The San Francisco 49ers might have been a “prove it” team before their dominant 20-7 Week 6 win over the Los Angeles Rams last Sunday.
Now, with an unbeaten 5-0 record to boot, the Niners are finally garnering the respect on the national level.
This respect is showing up in league-wide experts’ breakdowns in their Week 7 NFL power rankings, which have steadily seen the 49ers rise over the first quarter-plus of the regular season.
As one of only two unbeaten teams this deep in 2019, the other being the 6-0 New England Patriots, it’s nearly impossible for anybody to keep head coach Kyle Shanahan’s squad out of the top five.