NFC West power rankings, Week 3: Seahawks, Cardinals are better than we thought

There's only one undefeated team in the NFC West, and it's not the 49ers. Meanwhile, the Cardinals just enjoyed a statement game within the division.

Nothing in the NFL is decided after just two weeks.

That's why San Francisco 49ers fans shouldn't panic after their team dropped a disjointed and ugly 23-17 affair at the Minnesota Vikings that was chock full of plenty of miscues and missed opportunities.

Yet the loss dropped the reigning NFC champions to 1-1 on the season, meaning they're no longer in possession of first place within the NFC West.

Nope, that accolade currently belongs to one of the Niners' hated rivals within the division.

Not long after San Francisco was licking its wounds from Week 2, the Arizona Cardinals were kickstarting what turned into a 41-10 beatdown of another NFC West rival, the Los Angeles Rams, perhaps putting away some thought about the red birds being at least a year or two away from any sort of serious contention.

Arizona might not be a championship-caliber team yet, but it's threatening toward being a sleeper.

Let's take a look at the NFC West power rankings heading into Week 3.

NFC West power rankings, Week 3

Call us homers, but the 49ers don't drop from the No. 1 spot in our divisional power rankings because of a tough road loss against a good Vikings team on a short week.

The Niners looked sloppy on all three phases, and it's still concerning running back Christian McCaffrey is going to be out for a while. But that didn't stop backup rusher Jordan Mason from another 100-yard game, and it was refreshing to see two of San Francisco's defensive stars, edge Nick Bosa and linebacker Fred Warner, make impacts.

Quarterback Brock Purdy took six sacks, which isn't ideal, and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has yet to have a $30 million kind of game.

Still, the 49ers remain loaded and are (mostly) healthy. They'll bounce back.

If we reach a point after Week 4 where the Seattle Seahawks are undefeated, while the rest of the NFC West is .500 at best, then there's no way to discount the Hawks as the No. 1 team in our power rankings.

Granted, beating the lowly Denver Broncos in Week 1 wasn't a massive accomplishment, although slight kudos must be given to head coach Mike Macdonald's squad for traveling all the way east and beating an also-bad New England Patriots team in overtime. That's not easy regardless of the opponent.

If the connection between quarterback Geno Smith and wide receiver D.K. Metcalf flourishes like it did in Week 2, Seattle's offense can get back to the kind of 2022 prowess it once had.

After Sunday, it looked like that might be the case.

Quarterback Kyler Murray has caught a lot of flak over the years for never quite living to his No. 1-overall NFL Draft billing, and injuries have also clouded the signal-caller's reputation.

He looked nothing like the underachiever in that one-sided walloping of LA, though, helping engineer an inter-divisional beatdown that could potentially help in the conference's playoff picture many weeks from now.

Oh, and for what it's worth, Murray posted a perfect 158.3 passer rating in the game, tossing three touchdowns while also connecting with top-flight rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. for two scores and 130 yards.

That duo could be dangerous for the rest of the NFC West for a long time.

By nearly every measuring point, the Rams are deserved of the last spot in the divisional power rankings.

Getting off to an 0-2 start influences this, yes, but what happened at the hands of Arizona is just the sauce on top of the proverbial "dish" of being last. Tack on the number of injuries LA is dealing with, and it's not hard to see why.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford is already down two weapons, wide receiver Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, the latter exiting Sunday's contest while later being seen in a walking boot.

With a banged-up offensive line, Stafford and Co. are going to have all kinds of difficulty in the forthcoming weeks, including welcoming an angry Niners squad to SoFI Stadium where San Francisco has a unique "home" advantage.

The roughest of rough starts has bit Los Angeles.

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