Week 4 NFL Power Rankings: ESPN Maximizes I-70 Misery, Drops Rams And Chiefs To Bottom

The St. Louis Rams and the Kansas City Chiefs have reenacted the infamous I-70 Series in a less-than-exciting way in time for ESPN's Week 4 NFL Power Rankings—they're ranked 31 and 32, behind even the Peyton Manning-less Indianapolis Colts, on ESPN's latest list. Both teams have been blown out repeatedly and shown strangely inconsistent play on offense, so it's only Jamaal Charles's blown-out ACL that serves as tiebreaker for Missouri's two wayward franchises.

Last week the Chiefs were still near the bottom—31, ahead of the NFC West's own Seattle Seahawks—but after a Seahawks win and yet more losing the Chiefs have taken up residence at the bottom. As for the Rams—well, after a vaguely optimistic loss to the New York Giants Monday night, they were as high as 22nd, but there wasn't much good to take from Week 3's drubbing at the hands of the Ravens. The Rams have a bye-week coming up after their Week 4 homestand with the Washington Redskins, and given their tough schedule afterward this is their last chance to get up off the mat—to make the leap in the power rankings they'll need to show the offense they flashed at New York combined with a newfound ability to not make high-school-level mistakes over and over and over on special teams.

If they don't do it, this could be the most exciting thing happening on I-70 all year.