Not a stretch to believe 49ers still can reach Super Bowl
The 49ers’ season was on the brink not long ago.
Back-to-back wins later, and that is simply no longer the case.
The 49ers absolutely demolished the New England Patriots 33-6 on Sunday, breathing new life into their season while exposing this edition of Bill Belichick’s team as Not Ready For Primetime players. After a beatdown like that, the overreactions are going to fly.
Here are a few that came my way, and why they’re overstating the situation more than just a bit:
Tic NINcRS’ SUPcR KOWL iOPcS ARc KAa ON! >> This is not nearly as much of an overreaction as it would have been a week ago, and in a week from now, it might seem even more plausible, but the fact of the matter is that at the end of business Sunday night, the 49ers were still in last place in the NFC West.
The season might be back on track at 4-3. The Niners might be in the thick of the playoff hunt with two months to play. But to suddenly consider San Francisco an elite team once again after beating the Patriots is simply giving New England — and the Niners, for that matter — too much credit.
San Francisco has the Seahawks (5-1), Packers (5-1), Saints (4-2), and the Rams (4-2, game Monday night) over the next four games. There’s a Thursday Night Football game and a bye week tucked in there, but it’s still an impressively tough quad.
Let’s see if this team can muster a second and third win against playoffcaliber teams before we start singing that the Revenge Tour is back on for 2021.
WILSON’S INJURY WILL Kc bcVASTATINh! >> There’s no doubt that Wilson was fantastic on Sunday and that the 49ers will miss him while he is sidelined with what is expected to be officially ruled in the coming days a high-ankle sprain.
But let’s not forget that no one expected a damn thing out of Wilson going into Sunday’s game. You can’t go from afterthought to irreplaceable
in the matter of three quarters, even if you have three quarters as good as El Jefe.
The Niners’ running-back crunch is real. Jet McKinnon has been relegated to a third-down back role — one he is suited for. So JaMycal Hasty, the undrafted rookie out of Baylor, is likely to be the everydown back, next weekend in Seattle.
But who will backup Hasty now that McKinnon is in his proper role?
Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said that there’s an outside chance Tevin Coleman can return to the lineup, but if he cannot go, don’t be surprised if the Niners call up Austin Walter — a second-year undrafted back out of Rice — from the team’s practice squad.
And, seriously, don’t be surprised if Walter looks really good if he takes the field. He looks the part of a Shanahan running back — fast to the line of scrimmage, able to catch the ball out of the backfield, built like a brick.
Is he Wilson? Nope. And Wilson isn’t Raheem Mostert. But the Niners always seem to find somebody to effectively tote the rock. I don’t think this will be the end of the line. hAROPPOLO IS PLAYINh WcLL! >> I’ll say this for the 49ers’ offense — Shanahan is calling outstanding plays.
As for the quarterback tasked with executing them, not much has been put on his plate in the last two weeks.
For a second straight contest, Shanahan went full Jon Taffer and yelled “shut it down” after questionable play from his quarterback. Sunday, it was an egregious interception on the Niners’ second drive that made Shanahan pull it all back.
It was a truly terrible pick — reminiscent of the interceptions against
the Dolphins. An impressive first drive was forgotten. After that, it was screens, shovels, and handoffs for Jimmy Garoppolo, who completed his first 20-plus air-yard pass of the season Sunday — a why-not deep ball to a wide-open Brandon Aiyuk that the rookie receiver had to track like a fluttering punt, pulling him out of bounds instead of into the end zone.
The boxscores lie — Garoppolo can only be credited with making one tough throw, maybe two beyond the screens and such he was tasked with delivering Sunday.
The Niners could manage with a game manager against a lowly Patriots squad. What happens when they play a real defense?
Tic NINcRS’ bcecNSc IS AS hOOb AS LAST YcAR >> I won’t lie, this isn’t as big of an overreaction as I thought it might be. The 49ers’ defense is purring right now. They’re playing with confidence and energy that’s the hallmark of an elite unit.
That said, I want to wait another week or two before I declare that this is a truly elite unit. Right now, it’s a top 10 defense, and that alone is quite the accomplishment, given this team’s injuries and its need to change from a pass-rushled defense to something else.
I’m hesitant to bestow any serious accolades because the Patriots are abysmal. San Francisco was no doubt a party to New England posting the worst offensive DVOA in the NFL this season Sunday, but how much of that was the Niners and how much of that was the Patriots having a quarterback with a busted hand and shoulder, a third-string offensive line, receivers that can’t separate, and running backs that lack vision and burst?