NFL Power Rankings, Week 10: The Saints of New Orleans Take the Throne

Previous rank:
Number 4

Beat the top ranked team, take first place – that's how it works for the
Holy this week. While the
Chefs have been more consistent during the season, your favorite Power rankings have always been conservative in New Orleans despite the
The undeniable thrust of the Saints – they did not even win a single place on this chart after
an 8th week win over another Minnesota team. So, yes, that jump was due. Sunday, New Orleans went to school, going back to the days of 2014 when
Drew Brees apparently had to accumulate 45 points for this team to even consider winning.
That long ball to Michael Thomas at the end of the fourth quarter was the definition of the clutch – a real
Hall of Fame play. Oh, we forgot to write down
Defense of the saints. Well, this unit
made to force two big late stops. It was enough.

Previous rank:
N ° 2

Before choosing this ranking, know that the
The patriots won –
by several scores, not less – without
Rob Gronkowski,
Sony Michel and
Shaq Mason.
Tom Brady spent most of the night in defense of the Pack, knowing the conspiracy czar, Mike Pettine. So Brady
hit the Joshpot with that strange middle pitch to Mr. Gordon – a ball that
Julian Edelman first was high for … before lowering his hands, which gave him the air of a red, white and blue PEZ dispenser. The absence of Michel meant that it needed more
James White, who was obviously gassed after
this beauty-play of a screen. What a well planned, well timed and better call than all the Packers have shown has been played since New England. Edelman delivered calmly and coldly.
Again.

Previous rank:
N ° 1

The last of the unbeaten has fallen. Was it inevitable? Sure. Was the loss concerned? Yes. the
The Rams defense has now dropped 27 points and more in four of its last six games, including 45 on Sunday. And do not forget that they were also
bailed out by the eccentric means of
Ty Montgomery last week. The absence of half injured corner
Aqib Talib affects Wade Phillips' group more than any other LA fan will want to admit (while they are busy buying their pumpkin slats at any of the 18,157 Starbucks Los Angeles, not to mention the suburbs). You knew it was bad Sunday when Troy Aikman mentioned in the Fox show that the holding of the
Saints, who scored a goal in the middle of the fourth quarter, was a victory for the defense. Maybe – but then
Jared Goff and the offense went-and-three on the next series, setting up
Michael Thomas's ball at home. Never mind. # 8-1butthey's lllive

Previous rank:
n ° 5

Obtained Hazed by a
Fan of the Seahawks I met at the airport for his laziness. He said I was pulling generic statistics when, in my presentation text for Chargers-
Seahawks in
the game choices of the week 9 I noticed how many pieces were in the
Chargers have manufactured this season. Well, I'm not one to take pleasure in the misfortune of another, so I will not say anything. Anyway,
Major victory for the Bolts in a difficult place to play. (OK, so now I
will mention that the
The riders of the shippers produced gains of 28, 16, 34, 20, 21 and 14 yards. It's a hell of a lot of races over 10 meters for one game. Oh, let's go back to the column …) Close call at the end, as it appeared
Jahleel Addae honed
the latter Russell Wilson offering jussssssssssssst a smidge … but that was enough for big W.

Previous rank:
Number 6

For a team whose reputation is always more tied to her defense than to her attack, Carolina likes to score points – almost 80 – over the past two weeks.
Against the flibustres Sunday, the
The Panthers have generated more than 400 yards of offense while making the goal area their own nightclub, scoring six touchdowns, including an important long run to bring the score to 42-28 in the fourth quarter. After Carolina built an impressive 35-7 lead, Bucs QB
Ryan Fitzpatrick has become very sexy
Adam Humphries is often on his way to 21 unanswered points. It's at that time
The panthers marched on the field, taking enough time to force Tampa to continue his attack.

Side note:
Run-CMC became a legitimate star, recording 22 touchdowns, 157 yards and two more touchdowns on Sunday.

Previous rank:
N ° 7

Do not look now, but Pittsburgh is 5-2-1 and streaks. Credit goes to
Ben Roethlisberger, who is much criticized for his road works (which, it must be mentioned, is not as pitiful as it was reported). Roethlisberger made two very accurate shots on what really was the decisive driver in the
win over Baltimore when the
The Steelers were trying to gain as much time as possible in their last possession. Two times,
Big Ben delivered bullets caught in front
Antonio Brown converts the third test, gnawing the precious minutes and thwarting
Joe Flacco's ability to respond. When the
The ravens finally recovered the pork skin, Cam Heyward drove his right man in the eyes of Flacco, with
Stephon Tuitt rushing for the bag at hand. Former
Steelers.
Next step: the panthers.

