The San Francisco 49ers are moving one way in the NFL hierarchy while the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes are headed the other. In the latest Week 15 NFL power rankings, the 49ers climbed into the top 10 during their bye week while the slumping Chiefs fell into the teens after another brutal loss.
San Francisco is 9-4 and sitting at No. 8 in NBC Sports Bay Area’s Week 15 rankings, up a spot despite not playing. Kansas City, meanwhile, dropped to No. 17 at 6-7, with the write-up flatly asking whether the Chiefs can even make the playoffs after being eliminated from the AFC West race.
Kansas City’s recent stumble has 49ers fans particularly keen. After losing to the Chiefs in two Super Bowls, 49ers are feeling a sense of relief that Kansas City may miss the playoffs entirely. A top post on the 49ers subreddit captures the feeling.
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49ers Rise Into Top 10 as Chiefs Crash Toward the Middle
The NBC list underscores how differently the two recent Super Bowl regulars are viewed right now. The 49ers are framed as a contender getting healthy at the right time, moving from ninth to eighth with a 9-4 record and a “timely bye” before the stretch run.
Right below the true heavyweights — New England, Denver, the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks — San Francisco is slotted in with the rest of the NFC’s top tier. The Bears’ stumble and other Week 14 results allowed the 49ers to improve their playoff position without taking a snap, climbing to the No. 6 seed in the NFC.
The Chiefs’ section reads like the mirror image. Kansas City’s 6-7 record is paired with the note that, for the first time in nine years, it will not win the AFC West, and that the “fall-off is here” with real questions about whether Mahomes and company will even sneak into a wild card spot.
What It Means for the 49ers’ Super Bowl Odds
Oddsmakers are warming up to San Francisco as a team no one wants to see in January. A recent futures rundown from BetMGM has the 49ers priced around +2200 to win the Super Bowl, slotting them behind top favorites like the Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles but in roughly the next tier of contenders.
For Kansas City, the market has started to catch up to reality. A recent futures breakdown DraftKings, pegged the Chiefs at +4500 to win it all. It’s a remarkable falloff, as the Chiefs opened the season at a +750 line to win the Super Bowl, according to BetMGM.
49ers’ Path From Quiet Threat to Full-Blown Contender
The standings and the schedule give the 49ers a clear path to turning that “quiet Super Bowl nod” into something louder. They sit at 9-4, behind the Rams and Seahawks in the NFC West but ahead of the wild-card pack and firmly in possession of the conference’s No. 6 seed.
San Francisco also gets an immediate chance to justify the ranking boost. Early betting lines have the 49ers as a double-digit favorite at home against the Tennessee Titans in Week 15, one of the largest spreads on the board. Handle that business, and they can keep pressure on the teams ahead of them while tightening their grip on a playoff spot.
The contrast with the Chiefs is stark. While the 49ers are being treated as a rising, if slightly under-the-radar NFC threat, Kansas City is suddenly the team trying to hang on, dealing with questions about Mahomes’ turnovers, Travis Kelce’s production and Andy Reid’s clock- and fourth-down management.
For now, the power rankings and the futures boards are sending the same message: the 49ers are trending up at the exact moment the Chiefs and Mahomes are stumbling. If San Francisco turns that into a strong December, the “quiet” part of their Super Bowl buzz may not last much longer.
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