday Night Football. They will continue to do their age-oldstyle of play. Destroy mediocre teams, and struggle against formidable ones. The Bears are a great team right now, don’t get me wrong, but I think they’ve really benefitted from poor QB play of the opponents, especially second-halfand

10 Detroit Lions 2-1, Last Week: 15 (+5) Detroit has an incredible defense. They are allowing 20 fewer yards a game than the second-ranked ranked overall defense. I’m obviously biased as they just completely shut down Aaron Rodgers, but I think their defense is legitimate and if they keep it up, I believe they run away with the NFC North.

9 San Francisco 49ers 1-2, Last Week: 3 (-5) I am still not panicking. If Kaepernick had come out and said what Rodgers said, telling his fans to relax, I would believe it. The Niners lost to a very solid Cardinals team in the last few minutes of the game, and it’s not like Kaepernick has completely lost it. He didn’t throw any picks in this game, and ran for 54 yards. I can’t see the Niners winning less than 10 games.

8 Indianapolis Colts 1-2, Last Week: 12 (+4) Andrew Luck had a career day against the horrendous Jags, throwing for 370 yards and four touchdowns. This is the performance I was expecting, and I still believe the Colts will easily make the playoffs. had a career day against the horrendous Jags, throwing for 370 yards and four touchdowns. This is the performance I was expecting, and I still believe the Colts will easily make the playoffs.

7 Atlanta Falcons 2-1, Last Week: 8 (+1) Matt Ryan play well against a good defense, but the Falcons look scary good on offense right now–488 total yards against the Bucs last Thursday, and extremely efficient on third down, converting 8-of-11. I still need to seeplay well against a good defense, but the Falcons look scary good on offense right now–488 total yards against the Bucs last Thursday, and extremely efficient on third down, converting 8-of-11.

6 Arizona Cardinals 3-0, Last Week: 14 (+8) Drew Stanton at the helm is really impressive, especially considering the run game with Andre Ellington, which was supposed to be the strong suit, really struggled. Ellington had 18 carries for just 62 yards, a 3.4 yards per carry average. I believe this is the year we have three NFC West playoff teams. Bruce Arians is officially my way too early pick for Coach of the Year. Beating the 49ers withat the helm is really impressive, especially considering the run game with, which was supposed to be the strong suit, really struggled. Ellington had 18 carries for just 62 yards, a 3.4 yards per carry average. I believe this is the year we have three NFC West playoff teams.

5 San Diego Chargers 2-1, Last Week: 6 (+1) The Chargers took care of what I think is a fraudulent Buffalo Bills team on Sunday, defeating them 22-10. This is what good teams do: beat decent teams convincingly, never giving a hint of anything but domination.

4 Philadelphia Eagles 3-0, Last Week: 5 (+1) McCoy and Darren Sproles, the Eagles still overcame a pesky Washington Redskins team playing out of its mind. I’m not worried about their terrific duo of running backs, it seems like a fluke. I expect the Eagles to go 12-4 and make a legitimate run at the Super Bowl. Despite shaky performances from Leseanand, the Eagles still overcame a pesky Washington Redskins team playing out of its mind. I’m not worried about their terrific duo of running backs, it seems like a fluke. I expect the Eagles to go 12-4 and make a legitimate run at the Super Bowl.

3 Cincinnati Bengals 3-0, Last Week: 4 (+1) Joe Flacco won, but I think Dalton is a significant downgrade from Flacco. The Bengals will always be plagued by having Andy Dalton as their quarterback, but they are stacked at nearly every other position on the field and this is undoubtedly a playoff team. If they do make the Super Bowl, it will end the age-old debate: Can a bad quarterback on a great team succeed win the Super Bowl? This may have been answered already whenwon, but I think Dalton is a significant downgrade from Flacco.

2 Denver Broncos 2-1, Last Week 2 Denver lost in overtime in what probably will end up being the best of game of the year against the Seahawks. On a neutral field, I think Denver wins that game six out of 10 times, but the 12th Man really hurts a quarterback that loves to audible. I think Denver will still go 12-4, and that last drive to send the game to overtime gave me confidence that this team hasn’t regressed enough to be lowered just yet.

1 Seattle Seahawks 2-1, Last Week: 1 Russell Wilson has taken a significant step forward this year, and Seattle still has the best chance at winning the Super Bowl. The Seahawks remain at No. 1 this week after they defeated what I believe to be the toughest competition they’ll have all year. Again, their loss to San Diego was in a sauna of a stadium, not to mention they were without their insane home field advantage in the first place. I believehas taken a significant step forward this year, and Seattle still has the best chance at winning the Super Bowl.

Highest Rise: Arizona Cardinals (+8)

Lowest Fall: Carolina Panthers, Miami Dolphins (-6)

Coming out later in the week I will be writing a column with my picks against the spread, as well as bold(ish) predictions for each game. In order to stay fair my pick for the Thursday night game is Washington (minus-3.5) over the Giants. Kirk Cousins throws for more than 300 yards again for the second week in a row and Rashad Jennings rushes for less than 60 yards against a stout Redskins rush defense.

Thanks for reading, and let me know where I’m wrong/where I’m right in the comments below!