NFL power rankings: Where 49ers sit after frustrating loss to Seahawks originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Ladies and gentlemen, the champions have been dethroned.
At least in these meaningless power rankings. Unfortunately for the rest of the NFL, there’s still a good chance the Kansas City Chiefs will win three-peat.
But we are still a long way from that happening.
For now, let’s focus on discussing… the Jacksonville Jaguars! And the Tennessee Titans! And the Las Vegas Raiders! Isn’t that nice?
Don’t worry, there are still plenty of good teams and exciting matchups worth recapping.
Here the 49ers sit after a frustrating 20-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks and heading into “Monday Night Football.”
32. Jacksonville Jaguars (Last week: 31)
Record: 2-9
Neither you nor I need to spend time discussing this team. If we pretend they don’t exist, they might disappear.
31. New York Giants (Last week: 32)
Balance: 2-8 (Day week)
Is this the last week we should ever see Daniel Jones play football? I hope so! But I’m not holding my breath.
30. Tennessee Titans (Last week: 30)
Balance: 2-8
Will Levis and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine connected on a 98-yard touchdown. That’s nice. There’s not much else worth mentioning other than the second-year quarterback continuing to cement his role as a career backup.
29. Carolina Panthers (Last week: 29)
Balance: 3-7 (Day week)
Bryce Young is playing much better, and it helps that he has the newly signed Chuba Hubbard to lean on. It’s unclear what the future holds for him, but he deserves to start the rest of the season.
28. Las Vegas Raiders (Last week: 28)
Balance: 2-8
I fully expect Brock Bowers to break every new tight end record this season. Absolute star in the making.
27. New England Patriots (Last week: 27)
Balance: 3-8
More competitive football from Drake Maye in a loss. It definitely seems like he’s the man, and they’re doing everything they can to fuel up and build a good culture at the same time.
26. Cleveland Browns (Last week: 26)
Balance: 2-8
A really fun Jameis Winston game. That’s all you can ask for. Despite how bad Cleveland has been this season, the regression of their defense from last season is stunning.
25. New York Jets (Last week: 24)
Balance: 3-8
Yes, absolutely all Robert Saleh’s fault. You really dodged a bullet there. Well done, guys. What a humiliating season.
24. Dallas Cowboys (Last week: 25)
Balance: 3-6 (Monday evening football)
Do yourself and all of us a favor and play Trey Lance. I promise you he’s no worse than Cooper Rush.
23. New Orleans Saints (Last week: 23)
Balance: 4-7
Don’t look now, but Derek Carr and the Saints are marching back toward… a .500 finish. They play well, but it’s too little too late.
22. Cincinnati Bengals (Last week: 18)
Balance: 4-7
This wasn’t officially a must-win game for Joe Burrow and Co., but man, they really, really needed this. The path to the playoffs is pretty murky as of now, but they do have a pretty favorable schedule down the road.
21. Chicago Bears (Last week: 20)
Balance: 4-6
Oh no, bears. This franchise has suffered enough from field goal cheating. Also against their arch rival. That hurts.
20. Miami Dolphins (Last week: 22)
Balance: 4-6
This is the Tua Tagovailoa-led Dolphins offense we know and love. Minus the rushing depth at running back, which is concerning.
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Last week: 19)
Balance: 4-6
Rest, Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans. Your schedule for the second half is a piece of cake. It wouldn’t surprise me if they won.
18. Indianapolis Colts (Last week: 21)
Balance: 5-6
Anthony Richardson still can’t stop turning the ball over, but he’s definitely playing better. A midseason benching can do wonders for some young quarterbacks.
17. Seattle Seahawks (Last week: 17)
Balance: 5-5
Usually there’s a Geno Smith play or two that decides most Seahawks games. That was the case again this week, but it worked out in their favor. He managed to pull a rabbit out of the hat on Sunday and break Seattle’s losing streak to San Francisco.
16. San Francisco 49ers (Last week: 14)
Balance: 5-5
I think 10 games is enough to conclude that this is an incredibly flawed team. Very talented roster, damn, the Super Bowl hangover is real. The best they can hope for is the division title and a home playoff game, as there is no chance of them securing a top spot. If they’re even lucky enough to make the play-offs…
15. Los Angeles Rams (Last week: 16)
Balance: 5-5
The potential of the Rams’ offense was on full display. Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp are the second-best receiver tandem in the league, behind Cincy’s duo.
14. Atlanta Falcons (Last week: 12)
Balance: 6-5
What once appeared to be the Atlanta division that would lose will become a dogfight. It’s been an inconsistent few weeks for Kirk Cousins ​​and the offense.
13. Denver Broncos (Last week: 15)
Balance: 6-5
Right now, Bo Nix is ​​playing the best football of any starting quarterback in the league. Also some of the best football plays from each quarterback era. I am now a full Bo-lover.
12. Arizona Cardinals (Last week: 13)
Balance: 6-4 (Day week)
I don’t think they will be leading the division for much longer, but it’s hard to deny that they are playing good football at the moment. I’d like to see some consistency before I fully believe in it.
11. Houston Texans (Last week: 11)
Balance: 6-4 (Monday evening football)
A heartbreaking loss last week, but fortunately for Houston, they have perhaps the most dysfunctional organization in the league afterward. This should be a victory, and one that may not be particularly close.
10. Washington Commanders (Last week: 8)
Balance: 7-4
Jayden Daniels has had some tough times. The competition seems to be on his trail. That’s normal, but it’s clear that Washington may not be quite the car it seemed to be in the first half of the season.
9. Los Angeles Chargers (Last week: 10)
Balance: 7-3
The Jim Harbaugh bump is real, folks. They almost lost that game. Coaching is important. They’re probably a big attacking playmaker, but they’re playing great football right now and can definitely make some noise in the play-offs.
8. Green Bay Packers (Last week: 9)
Balance: 7-3
An unassuming, but quite efficient play from Jordan Love and the offense, which had to be saved by the special teams to seal an emotional victory over a division rival.
7. Baltimore Ravens (Last week: 5)
Balance: 7-4
Lamar Jackson, meet the Steelers defense. Don’t worry, they do that to almost everyone. Flush it out and prepare for another good defense next week.
6. Minnesota Vikings (Last week: 7)
Balance: 8-2
A decent, rebounding game from Sam Darnold, and the defense continued to choke. That’s the formula. However, we have some tough divisional games ahead of us. Can they hold the division leader?
5. Pittsburgh Steelers (Last week: 6)
Balance: 8-2
Defense wins championships, as they say. I don’t think this is in the cards for this team, but if you can survive a Russell Wilson stinker against the Ravens, you have a special, special group.
4. Philadelphia Eagles (Last week: 4)
Balance: 8-2
Saquon Barkley can take them straight to the NFC Championship Game, where they could very well punch their ticket back to the Super Bowl. That is, if Jake Elliott can make kicks…
3. Buffalo Bills (Last week: 3)
Balance: 9-2
If there was anyone who would hand the defending champions their first defeat, it would of course be Josh Allen. They also secured a potentially huge tiebreaker in the play-offs.
2. Kansas City Chiefs (Last week: 1)
Balance: 9-1
Finally it’s over. They have escaped far too many ugly games with wins this season. They couldn’t keep getting away with it. Honestly, I wanted to move them down for a while, but I respected the streak too much. This is where they belong. Not too shabby though.
1. Detroit Lions (Last week: 2)
Balance: 9-1
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new top dog. They brutally humiliated perhaps the worst team in the NFL, but Jared Goff was virtually flawless after his five-pick game.
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