The San Francisco 49ers needed to beat the Dallas Cowboys in Week 8 to put themselves on more solid footing heading into their Bye week.
While the 30-24 victory at Levi’s Stadium helped the 49ers in the standings, it didn’t do much for them in the USA TODAY NFL power rankings. San Francisco entered the week as the No. 17 team. Their win over the scuffling Cowboys moved them up to No. 16, behind the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals.
It’s hard to argue that the 49ers belong much higher.
Trying to order the NFC West is nigh impossible, but both the Rams and Cardinals have wins over the 49ers, and the Rams are getting healthier at wide receiver with Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua both returning.
The fact of the matter for the 49ers is that through eight weeks, they’re a middling NFL team. They have a ceiling much higher than that, and if they get on a roll after the Bye we should see them skyrocket in the power rankings to get back into the tier of Super Bowl contender.
For now, they’re in the middle of the pack because of too many mistakes in big moments that have left them 1-2 in their division and tied with the Seattle Seahawks and the Cardinals for the top spot in the NFC West.
Christian McCaffrey’s return should help, but they need to start stringing wins together with some frequency if they want to re-earn their place in the Super Bowl conversation.
