The San Francisco 49ers improved to 3-0 with another hard-fought win, edging the NFC West rival Arizona Cardinals 16-15 at Levi's Stadium. However, the victory came at a steep price as star pass rusher Nick Bosa suffered a season-ending torn ACL, dealing a devastating blow to the defense.
San Francisco will now have to rally without one of its cornerstone playmakers as the team pushes forward in pursuit of another playoff run and a shot at the Super Bowl. The injury setbacks prevented the 49ers from gaining any significant ground in several of the latest NFL power rankings despite the team remaining undefeated.
Next up: a Week 4 showdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
How does the national media view the 49ers compared to the rest of the league? Below is a roundup of the latest NFL power rankings, highlighting where San Francisco currently stands in each. As always, the highest rankings are listed first.
Sporting News
Current Ranking: 3
Previous Ranking: 4
"The 49ers have gotten a pair of gutsy performances from Mac Jones to keep up enough offensive positive vibes despite injuries to and around the QB. Don't forget about just how much Robert Saleh has improved the defense despite a lot of change, now with Nick Bosa ailing again." — Vinnie Iyer
The Athletic
Current Ranking: 4
Previous Ranking: 9
"Mac Jones re-aggravated a PCL strain Sunday while leading the Niners to a second win with him under center. Meanwhile, starter Brock Purdy has been out with a toe injury. But even while changing quarterbacks and playing without receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings, the 49ers keep rolling along, taking advantage of an easy early schedule." — Josh Kendall and Chad Graff
CBS Sports
Current Ranking: 8
Previous Ranking: 8
"Like last season, they've had to fight through the injury bug in a big way. But at 3-0, they are finding a way to win games. Losing Nick Bosa for the season is a big hit." — Pete Prisco
Sports Illustrated
Current Ranking: 9
Previous Ranking: 8
"Ricky Pearsall and [Christian] McCaffrey are pure first-down eaters. At the end of the day, with so many component parts stripped away from this offense, its ability to get these two an opportunity in the passing game with some room to run is going to keep the 49ers relevant despite everything else working against them. Pearsall taking in a shot play after quarters of stagnancy on Sunday against the Cardinals says it all." — Conor Orr
Yahoo! Sports
Current Ranking: 9
Previous Ranking: 10
"If there's anything that can derail the 49ers, it's Nick Bosa's torn ACL. The 49ers were already playing a lot of young players, but Bosa and Fred Warner were steadying forces. San Francisco's defense won't be the same without Bosa." — Frank Schwab
Bleacher Report
Current Ranking: 10
Previous Ranking: 11
"The San Francisco 49ers don't need style points to be a top team in these power rankings. They've won all three of their games by five or fewer points, which has tested their mettle. Thus far, the battle-tested 49ers are atop the NFC West, and they have two wins with backup quarterback Mac Jones, who aggravated a knee injury last Sunday. Kudos to Eddy Pineiro for his game-winning kick to maintain San Francisco's unblemished record. Still, injuries continue to ravage the Niners--star edge-rusher Nick Bosa is reportedly out for the season after tearing his ACL Sunday" — Moe Moton
ESPN
Current Ranking: 11
Previous Ranking: 11
"Before Sunday, the 49ers had avoided season-ending injuries to key defensive players. But Bosa tore the ACL in his right knee against the Cardinals, and he will miss the rest of the campaign. This means the Niners will have to lean even more into a youth movement that already saw them install eight starters who were not in the starting lineup in Week 1 of 2024. Bosa was not only the team's best defensive lineman, he was the veteran leader for the group. As left tackle Trent Williams put it Sunday, the 49ers will need three or four guys to help fill Bosa's shoes." — Nick Wagoner
NFL.com
Current Ranking: 12
Previous Ranking: 13
"Mac Jones looked doomed when he threw a fourth-quarter interception, and the 49ers' chances of beating the Cardinals dropped to 16 percent, per Next Gen Stats, after the disastrous safety with just over three minutes left. But the San Francisco defense held, and Jones rallied the team down the field to set up the game-winning kick for a huge divisional win and a 3-0 start. Ricky Pearsall was quiet the first 20 minutes but came up with big catch after big catch, including a massive deep grab on fourth-and-2 in the final quarter. After the victory, however, awful news arrived with Nick Bosa's torn ACL. The Niners' defense has done its job so far, but that job is about to be a lot more difficult, especially with some tougher games upcoming. It's rarely easy in San Francisco, as the Bosa news is just the latest big-name 49ers player to go down with a major injury the past few years." — Eric Edholm
Pro Football Talk
Current Ranking: 12
Previous Ranking: 12
"Despite all of the injuries, they keep on winning." — Mike Florio
The Ringer
Current Ranking: 13
Previous Ranking: 12
"After coming down on this team pretty hard last week, I've come to terms with the fact that waiting on an explosive, dynamic version of this offense is a fool's errand. Pass catchers Jauan Jennings, George Kittle, and Brandon Aiyuk aren't in the lineup, the rushing attack isn't the same anymore even with a healthy Christian McCaffrey because of issues up front—and still, this team has mustered exactly enough offense to survive in its first three weeks without a loss. It's not as much fun watching this iteration of head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense, but in my journey to enjoy all kinds of football, I'm unburdening myself with old expectations for what makes the 49ers good." — Diante Lee
USA Today
Current Ranking: 13
Previous Ranking: 12
"A 3-0 start is obviously nice. But when you're winning by an average of 3.3 points then lose Pro Bowl DE Nick Bosa (torn ACL) for the duration? It's got the potential to become fool's gold awfully fast." — Nate Davis