NFL Power Rankings Week 10: Looking at the Latest Playoff Picture

In three of the NFC's four divisions, the playoff picture is becoming clearer with every passing week. Not so in the AFC, where three of their divisions just seem murkier and murkier with every win and loss within them.

With that in mind, let's take a look at which teams seem to make strong cases for themselves to appear in the postseason.

In the NFC North, one thing is certain: The Green Bay Packers will be a playoff team for the second year in a row. At 8-0, with only the Detroit Lions threatening at 6-2, it would take quite the collapse for the defending Super Bowl champions to not take the field come January.

However, don't discount the Lions. Considering their impressive performance thus far, if they can keep it up, they're a favorite to make the postseason as one of the NFC's two wild card teams.

Things are similarly as locked down in the NFC West, where the San Francisco 49ers sit at 7-1 while the other three teams in the division have just five wins combined. There will be no wild card entrant likely coming from the West division this season, but the Niners are a win or two away from not only clinching the division but also a playoff spot.

While more murky, the NFC East has a clear leader though nine weeks in the New York Giants, who sit atop the division at 6-2, with the 4-4 Dallas Cowboys their only competition.

The NFC East is a very changeable division, however, so there's no guarantee the Giants will maintain their lead. But at this writing, New York is the most dominant and balanced squad of the four and thus have the best chance at reaching the playoffs.

In the AFC, only the Houston Texans appear to be a sure-thing playoff team, with a 6-3 record and three divisional wins putting them miles ahead of the 4-4 Tennessee Titans, a team that has dropped two of its divisional games thus far.

The Texans have taken advantage of the Indianapolis Colts' collapse to take control of a wide-open AFC South on the merits of their excellent run game, efficient passing offense and strong defense.

With the rest of the AFC too close to call (the East and West divisions have a three-way tie for No. 1, while the North has three teams with six wins apiece), the only thing known about the conference is what's unknown.

However, that unpredictability is one of the best things about the NFL; surely, the playoff picture will become clearer in the conference, especially after a number of extremely important divisional contests on the slate for Week 10.

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