Despite numerous injuries, the San Francisco 49ers won their second consecutive game and remained undefeated on the road. A tougher test awaits them at CenturyLink Field, where the defending NFC champions will get their first shot this season at knocking off the division-leading Seattle Seahawks.
San Francisco is coming off a dominant 33-6 win over Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. Seattle is coming off its first loss of the season — a heartbreaker in overtime against the Arizona Cardinals. The 49ers are currently a 3.5-point underdog in the Week 8 matchup.
San Francisco will be without wide receiver Deebo Samuel (hamstring) and running back Jeff Wilson Jr. (ankle). Both sustained injuries against the Patriots and are expected to miss multiple games.
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Recent performances against the Los Angeles Rams and Patriots have given the 49ers a slight boost in power rankings following a recent nosedive after two unexpected losses.
Below is a sample of some of the more prominent power rankings around the web and where San Francisco currently stands within each.
NFL.com
Current Ranking: 13
Previous rank: 17
"The 49ers got a jump-start on Halloween by crawling out of their own grave. Left for dead after a 2-3 start to the season with a seemingly impossible stretch of opponents ahead on the schedule, the Niners have righted the ship with back-to-back quality wins. On Sunday, it was a beatdown of the Patriots in Foxborough, a victory that had to be extra rewarding for ex-Patriot Jimmy Garoppolo and head coach Kyle Shanahan, the offensive coordinator of the Falcons during their infamous Super Bowl LI collapse. The Niners whipped the Pats by staying true to themselves: According to ESPN, the Niners ran by design or used play-action on 51 of their 63 offensive plays (81%), the highest percentage by any team in a game this season. Shanahan's scheme works, even when he doesn't have his best players available." — Dan Hanzus
Sports Illustrated
Current Ranking: 13
Previous rank: 15
"A dominant performance against the Patriots this weekend shows that Kyle Shanahan's Rolodex of skill position game-breakers is still strong. Jimmy Garoppolo is working his way back to middling and could be headed toward middling-plus." — Conor Orr
CBS Sports
Current Ranking: 15
Previous rank: 19
"Kyle Shanahan is doing an amazing job with this team after all the injuries. They have won two straight games as they head to Seattle to face the Seahawks." — Pete Prisco
ESPN
Current Ranking: 15
Previous rank: 17
"Over the past two weeks, the 49ers have gotten back to their formula of running the ball, playing good defense and having Garoppolo steer an efficient play-action passing attack. But the schedule is about to get tougher, and the burden is probably going to fall more on Garoppolo to deliver. That means pushing the ball down the field more consistently and taking advantage when opposing defenses stack the box to stop the run. Garoppolo has done it before, but for the Niners to remain in the NFC playoff hunt, they'll likely need him to do it again." — Nick Wagoner
Current Ranking: 15
Previous rank: 19
"Just when they're finding their stride, RB Jeff Wilson and WR Deebo Samuel go down. Niners have used league-high 69 players in 2020." — Nate Davis
Bleacher Report
Current Ranking: 16
Previous rank: 18
"A couple weeks ago, many people just about wrote off the San Francisco 49ers. The team had been ravaged by injuries and had just been blown out at home by the Miami Dolphins. The injuries are still a major issue, with running back Jeff Wilson Jr. the latest to get banged up. But after destroying the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium, the Niners are back above .500—just like every other team in the NFC West. Tight end George Kittle made it clear the team isn't going anywhere." — NFL Staff
