Are you off the Brock Purdy bandwagon?
Before you jump, let’s present a few facts your way.
The 49ers are off this week, with a 5-3 record through eight games. The first five weeks? Smooth sailing. They demolished the Dallas Cowboys a month ago and they were at the top of everyone’s “power rankings,” with some even speculating they might go through the regular season without a loss.
They haven’t won a game since.
They lost at Cleveland – rookie Jake Moody missed a field goal that would’ve won the game as time expired, but that’s certainly not on Moody; he missed one kick, and a game is won and lost on a series of plays. They lost at Minnesota when a healthy Kirk Cousins picked them apart, before tearing his Achilles in Green Bay and being lost for the season. And then Joe Burrow added to the misery last Sunday, at Levis Stadium, where he couldn’t miss if he tried.
Now, the Niners haven’t had wide receiver Deebo Samuel or left tackle Trent Williams for the bulk of those losses, both with injuries, and Purdy has not played well, throwing uncharacteristic interceptions, in both the Vikings and Bengals losses.
But the vaunted San Francisco defense, which was unbelievable during its five-game winning streak to start the season, has been nothing short of dreadful in the 49ers’ three-game losing streak to Cleveland, Minnesota and Cincinnati, and in the past, when the Niners have saw need for a change, they’ve hit the reset button in the form of a trade: see Garoppolo, Jimmy; McCaffery, Christian; and now edge rusher Chase Young.
There have been others.
Still, Robert Saleh isn’t coming back. Saleh’s defense was brilliant in getting the Niners to a Super Bowl (that they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs).
Demeco Ryans isn’t coming back. He’s leading the Houston Texans now, obviously, as their head coach.
Steve Wilks is the Niners’ defensive coordinator, and the honeymoon appears to be over (The 49ers’ transition to new D coordinator Steve Wilks has hit hurdles during their recent skid).
One of the nuggets this story points out is that in the five-game winning streak, Wilks’ defense had only nine missed tackles. In the three-game losing streak 32.
Linebacker Fred Warner said it’s a little bit of everything.
“It’s just inconsistency across the board,” Warner said. “I think tackling has been an issue when it hasn’t been in the past. Players got to execute at a higher level, including myself. We’ve got to play more as a unit. There’s got to be more hunt to the football at all three levels. There’s got to be more penalty-free football. Like I said, the execution has to be higher. We think we’re preparing hard. We think we’re putting a lot of work in. Obviously, we’re not doing enough. There’s got to be more.”
The 49ers also only have 18 sacks all season – nowhere near league-leading Baltimore, or even NFC-leading Seattle (26).
New 49er Chase Young has just five as he comes to the team. But the 49ers will put Young on one end, Nick Bosa on the other, and hope the former Ohio State teammates can meet in the middle and create havoc for opposing teams.
If the Niners are going to get it together, it had better work out that way.
