Week 9 NFL power rankings: Only one NFC team comes anywhere close to 49ers

It's time for another week of Niner Noise Power Rankings, and it's looking a bit thin for the NFC as the 49ers sit atop for at least one more week.

The San Francisco 49ers may have had the week off to rest and recuperate, but it was another week of highlights and shananigans in the NFL with more shock results and events taking place.

There's not much to say about the Niners this week, other then they'll remain on top for one more week at least (spoiler alert), so let's waste no time in diving in.

Read More: Week 8 NFL power rankings: 49ers stay on top (for now) despite 1st loss

1. San Francisco 49ers (6-1) - Last Week: 1

The Niners didn't have much to do this week, but the trade for DeForest Buckner (continuing the reunion tour that would have continued if Jauan Jennings didn't turn San Francisco down) and the loss by Seattle means it was still a good week.

2. Buffalo Bills (6-1) - Last Week: 3

What a great week for the Bills. They belt Baltimore, which no longer can be considered a contender after Lamar Jackson's injury, and then Kansas City slipped up.

Buffalo sure looks like the team to beat in the AFC.

3. Chicago Bears (6-2) - Last Week: 5

The Bears were a legitimate Super Bowl contender even before the Jeffrey Simmons trade, but now, this is a team to be feared. They just belted the Seahawks by three scores. In Seattle.

4. Denver Broncos (6-2) - Last Week: 6

Bo Nix surely cannot keep this up his entire career. In the clutch, he plays like a top-five quarterback. The rest of the time, he barely looks like he belongs in the top 50!

But the Broncos did this last year, and so we have to credit them for a weirdly sustainable brand of football.

5. Kansas City Chiefs (5-2) - Last Week: 2

Two losses in a row, and it's a bit concerning they're against the two toughest opponents. It's also concerning that KC didn't get it done despite Patrick Mahomes playing well. There's holes on this roster that a wide receiver isn't fixing.

6. Minnesota Vikings (6-1) - Last Week: 4

Yuck. Maybe there was an inevitability they weren't as good as their record suggested, given their quarterback situation. But I really thought the Vikings had a good chance to win the game. To be fair, they by no means played awful, but it's clear they need to sign or trade for a quarterback in the offseason.

7. New England Patriots (5-3) - Last Week: 7

The Patriots won't be happy they couldn't put Miami away a little easier, but at least they didn't slip up to a divisional banana peel like some other teams.

8. Cincinnati Bengals (5-2) - Last Week: 8

The defensive issues reared their head against Tennessee, as Cincy needed overtime to beat a Titans team that was going through a fire sale. Would the Bengals have won if the Titans still had Jeffrey Simmons?

9. Jacksonville Jaguars (5-2) - Last Week: 9

I had the Jags on fraud watch. We can put them off the list after winning 42-7. OK, it was against the Colts, but still.

10. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) - Last Week: 14

I'm confused. I don't believe in this Mike McCarthy-Aaron Rodgers retread. I don't believe in this team. I don't even believe they're the best team in the division. But I can't ignore a 6-2 record in what's been a tough NFC North.

11. Detroit Lions (5-2) - Last Week: 12

The Lions defense has looked a lot better the last few weeks, albeit one game coming against Minnesota, which barely has a functioning offense. They have one more weak to get sharpened up against Miami before they have a real test against New England.

12. Green Bay Packers (5-3) - Last Week: 13

The Panthers have fallen off a cliff, so the win isn't as impressive as it might have been a month ago, but this is still a team that feels in sync with each other. The only issue is that loss to the Lions may come back to haunt them, but at least Micah Parsons should put this team into overdrive soon.

13. Seattle Seahawks (4-4) - Last Week: 10

The Chiefs win is still a good one, given it was by 20-3, but the reality is this is a Seahawks team not hitting its stride and now is at best the third team in the conference, given the 49ers and Bears went into their home and beat them. And are they better than the Rams with Myles Garrett back and the NFC West?

At 4-4, there's nowhere left to hide now. No margin for error.

14. Los Angeles Rams (4-4) - Last Week: 18

I don't give the slightest you-know-what that they beat the Chargers, who have completely phoned it in this year, but the rise is for the return of Garrett. That automatically gives the Rams a boost.

15. New York Giants (5-2-1) - Last Week: 16

Somehow, the trade for J.J. McCarthy looks like a masterstroke. McCarthy's stats weren't earthshattering, but keep in mind he did that against the Texans defense. Coupled with the Cowboys losing at home to Arizona, and suddenly the Giants have a stranglehold on the division that doesn't seem at all logical.

