The Bay Area is a place for good times and a place for bad times.
Let's start with the good.
The San Francisco 49ers put on a defensive clinic on Monday night with a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers that reminded everyone of just how good this team is. They controlled the game from start to finish and once again did not allow a rushing touchdown - or any touchdown for that matter. This is a team built for the playoffs and smacking one of the AFC's top teams is a good way to start the last stretch of the season.
The bad.
The Oakland Raiders swoon continued as they allowed the Detroit Lions to put together a furious late comeback that could be the end of the Raiders season. Just a few weeks ago, it was looking like the AFC West was theirs for the taking, but now the Raiders are looking up at the Denver Broncos, hoping they'll help them out a bit with a loss or two.
Let's see how the Power Rankings saw it.
Sportsline (no. 4) and ESPN (no. 3) both kept the 49ers in their same spot as last week. Only SBNation (moved up four spots to no. 2) showed any movement. Both Sportsline and SBNation were impressed with the Monday night showing and ESPN pointed out just how dominant the rush defense has been during their 15-game streak without allowing a rushing TD.
The Raiders fell one spot (Sportsline, no. 15), three spots (ESPN, no. 19) and one spot (SBNation, no. 17) as their three-game losing streak has everyone questioning the Carson Palmer trade, their playoff hopes and the damage the late-game collapse against the Lions will cause.