Previous rank:
N ° 8

Welcome Sir
Dalvin Cook. The Vikes' defense has staged an excellent performance – and Cook has stolen it simply because of his presence on the court. Minnesota fans have been waiting weeks (and the lion's share of last season) to watch Cook's rumor, which he did.
against these Lions in particular. Although he may not have had a day's work in the office, Cook took advantage of his opportunities, accumulating 89 rushing yards in just ten runs and four passes for 20 more yards. Let's go back to Mike Zimmer's defense: 209 yards allowed and Detroit converting to only four of the 15 third tries.

Side note:
Adam Thielen's game series with more than 100 yards at the reception ended Sunday. The good thing: the Vikes did not need him to do much. And he
always caught a touchdown pass, by the way.

Previous rank:
N ° 10

Of all the teams ranked in the top 10
column of last week the
The bears were the least trustworthy – so they were in 10th place. While
beating the Bills would not generally be a team up, consider how Chicago overthrew Buffalo
in Buffalo. The defense counted several touchdowns, making it a no-deal in which the attack was optional – for both teams. The most remarkable were the linebackers.
Roquan Smith counted 12 tackles just like
Danny Trevathan.
Leonard Floyd scored three, as well as
a choice of six. Notice which OLB / edge rusher is missing? Yes Da
Bears dominate
without
this guy.

Previous rank:
N ° 12

Another week,
another victory for the
Texans. This time, you can not quote the calendar either, because Denver has been a difficult challenge on the road, even for the best teams (like
Chiefs and rams). Houston has (again) received the gift of a bad coaching from
The Broncos boss, Vance Joseph, opted for a poor try on a 51-yard placement instead of choosing to push his kicker closer. Call the move
Jason Garrettypical. And do not forget Frank Reich
give the Texans the ball on the
Colts of the 50 in September. What do the playoff teams do with this type of openings? To take advantage of. the
Texans had the honor and the privilege to watch
The boot of Brandon McManus
navigate right. Well, not his real boot. The kick. But Uggs for every Texan for winning six games in a row. Next: goodbye week.

Previous rank:
N ° 11

It's a daunting task to win games in the NFL while the ball is in possession of the ball for just 23 minutes and that's only one of four chances in the red zone. Especially without causing takeaway, that the
Crows could not do against
Steelers on Sunday. Somewhat surprisingly, the Baltimore defense – tied for second in the NFL in the bags even
after
the defeat against Pittsburgh – could not get to
Ben Roethlisberger, getting a single bag every game. Who came on
The last player of the Steelers, when Roethlisberger decided to eat it rather than force a throw or stop the clock with incompleteness. the
The crows deserved the near loss. John Harbaugh being
questioned about his job security? Seems an overreaction to lose to the
Saints,
Panthers and
Steelers, all seven best teams, in the last three weeks.

Previous rank:
N ° 20

The price for
Victory of effort of the 9th week go to the land
The Falcons, who refuse to apologize even though they are able to build their own mini-
The Pro Bowl team on the players on their injury reports and injured reserve. Atlanta gets a little healthier –
comprising in the standings – because of a defense that has bent (a lot) without breaking out in the last two weeks.
In Washington,
Matt Ryan had his best performance on the road since
this victory over Jeff Fisher
Rams two years ago.

Of all the Sunday's individual pieces, I thought only one pass could be
Mohamed Sanu, insignificant in terms of result, represented the heart of Dan Quinn's football team. Until 17 and trying to beat the allotted time with six minutes left and change, Ryan hit Sanu over center in a tight cover the third and seventh. Sanu tried to shoot two defenders for the first goal, only to have the center
Alex Mack (center!) Comes running to push the battery. Wholeheartedly. Atlanta has clearly not given up on making the post-season as easily as all analysts have dropped it.

Previous rank:
N ° 14

the
The Eagles have certainly improved during week 9 of their departure. Love
Trade the gold Tate for this team. While
Alshon Jeffery and
Nelson Agholor (who was mostly effective in the slot) added some elements to the offense, without bringing the kind of
running-back-in-a-wideout & # 39; s-body impact that Tate does. L & # 39; former
Lions recipients will be much more dangerous, or at least more productive, on these bubble screens that Jeffery occasionally receives. Tate is more explosive from the start. Other notes: Tate averaged 93 receptions a year from 2014 to 1917, and he was on the pace of 101 with Detroit this season. Although he has a higher abandonment rate than Agholor this year, he has been as reliable as ever. From 2011 to 2013, when Tate was with the
Seahawks, he boasted the lowest drop rate in the league (just 3.4%).

