NFL Power Rankings Week 11: Examining 2015 Season Before Thursday Night Football

Beyond the top few teams, there is a lot of uncertainty in the NFL standings, but a few teams are certainly headed in the right direction.

Not only did the Green Bay Packers, Cincinnati Bengals and Denver Broncos lose in surprising fashion this past weekend, the teams in the middle are little more than a jumbled mess. In fact, 14 of the 32 squads are within one game of .500. 

That makes it difficult to figure out which teams are best, although a few organizations did stand out with big victories in Week 10. Here is a look at complete power rankings with a breakdown of the top risers of the week.

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

Top Risers

Arizona Cardinals

Steve Dykes/Getty Images

At face value, a win over the now 4-5 Seattle Seahawks might not seem like much. However, the Arizona Cardinals looked like a championship team Sunday night.

First of all, regardless of their record, the Seahawks might be the toughest team to beat in their home stadium. Russell Wilson entered the day with a 24-3 career record in the regular season at CenturyLink Field, but he could not add to his total against the red-hot Cardinals.

More importantly, the way they got the win says a lot about this team. After going up 19-0 early and 25-10 in the second half, the lead quickly evaporated for the Cardinals. Carson Palmer fumbled twice on sacks, and it led directly to two Seahawks touchdowns to give the home team a 29-25 fourth-quarter lead. With the crowd fired up and momentum going away, it would not have been a surprise to see Arizona fold and accept the loss.

That didn't happen, though, as Palmer led a 10-play, 83-yard touchdown drive to go ahead before Andre Ellington sealed the win with a 48-yard run on the next possession. Head coach Bruce Arians explained what the win meant for his team, per Craig Grialou of Arizona Sports:

The Cardinals went to the playoffs last season, but after losing in the first round, they were disregarded as a potential contender. With Palmer healthy and playing at a high level, however, this group clearly has what it takes to win the Super Bowl.

Minnesota Vikings

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

We were all understandably hesitant in believing in the Minnesota Vikings this season. They have gone three years without a winning season, and the season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers was ugly. Meanwhile, the early wins came against weak opponents and provided little insight into the team's ability.

That is no longer the case.

With five wins in a row, the Vikings are one of the hottest teams in football and are playing extremely well against quality opponents. In Week 9, they slowed down Todd Gurley to earn a close win over the St. Louis Rams. On Sunday, they completely shut down the Oakland Raiders, holding the team to just 14 points after the same offense scored 34 against the New York Jets and 35 against the Pittsburgh Steelers the past two weeks.  

Minnesota currently ranks second in the NFL with 17.1 points allowed per game, and all of a sudden, you can believe this group is legitimate.

Former cornerback Ronde Barber discussed the strength of this defense:

Head coach Mike Zimmer has worked on fundamentals, and it has led to a team that makes few mistakes defensively. With Adrian Peterson carrying the offense and Teddy Bridgewater doing enough to win games, this is a team that could be playoff bound.

Kansas City Chiefs

Joe Mahoney/Associated Press

The major discussion after the Kansas City Chiefs' dominant 29-13 win over the Denver Broncos revolved around Peyton Manning. However, a lot of credit is due for the Chiefs defense.

Forcing five interceptions with five sacks in a game is not an accident, and the unit has been impressive throughout the past five games (only 14 points per game allowed in this stretch). Andy Benoit of Sports Illustrated gave high praise for the defense:

The offense didn't do a whole lot, with only one of the seven scoring drives being more than 50 yards—the lone exception being on the 80-yard touchdown by Charcandrick West in the fourth quarter—but it took advantage of the opportunities it had.

West isn't quite Jamaal Charles and Alex Smith is never going to be an elite quarterback, but as long as they can score points, the Chiefs can win games with the way the defense is playing.

Considering how many teams are stuck at 4-5, the Chiefs are one of the few trending up.

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