NFL Power Rankings Week 4: 49ers are tough to place after 3 games

Despite missing several of the their top players, the San Francisco 49ers put a beatdown on the New York Giants. The Niners swept the Big Apple teams to improve to 2-1 and are now getting ready to take on the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football.

San Francisco’s depth was on full display in Week 3 with the backups stepping in and playing well. The good news is that reinforcements should be on the way soon with George Kittle, Jimmy Garoppolo, Raheem Mostert, Deebo Samuel and Richard Sherman due back over the next few weeks.

With all of the injuries, It’s tough to place the 49ers in the NFL hierarchy. They have two very winnable games coming up before the gauntlet of their schedule begins in Week 6. If they’re sitting at 4-1 going into the game against the Los Angeles Rams, the Niners should begin to climb the power rankings and be a consensus top 10 team.

Here are where several of the different media outlets have San Francisco through three weeks.

ESPN has the 49ers 11th (down two spots from last week)

Nick Bosa would make the leap to 16 sacks and finish in the top five of Defensive Player of the Year voting.

Unfortunately for Bosa and the Niners, his breakthrough season never had the chance to take off, as he suffered a torn left ACL early in the second game of the season. Bosa was very good in the first week, and there’s no reason to think he wasn’t going to have a huge year before his injury. Alas, Bosa’s injury means his season is over and his first double-digit-sack season will have to wait at least another year as the Niners look for new ways to generate pressure on the quarterback.

NFL.com has the 49ers 12th (up two spots from last week)

No one’s experienced worse injury luck than the 49ers this season. Luckily, they’ve had the schedule gods on their side. Kyle Shanahan’s merry band of backups was more than good enough to take out the wretched Jets and Giants in consecutive weeks, and the Niners are 2-1 despite suffering a season’s worth of setbacks in one month. Nick Mullens thrived in his first start in 21 months, throwing for 343 yards and a touchdown without the help tight end George Kittle, receiver Deebo Samuel or running backs Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman. How dominant was the Mullens-led offense vs. the G-Men? It ran 73 plays, held the ball for nearly 40 minutes and never punted ... the first time San Francisco managed that feat in nearly 27 years. That sound you hear is Jimmy Garoppolo furiously taping up his injured ankle.

CBS Sports has the 49ers 14th (up two spots from last week)

Winning the way they did Sunday against the Giants is a testament to the coaching staff considering all the injuries. But it will be hard navigating those hits for too long.

USA TODAY has the 49ers 12th (down two spots from last week)

After spending a week on the East Coast, shuttling between MetLife Stadium’s turf and West Virginia, they head home to lick their copious wounds ... though reinforcements, including WR Deebo Samuel, seem to be inbound.

Yahoo Sports has the 49ers ninth (up two spots from last week)

Given the 49ers’ injury list, winning any NFL game on the road 36-9 is really impressive. The win and the job Kyle Shanahan did to have his team ready will be dismissed in a flurry of Giants jokes. Don’t underrate what the 49ers did on Sunday. That was as impressive as any win around the NFL in Week 3.

Bleacher Report has the 49ers 15th (down one spot from last week)

Could they actually survive this rash of injuries? With that coaching staff, it’s possible,” Gagnon wrote. “They just destroyed both New York teams and look as though they’re inspired to prove they have the depth to remain in contention despite so many personnel losses.

Where do you have the Niners ranked among all of the NFL teams?