There was a shake-up at the top of the NFL Power Rankings again, as the Pittsburgh Steelers cracked the top five for the first time, while the Los Angeles Chargers saw their stock rise to No. 4 behind a dominant defensive effort on Sunday.

In a season of historic passing and scoring accomplishments, defensive storylines have taken a back seat. So as we run down the Week 11 rankings, we identify the stat that best sums up each team's 2018 performance on defense.

How we rank: Our power panel -- a group of more than 80 writers, editors and TV personalities -- evaluated how teams stack up through the first 10 weeks of the season.

Previous rankings: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | Preseason

Week 10 ranking: 1

Defining stat: 72.4. The Saints actually have a few disturbing trends on their defense, despite being the hottest team in the NFL. One is their 31st-ranked pass defense. But the one that has really disturbed coach Sean Payton is their 28th-ranked red zone defense. They are allowing opponents to score touchdowns on 72.4 percent of their trips inside the 20-yard line. Even the Bengals were 1-for-1 in New Orleans' 51-14 dismantling of them Sunday. -- Mike Triplett

Week 10 ranking: 2

Defining stat: 31. The Chiefs are tied for first with 31 sacks and a suddenly potent pass rush gives them reason for defensive optimism heading into Monday night's showdown against the Rams in Mexico City. One edge rusher, Dee Ford, is having a career season, while the other, Justin Houston, returned Sunday against the Cardinals after missing the previous four games because of a sore hamstring. Lineman Chris Jones has at least one sack in each of the past six games. -- Adam Teicher

Week 10 ranking: 3

Defining stat: 122. That's the average number of rushing yards the Rams have allowed this season, which ranks 24th in the NFL. The Rams vowed to play better against the run after a Week 5 victory at Seattle in which the Seahawks rushed for 190 yards. But the Rams allowed the Saints to rush for 141 yards in Week 9, and then gave up a whopping 273 yards to the Seahawks on Sunday. It begs the question how a front that features Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh and Michael Brockers has been unable to slow the run. -- Lindsey Thiry

Week 10 ranking: 5

Defining stat: 15.5. That's the average points per game the Chargers' defense is allowing during the team's six-game winning streak, tops in the NFL during that stretch. The Chargers also are No. 1 in red zone efficiency since Week 4 (33.3 percent), and have had two goal-line stands where they've kept the offense out of the end zone in back-to-back weeks against the Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders. The Chargers have bought into defensive coordinator Gus Bradley's philosophy of defending every blade of grass. -- Eric Williams

Week 10 ranking: 7

Defining stat: 18. The Steelers have recorded 18 sacks during this five-game winning streak, including six against Atlanta and five against Carolina, both blowouts at home. Pittsburgh's defense is predicated on front-seven pressure, and success up front is fueling a top-10 defense on third down (36.9 percent conversion rate). -- Jeremy Fowler

Week 10 ranking: 4

Defining stat: 8 and 29/31. The eight represents the number of players to record at least one interception -- a high total that reflects across-the-board contributions and a knack for creating turnovers at times, which has helped offset some other struggles. As for the 29 and 31, those are the team's rankings in kickoff coverage and punt-return coverage, respectively, which is uncharacteristically low and ties in to the defense. -- Mike Reiss

Week 10 ranking: 10

Defining stat: 24. The Bears have forced 24 turnovers. Chicago's defense, which had three takeaways in its 34-22 victory over Detroit, is an opportunistic bunch with playmakers at every level. Entering Week 10, the Bears led the NFL with 82 points off turnovers. -- Jeff Dickerson

play 1:34 Clark, Schefter have differing views on Saints Ryan Clark and Adam Schefter debate whether the Saints are the best team in the NFL.

