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49ers Fall to No. 12 in NFL.com's Week 4 Power Rankings

Most of the 49ers' injuries are on their offense, which is performing well. As opposed to their defense and special teams, which are disasters.

Grant Cohn

Sep 22, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) is brought down by Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Braden Fiske (55) and defensive tackle Kobie Turner (91) during the second half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
Sep 22, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) is brought down by Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Braden Fiske (55) and defensive tackle Kobie Turner (91) during the second half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
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It's hard to know what to make of the 49ers heading into Week 4.

They're 1-2 and they just blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead to one of the worst teams in the NFL -- the Rams. To be fair, the 49ers have lots of injuries, but so do the Rams. And most of the 49ers' injuries are on their offense, which is performing well. As opposed to their defense and special teams, which are disasters.

As a result, the 49ers have plummeted in NFL.com's Week 4 power rankings from No. 2 to No. 12.

"I figured that the 49ers would have some fits offensively here and there against the Rams, given their injury woes leading up to the game," writes NFL.com analyst Eric Edholm. "But for three-plus quarters, they still had the right formula to win. Jake Moody's missed 55-yard field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter kept the door ajar, and Los Angeles kicked it down to pull out the stunner. But really, San Francisco's troubles went back to the second quarter, when they couldn't protect a 14-0 lead. A fake punt caught the 49ers flat-footed, helping the Rams score a critical touchdown before halftime that changed the arc of the game. Even with the Niners making it a two-score lead later, their special teams and defensive issues were back-breakers. Los Angeles drove for scores on each of its final four drives, aided by some huge penalties that changed field position and sunk San Francisco. Where do the reigning NFC champions go from here? George Kittle could be back soon; perhaps Deebo Samuel, too. But this team's problems appear to run deeper than early injuries."

Amen.

The 49ers cannot use the injury excuse this season. They look like a team that desperately needs a new coaching staff. Let's see if Kyle Shanahan can turn around the 49ers' season before it's too late.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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