With each victory, the San Francisco 49ers were creeping their way up the power rankings. The team has now won five consecutive games, their last being against the red-hot Miami Dolphins. However, the Niners will be pushing forward without quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who suffered a season-ending foot injury early in the game.
Garoppolo is the second starting quarterback the 49ers have lost this season. Trey Lance suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2, setting the stage for Garoppolo to take over under center. Now, it will be QB3 on the depth chart, the last overall pick in this year's draft, Brock Purdy, helming head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense.
Luckily, the 49ers defense is playing lights-out football and is clearly the class of the NFL. Will it be enough to carry San Francisco into the playoffs and keep their Super Bowl ambitions alive, though?
Last week, the 49ers reached the top three in one power ranking. Shockingly, they got into the top three of another this week. How does the loss of Garoppolo impact the rest of the national view surrounding the team?
Below is a sample of some of the more prominent power rankings around the web and where San Francisco currently stands within each. The highest rankings are listed first.
Sports Illustrated
Current Ranking: 3
Previous rank: 5
"I am on the Brock Purdy bandwagon (clearly). Ultimately, this defense is great, this running game is years ahead of the rest of the NFL and, by virtue of that, the quarterback will have less of a problem moving the football than he would have otherwise." — Conor Orr
Pro Football Talk
Current Ranking: 5
Previous rank: 6
"The team that made Jimmy Garoppolo into a handoff machine for most of the 2019 postseason will be fine without him now." — Mike Florio
Sporting News
Current Ranking: 6
Previous rank: 7
"The 49ers made a statement against the Dolphins with new weapon Christian McCaffrey and the defense paving the way, giving them a big lift after venerable team leader and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo went down. They are still in strong shape for the playoffs via the NFC West title with rookie Brock Purdy, but another Super Bowl run is in a bit of a trouble." — Vinnie Iyer
The Athletic
Current Ranking: 7
Previous rank: 6
"Brutal. Just as the 49ers delivered one of their most impressive wins of the year, they lost their second starting quarterback for the season. It feels like a death blow to San Francisco's title chances, but crazier things have happened. The defense is still one of the league's two best and maybe there's just enough on offense to get by. Brock Purdy carries the weight of all the past Mr. Irrelevants on his shoulders as he tries to steady the ship. If he plays the rest of the season like he did Sunday, San Francisco has a chance." — Bo Wulf
CBS Sports
Current Ranking: 7
Previous rank: 7
"The 49ers were surging before the Garoppolo injury, but still have to be considered one of the best teams in the NFC. They remain seventh in my Power Rankings this week. Some will say that's too high with the loss of Garoppolo. But I believe in Shanahan, and Purdy has the ability to operate just fine in this offense. The big question is whether he can win a game when things aren't going the right way. If the running game isn't clicking, can Purdy throw it well enough to win a big game?" — Pete Prisco
ESPN
Current Ranking: 7
Previous rank: 7
"The 49ers' defense leads the league in plenty of categories, but none matter more than this one. San Francisco has yielded just 15.8 points per game. Having lost two starting quarterbacks (Trey Lance, Jimmy Garoppolo) to season-ending injuries, even more onus will fall on the defense. If that unit can keep playing at this level, rookie Brock Purdy & Co. won't have to do much to keep the Niners rolling toward the postseason." — Nick Wagoner
NFL.com
Current Ranking: 7
Previous rank: 3
"The 49ers had their best win of the season on Sunday against the Dolphins, but it won't be remembered that way. Jimmy Garoppolo is done for the year after suffering a foot injury that will require surgery, a cruel twist of fate that left a dour Kyle Shanahan visibly dazed as he addressed the media during his postgame availability. It remains to be seen if Jimmy G's loss will serve as the death of San Francisco's title hopes, but there is some optimism to be found in the relief effort by Brock Purdy, who piloted the offense with surprising efficiency in his first career game action. If Purdy -- the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft -- can get this team back to the Super Bowl, we have ourselves a movie script." — Dan Hanzus
Yahoo! Sports
Current Ranking: 7
Previous rank: 6
"Nick Bosa is suddenly making a push for Defensive Player of the Year. Micah Parsons was a runaway favorite before Week 13, but Bosa's three sacks open up the conversation again. Bosa has 14.5 sacks this season. Parsons has 12. If Bosa can reach 20, he has a good shot at the award." — Frank Schwab
Bleacher Report
Current Ranking: 8
Previous rank: 7
"The San Francisco 49ers won the battle—but they may have lost the war. San Francisco won in impressive fashion over 8-4 Miami. Its league-leading defense held one of the NFL's most potent offenses in check, and rookie Brock Purdy played well in relief of the injured Jimmy Garoppolo. But Garoppolo's broken foot is a potential season-killer. Running back Christian McCaffrey told reporters that the injury knocked the luster off the victory." — NFL Staff
USA Today
Current Ranking: 8
Previous rank: 5
"The second three-sack game of DL Nick Bosa's career propelled him into the league lead (14½), onto a shorter list of Defensive Player of the Year consideration ... and perhaps served a reminder of what the Niners are capable of no matter the turmoil on their quarterback depth chart, which is now sans Jimmy Garoppolo." — Nate Davis
The Ringer
Current Ranking: 9
Previous rank: 5
"Don't let Brock Purdy's success in a fill-in spot against a bad Miami defense blind you to what losing Jimmy Garoppolo for the remainder of the season truly means for San Francisco. While there's no head coach in the NFL that I trust more to prop up a backup QB than Kyle Shanahan, the dropoff in talent and experience from Garoppolo to Purdy is significant. The 49ers are still too well-coached and too talented on both sides of the ball to completely collapse, but the Garoppolo injury puts them comfortably behind the Cowboys and Eagles and even the Vikings in the second tier of NFC contenders." — Austin Gayle
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