Week 10 ranking: 8

Defining stat: 25.7. The Vikings aren't far off from reaching the all-time mark for defensive efficiency on third down (25.2) that they set last season. Minnesota's defense ranks No. 1 in third-down stops (just 26 of a total 101 allowed), a testament to the effectiveness of a pass rush that has generated 31 sacks, which is tied with three other teams for first in the NFL. Nine of those sacks came on third down. -- Courtney Cronin

Week 10 ranking: 6

Defining stat: 83.3. The Panthers rank 15th in total defense, giving up 357.2 yards a game. But what keeps them from being a top unit is their red zone defense, which ranks next-to-last -- just ahead of Tampa Bay. Opponents are scoring touchdowns at an 83.3 percent clip against Carolina inside the 20. The good news is opponents are getting in the red zone only 2.7 times a game, which is the fourth-best mark in the league. -- David Newton

Week 10 ranking: 11

Defining stat: 92.9. That's how many rushing yards the Texans are allowing on average per game, thanks in part to stellar play from J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney. After getting off to an 0-3 start, Houston's turnaround to winning six in a row -- and now leading the AFC South -- began with improved play from its defense. -- Sarah Barshop

Week 10 ranking: 13

Defining stat: 31, 10.5 percent. That's the Packers' sack total and sack percentage. They're tied for the league lead in sacks and have the lead outright in sack percentage. And they've done it without much production from Clay Matthews (2.5 sacks) and Nick Perry (1.5). They've already had 15 different players in on a sack through nine games -- two more than they had all of last season. New defensive coordinator Mike Pettine has sent pass-rushers from a variety of directions to make up for the lack of one dominant edge rusher. -- Rob Demovsky

Week 10 ranking: 14

Defining stat: 19.44. That's the number of points allowed per game, which is tied for fourth in the NFL with Chicago. The Redskins haven't finished among the top 10 in scoring defense since 2008 and have been 17th or worse since that season -- until now. The Redskins rank 17th in yards per game after playing Atlanta and Tampa Bay in back-to-back weeks. But they're 6-3 in part because they don't give up a lot of points. Washington struggles to defend the pass, so it will continue to give up yards when facing a good passing attack. -- John Keim

play 1:27 Are the Eagles finished after loss to Cowboys? Max Kellerman and Stephen A. Smith break down the state of the Eagles after a 27-20 loss to the Cowboys.

Week 10 ranking: 9

Defining stat: 7. That's the total number of takeaways they've generated, which is tied for 27th in the NFL with the Giants, Raiders and Ravens. Jim Schwartz's unit has been able to limit scoring -- the Eagles rank sixth in opponent points per game (20.3) -- but the inability to force turnovers has Philly running at a minus-6 in the takeaway/giveaway department. -- Tim McManus

Week 10 ranking: 20

Defining stat: 16.8. The Titans put the AFC on notice with a convincing 34-10 win over the Patriots. Tennessee's stingy defense is allowing an NFL-best 16.8 points per game. With the offense surging thanks to Marcus Mariota's increasing confidence, the Titans are poised to make a run down the stretch. Mike Vrabel has the Titans playing disciplined football, as shown by their league-low 4.6 penalties per game. -- Turron Davenport

Week 10 ranking: 17

Defining stat: 5.01. The Seahawks are allowing 5.01 yards per rush. That's the fourth-highest mark in the NFL, and it would be Seattle's worst of the Pete Carroll era by more than a half-yard if the season ended today. End-arounds and fly sweeps have given Seattle particular trouble in two losses to the Rams and one to the Chargers. The Seahawks' defense has been better in several areas that many would have expected given all the turnover from last season, but this hasn't been one of them. -- Brady Henderson

Week 10 ranking: 15

Defining stat: 373.3. Yards per game allowed by the Ravens during their three-game losing streak. That's the 10th most in the league over that span, which is quite a fall for the one-time top-ranked defense in the NFL. Baltimore has struggled to contain the likes of Drew Brees, Cam Newton and Ben Roethlisberger. If the Ravens don't bounce back defensively, they'll soon be out of the playoff hunt. -- Jamison Hensley

Week 10 ranking: 12

Defining stat: 4,091. Total yards allowed by the Bengals' defense, which is on pace to break the 2012 Saints' record of 7,042 yards allowed in a season. That's the number that got defensive coordinator Teryl Austin fired Monday morning, and it's one of many bad numbers for the Bengals' defense, which has allowed at least 500 yards of offense in the past three games. -- Katherine Terrell

Week 10 ranking: 16

Defining stat: 51.9. That's the percentage of third-down conversions for Falcons' opponents, second worst in the league behind the Bengals (56.2). You're not going to have much success if you can't get off the field. The Falcons hope part of that issue will be solved with the expected return of Pro Bowl linebacker Deion Jones from foot surgery, considering Jones is one of the best coverage linebackers in the game. -- Vaughn McClure