NFL Power Rankings Week 10

1. New Orleans Saints (8-1 SU and 7-2 ATS) It's time for us to recognize the greatness that the hard-charging New Orleans Saints have achieved. It's not like we didn't notice it, but it was hard to really push Payton's boys past the Rams and Chiefs until this past weekend. The ultra-powered Saints blasted Cincinnati 51-14 to push their scoring average to 36.7 points per game, which leads the league. Saints players paid homage to Dez Bryant multiple times in the endzone by raising the "X" sign, which was a nice tip of the cap to their fallen (and very temporary) comrade. Everything about the Saints is mouth watering, and the limp Philadelphia Eagles are next as this buzzsaw continues to rip the NFL to shreds. And yes, we see you, Drew Brees. You are definitively in the MVP conversation (even though you have been for about a month).

Next Game: Philadelphia at New Orleans -7.0

2. Kansas City Chiefs (9-1 SU and 8-2 ATS) Kansas City botched it against the biggest line of the year and let the Cardinals sneak in to the game a little too much. Mahomes was once again electric with 249 passing yards and 2 touchdowns (both to Tyreke Hill) but his MVP campaign is not at all secure. Not only is Brees breathing down his neck, but Todd Gurley is coming for him, his team and his MVP this Monday Night in the unquestionable Game of the Year.

Next Game: Kansas City -2.5 at LAR (Monday Night - Mexico City)

3. Los Angeles Rams (9-1 SU and 4-5-1 ATS) The Rams got away with another one on Sunday as Russell Wilson's pass flew over Tyler Lockett's head on the final play of the game. Seattle was right there and just couldn't finish the job, which seems to be their modus operandi. The Rams are a tenuous team to back, and have gone 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 games. Their defense is still an absolute mess and now they don't have Cooper Kupp, who escaped an MCL tear only to rupture his ACL. This is a bad time to run in to Kansas City.

Next Game: Kansas City -2.5 at LAR (Monday Night - Mexico City)

4. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2-1 SU and 6-3 ATS) Drop 52 points on a top level defense while giving up just one sack? Yeah, that'll do the trick. The slow burning Steelers have been vacillating between "great" and "uh oh" all year, but hit their stride literally and figuratively on a grand stage with everyone watching. So we'll give them props for that. It's also sort of miraculous that they've gotten to this point without Le'Veon Bell, which speaks to the franchise as much as anything else. Totally fair play to call the Steelers cheap, but their perennial success also gives them some footing in these types of negotiations. They've let A LOT of talented players go, like Emmanuel Sanders, Martavis Bryant and many more. Pittsburgh should've extended Bell, but it's also not a stretch to say that Pittsburgh is essentially as successful as New England without the Super Bowls. Very few franchises, if any, can tout the success that they've had. Ten playoff berths, two championships and three Super Bowl appearances in 14 seasons with Big Ben? That's pretty damn good footing.

Next Game: Pittsburgh -5.5 at Jacksonville 

5. Los Angeles Chargers (6-2 SU and 4-4 ATS) It's really hard not to push the Chargers up the rankings here, but they didn't need to do much to beat the Oakland Raiders...so they didn't. Los Angeles waltzed to a breezy 20-6 win over the Raiders with Melvin Gordon providing almost all the offense. The fact that the Chargers seem unwilling to post 50 points when they have an opportunity to really softens our opinion of them.

Next Game: Denver at LAC -7.0 6. New England Patriots (7-3 SU and 6-4 ATS) Nothing was more depressing than watching the Patriots run the Philly Special only to witness Old Man Brady fall over - untouched! - short of the first down. Even worse was the Titans running that exact play successfully on the next drive for a big chunk gain. The Patriots are still a top team, but only based on reputation and only because everyone else in the league stinks. The bye week couldn't come at a better time.

Next Game: BYE

7. Carolina Panthers (6-3 SU and 5-4 ATS) We're not making excuses for Carolina, but this always happens with them. The Panthers love throwing the scent off their trail with a performance like this, which is a result of their grit-and-grind style of play. Christian McAffery is having a breakout season, but the team truly lacks a real deep threat and all the fears that the betting public had about them being unable to keep up with Pittsburgh on the scoreboard came to light on Thursday. But again, Carolina does this every year in losing a big game. They're still playoff worthy and no matter how badly they played on Thursday night, there's no way you're fading them on Sunday against Detroit. None.

Next Game: Carolina -3.5 at Detroit

8. Minnesota Vikings (5-3-1 SU and ATS) Can Delvin Cook keep up the trend of running backs returning from hamstring injuries going? We sure hope so. The parity this season is killing us emotionally. We need more good teams!

