The San Francisco 49ers are coming off of a 16-6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Thanksgiving Day. Even with the loss, San Francisco still has the second best record in the NFL at 9-2. The 49ers are having a great season and fans shouldn’t be discouraged by the recent loss.

ESPN recently released their week 13 power rankings and have the 49ers placed third. The writers now have Baltimore ranked second after their win over San Francisco. The undefeated Green Bay Packers are ranked first.

San Francisco had been ranked second for the previous four weeks. Out of the five voters, four had San Francisco ranked third and the other one had them ranked fourth behind the New Orleans Saints. New Orleans is coming off of an impressive victory over the New York Giants on Monday November 28.

The next highest ranked team in the NFC West is the Seattle Seahawks at 24. San Francisco has a chance to clinch the NFC West with a win on December 4 against the St. Louis Rams. This is a big deal for the team and their fans. San Francisco would earn a playoff berth with four weeks left to play and have the final month of the season to solidify their issues and gear up for the playoffs.

While power rankings are mean very little, I find it important that a consensus of football writers still have San Francisco ranked ahead of several other quality football teams. The 49er defense played very well against Baltimore but the offense was slightly exposed due to the poor play of the offensive line. Baltimore is a good team and deserves equal respect. As a 49er fan, it’s nice that the team has earned the respect they deserve of the national media.

Out of their five remaining games, only one is against a team with a wining record. The other four are against NFC West opponents. If the team can continue their success down the stretch, they should be positioned well for the playoffs and even contend for a first round bye. San Francisco is still a very good team and is ranked accordingly by ESPN.

Kyle Rapoza is a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network and grew up in Northern California rooting for the 49ers teams led by Joe Montana and Steve Young. Follow him on Twitter @kyler11.

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Before Thanksgiving, the San Francisco 49ers were riding an eight-game win streak, their longest since the 1997 season where they won 11 straight. Even though their current streak ended on Thanksgiving night to the hands of the Baltimore Ravens, the Niners have plenty to be thankful for this holiday season: They sit atop the NFC West at 9-2, will likely make the playoffs for the first time since 2002 and have young, premier players in Patrick Willis, Frank Gore and Vernon Davis. But most importantly, the organization should be thankful for head coach Jim Harbaugh.

After watching Jeff Garcia(notes) lead the Niners to a historical 39-38 comeback win over the New York Giants in the 2002 playoffs, the era of greatness was coming to an end. Once the Niners lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Steve Mariucci was fired despite having a 10-6 record. Over the next seven years, the team went through four different head coaches and had a combined record of 46-82. To add insult to injury, the Niners drafted Alex Smith over Aaron Rodgers in the 2005 NFL Draft.

Heading into the 2011-2012 season, expectations were very low, especially with the 130-day lockout holding teams back from getting together. But the Niners made a bold move in signing Harbaugh, who had success at Stanford. There were doubts as to whether or not this was a smart hire because he was an unproven NFL coach. A head coach can propel an organization to years of success, or set it back significantly. Apparently General Manager Trent Baalke saw something in him that would transform the Niners for the better.

So far, we’re 11 games into the season and Harbaugh has worked offensive and defensive miracles for the red-and-gold. Last season, the Niners were ranked 24th in total offense and 13th in total defense. This season, they are currently ranked 26th in total offense and seventh in total defense. While the offensive numbers may suggest that the team has regressed, the Niners are actually scoring four more points per game this season than last. In addition to that, Harbaugh has rejuvenated Alex Smith’s career and brought stability to that position. Fans and the media were screaming for a new quarterback, but Harbaugh was in the minority and believed in Smith. On the year, he has 14 total touchdowns and five interceptions. Last season, he had 14 total touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 11 games. Just imagine what Smith could do next year!

Not only has Smith improved, but the defense has made drastic strides with 10 starters returning from last season. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has turned former Washington Redskin Carlos Rogers into a top cornerback and second-year linebacker Navorro Bowman into an elite playmaker.

Under Harbaugh’s leadership, the team is playing with confidence. They are built like an old-school team that relies on a punishing run game and a hard-hitting defense. Only time will tell if he’s the long-term answer at head coach, but Niner fans should take time to enjoy what they are seeing right now. The glory days of Joe Montana and Bill Walsh may be over, but Harbaugh can establish his own dynasty in the Bay. If the Niners keep winning, nobody will have it better than them.

As a native San Franciscan, I have always been an avid fan of the San Francisco 49ers, Giants and Golden State Warriors.

Sources:

www.kmtr.com

www.nfl.com/standings

www.pro-football-reference.com

www.ninersnation.com

www.nfl.com/stats/

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Though the San Francisco 49ers were soundly beaten in their last outing and had an eight-game winning streak broken, they remain in a great position and still have the second best record in the NFL. The fact that it was an eight-game winning streak to begin with has got to be enough motivation to continue doing well. On top of that, Jim Harbaugh’s message from the beginning has been simple: avoid complacency. You’re not as good as you think you are, and if you realize that you are, in fact, as good as you think you are, then you’re not likely to get any better.

Thursday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens was a legitimate loss, but also a bad set of circumstances. If the game wasn’t brother against brother, the NFL would not have asked the 49ers to travel that distance on short rest. Is that any excuse? No – certainly not, but it will help the team move on.

What they’re moving on to is a game against the NFC West rival St. Louis Rams, the first of two meetings between the teams this season. For the 49ers, the game likely represents an opportunity to open up the offense and get a dominating win back under their belt. Alex Smith was pummeled against the Ravens and he’ll be looking for a rebound game.

The Rams, at this point, mostly represent just that. On Sunday, they lost to the Arizona Cardinals, who the 49ers dismantled easily just a couple weeks ago. They’re not contending, but they definitely will be out to upset the 49ers if given the chance. Sam Bradford is trying to show that he’s still the future at quarterback and Steve Spagnuolo is trying to make sure his job is safe – beating the 49ers would be a great way to further along both of those things.

San Francisco will be looking to gain confidence with a showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football on the horizon. The team is looking for its first double-digit winning season in some time now, and can achieve that by beating the Rams. On top of that, they’ve got their eyes firmly on playoff seeding, and namely, maintaining second (while keeping an eye on the Packers in first). The game is set for Sunday at 4:15 p.m. eastern.