Previous rank:
N ° 13

The loss of Sunday night turned to that
Aaron Jones escapes the fourth quarter with the
Packers unable to recover.
Can not recover It's a bit like when Mike McCarthy called after a break. That's exactly what Twitter's cheeseheads boast about, among other things, like …
The beginnings of Bashaud Breeland,
The game less than Rodgers of Aaron Rodgers, while McCarthy, the fascination of the offensive to use every last bit of the game clock, McCarthy,
The acceleration of Randall Cobb and – of course – all that touches McCarthy. That's pretty much everything, right?

Previous rank:
No. 16

Did some side reading on Pro Football Focus last week, where I learned that rookie safety
Jessie Bates did
their mid-season All-Pro team. Significant, given the slight panic that broke out when Cincy suddenly dropped
George Iloka is walking
before the season. Maybe the
The Bengals knew something that everyone did not know. Most people would not consider Bates a household name. Cincy took him to the end of the second round last April and they have already received a fantastic return on investment: three interceptions, one touchdown
(last week, near Jameis Winston) and, perhaps most impressively, 60 tackles. It's in eight games.

Previous rank:
N ° 15

Never had the feeling
Could Russell Wilson win the League's MVP every year? Where would the
The Seahawks are without him? Seattle
dropped a game at the Chargers on Sunday, and Wilson was far from perfect. Yet he was there, annoying as always, placing the balloon between two lightning defenders – running, notice it – and straight into
The grid of David Moore.
Drop. Ball game. (In Moore's defense, the pass was slightly sloped, which gave him a score of 8.0 on the difficult catch scale.) Wilson took off more on Sunday than he did. does all the season, using his legs to move the controls forward and keep the position.
Seahawks in the game. In the end, Seattle's defense against the race – the perceived strength of this group – is largely responsible for failure facing a verifiable opponent. The 160 rushing yards in just 22 attempts constituted the backbone of several marches scoring goals.
Chargers.

Previous rank:
N ° 22

Sensational. This monday evening
The Cowboys' triumph was the biggest victory of this franchise in a regular season. Shoot, maybe even more important than
the playoff win in Kansas City. There was nothing soft about the
Titans win. Tennessee immediately carried the torch to Dallas: clash between gangs, keeping the cover and pushing the ball on the offensive. On that note, Matt LaFleur deserves a lot of credit for making the appropriate calls over and over again, taking advantage of what had been the stingiest defense of the NFL.
Marcus Mariota delivered, well, especially
on this skinny post that he laced between
Sean Lee and two
Cowboy safety.
Dion Lewis played. In other words: it was a total victory of the team.
Next step: the patriots. Double wow.

Previous rank:
N ° 17

The blues of the road are so pretty uniforms. the
Cowboys never fail to play ugly in them. There is no overestimate of what a putrid loss that was
Monday night A night when the Dallas defense was not playing to the high level it had set in 2018, a competent offense could have alleviated the difference. (The
Cowboys & # 39; D
made force two turnarounds, and although 28 points is never a wonderful thing, it's not like they'd dropped 58, 48 or even 38.) Many Dallas fans are heading to the point. ;appellant. Maybe, but how effective can OC Scott Linehan be if he never has an ace in his hand?
Dak Prescott has not progressed, he has regressed – and two and a half years after his career in the NFL, he has not yet developed a lot of presence. There is a huge gap between athletic ability and
pocket mobility. Think about
Drew Brees,
Tom Brady or even
Philip Rivers. They are not in place. They move in and around the pocket, their concentration always concentrating on the ground.

Previous rank:
N ° 19

Does anybody know why Joseph Vance – or any other head coach – is participating in field trials of more than 50 yards on turf?
With a timeout in their pocket? There was no reason for that, with more than 10 seconds left,
Case Keenum would not have been able to sting the ball in this last race before trying to bring his punt closer. Run a shallow cross in the middle. Or, if you're worried that an OPI pick-play will take you away from the field, try a quick 5-yard touchdown. the
The defensive backs of the Texans gave Denver as much ground as the cushion, as we had seen in previous Keenum finishes. Yes,
Brandon McManus pushed him, and it's on him – but find any kicker, or smart coach, who thinks boots on a 50-yard distance are on a walking foot. equality with the game in play. Bring your kicker closer. THE END.

