The San Francisco 49ers didn’t just beat the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday - they steamrolled them 38-17, piling up five turnovers and leaning on a defense that kept the game under control from start to finish.
That kind of win usually nudges a team upward in the polls. For San Francisco, though, the Week 10 power rankings mostly held steady. The 49ers are still tied for the NFL’s best record at 7-1 with the Buffalo Bills, and the rankings reflected that familiar top-end status more than any dramatic leap.
ESPN kept the 49ers at No. 2, again slotting them behind Buffalo. That made sense after the Bills handled the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football in a meeting of one-loss teams.
ESPN’s top three stayed the same as last week, with the Jacksonville Jaguars still sitting in that group. Chicago moved up to No.
4, Denver slipped to No. 5, and the rest of the top 10 stayed intact, just shuffled around. Kansas City remained at No.
6, Cincinnati jumped from No. 10 to No. 7 after its 34-17 win over Atlanta, Minnesota dropped to No. 8, Seattle fell to No. 9 after beating Arizona 17-3, and Detroit slid to No. 10 after defeating Miami.
ESPN also pointed to Week 12 against the Seattle Seahawks as the most important game left on the schedule.
The Athletic also left San Francisco at No. 2 behind Buffalo and handed the 49ers a midseason grade of an ‘A’. Chad Graff and Josh Kendall highlighted the way the team has separated itself statistically and through another big day from Christian McCaffrey.
“The Niners have the second-best point differential in the NFL (plus-79), and they hardly broke a sweat Sunday in another multi-touchdown game from Christian McCaffrey,” they wrote. “His 37 career touchdown receptions are the most by a running back in the Super Bowl era, surpassing Marshall Faulk.”
In that ranking, Denver stayed at No. 3, Kansas City moved up to No. 4, and Jacksonville climbed to No.
- The Bears, Bengals, Lions, Packers, and Vikings filled out the rest of the top 10.
CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco also kept San Francisco at No. 2, with no movement inside the top five. His note on the 49ers was straightforward: “They just keep playing as well as anybody in the NFC, despite their many injuries,” Prisco wrote.
“Brock Purdy is in the MVP talk.” CBS left Buffalo, San Francisco, Jacksonville, Chicago, and Denver as the top five, while Kansas City, Cincinnati, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Green Bay rounded out the top 10.
Minnesota fell five spots to No. 11.
FOX Sports had the 49ers at No. 3 last week, and this time moved them up one spot to No. 2 behind the Bills. Ralph Vacchiano said the Falcons loss before the bye now looks like an outlier.
“The 49ers clearly fixed whatever it was that happened to them before the bye week when they lost to the Falcons - a game that now looks like a weird blip on their otherwise stellar season,” he wrote. “They came out strong and fast, putting the Las Vegas Raiders in their place quickly.
“And the fact that they did it without WR Mike Evans made it even more impressive. Of course, that’s what they do best: Overcome injuries.
They’re that good and they’re that deep. They still look like they deserve to be the NFC favorites.
And they’re clearly the NFC’s best team.”
In Other News...
Broncos Bye Week Review Shows Why This 7-2 Start Feels Different
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JL Skinners goal-line stop against Kansas City belongs in that same conversation, a reminder that Denvers best stretches have come on defense and in high-leverage spots. The broader ranking captures why this start feels different, because the Broncos are not leaning on one breakout or one lucky bounce, but a string of defining plays that have kept stacking up as the season has moved along. [Read more 🡒]
Broncos Just Raised A Bigger J.K. Dobbins Question
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What makes that more interesting now is how the Broncos arrived at Dobbins as their primary runner in the first place. A potential move for Jonathan Taylor from the Colts fell apart, leaving Denver to keep Dobbins as the lead option and raising the bigger question of whether the front office sees him as a long-term fit or simply the best answer available at the moment. [Read more 🡒]
Broncos Bye Week Could Reshape The Line In Front Of Bo Nix
The Broncos are heading into their bye week with a familiar problem staring them in the face: the offensive line in front of Bo Nix has not been good enough. Sean Payton has acknowledged the issues after the game against the Chiefs, and the numbers around Denvers run game reflect it, with the team lagging near the bottom in conversion rate and yards per carry.
What makes the timing interesting is that the break gives Denver a chance to tinker before the next game, against the Raiders, and there is already outside buzz about a possible reshuffle up front. Columnist Troy Renck has pointed to Ben Powers, Alex Palczewski and Luke Wattenberg as names to watch, which suggests the Broncos may not just be looking for better blocking, but a different mix altogether. [Read more 🡒]