Last season we did a weekly rundown of 2010 NFL power rankings around the Internet to get a sense of how folks viewed the 49ers and the rest of the NFC West. It's all relatively subjective so there is nothing remotely scientific about this. I selected seven power rankings based on sites that I check out or have some level of respectability around the Internet. I then will post the ranking this week and last week as well as the sites' comments about the 49ers ranking. This week's won't include last week's ranking since it's the first post of the season on the subject. At the end I post the average ranking for each NFC West team.
Each week SB Nation releases their power rankings and while I don't include them in my seven, I'm thinking I'll use the pre-jump space to discuss those specific network power rankings. This week the 49ers are 24th, only dropping one spot from last week. As much as I love the 49ers I find it hard to justify the team being ranked even that high. And only dropping one spot surprises me.
The teams ranked worse than the 49ers includes the Jaguars, Broncos, Lions, Rams, Raiders, Browns, Bills, and Panthers. I suppose one could argue why the 49ers are better than each of those teams, but at this point the 49ers are so inconsistent that I don't know where I'd rank them in power rankings.
ESPN - #25 - Niners seem tight and wound up, just like their high-strung coach.
- Arizona - #22
- Seattle - #19
- St. Louis - #27
The Big Lead - #30
- Arizona -#24
- Seattle - #20
- St. Louis - #26
Fox Sports - #27 - Talk about a team in disarray. San Francisco is making the Nixon administration look like they had everything in order. Poor Alex Smith. While he continues his inconsistent ways, can you blame him for having to work with his now sixth offensive coordinator? How many quarterbacks can overcome that?
- Arizona - #19
- Seattle - #17
- St. Louis - #24
CBS Sports - #29 - The bad news is they stink. The good news is the rest of the division isn't so great. But now they have a tough game at Atlanta to try an avoid going 0-4. Is firing Jimmy Raye really the answer?
- Arizona - #20
- Seattle - #18
- St. Louis - #27
Pro Football Talk (via NBCSports.com) - #28
- Arizona - #25
- Seattle - #17
- St. Louis - #21
NFL Fanhouse - #29 - What is wrong in San Francisco? The easy answer is the whole offense, which is why coordinator Jimmy Raye was let go after an embarrassing loss to the Chiefs. But the right answer is everything. This was supposed to be the 49ers' year in a weak NFC West, but they're running out of time to turn it around.
- Arizona - #24
- Seattle - #17
- St. Louis - #20
WhatIfSports.com - #25
- Arizona - #24
- Seattle - #18
- St. Louis - #32
Average 49ers Ranking: 27.57
Average Cardinals Ranking: 22.57
Average Seahawks Ranking: 18.00
Average Rams Ranking: 25.29