The 49ers are still the top team in the NFL

There have been quite a few overreactions after the San Francisco 49ers suffered their first loss of the season. The wideouts deserve blame, as does the offensive line. Jimmy Garoppolo didn’t play his best ball, either. Despite the poor offensive performance, a missed field goal ultimately was the difference.

In the latest NFL Power Rankings, the Niners remain at the top spot:

Previous rank: No. 1

The worst thing about being on the wrong end of a Monday night classic? You know it will be resurfaced repeatedly on telecasts until the end of time. The Niners lost their first game of the season in crushing fashion: at home, in prime time, to a division rival, in the last second of overtime. If poor Chase McLaughlin makes his final kick, the 49ers are 9-0 and we’re all talking about their bottomless well of resolve. But McLaughlin yacked it, and suddenly the Niners are in a dogfight with the Seahawks in the NFC West. San Francisco needs to get healthy on the offensive side of the ball: With George Kittle (knee/ankle) sidelined and Emmanuel Sanders (ribs) knocked out of the game early, Jimmy Garoppolo was left with a dearth of trustworthy options ... and it showed. The 49ers still feel like the best team in the NFL through 10 weeks, but the Seahawks showed us the gap is minimal.

I’ve seen some “the moment was too big for McLaughlin,” which would be true if he missed the kick at the end of regulation. Kickers miss. It’s frustrating every time they do. This miss happened at the worst possible time.

Akash told us not to panic, and he’s right. As mentioned above, it would be difficult for the offense to play worse than they did on Monday night. After all that, the 49ers still had several chances to win. There are no moral victories in the NFL. Not for good teams, anyway. San Francisco is a good team. I’d rather them get this nightmare offensive performance out of the way in November than this come up in a win or go home situation.

All this talk about the offense has ignored the fact that the defense held Seattle to their worst performance of the season, and it wasn’t particularly close from yards per play and EPA standpoint. The scrambles by Russell Wilson will be what you remember, but there were quite a few players and situations where the 49ers overcame difficult circumstances. That’s why the team remained at No. 1 in the Power Rankings.