The San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders completed another week of NFL football and remain in the playoff hunt in their respective divisions. Of course the reasons are vastly dissimilar, and the weekly NFL power rankings will reflect that in some manner. The 49ers dropped to 4-8 with an expected, if somewhat brutal, loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. The Raiders pulled of a bit of a stunner with an upset of the formerly 6-5 San Diego Chargers.
The Raiders have had an up-and-down season but have pulled off some key wins that might not have been expected in previous seasons. The Raiders improve to 6-6 and now find themselves two games back of the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West. They don't have an easy schedule the rest of the way, but a division title is not out of the question. Considering the impact of their win over the Chargers, I'd imagine the Raiders will likely climb at least three or four spots. Several teams ahead of them dropped to 5-7, with others falling to 6-6 (see San Diego). At the very least the Raiders have to be moving ahead of the Chargers after their rare season sweep.
As for the 49ers, this loss to Green Bay was expected given the disparity in the current seasons. Yet the 49ers remain on the fringe of the NFC West division race heading into their showdown with Seattle at Candlestick Park. A loss eliminates the 49ers from playoff contention, while a victory moves the 49ers to within a game of Seattle. Considering the Rams are traveling to New Orleans, they'll likely also be a game back of the Rams with three weeks to play. It's almost a kind of sick joke. In light of their loss this week, the 49ers will drop one or two spots, but probably not a whole lot given some of the performances below them.
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