NFL Power Rankings Week 9: Post-Thursday Night Football Standings, Review

Unlike the gameweek prior, the Week 9 edition of Thursday Night Football had some interesting implications on league-wide power rankings.

There, the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets squared off in an AFC East encounter. The latter continued its shocking strong play with a 34-21 win thanks to three rushing touchdowns and a ball-control approach that looks ready to cruise through the rest of the season.

Something had to give between the two surprising teams, which served as a good appetizer for a week of prove-it games for divisional rivals and would-be contenders in matchups spanning cross-conference play, highlighted by a showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys.

Before the rest of the slate unfolds, here is a look at updated power rankings.

2017 NFL Power Rankings and Super Bowl Odds

Rank	Team
1	Philadelphia Eagles (6-1)
2	Pittsburgh Steelers (7-1)
3	Seattle Seahawks (10-1)
4	New England Patriots (7-2)
5	Minnesota Vikings (12-1)
6	Los Angeles Rams (20-1)
7	New Orleans Saints (20-1)
8	Kansas City Chiefs (10-1)
9	Carolina Panthers (28-1)
10	Detroit Lions (40-1)
11	Dallas Cowboys (18-1)
12	Atlanta Falcons (18-1)
13	Denver Broncos (40-1)
14	Washington Redskins (100-1)
15	Oakland Raiders (50-1)
16	New York Jets (500-1)
17	Buffalo Bills (40-1)
18	Houston Texans (50-1)
19	Tennessee Titans (40-1)
20	Chicago Bears (150-1)
21	Los Angeles Chargers (100-1)
22	Green Bay Packers (40-1)
23	Baltimore Ravens (66-1)
24	Jacksonville Jaguars (40-1)
25	Cincinnati Bengals (66-1)
26	Miami Dolphins (150-1)
27	Arizona Cardinals (150-1)
28	Indianapolis Colts (500-1)
29	Tampa Bay Buccaneers (150-1)
30	New York Giants (500-1)
31	Cleveland Browns (5,000-1)
32	San Francisco 49ers (5,000-1)

New England Patriots

Good luck figuring out which New England Patriots team shows up on a weekly basis.

Tom Brady's side still has a high spot in the rankings thanks to a four-game winning streak. But it's hard to tell whether the team that beat the Atlanta Falcons 23-7 will show up or whether the team that got blown out at home by the Chiefs to start the season will make an appearance.

As expected, the Patriots have been fine offensively with Brady leading the charge. Despite taking 21 sacks, he's thrown 16 touchdowns against just two interceptions. New arrival Brandin Cooks leads the team in receiving yet only has three touchdowns compared to five apiece from Rob Gronkowski and Chris Hogan.

The problem for the Patriots is defense. New England ranks dead last in the NFL in total defense—and it's not something they are unfamiliar with, as Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders pointed out:

But familiarity doesn't make the problem acceptable. In Week 8, a home win against the three-win Los Angeles Chargers didn't have any business being as close as it was. But an 87-yard score by Melvin Gordon helped keep the margin close before the 21-13 final.

Brady hasn't been able to do it all on his own, and a close game against a struggling team like the Chargers helps explain why the Patriots have lost to contenders like the Kansas City Chiefs and Carolina Panthers. Coming out of a Week 9 bye, New England will need to show well in order to keep a strong slot in the power rankings.

Los Angeles Rams

On the other end of the scale, the Los Angeles Rams have to keep proving they are legit to retain a top spot. 

So far? So good—the Rams are a five-win team with two losses by a maximum of seven points. One came against a game Washington Redskins club, and the other was an understandable six-point loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Otherwise? The Rams have been an up-and-down performer, blowing away the Arizona Cardinals 33-0 and taking down an upstart Jacksonville Jaguars team 27-17 yet hardly escaping the winless San Francisco 49ers 41-39.

Still, it's hard to avoid liking what the Rams have done. Quarterback Jared Goff is looking like a different player compared to last year, and he's sitting on 1,719 yards and nine touchdowns while having only suffered 10 sacks behind an improved offensive line thanks to upgrades like Andrew Whitworth. He's backed by a defense that, while spotty against San Francisco, only surrenders 19.7 points per game.

"There's a lot of good stuff going on right now," Rams head coach Sean McVay said, according to ESPN.com's Alden Gonzalez. "We want to try to keep that momentum going, and how you do that is you take things one day at a time, one game at a time."

And it has the Rams right with the Seahawks in the NFC West and thinking about the playoffs. Tough tests such as games against the Houston Texans and Philadelphia Eagles await. As do the Seahawks once again. But if the Rams can improve rather than permit the rest of the league to wake up to what they are doing, Goff and Co. will remain a fixture in the top half of the rankings.

Atlanta Falcons

When will the Super Bowl hangover end?

The Atlanta Falcons are still 4-3 yet have lost three of their past four games. While the latest outing was a win via an escape of the Jets on the road in sloppy weather, there is a noticeable lack of scoring going on from a team boasting names like Matt Ryan and Julio Jones.

In fact, the stunning lack of scoring from a former offensive powerhouse has plenty of people analyzing why:

To date, Ryan only has nine touchdowns against six interceptions. Julio Jones has scored once. Over the team's three-game skid, Ryan and the offense scored a maximum of 17 points, including a stunning seven-point showing against those aforementioned Patriots.

The blueprint for a turnaround, at least, is right there. Atlanta's defense is only allowing an average of 21.7 points per game, and a quarterback as talented as Ryan has the ability to flip the switch and go on a tear.

But problems abound. The Falcons already had a Week 5 bye, and a Week 9 game against the Carolina Panthers signals the beginning of NFC South play for the Falcons, meaning their opponents in six of their nine remaining games know them all too well.

Oh, and the exceptions are games against strong teams like Seattle, Dallas and the Minnesota Vikings.

It's a long way of saying the Falcons face a tall task if the intent is turning a bad stretch into another playoff appearance.

Stats courtesy of NFL.com. Odds courtesy of OddsShark.