A weekly examination of the 49ers’ ESPN.com Power Ranking:

Rank: 9| Last Week: 16

Comment: The 49ers (2-2) played a dominant game defensively last weekend to hand the Philadelphia Eagles their first loss off the season. And yet, they are likely a mere one yard away from being 1-3 (the Eagles had third-and-goal from the 1-yard line late in the game) and in the throes of even more controversy. Such is life in the NFL, where a yard here or a yard there can be the difference between making the playoffs and getting your head coach fired. The Niners, who moved up seven spots in our power rankings, did see their defense pitch a shutout at the high-powered Eagles, which is impressive in and of itself. And the offense seemed to remember to bring its calling card as a power-running team led by Frank Gore. So things do seem on the upswing, even as the league-owned NFL Network continues to report there is unrest in the locker room aimed toward coach Jim Harbaugh. “Personally, I think that’s a bunch of crap,” Harbaugh said of the reports. A week ago, the Niners were not good enough to overcome their own penalty-filled mistakes. Now? They still lead the league with 46 penalties, for 383 yards, third-most in the NFL, but the deodorant a victory provides does wonders for the atmosphere. Or at least, it should.