The 49ers and Raiders wrapped up another week of football that saw them reverse course against each other for the fourth straight week. Over the past month, when the 49ers have won, the Raiders have lost and when the Raiders have won, the 49ers have lost. With each win or loss the two teams have bounced back and forth in the NFL power rankings. The Raiders have seen bigger gains and losses giving their higher ranking, while the 49ers have bounced about two spots each week given how poor their record is thus far.
The Raiders locked up a must-win game against the Denver Broncos as they won a bit of a shootout 39-23. Based on last week's rankings, the Raiders could find themselves making a nice little jump in this week's power rankings. The Texans, Dolphins and Buccaneers all rank ahead of the Raiders right now but all three lost and will see a bit of a drop. This could be enough for the Raiders to climb at least three spots in the rankings.
On the other side of the Bay, the 49ers are coming off an ugly 34-7 beatdown on the road at the hands of the San Diego Chargers. A loss was expected, but I don't think it was expected to be this bad. The Buffalo Bills were one spot back of the 49ers and their road win over the Dolphins will surely move them ahead of San Francisco. Additionally, the Detroit Lions were a few spots back last week but their road win over the Bucs should be enough to leap them above the 49ers. Thus, yet again the 49ers will likely see a two spot change.
What's most bizarre about this week's action is that the 49ers still remain alive in the NFC West playoff race and actually are probably in better shape now than they were before the loss to San Diego. The power rankings reflect just how awful the NFC West is at this point. As of last week, SB Nation had the Seahawks No. 22, the Rams No. 23, the 49ers No. 24, and the Cardinals No. 29. Considering all four teams lost this past weekend, the top three will lose at least a spot to Buffalo. If there were power rankings for every season in NFL history, one has to imagine these would be the worst combined divisional average ever.
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