That was expected after another divisional loss
The 49ers are 2-3, with two brutal divisional losses and a must-win divisional matchup with the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football. The team needs to jump-start their season before matchups with the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys before regrouping with their bye week.
But how are the 49ers ranked by the media and analysts heading into Week 6?
NFL.com – 49ers fall six spots to #18
Eric Edholm of NFL.com points to a strategy change following Jake Moody’s injury, but doesn’t let the 49ers off the hook for the scuffling red zone offense.
“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.”
Bleacher Report – 49ers fall five spots from #9
The 49ers’ turnover issues are the biggest reason for Bleacher Report’s dip in power rankings. Winning football games is hard enough; turning the football over becomes nearly impossible.
The BR NFL staff writes:
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.
After the Niners were shut out in the second half, San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters that these late-game collapses are as preventable as they are frustrating.
“Extremely frustrated,” Shanahan said. “I think we had 13 points and 17 in the other. By no means should we be able to give that away. It always will come back to turnovers, in my opinion. There’s other things you can do to overcome them. We talked last night about how the key in this game would be turnovers. That’s exactly what the first half was. It gave us a huge advantage, and then it flipped in the second half. When you do that, it’s tough to win.”
“The 49ers most assuredly aren’t short on talent, even with running back Christian McCaffrey on the sidelines,” Davenport wrote. “But talent doesn’t matter when a team keeps making game-changing mistakes late. The 49ers may have entered the season as one of the favorites to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LIX, but they have blown leads against a pair of division foes no one expects to see in New Orleans in February. Turnovers are the kiss of death in the NFL—and even the mighty 49ers aren’t immune to that.”
ESPN.com – 49ers drop to #13 from #9
Nick Wagoner of ESPN has tabbed Jordan Mason the “fantasy surprise” of the 49ers over Jauan Jennings and writes:
“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), is 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.”
Pro Football Talk – 49ers fall six spots to #14
Mike Florio was confident last week following the win over the Patriots, but is concerned with the 49ers’ lack of wins in the NFC and writes: “0-2 in the division and 0-3 in the conference is not the way to get back to another Super Bowl.”
CBS Sports – 49ers drop two spots to #14
Pete Prisco doesn’t mince words about the issues with the 49ers and says: “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.”
Thursday is a must-win, not only for standings but to prove this team isn’t cooked and won’t allow the season to spiral out of control. If any team is equipped to win as the “wounded animal,” it’s the 49ers. However, history isn’t going to help this team weather the storm in 2024. Different seasons, different circumstances.