The San Francisco 49ers sit at 4-5 after a loss last week to the Green Bay Packers. What could have been billed as an NFC Championship Game rematch was anything but that. Instead, it was Aaron Rodgers against an injury-ravaged roster, further decimated by several players being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
The Packers easily handled Kyle Shanahan's squad 34-17, just over nine months after being manhandled by the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.
Next up for San Francisco are the New Orleans Saints, who just dominated Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a score of 38-3. Still, without several key starters, San Francisco will try to get back to .500 with quarterback Nick Mullens at the helm on offense.
Below is a sample of some of the more prominent power rankings around the web and where San Francisco currently stands within each.
ESPN
Current Ranking: 17
Previous rank: 15
"Once a favorite to return to the Super Bowl, there's not a team in the league that looks so different now than it did entering the season. The injury-ravaged 49ers simply don't have the healthy, available talent to make another run deep into the postseason, and the schedule isn't going to lighten for them the rest of the way. Which means they would do well to try to make a run at an 8-8 record and remain on the periphery for the final wild-card spot." — Nick Wagoner
Current Ranking: 20
Previous rank: 17
"Injuries have ravaged the Niners. During Thursday's loss to the Green Bay Packers, they didn't field a single player who gained a yard in last year's NFC Championship Game. ... Nine games into the season, the 49ers are in last place in the brutal NFC West. And the schedule isn't doing them any favors. Five of their final seven games are against teams with a winning record, including trips to New Orleans and Los Angeles and a home date with the Buffalo Bills over the next three weeks. Don't be surprised if the defending NFC champions are 4-8 when Washington comes to visit on December 13." — NFL Staff
NFL.com
Current Ranking: 20
Previous rank: 17
"Sometimes, it's just not your year. The 49ers came tantalizingly close to beating the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV, and now they're staring down a 2020 season where they could be playing out the string by Thanksgiving. Rotten injury luck has been at the core of San Francisco's problems, and you saw how overmatched this compromised roster was during Thursday night's 34-17 loss to the Packers. Ten months earlier, it was Kyle Shanahan's team laying a whipping on Matt LaFleur's squad on a national stage in the NFC Championship Game. Such is the cruel nature of sports, where coming close one year guarantees not a damn thing in the season that follows." — Dan Hanzus
Sports Illustrated
Current Ranking: 20
Previous rank: 14
"The 49ers have been ravaged by injuries as much as anyone this season. At some point it just becomes too much. A high draft pick could make the quarterback situation pretty interesting this offseason." — MMQB staff
USA Today
Current Ranking: 25
Previous rank: 15
"WR Richie James had more receiving yards (184) in Week 9 than his total output in either of his first two seasons." — Nate Davis
CBS Sports
Current Ranking: 27
Previous rank: 17
"They just don't have enough good players anymore. As good as Kyle Shanahan is as coach, he can't fix this." — Pete Prisco
