Today is the day NFL power rankings start to surface around the Internet and we'll have some of those rankings here throughout the day. Power rankings are almost all entirely subjective based on the writer. Some folks have a single writer develop rankings while others conduct a vote. Although they are certainly subjective, by considering a variety of rankings we can at least get a sense for how people view our favorite NFL teams.
In the Bay Area, I think it's safe to say the Oakland Raiders will make a big climb this week. They moved over .500 this late in the season for the first time in a long time by defeating the division-leading Kansas City Chiefs in overtime. The Raiders now sit at 5-4, one half game back of the Chiefs. A home OT win probably isn't enough to leapfrog the Chiefs, but the level of respect for the Raiders is definitely increasing.
At this point, due to having a late bye week, the Raiders are the only team sitting at 5-4. They're surrounded by six 5-3 teams and six 4-4 teams. Using last week's SB Nation power rankings as a baseline I'd imagine they'll pass the 4-4 Dolphins and Texans. It will be interesting to see how folks compare them to a 5-3 Chiefs squad that almost beat them. I think they'll be pretty close but I just don't think you can move the Raiders past them at this point.
As for the 49ers, they had a bye this week, but activity around them might give them a little bump in the rankings. Based on last week's SB Nation Power Rankings it will be less so because they got a healthy bump after beating the Broncos. But in others they will move ahead of the Cowboys and probably Carolina depending on the location of the two teams. The 49ers have a chance to make some serious noise this weekend when they host the division leading 4-4 St. Louis Rams.