It’s almost football time again for the San Francisco 49ers, with kickoff in a little over 48 hours. However, Week 4 only just ended Monday evening, and it is time for another round of power rankings. Week 4 wrapped with the Minnesota Vikings beating the New York Giants to remain undefeated. Somehow the Vikings have continued to win even as they have lost Teddy Bridgewater, Adrian Peterson, and Matt Kalil, among others.
I dropped the 49ers from No. 23 to No. 27. I suppose they could be further down, but really, once you get that low it’s a grab bag of bad football. And really, most of those 1-3 teams are pretty bad. Interestingly enough, the two NFC Championship Game participants stand at 1-3. I think the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers are better than the rest of the 1-3 teams, but even they have serious issues.
The state of the NFL changes in a big way this week, with Tom Brady returning to action for the New England Patriots. His four-game suspension is officially behind him, and as we saw last week, the Patriots will gladly welcome back their quarterback. Jacoby Brissett struggled in his second start, as the Patriots were shut out at home for the first time since Drew Bledsoe’s rookie season. That being said, I’ve left the Patriots high on my rankings given the return of Brady.
Here are my power rankings head into Week 5.
| Rank | Team | LW |
| 1 | Denver Broncos (4-0) | 2 |
| 2 | New England Patriots (3-1) | 1 |
| 3 | Minnesota Vikings (4-0) | 3 |
| 4 | Philadelphia Eagles (3-0) | 4 |
| 5 | Seattle Seahawks (3-1) | 7 |
| 6 | Green Bay Packers (2-1) | 9 |
| 7 | Pittsburgh Steelers (3-1) | 11 |
| 8 | Oakland Raiders (3-1) | 10 |
| 9 | Houston Texans (3-1) | 13 |
| 10 | Dallas Cowboys (3-1) | 6 |
| 11 | Baltimore Ravens (3-1) | 8 |
| 12 | Atlanta Falcons (3-1) | 18 |
| 13 | Los Angeles Rams (3-1) | 20 |
| 14 | Kansas City Chiefs (2-2) | 5 |
| 15 | Cincinnati Bengals (2-2) | 16 |
| 16 | New York Giants (2-2) | 15 |
| 17 | Carolina Panthers (1-3) | 14 |
| 18 | Arizona Cardinals (1-3) | 12 |
| 19 | Washington (2-2) | 27 |
| 20 | Buffalo Bills (2-2) | 28 |
| 21 | New York Jets (1-3) | 17 |
| 22 | Tennessee Titans (1-3) | 21 |
| 23 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-3) | 22 |
| 24 | Detroit Lions (1-3) | 24 |
| 25 | Jacksonville Jaguars (1-3) | 30 |
| 26 | Indianapolis Colts (1-3) | 26 |
| 27 | San Francisco 49ers (1-3) | 23 |
| 28 | New Orleans Saints (1-3) | 29 |
| 29 | San Diego Chargers (1-3) | 19 |
| 30 | Chicago Bears (1-3) | 31 |
| 31 | Miami Dolphins (1-3) | 25 |
| 32 | Cleveland Browns (0-4) | 32 |