As long as Kyle Shanahan is their coach and they're packed with superstars like Fred Warner, Nick Bosa, and George Kittle, it'll probably always be unfair to simply write off the San Francisco 49ers. Their pedigree and talent are just too much to overlook.

But these days, it's not hard to wonder whether this specific iteration of the 49ers will actually stay afloat.

Through seven games, San Francisco is just a middling 3-4. It hasn't been above .500 since a shrug-worthy Week 1 victory over the unimpressive New York Jets. Now, the 49ers will be without Brandon Aiyuk for the rest of the year, which stings doubly on top of Christian McCaffrey's lingering absence. And the more time passes without his top playmakers, the more Brock Purdy looks like a glorified journeyman again.

Moving forward, the 49ers' schedule doesn't get any easier in a surprisingly stacked NFC, either.

After a date with the middling Dallas Cowboys this Sunday night, the 49ers will square off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, and Los Angeles Rams (when they're likely healthy again) in consecutive weeks. That is a daunting gauntlet of playoff-caliber teams at worst and Super Bowl-caliber teams at best. Uh ... gulp.

We've seen these 49ers recover from midseason slumps before. It'd be silly to count them out. But this time looks particularly bleak. Don't say we didn't warn you.

The 49ers are a major focus of For The Win's NFL power rankings in Week 8. Let's unpack where they stand -- along with everyone else -- as the weather outside starts finally turning toward the fall.

32. New England Patriots

Last week's rank: 30

Drake Maye continues to show enough promise that 2025 could translate to some fun in New England. For now, the Patriots defense is a sieve, and the next contested catch that Ja'Lynn Polk makes will be the first. Cover your eyes for 10 more weeks, Patriots fans. It might be worth it in the end. -- Robert Zeglinski

31. Carolina Panthers

Last week's rank: 28

Each week brings Carolina closer to another No. 1 overall draft pick for David Tepper to interfere with. That's about the nicest thing you can say about this team right now. Hey, maybe Ja'Tavion Sanders could be good! -- Christian D'Andrea

30. Cleveland Browns

Last week's rank: 29

Deshaun Watson's Achilles tear might not only mean the end of his season but the end of his life as a professional football player. That's how poorly the man who once faced more than 20 allegations of sexual misconduct in what the NFL would later characterize as "predatory behavior" played lately. Given the lengthy rehabilitation ahead, it might not even be worth it to bring him back. -- RZ

29. Tennessee Titans

Last week's rank: 31

Tennessee took an early 10-0 lead against the Bills in Week 7. And as long as you ask no further questions, things are going well in Nashville. Will Levis is a disaster, but he's a much more entertaining one than Mason Rudolph. -- CD

28. Jacksonville Jaguars

Last week's rank: 32

Doug Pederson gets to keep his job. Well, for another week, anyway. That's the "reward" you get for playing the hapless Patriots overseas. An upcoming gauntlet of a schedule featuring dates with the Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, and Houston Texans in successive weeks suggests Pederson only delayed the inevitable, though. -- RZ

27. Las Vegas Raiders

Last week's rank: 27

Aidan O'Connell's broken thumb is a bummer, but it doesn't change much. The Raiders will go from below-average quarterback to below-average quarterback and, ideally, lose enough games that Mark Davis can draft Shedeur Sanders without having to trade up. Then, the real fun begins. -- CD

26. Miami Dolphins

Last week's rank: 26

The Dolphins really missed Tua Tagovailoa. It's obvious, but how do I know this in practice? They haven't scored more than 15 points in a game since Week 1, the last game Tagovailoa started and finished. The much more pertinent problem is that I'm not sure he should still be playing football after all his head injuries. -- RZ

25. Indianapolis Colts

Last week's rank: 25

Anthony Richardson beat the Dolphins and now pilots a 4-3 team with a chance to upset the apple cart in the AFC South. But Indianapolis is light on defensive reinforcements, and Richardson's subpar passing game feels ill-equipped to handle a shootout. Unless he can reclaim the downfield magic general manager Chris Ballard saw in him before making him the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Colts may be destined for mediocrity. -- CD

24. New York Giants

Last week's rank: 24

Daniel Jones' "elevated" levels of competence lately were clearly unsustainable. The Eagles put the veteran in a blender and watched him struggle to reach 100 total passing yards. The Giants remain feisty on any potential given week, but we can't take them seriously until they have a more viable quarterback under center. That, unfortunately, can't happen until the spring of 2025 at the earliest. -- RZ

