NFL Power Rankings, Week 1: Titans ink Clowney, Chiefs remain clear favorites
. . Previous: 4th. San Francisco 49ers. 5. team. 42
Because of the celebration around Kansas City winning Super Bowl LIV, many people seem to overlook the fact that the San Francisco 49ers were tantalizingly close to hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. Kyle Shanahan’s team fell victim to a few missed opportunities late and Mahomes doing Mahomes things and came up just short.
However, Shanahan has proven that, as long as he has a good quarterback, he can put an elite offensive product on the field. And that shouldn’t change in 2020 as Jimmy Garoppolo is back once againt. Moreover, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh returns again to head a unit that was one of the best in the league a year ago.
The reason I drop the 49ers to the back-end of the top five in these NFL Power Rankings, though, is that there are some areas where I’m concerned and, when you’re splitting hairs with the best teams, that can be the difference between a spot or two.
San Francisco replacing DeForest Buckner with Javon Kinlaw is a decisive downgrade and Fred Warner has missed time in camp. Moreover, the secondary could regress as an older, veteran group and the wide receiver injuries have been troublesome as well.
No one is sleeping on the Niners and rightfully so. But they do have some things to sort out early in the year if they’re to make another Super Bowl run.