The 49ers were a 47-yard field goal away from beating the Seahawks on Monday night and maintaining an undefeated record. Instead, Chase McLaughlin’s kick hooked wide left (and then some), and the 49ers eventually lost to the Seahawks. The loss was enough to drop San Francisco one spot to No. 2 in the NFL Wire power rankings.
It’s not a surprise the 49ers finally dropped out of the top spot in Doug Farrar’s rankings. He’s had them there since they downed the Rams 20-7 in Week 6. Baltimore also had a dominant win over the Patriots, followed by a dominant win over the Bengals. There’s not a team playing better football than the Ravens going into Week 11.
The key for San Francisco is not letting losses pile up. Monday night was a heartbreaker, but a game they could have (should have?) won even without their two best pass catchers, George Kittle and Emmanuel Sanders.
Farrar explained why the loss isn’t as bad as it seemed:
San Francisco’s drop from the undefeated isn’t that big a deal in the grand scheme of things — they lost to a very good team playing at its best (especially on defense) and did so seriously shorthanded. Kyle Shanahan’s team will try to get things back together against the Cardinals next week.
This is where things get more tough for the 49ers though. They face Arizona in Week 11, Green Bay (No. 5 in the rankings) in Week 12, and then Baltimore (No. 1) and New Orleans (No. 4) in back-to-back road games. Then they’re home for the Rams and Falcons before wrapping up the season in Seattle (No. 6).
With injuries piling up and the schedule getting tougher, it’s going to be an uphill climb for the 49ers to keep themselves ranked among the team’s elite. However, they’ll have ample opportunities to prove themselves worthy, and if things go right the rest of the way, they’ll have a real claim to be the NFL’s best team at the end of the 2019 season.