Previous rank:
N ° 21

Here is another team that probably would have preferred to continue playing rather than doing a bye. After failing in close play after close early play (SEE:
against the Bengals,
Eagles
and Texans), the
Colts bring together comfortable consecutive victories
in the weeks 7
and 8 before the prescribed break of week 9. If they want to have any chance to push the boundaries of the AFC South zone after such a difficult start, they have to take advantage of an impending three-game match home.
against the Jags,
Titans
and dolphins. Every game is a victory, considering how these teams play now: they have a combined score of 3-9 in their last four games. Meanwhile, the
The Texans play two of their last three games on the road. Do not say that Indy is going to catch up. But I say the
The foals can really fill the gap quickly.

Previous rank:
N ° 23

Gut-check wins for the
The dolphins, who really needed a W after two fleeting defeats
to Lions
and Texans in successive weeks. Miami did not use its RB just as much as I had imagined it in
the Play Choice play last week, though
Frank Gore was found with 20 races. The offense feels high tide, overall.
Leonard Williams and Co. have blocked many of Gore's tracks. But then there was the
The dolphin defense calls – then raises – when the Adam Gase team needs it the most.

Secondary note 1: I found it odd that, facing a third and nine-nine on the other side of the two-minute warning, and that New York has no timeout, Miami chose to pass. Throw the ball, burn 40 seconds and punt. Do not give
Sam Darnold any cushion to feel comfortable.

Secondary note 2: Dem boys from the 1972 team will be
throwing a few backs together this week. Like.

Previous rank:
N ° 18

While
going from Golden Tate might not mean tanking, we might consider
the loss in Minnesota as adverse indirect evidence. the
The Lions were flat, well,
apartment to the big bird killer on Sunday. The offensive was purely offensive, totaling 209 yards and nine points against a
Vikings unit that has never played as much as last year. Congratulations to Matt Patricia and the staff for trying to run football more often. Of course, we now know why they had previously avoided this tactic like a kale burger: they could not get licked against Minnesota. Overall, Jim Bob Cooter's "attack" was in retirement mode for most of the afternoon, averaging 3 yards.
per game … not by race, by game

Side note: Yuck.

Previous rank:
N ° 24

Jacksonville has just had a London-based trip, which is often programmed so that organizations are not late for having endured such a difficult mid-season trip. To make the most of the back of the season, the Jags will need
Leonard Fournette gets to work
(He is ready to come back on Sunday) and
Blake Bortles occurs as he did
against the eagles. Translated: Bortles should take what the defense gives him rather than hurry, and he should use his tremendous mobility. Lost passes have also hindered this team, helping to leave the defense on the court for too long. The average time consumed on offensive Jags possessions is 2 minutes 32 seconds. It's 24th in the NFL. They are 30th in points per player. The defense still has a strong talent, but this unit needs assistance from time to time. Hope that Fournette will be John Stockton this weekend.

Previous rank:
N ° 25

The bucs
lost the game Sunday, and they deserved – this space will not dispute these facts. That said, there is no way to look at the Tampa offensive and think that
Jameis Winston offers his team a better chance of winning than
Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick plays a fearless football that, of course, sometimes leads to interceptions, but he also scores points on the board and keeps the defenses on the heels. Fitzmagic struggled in Chicago
back to the week 4. OK … the same goes for the other QBs, especially against this defense. (Did you catch the
The Bears-Bills score?) I was predicting that Fitzpatrick would produce at least four touchdowns as a bold prediction on "The Power Rankings Show" last Tuesday (SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT: check it out on the NFL at 6 pm ET every Tuesday). ), partly because he was sure to hear the sound of the peanut gallery. You know it
it's better that we grew up Things. Fitzpatrick started throwing passes against a decent defense and a noisy crowd, hundreds of miles away from the pirate ship. And he actually recorded four TD passes. Continue to start it.

