NFL Power Rankings: Surprisingly Good Teams That Are Here to Stay

At a certain point in the NFL season, teams stop becoming feel-good stories and start becoming legitimate contenders. While it's impossible to say for sure when that is, the half-way mark of the season would seem to be a logical choice.

While it is still possible to fall apart from here, most contending teams have shown the qualities necessary to make the playoffs. Here are three surprisingly-good teams that will prove they are here to stay with wins in Week 9.

Kansas City Chiefs

While the Kansas City Chiefs actually entered the season with fairly high expectations after winning the AFC West last year, those expectations were quickly tempered when the Chiefs were blown out by the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions to open the 2011 season.

The Chiefs also lost both safety Eric Berry and running back Jamaal Charles for the entire season. With an 0-3 record, most considered Kansas City to be dead and buried, but the Chiefs have won four consecutive games, including one over the San Diego Chargers on Monday night, and are in a three-way tie for first place in the division.

Kansas City has an excellent opportunity to keep the good times rolling as it hosts the winless Miami Dolphins on Sunday. Playing a team without a victory can be dangerous, but the Chiefs are playing great team football right now and seem to be a team of destiny.

San Francisco 49ers

They may not be considered a surprise any longer, but there wasn't much hype surrounding the San Francisco 49ers to start the 2011 season. That is in stark contrast to last year when the Niners were expected by many to run away with the NFC West.

San Francisco ended up being a major disappointment but atonement has been accomplished, as the 49ers are currently 6-1 and in complete control of the division. The Niners have been great on defense and fundamentally sound offensively as quarterback Alex Smith has protected the ball and running back Frank Gore has been a workhorse.

As much as anything, the Niners' easy schedule moving forward is what makes them a legitimate contender. San Francisco hasn't had to kill itself to win games in recent weeks, and the same is true for Week 9 against the free-falling Washington Redskins. With so many injuries on offense, it would be shocking to see the 'Skins come through against the 49ers.

Buffalo Bills

Despite sitting at 5-2 in a first-place tie for the AFC East lead, and holding victories over teams like the Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, there are still many detractors when it comes to the Buffalo Bills.

It is certainly understandable as the Bills don't have much star power and the majority of their offense is made up of late-round draft picks and undrafted players. Still, Buffalo is a team where the whole is undoubtedly better than the sum of its parts. However, the Bills have an MVP candidate in running back Fred Jackson and a very solid quarterback in Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Buffalo has one more obstacle standing in its way before it can be considered a true contender and that obstacle is the New York Jets. The Jets are a vulnerable team that still carry an elite reputation, so the Bills will have an excellent chance to prove they are for real with a home win over a tough divisional opponent.

Mike Chiari's Week 9 NFL Power Rankings	Previous Week's Ranking
1. Green Bay Packers	1
2. San Francisco 49ers	3
3. Pittsburgh Steelers	5
4. New England Patriots	2
5. Baltimore Ravens	6
6. Detroit Lions	7
7. New York Giants	9
8. Buffalo Bills	12
9. New Orleans Saints	4
10. Houston Texans	11
11. Atlanta Falcons	10
12. Cincinnati Bengals	14
13. New York Jets	13
14. San Diego Chargers	8
15. Philadelphia Eagles	20
16. Chicago Bears	16
17. Tampa Bay Buccaneers	17
18. Kansas City Chiefs	25
19. Tennessee Titans	19
20. Oakland Raiders	18
21. Dallas Cowboys	15
22. Cleveland Browns	21
23. Carolina Panthers	22
24. Minnesota Vikings	28
25. Jacksonville Jaguars	24
26. Washington Redskins	23
27. St. Louis Rams	31
28. Denver Broncos	26
29. Seattle Seahawks	27
30. Arizona Cardinals	29
31. Miami Dolphins	30
32. Indianapolis Colts	32