Below are the ESPN Football Power Index rankings for Nov. 10, after Week 9 of the 2015 NFL season. For a full explanation of how the FPI is put together, please read this explainer. For more background, you also can read this Q&A.
A few notes heading into Week 10:
The Carolina Panthers are climbing in ESPN’s Football Power Index, but they remain the lowest-ranked of the three undefeated teams heading to Week 10.
The Panthers climbed two spots to eighth after their 37-29 win over the Packers. The Panthers matched their season high with 37 points and posted their second-most efficient offensive effort of the season (82.3 on a 0-100 scale) against the Packers, but FPI projects them to have a below-average offense (an FPI rating of minus-0.4 points) in future games.
FPI projects the Panthers as likely to win each of their remaining games, but in four of the eight matchups, the Panthers and their opponent are projected to be within a field goal of each other. FPI gives the Panthers a 2.1 percent chance of winning out.
The chances to win out for the Patriots and Bengals, the other undefeated teams, are 6.7 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.
Looking to Week 10, the best game by FPI matchup quality is the Cardinals at the Seahawks. The projection is close, with the Cardinals 53 percent likely to win. If they do, Arizona will have a 94 percent chance of winning the NFC West. If the Seahawks win, their division title chances will be 20 percent; with a loss, the Seahawks’ division title chances will be less than 3 percent.