23. New York Jets

Last week's rank: 22

Aaron Rodgers would like his teammates not to listen to the press. But if he really wants to protect them, he should burn New York's game film from the past three weeks. The Jets are 2-5, and those two wins came over the Patriots and Titans, both of whom are terrible at football. An easy schedule awaits, and there's room for a revival, but this isn't the turnaround this franchise had in mind. -- CD

22. New Orleans Saints

Last week's rank: 17

Spencer Rattler doesn't look like an NFL quarterback, Dennis Allen's defense can't stop the run, and the Saints finally look like they're on their last legs amid a five-game losing streak. This was always the real cost of trying to extend the core from the end of the Drew Brees era rather than tear everything down to the studs and rebuild in earnest. Now, the Saints are paying for it. -- RZ

21. Denver Broncos

Last week's rank: 21

There isn't much on the resume in terms of quality wins, but Denver is 4-3, and Bo Nix occasionally looks like a franchise quarterback. He also occasionally looks like an overwhelmed freshman who can't quite figure out his footwork, which is weird for a guy whose college career spanned 61 games. His downfield passing remains a concern. Per SIS, he's completed just 22 of 66 passes to travel at least 10 yards downfield -- an unsustainable 33 percent completion rate. -- CD

20. Los Angeles Rams

Last week's rank: 23

While uninspiring, the Rams are doing just enough to stay afloat until they can get some of their horses back. Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp may return any week now. And if L.A. is hovering around .500 by then -- a tough upcoming schedule aside -- then we may have written this team off a bit too early. -- RZ

19. Los Angeles Chargers

Last week's rank: 15

Justin Herbert's got to be getting tired of this. On Monday night he threw for nearly 350 yards without a turnover. The Chargers scored zero touchdowns. Get this man some help. -- CD

18. Arizona Cardinals

Last week's rank: 20

The Cardinals' decision to take out Kyler Murray on third-and-inches to run two straight tush pushes with Clayton Tune, only to have each fail, was either the funniest or saddest sequence of Week 7. It all depends on whether you're an Arizona fan. Even if it's the latter, a win makes the whole thing easier to swallow. -- CD

17. Dallas Cowboys

Last week's rank: 18

A bye week was Dallas' only respite from what feels like a season already teetering on a steep cliff. If Dak Prescott doesn't pick up his woeful efficiency and if Mike Zimmer's defense doesn't start showing any signs of competence, we're about to watch a new-age Thelma & Louise story come to life in Arlington, Texas. -- RZ

16. Cincinnati Bengals

Last week's rank: 19

One of these days, the Bengals will finally get Joe Burrow and Lou Anarumo's defense to play at their respective peaks simultaneously again. Nonetheless, it remains encouraging that the Cincy defense has found its footing in a two-game winning streak where it's surrendered just 21 total points. Yeah, the competition between the anemic Giants and Browns wasn't great, but everyone needs confidence-builders now and then. -- RZ

15. Philadelphia Eagles

Last week's rank: 16

Philly is 4-2, but there's only one quality win in that group, and it was on a slippery field in Sao Paulo. That casts at least a little doubt on the Week 1 victory over the Green Bay Packers. Still, Saquon Barkley is once again proving he can carry an offense. When the Eagles' playmakers are fully healthy again, this team could be dangerous. -- CD

14. Seattle Seahawks

Last week's rank: 14

The Seahawks stopped their three-game skid by leaning on their bread and butter: an accurate passing game led by Geno Smith. That's always the danger of playing Seattle, which presents bona fide matchup problems like DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett on the outside. This is what made Metcalf getting carted off the field with a knee injury on Sunday so scary. Seattle may as well have been watching its season get carted off. But Metcalf is apparently OK, and the Seahawks remain a capable playoff dark horse. -- RZ

13. San Francisco 49ers

Last week's rank: 8

The 49ers' playmakers can't stay healthy, and this makes Brock Purdy's limitations clear. The Chiefs gave him plenty of opportunities to burn their single coverage downfield, but the young quarterback responded with three interceptions in Week 7, all of which came in Kansas City territory. San Francisco has overcome in-season slumps before, but this year's injuries may prove fatal in its quest to repeat as NFC champion. -- CD

12. Washington Commanders

Last week's rank: 12

How good are these Commanders? Jayden Daniels' rib injury meant he had just 56 yards from scrimmage, and they still beat Carolina by 33 points. The bright young QB's ailment will be something to monitor moving forward -- especially in advance of a monster matchup with Caleb Williams' Chicago Bears this weekend -- but it seems apparent that Washington still owns a high floor. -- RZ

