NFL Power Rankings Week 10: Predicting Post-'Monday Night Football' Standings

Any NFL team can win an impressive game, but only the great ones take their momentum from week to week, overcoming stiff tests over and over.Entering Week 10 of the season, we've begun to see that as the most 8-0 teams in the league's history enter the second-half stretch. The New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals are all perfect through eight and have stepped up to the plate every week.It's not surprising, then, that this trio of squads leads our power rankings entering a new week. But with only one team not sporting multiple wins on their record, things get awfully murky near the bottom.Let's take a closer look at the power rankings entering Week 10.Week 10 NFL Power RankingsCarolina Panthers (No. 3)It's almost like the NFL's schedule-makers knew the Panthers would be sitting pretty after four games and wanted to give them a murderers' row of playoff contenders to test their brass.That tough four-game slate opened with a trip to Seattle, which led Cam Newton to put together a late game-winning drive. A duo of prime-time home contests followed, as the Panthers rose above the Philadelphia Eagles and Indianapolis Colts before perhaps the most impressive one of alla 37-29 win over the Green Bay Packers.When it comes to proving itself against the best, Carolina has done that, as NFL Network's Rich Eisen noted:A simple glance down the rest of the schedule doesn't give Panthers fans much to worry about in terms of potentially running the table. They should be 10-0 after facing Tennessee and Washington, and their biggest tests down the stretch will be two divisional clashes with Atlanta.As long as the Panthers can win in the postseason, their fans will care little about how many wins they have at the end of 2015.Tennessee Titans (No. 21)It's tough to say that recently fired head coach Ken Whisenhunt was the problem in Tennessee. But with the way his former team came out on Sunday, you can't really argue that the coaching shakeup was the wrong move.In the first game under interim head coach Mike Mularkey, the Titans showed their grit and resolvecharacteristics not shown by them all seasonin a comeback overtime win over the New Orleans Saints.Never mind the fact that the Saints entered as one of the NFL's hottest teams. Rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota scoffed at that, throwing for 371 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Titans to victory. Most importantly, the offensive line protected him:Don't look now, but the Titans could be a dangerous team down the stretch if the offensive line can protect Mariota. The defense is playing wellalthough it is banged upMariota is playing spectacularly and most importantly, the team has confidence.Oh yeah, and there's the whole fact that despite its 2-6 record, Tennessee is just 1.5 games out of the AFC South division lead.
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