Previous rank:
N ° 26

A week of agitation transformed into a
Discombobulation Sunday for the new look
Browns. Even Bruce Arians, who was more a tame kitty with a Kangol in the broadcast booth than the fiery one with a Kangol hat that he had been on the sidelines, mentioned the many mistakes Cleveland made against a team of foreground. the
Chiefs are not the kind of group against which you can return the ball, commit silly penalties or dink and dunk. That said, everything was not bad in this game, far from it.
Nick Chubb offered a good complement to
Baker Mayfield, showing that he can be a workaholic with 22 races.
Duke Johnson is an underrated Chubb sidekick, with nine catches for 78 yards and two points. OK, enough with the positive energy of the New Age … the secondary was burned.
Next step: Falcons.

Previous rank:
N ° 27

Hard to win division games on the road when your quarterback throws four choices,
the last one that was a flutterball just between a guy in aqua digits on the
The final possession of the jets
against dolphins.
Sam Darnold designed a nice record just before half-time, leading to a
Jason Myers kick that shot the
Jets in all three. However, the next four
Jet training would define the day: punt, punt, missed test FG, pick-six.
Jarvis Jenkins (two bags) and the rest of Todd Bowles' defense held their share of the bargain, holding the
Dolphins only 168 meters. Turnover: The Ultimate Determinant of NFL Games.

Previous rank:
N ° 28

As mentioned before in the Power ranking, it stinks when a team
gains an emotional victory, then immediately goes into a week off. Especially for these
The Cardinals, who took a lot of moguls during their first season under head coach Steve Wilks. The week off would certainly have helped the new OC Byron Leftwich to dive deeper into the rookie
Josh Rosen, as well as analyze what has gone wonderfully well … and what has not (TIP: almost everything) since eight games.
Next step: at Chiefs. Super moogly moogly.

Previous rank:
N ° 31

No
The 49ers QB had their debut at their career debut as
Nick Mullens did it last week. Not Joe Montana, Steve Young, John Brodie, Jeff Garcia or even the big – and too often forgotten – Y.A. Tittle. Mullens received rave reviews for his almost perfect three touchdown performance, though it was hard for any of us to decipher if he was as good.
Raiders it's $ & @@ y. The question now is whether
C.J. Beathard, whose wrist wound opened the door to Mullens, will review the pitch. Nice to see Kyle Shanahan
do not make the same excuses centered on the quarterback barely veiled as explanations like other main coaches. Read in what you want.

Previous rank:
N ° 29

What to write on the
Giants … have suggestions?
Lawrence Taylor himself recently compared his former team by wondering why
Eli Manning will not attack his teammates if obvious mistakes are made. Then L. T. answered his own question, recognizing that the
in your face quarterback, he thinks that the needs of the franchise do not match the description of the current starter. Manning has never been this guy. Not everyone is Phil Simms. Or even Phil Rivers, from elsewhere. Maybe Manning should shout at CO, like in, why not run
Saquon Barkley more? The rookie phenomenon received
13 the last time. Since the
Redskins led by one touchdown or less during most of the afternoon, the lack of work was not based on the course of the game. If Big Blue felt compelled to write a half-balloon too top, place
run the football higher on the priority list.

Previous rank:
N ° 30

If you watched the
invoices
On Sunday, you have to wonder how this group has won two games this season. If you mark at home … well, Buffalo could not. In fact, the
The bills would probably not have scored their only touch of the time lost if they had not received a DPI call as a gift
Prince Amukamara when
Kelvin Benjamin clearly stumbled into the end zone. Even the referees felt for Nate Peterman at that time. Speaking of which, it took him 49 attempts to limp at 189 meters. On as many throws, a quarterback should, at a minimum, reach 300 passing yards. Three interceptions were not useful. Ni was
Terrelle Pryor. Thank God for the
Raiders.

Previous rank:
N ° 32

the
Raiders can not be
this bad, can they? Yes, they can. Their
The Thursday night events would have been one of the worst prime-time performances in modern NFL history, given the circumstances. What was the last time you saw a team lose 34-3 against an opponent whose quarter had never spent an NFL pass? (Throw the games of Week 1, because these quarterbacks have received all the representatives of the training camp.)
Nick Mullens was the
The third quarterback of the 49ers this summer. The Oakland defense allowed the Mullens powered offense to accumulate a total of 405 yards. Nous donnerions le
     Les Raiders un mulligan ici si ils n’avaient pas été affreux toute la saison. Faites-en un Mullens-gan. (OK, c'était mauvais. Désolé.) Et ensuite Oakland
a publié son passe-passe le plus expérimenté. QB
     Derek Carr dit qu'il est sur le long terme, mais que ce long chemin pourrait ne mener à aucune victoire avant longtemps. #Raiders