The San Francisco 49ers are off to their best start since 1990. The team currently sits at 5-0 after a 20-7 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. Members of various media outlets continue to take notice of the team's rise. San Francisco will look to build off the early season success when they travel to Washington to take on the Redskins on Sunday.
Here's where San Francisco stands entering Week 7:
Dan Hanzus, NFL.com: 2 (Last Week: 4)
"Quite a six-day span for the Niners, who stole the Browns souls on "Monday Night Football," then bullied their former tormenters with a convincing win over the Rams in Los Angeles on Sunday. Again, the defense keyed the victory, holding Sean McVay's once-unstoppable attack to just 157 yards of total offense. Los Angeles marched 56 yards down the field on seven consecutive runs to score the game's opening touchdown, then was held scoreless the rest of the way. The game's biggest sequence began on third-and-goal with the Rams one yard away from a go-ahead score late in the second quarter. The 49ers stuffed two Rams rush attempts for no gain, and Los Angeles never reached the red zone again. The Rams' next six drives after that goal-line scuffle totaled zero yards. The Niners have the best defense in the NFC -- maybe the NFL -- right now. They're for real."
Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News: 2 (Last Week: 6)
"The 49ers made a statement with their stomping of the Browns at home in Week 5. They made a much bigger one by squashing the reigning NFC West and conference Rams in Los Angeles. Between the pass defense, run defense, passing game and running game, it's getting hard to find any true weaknesses on this team. The 49ers have already surpassed last season's win total."
Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: 2 (Last Week: 2)
"Shanahan and his staff have done an impressive job with this group. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh is a rising star in the profession and Shanahan remains one of the best play-callers in the league. The schedule will get tougher in a few weeks, but the 49ers are far from close to being healthy now. They played without their starting tackles against the Rams and all-important fullback Kyle Juszczyk. When they get healthy, the offense will be much improved. That defensive front is truly special. It's the kind of dominant unit that can carry a team a long way."
SI Staff, Sports Illustrated: 2 (Last Week: 5)
"The Niners made easy work of their division foes and should cruise to 6-0 against the Redskins next week. The defense–whose oldest player is 31-year-old Richard Sherman–has only surrendered 65 first downs this season."
Frank Schwab, Yahoo Sports: 2 (Last Week: 4)
"It's time to put the 49ers at No. 2 after those past two performances. Any doubts should be gone now. And I think they can get even better if they can get the passing game going. This is a really good team."
NFL Staff, Bleacher Report: 3 (Last Week 5)
"The 2019 San Francisco 49ers are for real. One week after shutting down the Cleveland Browns in a 31-3 blowout, the 49ers went one better—San Francisco blasted the defending NFC champions in their own stadium. The 49ers defense was dominant against the Rams. The team held Jared Goff to a jaw-dropping 78 passing yards and was perfect on third and fourth down—the Rams failed to convert on all 13 of their attempts Sunday."
Lindsay Jones, The Athletic: 3 (Last Week: 5)
"The 49ers have now put together dominant defensive performances in back-to-back weeks, and the way they thoroughly shut down the Rams shifted the balance of power in the NFC West. The scariest part right now about the 49ers defense is how deep the pass rush is. Four players registered at least a half sack against the Rams — and it was a different four players than those that registered a sack six days earlier against Cleveland."
NFL Nation, ESPN.com: 3 (Last Week: 6)
"The 49ers finished last in the NFL a year ago when it came to turning red zone drives into touchdowns. They've made some progress this year (they're up to a 46% touchdown rate from 41% in 2018) but still have plenty of room to improve. Getting their starting offensive tackles and fullback back from injury should help, but if nothing else, they must cut down on turnovers when they get deep in opposing territory."
