The San Francisco 49ers can no longer get the benefit of the doubt. After a slow start, the club failed to flip the proverbial switch this year, and the issues that had plagued them through the first ten weeks resurfaced in another dismal loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
USA TODAY's NFL Power Rankings acted accordingly and pushed the 49ers completely out of the top half of the league and at No. 18 overall – a well-deserved seven-spot drop from No. 11, where they resided after a Week 10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Maybe the 49ers actually need to flip a switch, and they're doing it while their backs are against the wall and a brutal stretch looms that sees them visit the Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills in consecutive weeks. If they can fight their way out of the 5-5 corner they've been pushed into and get a few wins over two playoff teams, we can take their place back in the NFL hierarchy.
Linebacker Fred Warner summed it up after the team's 20-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
“Yes IIt is not How us,” Warner said of the team’s penchant for getting in the face in crucial situations. “But that is What we've shown this year, so I think until we stop this, that is who we are.”
The 49ers are 5-5, in last place in their division and on the outside looking in on the NFC playoff picture. Pedigree counts for nothing in the postseason formula, and until they prove they have this caliber of a team, they deserve to slip into the realm of mediocrity in the performance rankings.
