NFL Power Rankings Week 10: Initial Standings Post Thursday Night Football

By beating the New York Jets on Thursday night, the Buffalo Bills broke even with their AFC East foes and created more chaos in the conference's playoff picture.

While the AFC's division races are remarkably crystal clear heading into Week 10, the same can't be said for the wild-card hunt. The Bills and Jets are now both tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers at 5-4, and the Oakland Raiders lurk inches behind with a 4-4 record.

After Thursday's throwback matchup controlled by running and defense, Buffalo rises up the latest NFL power rankings while New York continues to dip.

Rank	Team	Record
1	New England Patriots	8-0
2	Cincinnati Bengals	8-0
3	Carolina Panthers	8-0
4	Arizona Cardinals	6-2
5	Denver Broncos	7-1
6	Green Bay Packers	6-2
7	Minnesota Vikings	6-2
8	Seattle Seahawks	4-4
9	Buffalo Bills	5-4
10	Pittsburgh Steelers	5-4
11	Philadelphia Eagles	4-4
12	New York Jets	5-4
13	Oakland Raiders	4-4
14	Atlanta Falcons	6-3
15	New York Giants	5-4
16	St. Louis Rams	4-4
17	Indianapolis Colts	4-5
18	Kansas City Chiefs	3-5
19	New Orleans Saints	4-5
20	Washington Redskins	3-5
21	Miami Dolphins	3-5
22	Chicago Bears	3-5
23	Baltimore Ravens	2-6
24	Dallas Cowboys	2-6
25	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	3-5
26	Houston Texans	3-5
27	San Diego Chargers	2-7
28	Cleveland Browns	2-7
29	Tennessee Titans	2-6
30	San Francisco 49ers	3-5
31	Jacksonville Jaguars	2-6
32	Detroit Lions	1-7

Now or Never

Patience is a virtue NFL teams often cannot afford. Even in a watered-down field of playoff hopefuls who can parlay nine, or potentially even eight victories into a postseason bid, several squads are dangerously close to walking toward the light.

Like most of the cheesy shows NBC airs when not hosting Sunday Night Football, these teams are a bad week away from cancellation. Looking at the league's current landscape, there are a lot more Bad Judge-level teams floating around than 30 Rock-caliber mainstays.

Poor starts and key injuries have caused these three squads to under-deliver in 2015. They're not out of the fold yet, but a loss on Sunday would bury them too far down the standings to anticipate a late revival.

Miami Dolphins

Bill Wippert/Associated Press

The Miami Dolphins' mini-tear after axing head coach Joe Philbin turned out to be nothing more than a short-lived sugar rush. Following blowout victories over the Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans, they crashed against the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills.

At 3-5, the Dolphins occupy the AFC East's bottom seat, losing all four of their games within the division by surrendering 137 points. Many problems present under Philbin—most notably a No. 31-ranked rushing defense—have resurfaced under interim coach Dan Campbell. Once the honeymoon period ended, a flawed team continued to advertise its weaknesses.

Not everything has stayed the same. Before Miami fired Philbin, running back Lamar Miller averaged 11.75 touches per game. Since the coaching change, he has received 17.75 touches per contest, registering 529 total yards and five touchdowns through four games.

Yet as noted by the Miami Herald's Adam Beasley, the Dolphins have not utilized an effective running game to full capacity:

In their third true home game of the season—they played one of their official home games in London—the Dolphins must stop a revitalized DeMarco Murray while putting Miller to work against a Philadelphia Eagles defense yielding 4.1 yards per rush.

Kansas City Chiefs

Matt Dunham/Associated Press

When five straight losses dropped the Kansas City Chiefs to 1-5, many onlookers waved goodbye to their 2015 campaign. Even an optimistic Chiefs loyalist probably started daydreaming about a top draft pick when Jamaal Charles suffered a season-ending ACL tear.

They won't go away just yet, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers sans Ben Roethlisberger and dismantling the Detroit Lions across the pond. Neither win is particularly impressive, nor was their Week 1 triumph over the Texans. Then again, they have already fallen victim to four teams with records of 6-2 or better.

Week	OPP	Score
2	Denver (7-1)	31-24
3	at Green Bay (6-2)	38-28
4	at Cincinnati (8-0)	36-21
5	Chicago (3-5)	18-17
6	at Minnesota (6-2)	16-10

Football Outsiders ranks the Chiefs No. 12 in weighted Defensive-adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA), and they're the only squad with a losing record (3-5) and positive point differential (+13). The schedule eases down the stretch, but not until they meet the Denver Broncos again this weekend.

The AFC West foes played evenly during Week 2, but Denver returned a Charles fumble for a touchdown with 27 seconds remaining. While the star running back can't make amends for the mistake, his teammates are eager for revenge.

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

"I think a lot of guys want to redeem themselves from that game,” linebacker Justin Houston told Chiefs.com's BJ Kissel. “We didn't play well as a group, so we just want the opportunity to redeem ourselves."

An upset at Denver would spring Kansas City back into a messy AFC wild-card picture at 4-5. Colliding with the league's premier defense, the Chiefs will need a dud from Peyton Manning to keep their hopes alive.

Dallas Cowboys

Nobody could have reasonably expected the Dallas Cowboys to run the table without Tony Romo, but they needed to steal a win or two to hold the fort down. Without the foolishly maligned starting quarterback, Dallas has lost all six games.

Had the Cowboys merely won two of those tilts, they'd remain an NFC East favorite at 4-4. Instead, they're 2-6 and gasping for breath after a crushing overtime loss to Philadelphia. Aside from a New England trouncing, Dallas has lost every game by single digits.

Defensive end Jeremy Mincey expressed his frustration over the losing streak to Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

"

We can’t sit and wait on Romo. He’s not Jesus. We can’t sit and wait on him. There are games we could have easily won without him being there. We have to be sharper and take advantage of every play and every opportunity to make something happen. There are no excuses to how we are playing. We have to get better. It’s our fault. We have to suck it up, keep going and get better.

"

In another division, Romo's imminent return would certainly come too late. Not so much in the NFC East. Without the pass rush that won them both Super Bowl matchups, the New York Giants are about to drop to 5-5 against the Patriots this weekend. A tough schedule won't let them run away with the playoff nod.

By beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, the Cowboys can turn the reins back to Romo with a fighter's chance. Otherwise, they're asking the quarterback to win seven straight starts after losing as many with him sidelined.