I'm not one to make a lot of musical comparisons, but Tom Petty singing Free Fallin at the Fillmore is certainly fitting for the 49ers weekly drop in the NFL Power Rankings. The 49ers continue their decline in the power rankings. After the jump you'll notice I now include the previous week's rankings in parenthesis, including the average ranking at the bottom.
Over at SB Nation NFL, they released their Week 5 NFL Power Rankings and have the 49ers ranked 28th, after having them at 24th last week. In this week's comment on the ratings they say, "San Francisco gave that game away to the Falcons. That's too bad because, at 1-3, there's some glimmer of hope remaining for the season. 0-4? Count 'em out. The 49ers are done."
If one is to think the 49ers are done it should have nothing to do with their 0-4 record. 0-4 versus 1-3 in the NFC West really doesn't make a huge difference. If someone is going to think the 49ers are done it should be because one thinks they won't get their act turned around sufficiently to make up the space. In spite of the historical numbers about losing the first four games of the season, this NFC West might be historically bad enough to overlook those other numbers.
After the jump I've posted the various weekly power rankings for the NFC West and the averages...
ESPN - #28 (25) - Schedule becomes more favorable now, and 49ers must start making up ground.
- Arizona - #25 (22)
- Seattle - #26 (19)
- St. Louis - #24 (27)
The Big Lead - #30 (30)
- Arizona -#29 (24)
- Seattle - #25 (20)
- St. Louis - #23 (26)
Fox Sports - #29 (27) - Nice effort from San Francisco last week. That was a game that they clearly should have won. But the good teams find a way to win. Yet, this team is still only two games out of the division lead despite not having won a game this season.
- Arizona - #22 (19)
- Seattle - #25 (17)
- St. Louis - #23 (24)
CBS Sports - #30 (29) - At least they competed at Atlanta. But at 0-4 they have a long way to go. The good news is the rest of the division isn't very good.
- Arizona - #26 (20)
- Seattle - #25 (18)
- St. Louis - #24 (27)
Pro Football Talk (via NBCSports.com) - #29 (28) - The 49ers could be the best 0-4 team in NFL history.
- Arizona - #27 (25)
- Seattle - #25 (17)
- St. Louis - #17 (21)
NFL Fanhouse - #30 (29) - After an athletic play by Taylor Mays to turn a blocked punt from a safety into a touchdown, it looked like the 49ers were going to earn their first win against an Atlanta team that looks like it's headed for the playoffs. The team didn't score after the first quarter, and the preseason favorite to win the division is now 0-4.
- Arizona - #27 (24)
- Seattle - #26 (17)
- St. Louis - #13 (20)
WhatIfSports.com - #24 (25)
- Arizona - #30 (24)
- Seattle - #19 (18)
- St. Louis - #28 (32)
Average 49ers Ranking: 28.57 (27.57)
Average Cardinals Ranking: 26.57 (22.57)
Average Seahawks Ranking: 24.43 (18.00)
Average Rams Ranking: 21.71 (25.29)