Unbeaten 49ers keep surprising each week
SANTA CLARA — Lots of people thought the San Francisco 49ers would be good this season.
Not many thought they’d be 5-0.
Sure, the schedule broke in their favor. They haven’t faced a good quarterback yet, because Ben Roethlisberger had season-ending elbow surgery and missed the Steelers’ Week 3 game against the 49ers. The highestrated quarterback the 49ers have faced is Roethlisberger’s backup, Mason Rudolph. And the best team the 49ers have faced is the Rams, who are 3-3. Bigger challenges will come soon.
But the 49ers seem ready for the challenges. They’ve outscored opponents by 16.6 points per game — second best in the NFL. They’ve improved dramatically. They might even be Super Bowl contenders.
Here are five things we didn’t necessarily know about them until now:
1. The defense might be great, not just good. We knew the defense probably would improve. Hard to know it would improve this much.
Last season, it gave up 27.2 points per game — fifth most in the league. Solomon Thomas, a former first-round draft pick seemed like a bust. Arik Armstead, another former firstround pick, seemed expendable. And defensive coordinator Robert Saleh seemed on the verge of getting fired.
This season, the defense has given up 12.8 points per game — second fewest in the league. Thomas and Armstead both have played well, and Robert Saleh seems like a future head-coaching candidate.
Washington Redskins interim head coach Bill Callahan broke down the 49ers’ defense Wednesday morning on a conference call with Bay Area reporters. “Everything about it says speed, explosiveness, quickness, ability to redirect and generate pressure from all different angles and alignments. We’re going to need a lot of help, to say the least. This is one of the best units I’ve seen so far this year.”
During the offseason, the 49ers added three key players: linebacker Kwon Alexander and defensive ends Dee Ford and Nick Bosa. Now, the 49ers have an excellent linebacker, plus five former first-round picks on their defensive line: Ford, Bosa, Armstead, Thomas and DeForest Buckner.
“They’ve got the full package,” Callahan said. “When they line up across the board, there’s just not one individual that you can hone in on. Like when we played the Bears, you have Khalil Mack that you’re focused on. This is a little bit different because there’s so much quality depth and outstanding players.”
Who could have expected the 49ers to have a better defense than the Bears?
2. The defensive backs actually are good. Last season, the defensive backs were seen as the team’s biggest weakness. They gave up an average quarterback rating of 105.4, and set the NFL record for fewest interceptions in a season. They recorded only two.
During the offseason, the 49ers brought back all five starting defensive backs — Richard Sherman, Ahkello Witherspoon, Jimmie Ward, Jaquiski Tartt and K’Waun Williams. Through five games, they already have intercepted seven passes and allowed a miniscule quarterback rating of just 62.5.