The San Francisco 49ers are struggling to find their footing after a disappointing 2-3 start to the season, having lost three of their last four games. The latest setback came in a narrow 24-23 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, where they squandered yet another double-digit lead late in the game. It marks the second time in three games that the 49ers have lost a significant lead to an NFC West rival, raising concerns about their ability to close out games.
"In these two division games that we believe we should have won with the lead we had in the second half, I thought this one was worse than the Rams one in terms of we got sloppier, in terms of our turnovers and things like that, not scoring in the second half," head coach Kyle Shanahan said this week.
"When you have a lead on people, you need to finish them. The way you finish people is you continue to score. And if you aren't doing that, you can't turn it over, and you've got to stop people at the end."
The 49ers will aim to bounce back on Thursday night against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field, a crucial divisional matchup. Following their game in Seattle, they'll face a challenging schedule, returning to Levi's Stadium to take on the Kansas City Chiefs and then the Dallas Cowboys before heading into their bye week. For a team with Super Bowl aspirations, these upcoming games will be critical opportunities to get back on track and regain their momentum.
What does the national media think about the 49ers compared to the rest of the league? Below is a sample of some of the most prominent power rankings from around the web, showing where San Francisco currently stands in each. As always, the highest rankings are listed first.
Current Ranking: 7
Previous Ranking: 5
"Every season there's a team or two that gets really unlucky in close games. Twice this season the 49ers have had a win probability of 85% or better in the fourth quarter and lost. It seems like that, and a 2-3 start, is a lot of bad luck rather than a fatal flaw." — Frank Schwab
The Ringer
Current Ranking: 8
Previous Ranking: 6
"Head coach Kyle Shanahan trusts his young quarterback Brock Purdy to lead this offense through the absence of running back Christian McCaffrey, and the passing numbers have been much better than I assumed they would to this point. San Francisco is one of six teams with more than 1,300 passing yards, efficiency metrics suggest that this is one of the league's best passing attacks, and this team has suffered some unlucky breaks in two of its three losses. Still, as good as Purdy looks to open this season, I'm a little thrown by how few play-action passes we're seeing from this offense—this is the first time in Shanahan's San Francisco tenure that he's had a play-action pass rate lower than 20 percent. Part of this is due to a clear disconnect in how San Francisco wants to run and pass the ball. Shanahan once was king of marrying the run and the pass game, and this team needs its scheme lord to reconfigure the offense and get out of these high-variance games." — Diante Lee
Sports Illustrated
Current Ranking: 9
Previous Ranking: 6
"It's just so difficult to think the 49ers are in some great deal of trouble when they had this game locked up before an absolutely mind-bending strip of the football. Christian McCaffrey has lost big fumbles as well, so Jordan Mason shouldn't shoulder the burden of this all alone. I'm a noted 49ers apologist and obsessive, so it's weird to say that I'm not really all that concerned. George Kittle is playing like a monster. Brandon Aiyuk is rolling, finally." — Conor Orr
The 33rd Team
Current Ranking: 10
Previous Ranking: 6
"The San Francisco 49ers are usually a team that improves a lot in the second half of the season, but their defense is starting to become a big concern. They just can't get a stop when they need one, and it costs them again on Sunday. Sitting at 2-3, the 49ers are only a game back in the NFC West going into Week 6. However, the vibes are not great in San Francisco." — Marcus Mosher
ESPN
Current Ranking: 13
Preseason Ranking: 9
"Fantasy surprise: RB Jordan Mason. Apologies to Jauan Jennings, who has also stepped up big in the early season, but Mason has been Mr. Consistency in replacing Christian McCaffrey (Achilles/calf), the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year. Mason is second in the NFL in rushing yards (536), third in scrimmage yards (602), has three rushing scores and hasn't posted fewer than 77 rushing yards in any of his five games. It's still unclear when McCaffrey will return, but Mason has earned the right to keep getting steady work if and when McCaffrey is back." — Nick Wagoner
Current Ranking: 13
Previous Ranking: 6
"What was that? Brock Purdy and the offense started hot but then went into a sloppy funk against the Cardinals with shaky red-zone play with no field-goal fallback. The bigger concern is how the defense has slowed down overall with limited pressure." — Vinnie Iyer
USA Today
Current Ranking: 13
Previous Ranking: 7
"They're 2-0 against AFC East competition ... which is far less helpful when it's time to invoke tiebreakers – especially given the Niners are off to an 0-2 start in their own division. A 38-game winning streak under HC Kyle Shanahan in games with a double-digit fourth-quarter lead ended Sunday." — Nate Davis
The Athletic
Current Ranking: 14
Previous Ranking: 11
"There were hints about McCaffrey's health in the preseason. More people should have paid attention. McCaffrey was the top pick in fantasy football drafts, but he hasn't played a snap because of calf/Achilles injuries that sent him to Germany looking for help. Quarterback Brock Purdy had his worst game of the season Sunday (62.1 passer rating). Still, he's seventh in EPA per dropback (.16) and 44th in fantasy scoring (15.5) after being drafted 87th on average." — Josh Kendall
Bleacher Report
Current Ranking: 14
Previous Ranking: 9
"The San Francisco 49ers have problems. In 2022 and 2023 combined, the Niners lost just one game in the division. They have already lost two this season. That's bad. What's worse is that in both of those games the 49ers were up double digits in the fourth quarter and couldn't hold the lead." — NFL Staff
CBS Sports
Current Ranking: 14
Previous Ranking: 12
"At 2-3, they have problems. Forget about the injuries. They keep teams in games because the offense isn't scoring enough and the defense isn't up to standards." — Pete Prisco
Current Ranking: 14
Previous Ranking: 8
"0-2 in the division and 0-3 in the conference is not the way to get back to another Super Bowl." — Mike Florio
NFL.com
Current Ranking: 18
Previous Ranking: 12
"After they scored a touchdown on a blocked field goal and Nick Bosa's 30-yard interception return set up an end-of-half field goal, the 49ers looked to be in pretty good shape, up 23-10 at home. That's when the whole operation fell apart. With kicker Jake Moody injured late in the first half, it changed the strategy significantly, but there's little excuse for the offense coming up empty on four second-half drives and the defense allowing Arizona to score three times to steal a win. Now the Niners are facing a quick turnaround for Thursday at Seattle, with the season potentially slipping away early. We saw San Francisco struggle through a rough early patch last season and still end up in the Super Bowl, nearly winning it. The 49ers have been a remarkably strong team in November and December under Kyle Shanahan, so you can't rule out a run. But with 0-2 and 0-3 marks in the division and conference, respectively, and a 2-3 record overall, the climb will be far steeper than it was a year ago." — Eric Edholm
