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

Though not always the case, the latest edition of Thursday Night Football featured two potential contenders slugging it out on a short week.

Even better, it was an unorthodox cross-conference staredown been the Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers, wherein the Steelers ran away with it 52-21 behind five touchdown passes from Ben Roethlisberger.

With a fun appetizer out of the way, the schedule moves into a slate where plenty of high-scoring action looks like a guarantee—as do a handful of results sure to shuffle the power rankings and season-long outlook at the same time.

In Thursday's aftermath, this is how things shake out before the weekend's games. 

2018 NFL Power Rankings

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

New Orleans Saints

Bill Feig/Associated Press

It seemed like only a matter of time before the New Orleans Saints climbed to the top of the leaderboard. 

The season-opening loss to Tampa Bay was concerning, but the Saints turned into a dominant-looking squad in a matter of weeks and then squashed perhaps the biggest concern about them—road performance—by winning at the Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings. 

What most will fixate on is the Week 9 triumph over the then-undefeated Los Angeles Rams, a 45-35 victory in which Drew Brees threw for four touchdowns and Alvin Kamara added another two on the ground against a defense that had allowed more than 30 points in a game just twice this year. 

Incredibly, on the season, Brees has a 76.3 completion percentage with 18 touchdowns and one interception, yet just one receiver has more than 12 catches this term.

The Saints could change this with the surprising addition of Dez Bryant: 

The rich only get richer in this scenario, and the Saints get another chance to prove their road woes are behind them in Week 10 when they visit the Cincinnati Bengals. 

From a season-long outlook, the Saints can keep a lock on the NFC South if they survive two games against Carolina over the final three weeks. 

Seattle Seahawks

Peter B Joneleit/Associated Press

Most shouldn't be surprised to find out the Seattle Seahawks have corrected course after a sloppy start to the season. 

Since losing two road games to start the year, the Seahawks have won four of six. 

Perhaps most noteworthy are the losses during that stretch. A two-point defeat at the hands of the Rams isn't something to be concerned about. Nor is a Week 9, 25-17 loss at the hands of a 6-2 Los Angeles Chargers team that also happens to look like a Super Bowl contender. 

As usual, the pocket hasn't always been perfect for quarterback Russell Wilson, which doesn't tend to matter for him: 

Wilson has a 66.1 completion percentage with 18 touchdowns and five picks overall, though a lack of big-name talent around him on offense has it relying on a former seventh-round running back (Chris Carson) and former seventh-round receiver (David Moore) to lead the team in rushing and sit second in receiving, respectively. 

The defense doesn't have a pretty nickname anymore, either, yet only three opponents have scored more than 20 points on the unit all year. It's a strong-enough complement to suggest fans should keep an eye on the Seahawks as a contender for one of the two non-division-winner slots. 

After all, the NFC West is a dead zone after the Rams and Seahawks, with Seattle closing the season with four divisional games left on the menu. 

Tennessee Titans

Michael Ainsworth/Associated Press

It all comes down to Marcus Mariota.

Mariota started the season hurt, which skewed the perception of the Tennessee Titans from the jump. And once he got "healthy" enough to play, the coaches had to limit the playbook used each time out because he was still dealing with nagging issues, including a problem on his throwing arm.

Mariota still isn't fully healthy, but he snapped Tennessee's three-game skid last time out, throwing for two scores with only eight incompletions while adding a rushing score during a 28-14 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

When his arm isn't working the way he might want, Mariota finds a way to improvise while reminding fans that he's one of the most dangerous weapons in the league:

Speaking of weapons, the playbook has limited chances for big free-agent addition Dion Lewis, who has one rushing score and a 3.7 yards-per-carry average. Derrick Henry is even worse at two and 3.3 in those same areas. Corey Davis, at least, is finally starting to live up to major expectations by leading the team in receiving.

Luckily for the Titans, the torrid AFC South gives them time to figure things out as Mariota gets back to full strength. They are 4-4 and one of two teams above .500 in the division and already have wins over the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Remember, the globe didn't think much about Mariota or the Titans a year ago before Mariota found a way to steal a playoff win against the Kansas City Chiefs. He's more than capable of doing it again, so in no way should the Titans be flying under the radar despite the sluggish start.