11. Chicago Bears

Last week's rank: 11

Chicago thrived when its schedule got easier, allowing Caleb Williams to roast some of the NFL's least serious defenses. A bye week and games against the Commanders, Cardinals, and Patriots may push his hype train to unsafe speeds. Fortunately, the Bears have a tremendous insurance policy should he derail: a defense that's held opponents to under 20 points in five of its six games this season. -- CD

10. Pittsburgh Steelers

Last week's rank: 13

Russell Wilson didn't get back to his prime Seahawks form to beat the Jets, but he was significantly better than he'd been as a Bronco. That validated Mike Tomlin's decision to swap out quarterbacks and gave Pittsburgh a much-needed new dimension in its downfield passing game. Wilson found single coverage and lobbed up moon balls for George Pickens, who continues to be a contested catch wizard. -- CD

9. Atlanta Falcons

Last week's rank: 7

After how they gelled lately, Sunday's 20-point defeat to the Seahawks should probably be characterized as a bad day in the office for the Falcons. Kirk Cousins was due to lay an egg, and a simply middling Atlanta defense is not built to play without a lead. These Falcons remain flawed, but not enough to drop them out of the NFC's inner circle of contenders. -- RZ

8. Houston Texans

Last week's rank: 5

Throughout the first half of this season, there were signs that, perhaps, defenses had caught up to Bobby Slowik's scheme. For a supposed Super Bowl contender, it felt like the Texans relied a lot more on C.J. Stroud's excellence than was sustainably healthy. Sunday's disspiriting offensive performance in Green Bay -- where Stroud completed just 10 passes while averaging only four yards per attempt -- was as subtle as an anvil being dropped on a cartoon character's head. In an AFC with battle-tested defenses residing in Kansas City, Baltimore, and Buffalo, the Houston offense is now a concern. -- RZ

7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Last week's rank: 6

For one quarter, it looked like the Buccaneers would upend a rising Ravens team. Then Mike Evans left with an injury and everything fell apart. The defense that had given up at least 26 points in three of its last four games had no answer for the reigning MVP Lamar Jackson and Tampa Bay, once again, looked like a team that could make waves in the playoffs but not the Super Bowl. - CD

6. Buffalo Bills

Last week's rank: 10

Amari Cooper is the story in Western New York. Even with only a few days of Bills practice under his belt, it was clear the star playmaker knew exactly how to fit in with Josh Allen against the Titans -- not knowing all of the audibles aside. Cooper's presence also helped unlock rookie receiver Keon Coleman, who enjoyed his first-ever performance of at least 100 yards as a secondary option. It's early, but the Cooper trade already looks like a home run for this AFC heavyweight. -- RZ

5. Green Bay Packers

Last week's rank: 9

Jordan Love had some great throws in a comeback win against the Texans. He also had some terrible ones, which is the full Jordan Love experience. The bigger deal is Jeff Hafley's defense coming together to baffle C.J. Stroud into one of the worst performances of his budding career. A Green Bay team with a working defense is a real problem for the NFC. -- CD

4. Minnesota Vikings

Last week's rank: 4

Brian Flores threw constant pressure at Jared Goff and still got burned, which is a concern for the elite defense that helped push Minnesota out to its 5-0 start. Sam Darnold's efficiency has dipped over the last three weeks (-0.105 EPA/dropback, 26th-best among NFL starters). That unit is gonna have to work overtime if he's about to regress back to the Darnold we've come to expect in seven uneven seasons as a pro. -- CD

3. Baltimore Ravens

Last week's rank: 3

Lamar Jackson's MVP defense got another boost when he took on the NFC South leading Buccaneers and dropped four touchdown passes on them... before the third quarter even ended. 2024 could be his finest season as a passer; on Monday night, that meant elevating guys like Rashod Bateman and Justice Hill into starring roles. - CD

2. Detroit Lions

Last week's rank: 1

It's too early to tell whether Detroit missing Aidan Hutchinson will hurt it. Well, at least in the context of the NFC race. That's because the Lions offense continues to be an unstoppable buzzsaw. On Sunday, Ben Johnson's unit amassed nearly 400 yards and 31 points against a Brian Flores Minnesota defensive unit that had confounded everyone this year. If that doesn't say the only thing that can really stop the Lions' attack is the Lions themselves, then I don't know what does. -- RZ

1. Kansas City Chiefs

Last week's rank: 2

Ugly wins are still wins, and Kansas City keeps winning. The Chiefs have a two-game advantage over the rest of the AFC and play in a division that offers minimal challenges in 2024. That's enough to paper over the fact Patrick Mahomes has a depleted receiving corps and a league-high eight interceptions in six games this fall. -- CD

This article originally appeared on For The Win: NFL Power Rankings Week 8: Battered and bruised 49ers in real danger of missing playoffs in stacked NFC