The 49ers remained behind the Baltimore Ravens for the second consecutive week in the NFL Wire power rankings.
It’s hard to find a lot of reasons based on week-to-week performance that San Francisco should eclipse Baltimore. The 49ers have started to stumble right as the Ravens are playing their best football. Baltimore on Sunday waxed the Texans 41-7 at home. Meanwhile, the 49ers struggled to knock off the Cardinals and needed to come back from a 16-0 first-half deficit to limp away with a 36-26 victory.
There’s a silver lining in the last two weeks for the 49ers. They’ve played objectively their worst football of the season, and they’re still 1-1 over those two games, and the loss came in the final seconds of overtime.
What’s important for San Francisco now is bouncing back and regaining the groove they found in a 51-13 win over the Panthers in Week 8. While their schedule down the stretch will likely prevent them from winning many games by 30-plus, that’s the level they’re going to have to play to keep stacking wins. They face the Packers at home, followed by the Ravens and Saints on the road. Green Bay is the No. 2 seed in the NFC. New Orleans is the No. 3 seed in the NFC, and Baltimore is the AFC’s No. 2 seed.
If San Francisco is going to reclaim the top spot in these power rankings, it’s going to mean holding on to the top spot in the NFC.
Some people have questioned the legitimacy of the 49ers’ 9-1 start. Now they have a schedule that’s going to allow them to silence that criticism and establish themselves as the team to beat in the postseason.
