Bowman after 49ers loss: ‘This is the type of team we have'

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ST. LOUIS – The 49ers have lost six of their past seven games and five of those defeats have been blowouts.

This is who the 49ers are, and that realization seemed to sink in a little deeper with their 27-6 loss to the St. Louis Rams on Sunday.

“Everybody loses,” 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman said. “It’s about how you respond. When I signed up, I signed up to play through wins, losses or whatever.

“This is the type of team we have. There’s no genie that’s going to come through that door that makes us . . . We’ve got to put the work in. We’ve got go come together as a team and keep moving forward.”

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Bowman appears to be improving week by week. He recorded 13 tackles on Sunday, and appeared to show better lateral quickness than at any point this season after missing all of last year with a severe knee injury. However, the remainder of the team is not improving.

The 49ers’ offense has been a source of frustration, as the unit has been held without a touchdown in three of their eight games.

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“I can’t comment on the offense. I wish I could go ask the coach to go play running back or something," Bowman quipped, "but that’s not how this business works.”

And even the defense – the strength of the team in recent seasons – is nowhere near what it was in the past. Gone are Justin Smith, Patrick Willis, Aldon Smith and others, including defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.

And the 49ers do not have adequate replacements ready to step in so there would be no drop-off. The 49ers seemingly have surrendered more big plays through eight games than they did in the past four seasons combined.

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On Sunday, Rams running back Todd Gurley blasted through the 49ers on a 71-yard touchdown run. Tight end Jared Cook had a 49-yard reception to set up another touchdown. And receiver Tavon Austin took a short pass and sprinted 66 yards for another touchdown.

“It’s hard to deal with,” Bowman said. “I’m not going to sit and act like it’s not. At the end of the day, there’s 16 games on the schedule and you can’t run from them. You’re going to have to play and if you had a bad week this week you don’t want to have the same kind of week next week.”

The defense actually got closer getting into the end zone than the team’s offense. Outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks picked up a fumble and ran 41 yards for what appeared to be a touchdown that would have pulled the 49ers to within a touchdown in the third quarter.

However, Brooks was penalized for grabbing the facemask of Rams running back Benny Cunningham after the ball popped free from Arik Armstead’s tackle.

“Do I think I had a touchdown? I did have a touchdown,” Brooks said. “I knew I hit him in the facemask. I kind of figured that when I reached the end zone it could potentially get called back, but it wasn’t intentional. I was fighting for the ball. He’s a smaller guy, so by me being taller and trying to get the ball, I guess I grazed his facemask. But I didn’t pull it. Is it a good call? I don’t know.”

The Rams ended up retaining possession on one of the 49ers’ 13 penalties that totaled 93 yards. (St. Louis were penalized 12 times, also for 93 yards.)

“At one point in time in the game, I told the officials, ‘Just let us play,’” Brooks said. “They’re out there for a reason and they’re doing their jobs. They called it how they see it.”

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