Get ready for 49ers Nation to open up another bottle of whine.
For the past two seasons their team rolled into opposing stadiums and were occasionally dominant, with an entire nation of real and wannabe analysts emitting a low whistle at the powerhouse assembled by coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
That the 49ers didn’t win the Super Bowl in either of those seasons is beside the point, because the postseason is a different animal. It was something the 49ers excelled at in the Bill Walsh-George Seifert heyday, with five Super Bowl championships and removing their fan base from reality forever.
Now? Not so much, and expect airways on the radio flagship (KNBR-680) as well as mainstream media and informed and uninformed bloggers to be ruing another “almost” defeat after unsatisfying wins over Tampa Bay (23-20) and Dallas (30-24).
“I thought we had opportunities to run away with it,” Shanahan said. “We didn’t.”
It will be one of the most maligned two-game win streaks in memory, with much grousing about a 5-4 record when it darn well should at least be 7-2.
The scoundrels.
Here’s a thought — maybe the 49ers simply aren’t that good in 2024. Maybe the best they can do is 10 wins, and double digits is no lock. With a home game against Seattle and road assignments in Green Bay and Buffalo to follow, we could have our answer in the next few weeks.
More likely, there will be no answer then either, given that three teams in the NFC West have four losses and one has five.
Shanahan would love to see the team that put up a signature win like the 42-19 beatdown in Philadelphia last season as well as other one-sided wins that have taken place over the last two seasons.
But that’s not how the NFL works It’s a week-to-week grind. It’s more common to win a close one than to cover the spread and then some. The 49ers were 6 1/2 point favorites on the road and trailed 17-13 in the fourth quarter.
“It’s not like our favorite place to be in the that position, but that’s the NFL,” quarterback Brock Purdy said. “We’re going to be playing in games like this.”
If the table was ever set for the 49ers to come out firing, it was against Tampa Bay. The Bucs were without Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, the two most dangerous targets for Baker Mayfield. They were on a short week after losing an overtime game on the road to Kansas City. The 49ers were rested and ready after a bye, and even had Christian McCaffrey back in the lineup.
George Kittle celebrates his sixth touchdown reception in a 23-20 road win at Tampa Bay. A.P. Photo
Instead, as Fox analyst Tom Brady put it in the fourth quarter as the 49ers’ defense was in a penalty meltdown, “They’re doing everything they can to screw it up.”
Shanahan already gave the 49ers this lecture a few weeks back. He told them they’d been spoiled by all the big wins in previous years and that the NFL doesn’t work like that. There’s not that much separating the top teams.
There still are three ways the 2024 season can go:
1. The 49ers can succumb to unforced errors, special teams mistakes, kick (and miss) a lot of field goals and whiff on the playoffs altogether.
2. They can continue squeezing out enough of these close wins to make the playoffs, where they won’t sniff the top seed and make things more difficult for the postseason.
3. They can learn how to score consistently in the red zone, tighten things up on defense and display some semblance of competency on special teams and be a threat regardless of their seed.
My vote goes for No. 2, and just like yours, that vote doesn’t count for anything.
No sense in even worrying about the postseason until late December, and even then Kansas City lost to the Raiders on Christmas, fell to 9-6 and it did the the Chiefs no harm.
Having covered the Raiders for all 25 years they were back in Oakland, I’d suggest the 49ers are still a good show, if not a dominant one, through Week 10.
Purdy was so efficient against Tampa Bay (25 of 36 for 353 yards) that when he broke 300 yards passing it took Brady by surprise in the broadcast booth.
“That’s the sneakiest 300 yards I’ve ever seen,” Brady said.
McCaffrey went right back to being the central figure of the offense other than the quarterback and if his body holds up after what he did against Tampa Bay with three padded practices (107 yards from scrimmage) it bodes well for the rest of the season.
Tight end George Kittle is as good as he’s ever been. I’m pretty conservative when it comes to proclaiming Hall of Famers, but Kittle is a lock. Catches like Kellen Winslow, blocks like Dave Casper.
Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall Jr. on Sunday made Brandon Aiyuk’s loss to a torn ACL seem insignificant.
Nick Bosa played through a hip injury and was actually being taken to school by Justin Skule (in place of the injured Tristin Wirfs) until he got a late sack. He narrowly missed another only because Mayfield somehow got off a first-down throw on Tampa Bay’s final drive. It’s not inconceivable he could break out over the last eight games.
Fred Warner is still among the top middle linebackers, even if he’s tailed off somewhat after a Defensive Player of the Year vibe after the first few games.
Deommodore Lenoir is a Pro Bowler in waiting, youngsters Malik Mustapha and Renardo Green are nice additions and we can only hope for the best for veteran Charvarius Ward, who is going through something far more tragic than the result of a football game.
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It’s worth remembering that it’s Week 10. Remember how good the 49ers looked last year after Week 12 and the win over the Eagles? They were this year’s Detroit Lions in that they weren’t just winning, but being fitted for Super Bowl rings.
Detroit, by the way, turned it over five times on interceptions by Jared Goff but beat Houston 26-23 Sunday night. They’re at the top of the NFC food chain.
The NFL has a way of humbling even the best teams, even those with great expectations and a fan base spoiled by history.
For all their inadequacies, the 49ers are a humbling 5-4. Not what they wanted, but still in the mix.
With eight games left, it might be worth sticking around to see the ending with Jake Moody lining up for the game-winner.