Brock Purdy ain’t it.
Kyle Shanahan must be fired now.
The offensive line is overmatched, and the pass defense is atrocious.
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Nope. Nope. Nope, and nope.
Sorry, but there is not a lot of room for made-up outrage in this edition of 49ers Overreactions.
It is a long season, and there will be plenty of time for issues to arise with the 49ers.
But those shaky takes will have to come on another day, as shown by the sampling of statements from the fan base after last week’s 30-12 victory over the New York Giants.
San Francisco 49ers
There are fewer overreactions than normal in the inbox this week.
A larger portion of the statements were overly optimistic, such as, “The 49ers are going undefeated” or “They’ll break the record for most Pro Bowl players from one team” or “The 49ers are THE destination for players and coaches.”
Right now, the temperature is unusually optimistic as the 49ers enter Week 4 as one of only three unbeaten teams in the NFL.
We’ll try to dig a little deeper with this week’s overreactions. Here we go:
Between talent, finances, and management, this team is built to win 3 consecutive Super Bowls (Threads: @upright32)
Overreaction? No.
This is not a prediction of back-to-back-to-back Super Bowls, mind you.
We’re talking about the 49ers as an organization that has placed itself in position to win consistently for the foreseeable future. And that certainly appears to be the case.
A lot of the 49ers’ status right now as a championship contender — and looking ahead for at least a few more seasons — is tied to the roster that general manager John Lynch has built around quarterback Brock Purdy.
Purdy is one of the lowest-paid players on the team. And he is locked into being one of the lowest-paid players on the team next season, too.
That means the 49ers can allocate their cap dollars to many other positions because they do not have a $40 million-a-season quarterback like all the other top teams.
The 49ers have stability at the top, too.
Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan signed multi-year extensions last week. Lynch is signed through at least 2026, while Shanahan’s contract runs through at least 2027.
Lynch and Shanahan are near the top of their professions. But they cannot be in the conversation for best GM-coach pairing in the NFL until they win a Super Bowl together.
Who knows, they might never win a Super Bowl. It’s not easy (or every team would do it).
But under Lynch and Shanahan — and a roster that appears as if it will be stacked for a while — the 49ers do not appear to be going away any time soon.
The 49ers are getting “hot” too early in the season … and won’t be able to keep up this pace over the entire season (IG: @gob332)
Overreaction? Yes and no.
The 49ers are not too hot. That’s been a good thing about their 3-0 start. There are plenty of areas where things have not been perfect, and the players seem to have a good mindset and do not appear too full of themselves.
But, also, it will be impossible for the 49ers to breeze through the season as they did the first three games with 30-point performances every week.
Yes, it’s true the NFL is a week-to-week thing. The Miami Dolphins are not going to roll up 70 points every game. And the 49ers will not perform incrementally better each week of the season.
They will have good games, for sure. And there will be games in which the team will struggle.
Look at the Dallas Cowboys. Their first two games were impressive, then their Week 3 loss to the Arizona Cardinals was abysmal. But when Dallas visits Levi’s Stadium in Week 5, you know it will provide the 49ers with their biggest challenge of the young season.
It is a long journey, for sure.
But if the 49ers’ key players remain healthy, the team should be more in-sync and better later in the season than it was in the first three games.
Nick Bosa is going to have less than 10 sacks this season (IG: @renragd)
Overreaction? No, but . . .
This is no knock on Nick Bosa, the 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. It is more of a reflection on how opposing offenses will do everything in their power to prevent him from wrecking games.
He has one sack in three games. That came when the New York Giants, apparently, forgot to block Bosa, and he got to Daniel Jones without anyone laying a finger on him.
While he is on pace for less than 10 sacks for the season, Bosa also leads the 49ers with 15 quarterback pressures, according to PFF.
Bosa held out 44 days of training camp before signing a contract that makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. So he did not open the season in tip-top football shape.
Now, he is ready to go.
But getting to the quarterback will be more difficult than ever.
The more attention being paid to Bosa will open things up for others on the 49ers’ defensive line, including Javon Hargrave, Arik Armstead, Drake Jackson and others.
While it is not necessarily an overreaction to predict Bosa will fall short of 10 sacks for the season, the smart money is probably on him again reaching double-digits in that category.
Even if his sack numbers decline, the 49ers still can get their money’s worth out of Bosa because of how his presence and constant pressure will impact every game in which he plays.
Ronnie Bell needs to be the WR3 over Jennings (IG: @diaz_boyz_micheladaz)
Overreaction? No, but . . .
Wide receiver Ronnie Bell is clearly ahead of where most rookies are upon entering Shanahan’s system.
Bell has earned extending playing time, as he and Jauan Jennings have played the exact same number of snaps in the past two weeks. After Brandon Aiyuk started missing time with a shoulder injury, more has been asked of Bell and Jennings.
And that is a good thing for now and the future.
Bell and Jennings are built differently and have unique styles. That gives the 49ers’ offense more flexibility to exploit certain matchups.
“Third and Jauan” is still a thing because of his tenacity, along with his ability to find the sticks and bully his way past smaller defensive backs.
Bell is developing quickly and has shown a well-rounded game. Like Jennings — and all the 49ers receivers, for that matter — Bell takes pride in blocking.
The combination of Bell and Jennings is working just fine, so there’s no reason to give all the snaps to one player or the other.