The Arizona Cardinals are the best team in the National Football League. Reading that sentence might come as a surprise, but the facts are on Arizona's side. At 7-1, the Cardinals sport the best record and have beaten some of the best teams in football, including the Eagles, Cowboys, 49ers and Chargers.
2014 NFL power rankings, Week 10: Cardinals on the rise
Tom Brady and the Patriots are rolling, the Broncos are recovering, and the Cardinals are silently the best team in football.
Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Underrated because of geography and a non-superstar at quarterback, Arizona is firing on all cylinders behind head coach Bruce Arians and a blitz-happy defense. On Sunday, the Cardinals put together their fourth consecutive win, beating Dallas, 28-17. Carson Palmer threw a pick-six early but tossed three touchdowns to rally from a 10-point deficit. The defense sacked Brandon Weeden once and intercepted him twice to help Arizona into the top spot of our power rankings.
Then there are the New England Patriots, who won the Game of the Week in Foxborough with a resounding 43-21 victory over the Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. After beginning the season 2-2, the Patriots have ripped off five straight wins with none more impressive than Sunday's. Tom Brady threw for 333 yards and four touchdowns while Julian Edelman had a monster showing. The diminutive slot receiver had nine receptions for 89 yards and a score along with a 84-yard punt return touchdown. New England has the best record in the AFC and owns the all-important tiebreaker over Denver for playoff positioning.
Staying in the AFC East, the Dolphins took a step towards the playoffs with a 37-0 pasting of the San Diego Chargers. Only days after the father of coach Joe Philbin passed away, Miami outgained San Diego 441-178 and forced four turnovers to improve to 5-3, tying it for the final AFC playoff seed.
The San Francisco 49ers were another California team which suffered a brutal loss. Colin Kaepernick lost a fumble on a quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line with under 10 seconds remaining, sealing a 13-10 loss to the St. Louis Rams at Levi's Stadium. San Francisco is 4-4 and three games behind the Cardinals for the NFC West lead.
Below are the Week 10 power rankings:
| Team | Record | SB Nation | ESPN | NFL.com | Football Outsiders | Average |
| Arizona Cardinals | 7-1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 5.75 |
| New England Patriots | 7-2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 |
| Denver Broncos | 6-2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2.5 |
| Detroit Lions | 6-2 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 14 | 8.25 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 6-3 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 6.25 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 6-2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 |
| Green Bay Packers | 5-3 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 7.5 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 6-3 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6.5 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 5-2-1 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 8.75 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 5-3 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 9.25 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 6-3 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 9.5 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 5-3 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 8.25 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 5-4 | 13 | 14 | 17 | 2 | 11.5 |
| Miami Dolphins | 5-3 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 12.5 |
| Buffalo Bills | 5-3 | 15 | 18 | 14 | 16 | 15.75 |
| Cleveland Browns | 5-3 | 16 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 17.5 |
| San Diego Chargers | 5-4 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 9 | 14.75 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 4-4 | 18 | 16 | 19 | 20 | 18.25 |
| New Orleans Saints | 4-4 | 19 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 |
| St. Louis Rams | 3-5 | 20 | 25 | 23 | 30 | 24.5 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 4-5 | 21 | 23 | 21 | 29 | 23.5 |
| Houston Texans | 4-5 | 22 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 21 |
| New York Giants | 3-5 | 23 | 24 | 22 | 21 | 22.5 |
| Chicago Bears | 3-5 | 24 | 21 | 25 | 24 | 23.5 |
| Carolina Panthers | 3-5-1 | 25 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 24.25 |
| Washington | 3-6 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 23 | 25.25 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 2-6 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 19 | 25 |
| Tennessee Titans | 2-6 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 25 | 27.25 |
| New York Jets | 1-8 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 27 | 29.25 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 1-7 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 32 | 30 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 1-8 | 31 | 31 | 30 | 31 | 30.75 |
| Oakland Raiders | 0-8 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 28 | 31 |
The four polls we use:
We use four different rankings for our weekly average. The thought is to get a wider sense of where all 32 teams are being valued with seven weeks complete. Our power rankings sources are from our in-house rankings, ESPN and NFL.com. We also factor in DVOA rankings from Football Outsiders to add an objective statistical measurement to the formula.
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