NFL power rankings: 32-team post-preseason breakdown ahead of Week 1

Yes, Niners fans. Niner Noise is dropping the 49ers down a spot in our NFL power rankings heading into Week 1.

San Francisco 49ers

There are a few reasons for this. First, San Francisco has been a bit dinged up, injury-wise, this preseason. None of the injuries look to be of the serious matter, so that’s good. But it does mean valuable warm-up time lost for key contributors like running back Jerick McKinnon (calf) and tight end George Kittle (shoulder).

The offensive focus, however, will be on quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who looked fairly sharp against the Colts in Week 3 of the preseason. Same with the majority of his efforts the previous week against the Houston Texans.

But head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense has struggled in the red zone, which was a problem last year. True, Shanahan’s innovative offense was pretty vanilla this exhibition period, so read into that what you may.

All told, however, the bigger questions for San Francisco should be on defense. There’s little by the way of an outside pass rush, and second-year linebacker Reuben Foster is going to start off his 2018 campaign with a two-game suspension for off-field transgressions early in 2018. Foster is critically important to the Niners’ defensive efforts, which led to two opening-drive touchdowns allowed their first two games.

The 49ers have a lot to like going into this season and are one of the most improved squads from last year.

It might be wise just to curb the enthusiasm and hype a little bit, though.