NFL Power Rankings: Gauging the League's Most Unpredictable Teams

The NFL's unpredictability is one of its best traits. With just 16 games played by 22 men at a time, practically anything can happen. But when it's your rooting interest that cannot get—and keep—anything positive going for an extended period of time, the unpredictability can surely be frustrating.

While there's a number of teams struggling with this issue right now, the two teams hailing from the state of Pennsylvania head into Week 10 as the league's most head-scratchingly unpredictable.

The Pittsburgh Steelers: Identity Crisis

The Steelers started out the season with high expectations, a common situation for the perennial postseason favorites. They looked as solid as ever in the preseason and traveled to Baltimore to take on the Ravens to open their season, hoping to again notch a win over the much-maligned rival.

Instead, Pittsburgh received a serious wake-up call, being defeated by an embarrassing 35-7 margin, forcing analysts to declare the team as "old, slow and over."

In the weeks since, the Steelers appeared to have slowly turned their deficiencies around. The injury-plagued offensive line got back on track, assisting both quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the team's running backs in improving their productivity, and the defense sped up.

Though takeaways haven't been there for Pittsburgh's defense, they managed to put together a string of performances that saw them at the top of the defensive rankings when they entered their second contest against the Ravens in Week 9.

Heading into that game, the Steelers boasted an impressive 6-2 record that saw them defeat both the league's dregs as well as one of the NFL's best teams, the New England Patriots.

But they regressed, dropping to the Ravens yet again while being unable to stop the pass (especially on third down), not getting adequate pressure on quarterback Joe Flacco and having significant problems gaining points when in the red zone.

Their up-and-down performance is certainly uncharacteristic for what is usually one of the league's most consistent teams, and heading into their Week 10 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers have far more questions without answers and a serious test ahead of them that they might not be able to pass.

The Philadelphia Eagles: Unmet Expectations

The Philadelphia Eagles have spent season after season with so much promise unfulfilled, and it was clear this offseason that they were going all-in in their attempt to reach their first Super Bowl since 2004.

Perennial playoff contenders, those splashy offseason acquisitions had many of us anointing the Eagles true Super Bowl threats before the team had even played a single game together.

Now, the team sits at 3-5, near the very bottom of the competitive NFC East division, and it will be a struggle for them to even make the postseason as a Wild Card entrant.

At first, the Eagles' slow 1-4 start was attributed to all those high-profile pieces coming together as a whole in their new home. But as time passed, it was clear that the discordant showings on both sides of the ball are a true problem, something that practice and study couldn't overcome.

The team dipped to the very bottom of the league in total defense, despite boasting players such as Cullen Jenkins, Trent Cole, Nnamdi Asomugha and Asante Samuel.

At the same time, mistakes plagued the team's offense, from penalties to clock management gaffes, from big hits to quarterback Michael Vick to poorly-planned trick plays costing the team game after game, in spite of their many explosive moments.

Then, things seemed to turn around. The Eagles defeated the Washington Redskins in Week 6, stifling the team's until-then impressive running attack and picking off quarterback Rex Grossman four times, leading to his eventual benching.

The team headed into their bye week on a high note, and returned to notch another win, a convincing 34-7 domination of the Dallas Cowboys.

With two consecutive wins, it looked like the Eagles had righted the many things holding them back, and they had all the momentum in the world on their side as they prepared to host the Chicago Bears in Week 9.

But the Eagles we saw in the first five weeks of the season returned to the field against the Bears, with the team struggling to stop the run and the pass while looking no better than flat when their offense was on the field.

It's clear that the Eagles aren't the team they hoped they'd be and that we all thought they were at the beginning of the season. All the talent in the world clearly doesn't matter if they cannot come together as a team and perform consistently.

Who knows which Eagles we will see when they host the Arizona Cardinals this Sunday; while Philadelphia shouldn't struggle to defeat them, one thing is known—what the Eagles should or should not be able to do has no bearing on their actual performance this season.

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