49ers find themselves in eerily familiar situation as 2021 season

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For better or for worse, the 49ers find themselves in familiar territory. 

Heading into a pivotal matchup against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in Week 8, San Francisco (3-4) again will look to resuscitate their season as they did at this point last season. 

At the midway point of the 2022 NFL season, the 49ers have the exact same record as they did through the first eight weeks last season. After another slow start, can San Francisco take solace in how they closed out the 2021 season as they look to find their groove throughout the back half of the 2022 schedule?

“It's hard to compare, just a different team, different players, a lot of different coaches too," Jimmy Garoppolo told reporters Sunday. "You go back and you just retrace those memories. I think pulling from that and seeing what got us out of that rut we were in last year I think has some application, but it's a different season. You’ve just got to go back to work, man. This stuff ain't easy. It ain't for everybody. So, we just got to go back to work. I think we got the right guys for it.”

Last season, the 49ers won their first two matchups against the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles before losing four straight to the Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals and Indianapolis Colts. San Francisco then bounced back with a win over the Chicago Bears that many on the team believed was the catalyst for their second-half success, which resulted in an NFC Championship Game appearance. 

The 49ers, with second-year quarterback Trey Lance under center, began their 2022 campaign with a frustrating loss in a rain-soaked game against Chicago and followed it up with a win over Seattle, a game in which Lance's season came to an end after breaking his ankle. With Garoppolo under center, the 49ers then lost another frustrating contest to the Denver Broncos before seemingly finding their stride as they dismantled the Rams and the Carolina Panthers in back-to-back weeks.

The 49ers' momentum came to a screeching halt after an ugly loss to a lowly Atlanta Falcons team, which preceded one of the worst losses in the Kyle Shanahan era, a 44-23 rout at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7. 

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Similar to last season, what 49ers fans can take solace in, is that the talent on this roster eventually will correct itself when faced with adversity. There will be two extremes and the 49ers will experience the lowest of lows and the highest of highs, but it will be the wins in the margins that ultimately will decide San Francisco's fate at the end of the season. With a roster as talented as the one Shanahan and general manager John Lynch have constructed, the ball will bounce San Francisco's way more often than not. 

San Francisco now finds itself in a similar situation, having experienced both trials and triumphs while reaching the midway point of the season with a familiar 3-4 record that does not accurately reflect the talent of the team. Linebacker Fred Warner has learned from the 49ers' ups and downs throughout the first half of last season and will use it to help right the ship heading into the second half of this season. 

“At the end of the day, every year is its own year," Warner said on Sunday. "We can take the experiences that we learned last year and apply it to where we're at right now."

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The 49ers realistically should be 5-2 right now, with losses to just Atlanta and Kansas City, who each dismantled San Francisco handedly. The losses to Chicago and Denver were inexcusable and could come back to haunt the 49ers at the end of the season. 

Fortunately for San Francisco, they have two wins over divisional opponents and sit just one game back of the division-leading Seahawks (4-3). Not to mention that the NFC is wide-open as former juggernaut teams such as the Rams (3-3), Packers (3-4) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-4) appear nowhere near as dominant as they have been in years past.

If the 2021 season taught us anything, it's that as ominous as a 3-4 start to the season might appear, there could be much brighter days ahead. 

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