NFL Power Rankings Week 9: Regular-Season Outlook Pre-'Thursday Night Football'

The battle at the top of the NFL is as strong as ever, but there is a lot of mystery after the top few teams in the power rankings.

Week 8 finally featured a clash of unbeatens, as the Denver Broncos easily disposed of the Green Bay Packers, 29-10. Even with this meaningful victory, there isn't much movement with the top teams since all of them continue to play so well. The Packers have done more than enough to stay in the top five, while no one has been more impressive than the New England Patriots this season.

Most of the bigger shifts in the power rankings occurred in the middle of the league, where there is a lot more uncertainty and one good game can change a team's perception going forward. Here is a look at the complete rankings heading into Week 9 with a breakdown of the top risers from the previous weekend.

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

Top Risers

Oakland Raiders

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

It's time to take the Oakland Raiders seriously. A week after lighting up the scoreboard against the San Diego Chargers, many expected a drop-off against a much tougher New York Jets defense. This was not the case, as Derek Carr threw four touchdown passes and led his team to a 34-20 win on Sunday.

Although the early injury to Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick helped contribute to the victory, the Raiders offense didn't need any extra advantage to torch what had been one of the toughest teams to score on in the NFL.

The Raiders were a fun, young team to look out for in the future. Now they are a legitimate playoff contender in 2015.

Head coach Jack Del Rio has enjoyed the progress his players have shown already this season:

Carr has put up great numbers, although he's helped out by dynamic weapons around him like Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree, Latavius Murray and more. With these skill players and an offensive line doing its job up front, this is an offense that should continue to produce all year long.

While the Broncos will be difficult to catch in the AFC West, Oakland would earn a wild-card spot if the season ended today. With an upcoming battle against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, the Raiders can put themselves in the driver's seat with a victory.

Kansas City Chiefs

Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images

After losing Jamaal Charles for the season, the offense looked hopeless in a 16-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Things have certainly turned around in the two games since.

The Chiefs did their best Baylor impression in London on Sunday with a 45-10 victory over the struggling Detroit Lions, featuring touchdowns by six different players. Alex Smith posted a total quarterback rating of 97.9 out of 100 thanks to his work both as a passer and a runner, while Charcandrick West continues to do a nice job filling in for Charles.

Most importantly, the defense is finally living up to its potential thanks to an elite pass rush. Andy Benoit of Sports Illustrated noted how well the unit uses blitzes:

Kansas City now ranks sixth in the NFL in sacks, and it has helped an inconsistent secondary look better each week.

Another encouraging sign is the fact the Chiefs have survived an extremely difficult opening schedule, per Dan Hellie of NFL Network:

Although the first game after the bye is a road battle against the Denver Broncos, the schedule opens up a lot after that, giving the squad a chance to make a run at the playoffs. It's certainly easy to dismiss Sunday's win because of the opponent, but Kansas City appears to be heading in the right direction at the midway point of the year.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After having the worst record in the NFL and drafting a quarterback with the first overall pick, all you want to see is improvement each week. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might not be playoff-bound this season, but they have undeniably gotten better as the year has progressed.

The key has been the play of Jameis Winston, who has improved drastically over the past three weeks. Since throwing four interceptions in a loss to the Carolina Panthers, the rookie has four touchdowns and no interceptions while completing 64.9 percent of his passes.

Matt Bowen of ESPN.com broke down some of the ways the quarterback has improved:

Doug Martin and Charles Sims have helped out the offense with strong work out of the backfield, while Mike Evans remains a game-changing talent at receiver, even if fantasy owners have been upset with his play.

While the Buccaneers won't be able to always count on a plus-four turnover margin like they had in the upset win over the Atlanta Falcons, this is clearly a team opponents do not want to face. That is more than you could say about this team a month ago.

Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter for more year-round sports analysis.