Raiders soar to sixth in NFL rankings roundup | The Sacramento Bee

Forget about the Chargers and Rams. You’ve probably already forgotten about the 49ers. This week in the rankings roundup, it’s all Raiders.

Their perfect road record has helped them to a 6-2 record and they rose an average of more than three spots in the five polls sampled here (ESPN, Bleacher Report, USA Today, CBS Sports, The Associated Press).

With an average 6.4 rankings, the Raiders easily outdistance their California counterparts (Chargers 20.2, Rams 23.8 and 49ers 31.0)

Special recognition should be made for the 49ers, who ranked 31st in all five polls for the second week in a row. That kind of consistency is difficult to achieve in ranking roundups, but to be fair, it was achieved on a bye week.

Sorting the data:

Average rank: 6.4

Average change: +3.2

High/low: 4/9

From CBS Sports (No. 5): “Derek Carr was special at Tampa Bay. Now he has to try to replicate that against that Denver defense.”

Average rank: 20.2

Average change: -3.2

High/low: 14/26

From USA Today (No. 23): “After their relative turnarounds from 2015 to this season, which second-year RB would you rather have: Melvin Gordon or Todd Gurley?”

Average rank: 23.8

Average change: -0.6

High/low: 22/26

From USA Today (No. 22): “They’ll be facing some of league’s worst secondaries over next six weeks. It’s worth wondering how long Case Keenum’s post-bye leash is.”

Average rank: 31.0

Average change: 0.0

High/low: 31/31

From ESPN (No. 31): “The 49ers have moved up a whopping one spot since Week 1. The team obviously has quarterback problems, but the main reason for the 49ers’ consistently poor ranking is defense. The 49ers rank last in points per game allowed this season, as they are giving up 31.3.”