The San Francisco 49ers are through their bye week, as Week 11 has officially come to an end. The Seattle Seahawks lost to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football, and now the 49ers and Seahawks get ready to face each other this Sunday. We’ll find out if Jimmy Garoppolo gets the start and how the injury report is looking as the 49ers begin the final six weeks of the season.
The end of Week 11 brings with it media NFL power rankings for Week 12. Since the 49ers did not play, they did not move much at all. For the most part, they either remained in their No. 30 position at a lot of places, or were dropped a single spot. SB Nation remains the high spot, listing them at No. 27. MMQB does a composite ranking, and one of their rankers listed the 49ers No. 25.
Several places have them sitting at No. 31, likely due to the New York Giants win over the Kansas City Chiefs. Given how bad the 49ers are, I think a win over the Giants should have been enough to keep them permanently ahead of the G-men. Instead, they get knocked down a spot.
The bottom of the NFL includes the 49ers (1-9), Giants (2-8), Cleveland Browns (0-10), Denver Broncos (3-7), Chicago Bears (3-7), and Indianapolis Colts (3-7). The Colts and Broncos are closer to the AFC playoff picture given the 5-5 team in the mix there, but these six teams are for the most part, competing at the bottom of the league.
The 49ers beat the Giants and lost to the Colts, and travel to face the Bears in two weeks. While there are three games separating this group from each other, I don’t think one jumps too far over another. There are no gimmes for anybody in this group.
And with that, here is a look at Week 12 NFL power rankings from around the media.
Bye week. Next up: a home game against Seattle.
Train wreck: It's hard to say a 1-9 team is anything but a train wreck. But -- if Jimmy Garoppolo takes over at quarterback and shows his potential (he had an 89 Total QBR in two starts last season) -- the 49ers would have hope going into next season.
The next four games feature teams with bad-to-mediocre defenses: Seahawks (the injuries make them a lot less intimidating), Bears, Texans and Titans. If the 49ers are that worried about Jimmy Garoppolo being rushed — I find this whole situation really strange — they’ll have four decent spots to get him work in the upcoming weeks.
They got their first victory of the season before the bye, and now face a tough home game with Seattle. The question now is when does Jimmy Garoppolo take over?
Much discussion about whether the 49ers would start Jimmy Garoppolo after the Week 11 bye. It makes sense, given that he has been deemed the future, and the bye provides an additional week of practice for the recent trade acquisition. But putting aside the fact that the next opponent is Seattle, why would the Niners want to erase the good vibes of their most recent win by supplanting the guy who helped deliver it? Not to mention, C.J. Beathard is no schmuck. He was a third-round pick. While the cost of trading for Garoppolo was a second-rounder, meaning the organization has more invested in him, surely GM John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan want to evaluate both quarterbacks as thoroughly as possible. He had a rough go early, but Beathard's passer rating versus the Giants was only 123.4. Not bad.
Last Week’s Rank: 30
Points in MMQB Power Poll: 47
Highest-Place Vote: 25th
Lowest-Place Vote: 31st (10)
Last Week’s Result: bye week
Week 12 Opponent: vs. Seattle
I'm interested to see what the 49ers do coming out of the bye week. Will they pull the trigger and start Jimmy Garoppolo against the Seattle Seahawks this week?
If it were me, this is the week I'd insert Garoppolo. The Seattle defense is banged up, and it isn't nearly as strong as its reputation. The other benefit for Garoppolo would be that the Seahawks only play a couple of different coverages. It's not like he would have to overthink at the line of scrimmage.
The 49ers are not a good team, but they can be dangerous. Kyle Shanahan can dial up some big plays in the pass game, and the rushing attack with Carlos Hyde is legit.
Will Jimmy Garoppolo play this season? Now that a win is in the books, this feels like the most pressing question around this franchise.
Isn’t it about time to see Jimmy Garoppolo in a game?
No love for those on bye this week, especially if you're this bad. Perhaps we should waited until they play against/lose to Seattle on Sunday, huh?
Will we see Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 12?