Next Game: Minnesota at Chicago -2.5 (Sunday Night)

9. Tennessee Titans (5-4 SU and 6-3 ATS) The Titans feel like the "Carolina Panthers Lite Edition". Dion Lewis is no Christian McAffery, but he's up there. If you split Cam Newton in to a running back and a quarterback, you'd get Derrick Henry  and Marcus Mariota (or something close to it). And I get where Lewis is coming from calling the Patriots cheap and all, but the one weak link on this Titans team is former Patriot Malcolm Butler.

Next Game: Tennessee at Indianapolis -2.5

10. Chicago Bears (6-3 SU and ATS) We said it last week and we'll say it again: the good team that beats up on bad teams are worth tracking. The Bears put on a full display on Sunday while evaporating the division rival Lions with a solid, 4 touchdown performance out of Mitchell Trubisky and a three-turnover day from the defense. They cemented a 34-22 win that should have been a lot better had Cody Parker not doinked four kicks (two FG's and two PAT's). That kind of output from a kicker usually kills a team, but the Bears shrugged it off so emphatically. They're as deserving of a top-10 placing as anyone else.

Next Game: Minnesota at Chicago -2.5 (Sunday Night) 11.  Houston Texans (6-3 SU and 4-5 ATS) The Texans dropped out of the top-10 because of some standout performances from other teams that were active. But coming off their bye, with extra time to get Demaryius Thomas in the fold, has expectations very high once again. We don't want to be the one to say it, but we've been here before with the Texans and they've had a nasty habit of letting us down. Here's hoping Week 11 is different.

Next Game: Houston -2.5 at Washington

12. Seattle Seahawks (4-5 SU and 5-3-1 ATS) The unpredictable and impossible-to-pin-down Seahawks remained as such as they rebounded from a poor effort against the Chargers to nearly defeat the Rams. It's easy to get excited about this team; they always seem like they're in the fight. Unfortunately, that's why they're causing migraines for the betting public. And their next slate of games over the next four weeks makes them an even more agonizing play. Green Bay, Carolina, San Francisco and Minnesota are all going to use Seattle as a litmus test to see how good they really are. Seattle could sweep those games or lose all four of them. That's the 2018 NFL betting season in a nut shell.

Next Game: Green Bay at Seattle -2.5 (Thursday) 13. Washington Redskins (6-3 SU and ATS) Alex Smith was fired up as Washington coasted past a pathetic Tampa Bay team. But there's a fly in the ointment here - Washington seems incapable of putting up monster numbers. Their season-high is 31 points, and they average 19.6 per game. This defense is phenomenal, and Alex Smith is doing his job. The rest of the offense? Honestly, we didn't know Josh Doctson was still in the league until he caught a touchdown on Sunday.

Next Game: Houston -2.5 at Washington 14. Green Bay Packers (4-4-1 SU and 4-5 ATS) For all the talk about how great Aaron Rodgers is, he's not having a solid year. He's thrown for 425 yard s and 445 yards twice (against San Francisco and Detroit, the latter of which he lost to). He hasn't crested 300 yards in any other game, though he came close against Buffalo (Buffalo!) with 298 yards in a 22-0 shutout. The fact that they're only outscoring teams by +0.8 points says it all, and they remain one of the most overvalued commodities on NFL Sundays. That's on Rodgers as much as the defense. So when you ask why Aaron Rodgers and the Packers are this low, just remember that they're not as good as you want them to be. Green Bay has only ever been as good as their offense is, and the fact that they lay eggs against competitive teams gives us pause to move them up any higher.

Next Game: Green Bay at Seattle -2.5 (Thursday) 15. Baltimore Ravens (4-5 SU and ATS) The Baltimore Ravens have had exactly one losing season in the 11 years that John Harbaugh has been at the helm. Do not fire this guy. DON'T DO IT. Have you seen what else is out there, Baltimore?! The coaching carousel looks like the type of carousels used in horror movies. 

Next Game: Cincinnati at Baltimore

16. Indianapolis Colts (4-5 SU and 4-4-1 ATS) Andrew Luck propelled the Colts to a big time win and bettors had to be gutted when the Jaguars scored 10 unanswered points in the second half that covered the spread. Even worse was the fact that Adam Vinatieri had a chance to push the spread out of reach, and shanked it. The Colts are as good as we thought they were. Now the rest of the public just has to keep the faith. This team is a dangerous threat to steal the AFC South.

Next Game: Tennessee at Indianapolis -2.5 17. Philadelphia Eagles (4-5 SU and 3-6 ATS) Do you see why we put the Eagles so low all the time? They're not good! Now leave us alone about them.

Next Game: Philadelphia at New Orleans -7.0

18. Atlanta Falcons (3-5 and 2-6 ATS) Leave it to Matt Ryan to take all the stock we backed him with by giving them the 10th spot last week, only to lose to the Browns. The Falcons can be utterly anemic at times, which makes no sense given how good they should be. A loss to the Browns isn't crippling, but a defeat at home against the Cowboys would ruin their world. The fact that they oddsmakers gave this game the natural homeline is brutal for Atlanta.

