NFL Power Rankings, Week 12: Eagles fall to Saints in embarrassing fashion

29. San Francisco 49ers

When looking at how this season has been a disappointment for the most part ever since Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a torn ACL, a win over the New York Giants before the bye week would have at least made the team feel a little better. After that tough loss, it’s safe to say the 49ers may only win one or two more games at best the rest of the way when looking at their tough schedule over the final six games, although this won’t stop Nick Mullens from continuing to make a name for himself.

Despite that frustrating loss to New York, Mullens has become one of the feel good stories for San Francisco on offense when seeing the excitement he’s brought to the table, including an impressive 34-3 win over the Oakland Raiders a few weeks ago. Long term, Mullens knows the 49ers are Garoppolo’s team, but if he continues to impress during this final stretch, this could even help his trade value or even make San Francisco feel much better about their situation at quarterback.

Mullens knows that as soon as Garoppolo is healthy enough to return, the starting job is going to immediately go back to him since the 49ers didn’t invest all of that money just to have him ride the bench. At least with an upcoming meeting against another struggling team in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Mullens is in another great position to shine for San Francisco under center.