The San Francisco 49ers have had a rocky start to their season going 2-3. What was supposed to be their easiest stretch of their schedule, playing mediocre or bad teams, such as the Cardinals, Patriots and Jets, as well as an injured Rams team. However, despite playing the easiest stretch of the season, the 49ers greatly struggled. As of week five, the 49ers are entering the hardest part of their season, going against the Seahawks on Thursday night football, followed by the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs, who will be coming out of their bye week. The 49ers struggle is causing certain aspects of the team to stick out like a sore thumb. The subpar coaching, and the performances of key players has caused the 49ers to have a rough start to their season. Let’s break down each game, some important moments, and what went wrong.
GAME BREAKDOWNS
Week One vs. Jets
During week one against the New York Jets, the 49ers started their season off with a victory, winning 31 to 19. One of the key takeaways from this game was the amazing performance from Jordan Mason, who ran 609 yards with 3 touchdowns. Many fans were worried about the 49ers’ star running back, Christian Mccaffrey, after reports came out minutes before the game informing fans that he was not playing. Fans were left stunned after the absolutely dominating performance from Mason on Monday night football, where Mason received the most carries in a game by a 49er, under head coach Kyle Shanahan, giving a hopeful glimpse of a potentially successful season without Mccaffery. Another key player was linebacker Fred Warner with an excellent forced fumble.
Week Two vs. Vikings
Week two ended with the first loss for the 49ers, making their final record 1-1. One key takeaway from this game was the questionable play calling by the first year coach Nick Sorensen, calling on the defensive side of the ball . Certain players also struggled, such as wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who has been seen looking “rusty” after previous contract holdouts, which led to Aiyuk being absent for most of the off season practices. On the other hand, Fred Warner had an electric game with 2 more forced fumbles, which helped put him in the early debate for the defensive player of the year award. Unfortunately Warner’s performance was not enough to bring the 49ers a win, as the team took a loss going 17 for 23.
Week Three vs. Rams
The 49ers entered week 3 with low expectations, due to key players, such as Deebo Samuel and George Kittle being out with injuries. However, with Samuel and Kittle out, and Aiyuk’s ongoing poor performance, Brock Purdy and 3rd stringer Jauan Jennings both had career games. Jennings had 175 yards with 3 touchdowns, and Purdy with 292 passing yards and 3 pass touchdowns. This game was a massive game for both Purdy and Jennings and finally silenced Purdy’s “System QB” allegations. However the 49ers lost this game after questionable coaching as well as multiple players who failed to show up, such as Brandon Aiyuk and Ronnie Bell who caused 6 dropped passes.
Week Four vs. Patriots
The 49ers received their second win of the season against the Patriots. In this game many players had great performances, the only problem seemed to be the 49ers long lasting issue with their offensive line, unable to keep defenders outside of the pocket causing constant pressure on Brock Purdy.
Week Five vs. Cardinals
In week five the 49ers lost once again, making their record 2-3. The 49ers blew a 10 point lead against one of the worst teams in the NFL. The main reason for this loss was questionable offensive play calling in the red zone as well as major blows, such as the loss of the 49ers only kicker, Jake Moody, hindering the 49ers ability to kick long field goals. However wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk had seemed to knock some of the rust off and go for 147 receiving yards.
PLAYER PERFORMANCES
It’s clear that the 49ers had a rocky start for a team expected to go undefeated for multiple weeks, however due to key player injuries over the course of the first 5 weeks such as Christian Mccaffery, Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, Jake Moody, and others, as well as underwhelming performances such as the likes of Brandon Aiyuk, the 49ers have been unable to make things work.
Questionable defensive and offensive red zone play calling has also served as a source of major issues for the 49ers, leading to many of their losses. This loss troubled many fans because the easiest stretch of the season was finally over and things are only going to get worse from here.
LOOKING AHEAD
Week six vs. Seahawks
As the 49ers entered week six, fans were low on morale. This was an important game as the 49ers shifted into their hardest stretch yet, a loss now would feel like all hope was lost for the bay area team. However with the 49ers leading a stressful game, and Seattle almost having a comeback, the 49ers managed to come out on top. There were great performances from players such as Deebo Samuel with 106 Yards and one touchdown, Fred Warner with 1 forced fumble, Nick Bosa with 14 pressures, Rookie Renardo Green with an INT, and rookie Isacc Guerendo with 140 yards.
It’s clear that the 49ers have had struggles this season with injuries, poor performance, and questionable coaching, however things seem to be on the rise as the 49ers show promising signs of bouncing back after their win against Seattle. The 49ers will take on their next opponents as they go on a Super Bowl rematch against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, October 20.