Next Game: Dallas at Atlanta -3.0 19. Cincinnati Bengals (5-4 SU and 4-5 ATS) Firing the defensive coordinator is probably a start, but nothing is going to fix a defense that is allowing 454.6 yards per game. That's historically bad. The league record is 421.6 total yards allowed by the 2012 New Orleans Saints. Yeah. The team they just got blown to bits by. Talk about a double whammy. No team should be this bad coming out of a bye week.

Next Game: Cincinnati at Baltimore 20. Miami Dolphins (5-5 SU and ATS) I think it's safe to assume that Brock Osweiler won't be stealing any jobs in the near future.

Next Game: BYE

21. Cleveland Browns (3-6-1 SU and 6-4 ATS) Perhaps the worst play call on Sunday came courtesy of Gregg Williams and the Cleveland Browns, when little-used Dontrell Hilliard was called upon to perform  the ol' "give it to the running back on a sweep, have him stop and hurl the ball downfield to the quarterback" play. The problem wasn't just that Hilliard threw it...it's that he didn't notice that Mayfield was in double coverage with a safety overtop. Don't. Do. Stuff. Like. That. Cleveland!

Next Game: BYE 22. Dallas Cowboys (4-5 SU and ATS) Jason Garrett really clapped back at all those people who said he should be fired. Get it? Because he's always clapping? We're also just kidding around. Jason Garrett should still be fired.

Next Game: Dallas at Atlanta -3.0

23. Arizona Cardinals (2-7 SU and 5-3-1 ATS) What was so hard about getting David Johnson the football for eight other weeks???

Next Game: Oakland at Arizona -4.0

24. New York Giants (1-7 SU and 3-5 ATS) Anyone else have the feeling that the Giants are going to trade for Nick Mullens in the offseason?

Next Game: Tampa at NYG

25. San Francisco 49ers (2-7 SU and 2-6 ATS) It's probably a good idea to cover Odell Beckham, guys.

Next Game: BYE

26. Denver Broncos (3-6 SU and 3-5-1 ATS) Vance Joseph can't possibly have enjoyed spending his bye week having his inbox flooded by that clip of Bill O'Brien calling him bad names. Compounding it is everyone in the media touting for him to be fired. There's no way they hand this team over to Bill Musgrave, but we're just saying that Jack del Rio is sitting out there doing a whole lot of nothing. He's perfect for this team unless Jon Elway goes bargain bin hunting. And yes, Denver fans, you should absolutely pin this team's problems on Elway. I don't care how much you adore him for all those Super Bowl wins. He is killing the franchise right now.

Next Game: Denver at LAC -7.0

27. Buffalo Bills (3-7 SU and 4-6 ATS) Matt Barkley being the savior of the Buffalo Bills is the epitome of this whacky season. Good for him (we genuinely mean that - Barkley went from a potential #1 overall in the 2012 draft, to a fourth round pick in 2013 that sort of become a comical bust, he didn't play any professional football last year due to injury and has now risen to put himself in to position to cash in on himself at the age of 28 in a quarterback market that will be starving for cheap talent in 2019...keep it going, pal!).

Next Game: BYE

28. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-6 SU and 3-5-1 ATS) Leonard Fournette is back, the Jaguars are still losing games and the defense just gave up 29 points against the Colts. Do you trust them at all as they prepare to host Pittsburgh? Yeah, us neither.

Next Game: Pittsburgh -5.5 at Jacksonville 

29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-6 SU and ATS) The best part about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers piling up 502 useless yards of offense that produced zero touchdowns is that Dirk Koetter was the one calling the plays. I'm sure he'll find a way to blame Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was a dud with two costly interceptions, but we all know who the real problem maker is. The bright side? They didn't hire Jon Gruden!

Next Game: Tampa at NYG

30. Detroit Lions (3-6 SU and 5-4 ATS) Detroit is finding out real fast why Boston fans bemoaned Matt Patricia's defenses in New England.

Next Game: Carolina -3.5 at Detroit

31. New York Jets (3-7 SU and ATS) Josh McCown didn't create a quarterback controversy in place of the injured Sam Darnold, because the only controversy revolves around how bad they both are. Would you like a crap sandwich or a poop salad? How about both?!

Next Game: BYE 32. Oakland Raiders (1-7 SU and 2-6 ATS) Honestly, this isn't even funny anymore. At no point in the history of football did we expect Byron Leftwich to be the more revered offensive mind when compared to Jon Gruden. And yet here we are.

Next Game: Oakland at Arizona -4.0