16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-5) - Last Week: 20

The concept of the Buccaneers winning a divisional game in a shutout without completing a single forward pass hurts my brain. Just take your four-spot rise and get out of my sight.

17. Cleveland Browns (5-3) - Last Week: 15

Call me crazy, but I'm not going to give up on the Browns just yet. There's a chance they could go on a decent run.

Don't believe me? Here's their next five games: @ Saints, Texans, Bye, Raiders, Bengals, Falcons.

18. Atlanta Falcons (3-5) - Last Week: 17

OK, I'm gonna put more stock into the 49ers' win then in a weird game like against the Buccaneers that we will never see again. I don't know what that even was.

19. Las Vegas Raiders (4-4) - Last Week: 22

On the one hand, I don't feel amazing about the Raiders. But on the other, they're not horrible.

Given last season, it's actually quite an impressive accomplishment if you think about it.

20. Washington Commanders (2-4-1) - Last Week: 26

Jokes about clock management aside, the Commanders do seem a bit more stable than the record suggests. They should have at least had a kick to beat the Giants, and they weren't far off against the Niners, and then they thumped a much inferior team in the Eagles.

21. Houston Texans (2-6) - Last Week: 19

Well, it's hard to see the Texans getting back into playoff contention now. The defense just doesn't look the force it once was, given it allowed McCarthy (of all people) to dissect them.

22. Arizona Cardinals (3-5) - Last Week: 29

Arizona reminds me of a youngest sibling (this is not an insult, I promise) who had three bigger brothers growing up. The youngest isn't as scary as the oldest brothers, but there's this underlying toughness that growing up in that environment gives you.

It's the NFC West. The NFC West are the older brothers in this metaphor.

Everybody got that?

23. Carolina Panthers (3-4) - Last Week: 21

The Panthers are first in their division, but third in the NFC South in these rankings. It's just too hard to trust them, as Bryce Young has cooled off after a hot start.

24. New Orleans Saints (2-5) - Last Week: 23

There's not much to say, given it's a bye, other than the results around them mean the Saints are well in the divisional race. At 2-5.

The NFC South sucks. It is what it is.

25. New York Jets (2-6) - Last Week: 28

Losing to the Dolphins hits a little worse, given the Jets then looked competitive against Vegas. Even worse, their offense looked good for a change.

But, on the plus side for the Jets, their three first-round picks in the 2027 draft are now all in the top 10. What a golden opportunity for them, but they have to wait about five months to see it bear fruit.

Phoning it in for the rest of the season to give them as much chance possible to get a quarterback, or Jeremiah Smith should be the play now.

26. Baltimore Ravens (4-4) - Last Week: 11

The Ravens were on thin ice, given I was waiting on the return of Lamar Jackson, but the ice has now shattered after he came back and then suffered a thumb injury that may sideline him for the season.

And now, the questions about if he's played his final snap for the team is afoot too; it's a nightmare for a Baltimore squad that went in hard for a Super Bowl this season. If it isn't apparent, the collapse in the rankings is to account for the injury. The Ravens' season is over.

27. Tennessee Titans (1-7) - Last Week: 27

I can't demote a Titans squad that had a hard-fought OT loss to a team I consider elite, days after trading their defensive franchise cornerstone for two first-round picks. So I won't.

28. Dallas Cowboys (3-5) - Last Week: 25

There's nothing I can say that this clip of Jerry Jones throwing a tantrum cannot, either in words or sheer hilarity:

29. Miami Dolphins (1-6) - Last Week: 30

Miami's first half was good, then the talent of the Patriots took over. Still, it's what you want from a team tanking for the No. 1 pick.

30. Indianapolis Colts (2-6) - Last Week: 24

OK, in all fairness to the Colts, you can't expect much more than what they dished up, given they just bit the bullet and traded away big names for pennies on the dollar to get a head start on a rebuild with no first-round pick next year.

31. Philadelphia Eagles (2-6) - Last Week: 31

Not much to say: a good first quarter, but you can't get blood out of a stone. This is a team that's beaten to hell and back.

32. Los Angeles Chargers (0-7) - Last Week: 31

I know the joke is Justin Herbert forgot how to play football now he's dating Madison Beer, but the actual serious question is on Mike McDaniel. It's a genuine miracle he, as of writing, hasn't been fired in light of how much Herbert has regressed under his watch.

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