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Welcome back for another week of my NFL power rankings. The San Francisco 49ers have seen their season take a dramatic turn south, and it is only getting uglier in the power rankings heading through the final month of the 2014 regular season. I don't think any power rankings have consistent rhyme or reason to them, and mine are no different. Sometimes I'll go in and re-assess the entirety of what I'm thinking, and sometimes I'll just make some minor adjustments. Different teams have different context to how they are rankings.
The 49ers dropped an ugly one to the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, and now find themselves all but eliminated from the playoffs. They do still have a shot at a playoff berth, but it would take collapses elsewhere, and the 49ers offense actually getting on track. I am not expecting that to happen, but some might still be inclined to think that.
As I put together this week's power rankings, I ranked the 49ers No. 18. You could make an argument that they deserve to be lower, but the bottom half of the NFL is pretty awful. Of course, you could say all those teams deserve to be lower, but the 49ers don't exactly deserve to be that high. Let's just say I have them at a "soft" 18.
I swapped out the Green Bay Packers for the New England Patriots at the top of my rankings. The Packers did beat the Patriots last week, but the Patriots road win over San Diego, combined with Green Bay's defense nearly blowing it against the Falcons, made me think New England is the better team right now. I would say the top four is its own group, with the Patriots, Packers, Broncos and Seahawks currently looking like the class of the league. The Colts and Cardinals are hanging around there, but both have flaws that make it hard to quite include in that top tier group.
How would you rank them out?
| Rank | Team | LW |
| 1 | New England Patriots (10-3) | 2 |
| 2 | Green Bay Packers (10-3) | 1 |
| 3 | Denver Broncos (10-3) | 3 |
| 4 | Seattle Seahawks (9-4) | 4 |
| 5 | Indianapolis Colts (9-4) | 5 |
| 6 | Arizona Cardinals (10-3) | 7 |
| 7 | Dallas Cowboys (9-4) | 8 |
| 8 | Philadelphia Eagles (9-4) | 6 |
| 9 | Detroit Lions (9-4) | 9 |
| 10 | Baltimore Ravens (8-5) | 12 |
| 11 | Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5) | 15 |
| 12 | San Diego Chargers (8-5) | 11 |
| 13 | Cincinnati Bengals (8-4-1) | 10 |
| 14 | Buffalo Bills (7-6) | 16 |
| 15 | Miami Dolphins (7-6) | 17 |
| 16 | St. Louis Rams (6-7) | 20 |
| 17 | Kansas City Chiefs (7-6) | 14 |
| 18 | San Francisco 49ers (7-6) | 13 |
| 19 | Houston Texans (7-6) | 19 |
| 20 | Cleveland Browns (7-6) | 18 |
| 21 | Minnesota Vikings (6-7) | 23 |
| 22 | Atlanta Falcons (5-8) | 21 |
| 23 | New Orleans Saints (5-8) | 22 |
| 24 | Chicago Bears (5-8) | 24 |
| 25 | Carolina Panthers (4-8-1) | 25 |
| 26 | New York Giants (4-9) | 26 |
| 27 | Oakland Raiders (2-11) | 32 |
| 28 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-11) | 27 |
| 29 | Tennessee Titans (2-11) | 28 |
| 30 | Washington (3-10) | 29 |
| 31 | Jacksonville Jaguars (2-11) | 30 |
| 32 | New York Jets (2-11) | 31 |