San Francisco 49ers: ESPN Power Rankings Set the Team Up to Shock the NFL

The San Francisco 49ers are not the worst team in the worst division in the NFL, but ESPN bloggers disagree. They have the 49ers ranked 26th in their preseason power rankings, and 49ers fans are undoubtedly outraged by being ranked a ridiculous five spots lower than the Cardinals, but it's actually beneficial to the team in the long run.

Look at how last year shook out after the 49ers were given such praise before the season started.

Mike Greenberg predicted the 49ers would go 13-3, nearly every single "expert" picked the 49ers to win the NFC West and a 4-0 preseason only heightened the hype.

Fast-forward to the end of Week 5: The 49ers were an embarrassing 0-5, and the once-heralded Mike Singletary was on the hot seat.

What happened to the 49ers, who were projected by many to take the entire NFC?

It might have been overconfidence, fatigue after beating the daylights out of each other in Singletary's outdated style of training camp or a tough beginning schedule. Heck, maybe it was a combination of all three.

This year, the 49ers are projected to finish last in the NFC West and near the bottom of the NFL.

Perfect.

A hungry 49ers team with a new secondary, a confident quarterback and a brand-new coaching staff could be the perfect storm for San Francisco.

Even given their miserable year last year, the 49ers came within one game of the playoffs. While they made improvements, though, so did the rest of the division.

The Rams obviously have the best quarterback in the NFC West, the Seahawks added Sidney Rice and the Cardinals traded for Kevin Kolb.

Even with these key moves though, all three teams have serious question marks heading into the season.

The Seahawks have Tarvaris Jackson starting at quarterback, who could easily be this year's Derek Anderson, if you know what I mean.

Kolb has put up slightly below-average numbers with an elite NFL offense, and he's never played a full 16-game season. Even so, he's miles ahead of any QB the Cardinals had last year. A lack of weapons on offense aside from Larry Fitzgerald and an aging Todd Heap could be a bigger issue.

Speaking of a lack of weapons, St. Louis decided to sit on its hands while all marquee pass-catchers were scooped up. Sam Bradford proved he could take the team to 7-9 with Danny Amendola as the No. 1 target for the majority of the year, but the Rams face the same issues as they did a year ago offensively.

The 49ers aren't immune to criticism either. They put forth Alex Smith at quarterback, who may be in the perfect scenario but has never been consistent under center. There is a major hole at right guard, they have a new center, Joe Staley has been injured the last few seasons and Anthony Davis has yet to reach his potential.

Even so, the team added Braylon Edwards, and the safety position has unbelievable depth. The additions of Madieu Williams and Donte Whitner, along with the re-signing of Dashon Goldson, have made for a solid tandem of safeties regardless of who is on the field.

The 49ers cut some dead weight by letting Aubrayo Franklin and Nate Clements walk, and Navorro Bowman finally gets his shot to shine after the departure of Takeo Spikes.

San Francisco quietly improved and is under sound leadership. Do the 49ers deserve to be ranked in the top half of the league? Absolutely not. They have to prove they can hang with teams outside the division.

Do they deserve to be at the bottom of the NFC West? Absolutely not. It's not so much the 49ers at No. 26 that is problematic, but rather the overrated rest of the NFC West.

Even so, low expectations will serve the 49ers well. They are being seen as an NFL bottom-feeder, setting the stage for San Francisco to come out and shock the league with every win, not exclusively wins over their division opponents.

Take a look at the 49ers' schedule. It sounds odd, but according to the rankings, the 49ers will be underdogs in 13 out of the 16 games they play. They are ranked lower than every opponent other than the Bengals, Browns and Redskins.

Obviously if they start winning, they won't be as under the radar as they are right now, but other teams are prone to overlooking the 49ers at the beginning of the season.

The best thing that can happen is an overconfident Seahawks team comes marching into Candlestick and gets shellacked the way the 49ers were embarrassed by Seattle a year ago. 

That would be a particularly special inaugural game for Jim Harbaugh, who has a very shaky past with Pete Carroll. Remember the whole "What's your deal?" exchange?

A big win over the Seahawks (who are ranked seven slots above the 49ers) would leave the ESPN voters feeling foolish about their preseason rankings.