Even though the San Francisco 49ers came in at No. 31 within Elliot Harrison's latest power rankings on NFL.com, they were the only team which lost during Week 6 and moved up from last week's list. That says something about the 49ers' performance in Green Bay on Monday night.
Harrison, an NFL Network analyst who you can see every Tuesday on "NFL Power Rankings" at 3:00 p.m. PT, came away so impressed with the 49ers' fight at Lambeau Field that he actually considered moving them up within his ranking by more than one spot. He joined the latest "No Huddle Podcast" episode this week and discussed the current state of the 49ers.
"Honestly, I wanted to move them up higher," Harrison told Al Sacco. "I thought long and hard about moving San Francisco higher, but I try to stay true to what I did the week before. I try to stay true to staying consistent so there's not all these wild fluctuations.
"The fact is, the 49ers lost to one of the worst teams in the league at home the week before in the Cardinals. So you can't overreact to what you just saw. I always like to see a two- to three-week catalog.
"Let's say the 49ers lost to the Rams this week 44-35 and stayed with them. I'd probably move them up again because they've displayed they can hang with the really good teams in the league. With that said, I moved them up the one spot because they did it on a one-week basis."
Harrison also discussed the play of quarterback C.J. Beathard, who was thrust back into the starting role after the 49ers lost Jimmy Garoppolo for the season with a torn ACL.
"I know everyone is lamenting Jimmy Garoppolo not being there but C.J. Beathard, I don't know why people are so down on him," Harrison continued. "He's mobile. He's tough. He generally delivers the ball on time. And if you actually look at his interception the other night, I think Goodwin could have done a better job fighting for that football instead of getting boxed out on that deep, deep pass interception.
"I just don't think the 49ers are quite as bad as other people do so I moved them up in a loss."
You can listen to the latest "No Huddle Podcast" episode below, from our dedicated podcast page, on iTunes, Google Play, or SoundCloud.