49ers Fall to No. 6 in Sports Illustrated's Week 2 NFL Power Rankings
The experts have begun to lose confidence in the 49ers.
For the past few seasons, they seemed like they clearly were the best team in the NFC and probably the second-best team in the NFL behind the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, they're coming off an embarrassing loss to Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings. As a result, the 49ers have dropped from third to sixth in Sports Illustrated's Week 2 NFL power rankings.
"Week 1 wasn’t an aberration but it showed exactly what the 49ers can and can’t get away with when it comes to making something of the 2024 roster," writes SI's Conor Orr. "Injury-riddled, rusty and showing a bit of its age, the 49ers struggled against a Vikings team that went right for the jugular and disallowed Kyle Shanahan’s team from simply putting them through the machinery. Getting hit with the greatest full-field knockout punch of the season from Sam Darnold to Justin Jefferson doesn’t hurt, but expect Minnesota to encourage others to come right at the defending NFC champions."
In order, the top 10 teams in SI's Week 2 rankings are the Chiefs, the Bills, the Lions, the Texans, the Packers, the 49ers, the Buccaneers, the Saints, the Vikings and the Eagles. Which means the 49ers' ranking is somewhat generous. They're ahead of three undefeated NFC teams, including one that just beat them. You could argue the 49ers should be ranked ninth, just ahead of the Eagles who also are 1-1.
For now, the 49ers still get the benefit of the doubt because they're battle-tested. But they're also old and injured. They might not be as dominant as they once were.