The San Francisco 49ers' revenge tour didn't start off as planned. The Arizona Cardinals went into Levi's Stadium and knocked off the defending NFC champions by a score of 24-20.
The 49ers were the only NFC West team to lose during Week 1, dropping them to last place within the division.
San Francisco entered Sunday's game without wide receivers Deebo Samuel and rookie Brandon Aiyuk. Tight end George Kittle suffered a knee sprain and wide receiver Richie James left the game with a hamstring injury.
The banged-up offense will try to lick its wounds and rebound in back-to-back road games at MetLife Stadium against the New York Jets this weekend and the New York Giants a week later.
Below is a sample of some of the more prominent power rankings around the web and where San Francisco currently stands within each.
Current Ranking: 6
Previous rank: 3
"Best rookie debut: DT Javon Kinlaw. There really isn't much to choose from here because the only other Niners rookie to play was tight end Charlie Woerner, who played one snap on offense and seven on special teams. Kinlaw didn't make much of an impact, posting one assisted tackle on 39 defensive snaps. He didn't play much on passing downs, so his primary job was to occupy blockers and play the run, but this debut didn't offer any sort of wow factor." — Nick Wagoner
Bleacher Report
Current Ranking: 9
Previous rank: 4
"The Niners offense was inconsistent in the game, The rushing attack was OK, but not much more than that. Jimmy Garoppolo completed only 19 of his 33 pass attempts. Tight end George Kittle wasn't even targeted in the second half. The 49ers converted only two of their 11 third-down attempts. Meanwhile, the Niners allowed more than 400 yards and had no answer for either Kyler Murray's scrambling ability or wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who exploded for 151 yards on 14 catches." — NFL Staff
CBS Sports
Current Ranking: 9
Previous rank: 4
"That was not a good home showing against Arizona in the opener. The Cardinals moved the ball well against that top defense. That has to change. The offense has too many injuries right now." — Pete Prisco
NFL.com
Current Ranking: 9
Previous rank: 2
"The 49ers need their wide receivers to get healthy. Aside from a breathtaking Raheem Mostert catch-and-run TD (his max speed of 22.73 mph was the highest of any player in the past three seasons, per Next Gen Stats), it was a slog on offense against the Cardinals. Playing without Deebo Samuel or Brandon Aiyuk (a pregame scratch), San Francisco receivers managed four catches for 41 yards on 11 targets. Jimmy Garoppolo's stat sheet didn't match his play, either: In the final two minutes, he undershot an open Kendrick Bourne on what could have been a go-ahead TD, then threw late and behind Trent Taylor on the game-deciding, fourth-down play deep in Arizona territory." — Dan Hanzus
USA Today
Current Ranking: 9
Previous rank: 4
"One of the big surprises from opening weekend? San Francisco is all alone in NFC West basement … while hoping TE George Kittle gets off the mat." — Nate Davis
Current Ranking: 13
Previous rank: 4
"Losing a home division game is never a good way to start the season, but especially in a really competitive NFC West that any of the four teams could win. To state the obvious, the George Kittle injury is potentially very alarming. The receiver group is already banged up, and he's a great blocker in the run game, which is what the Niners would rather do anyway." — Mitch Goldich
