The Raiders and 49ers became the first two teams to be formally eliminated from the playoffs. Man. Bay Area football is fantastic this year.
These teams seem to have swapped personalities lately, with the 49ers laying eggs and the Raiders fighting for progress.
We’ll see if that holds down the stretch in a race for the No. 1 overall pick. If the 49ers lose out, it’s theirs. After how they played the last two weeks, that seems likely.
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SIGN UP HERE We’ve also got a shake up at the top, with the Rams re-claiming their rightful place atop the NFC and the NFL. The battle for regular-season supremacy seems silly but matters a lot, considering how dominant New Orleans can be at home, and how passionate the L.A. Coliseum can get when packed to the nose bleeds.
The AFC is just as close, and Patriots are looking for a Chiefs to slip without Kareem Hunt and take the top spot. Kansas City had better keep a foot on the gas, because the Chargers sit just a game back in the division. A wild card spot would be a long fall for K.C. if they’re not careful and don’t play better than Sunday, when they scraped by the Raiders.
Here are this week’s power rankings: