CBS Sports released their week nine NFL power rankings and they have given the 49ers the respect of placing them ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers have won four straight and are coming off a victory over the New England Patriots. While I believe the 49ers deserve the number two spot, I also would not have been surprised to see the Steelers leapfrog them in the mainstream media. Thankfully cooler heads prevailed.
The biggest riser this week is the Oakland Raiders division rival, the Kansas City Chiefs. The AFC West has turned into a jumbled mess courtesy of the Chiefs four game winning streak to rocket them to the top of the division. The Raiders, Chiefs and Chargers all sit at 4-3, with KC holding the edge having beaten each team once. This race will likely go down to the wire as the three teams continue to beat up on each other.
CBS Sports has slotted the three AFC West teams next to each other, ranking them 13 (Chiefs), 14 (Chargers) and 15 (Raiders). It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next nine weeks.
Here are the top ten according to CBS Sports:
1. Green Bay Packers
2. San Francisco 49ers
3. Pittsburgh Steelers
4. New York Giants
5. Baltimore Ravens
6. Buffalo Bills
7. New England Patriots
8. Detroit Lions
9. Houston Texans
10. Atlanta Falcons