Week 4 NFL power rankings

The San Francisco 49ers 2018 season is officially circling the drain following official news that Jimmy Garoppolo tore his ACL. Garoppolo tore it while trying to lead the 49ers back from a 35-7 deficit against the Kansas City Chiefs, and now, it’s C.J. Beathard time.

The 49ers saw their Super Bowl odds drop precipitously following Jimmy Garoppolo’s torn ACL. The question now is where exactly they stand compared to the rest of the league. A week ago, they were a team that was likely to be favored in at least eight of their remaining games. Now, they will probably be favored at home against the Arizona Cardinals, but beyond that, who knows.

I’m back with Week 4 NFL power rankings, and it has me wondering just where the 49ers now stand in the NFL’s pecking order. C.J. Beathard is a decided downgrade from Jimmy Garoppolo, but how much does he downgrade the team as a whole?

If we go by Bovada’s Super Bowl 53 odds, the only teams with worse odds than the 49ers (80/1) now are the Oakland Raiders, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, and Arizona Cardinals. The 49ers are also tied with the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts. The New York Giants and Detroit Lions are the next teams in front of the 49ers, sitting at 66/1. In front of them at 50/1 are the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks, and Tennessee Titans?

Where do the 49ers fit in with these teams? I think they’re better than the winless teams, but can anybody say with certainty they will be? For example, I’m fascinated to see what the 49ers two matchups with the Arizona Cardinals look like now that it will be C.J. Beathard vs. Josh Rosen.

In my latest power rankings, I dropped the 49ers below the Detroit Lions. The 49ers beat Detroit in Week 2, but if that had been C.J. Beathard instead of Jimmy Garoppolo, would San Francisco have won that game? I can’t see it, even with how bad that Lions defense is. But again, the next 13 games will tell us a lot about just how the 49ers are without Jimmy G.