SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It is solely Week 6 however the San Francisco 49ers are already feeling the warmth of their disappointing begin.
At 2-3 general, 0-2 within the NFC West and 0-3 within the NFC, the Niners don’t have any time to lick their wounds from Sunday’s blown lead and eventual loss to the Arizona Cardinals. They’re already deep into preparation for Thursday night time’s assembly with the Seahawks in Seattle, a recreation they know holds important weight for the remainder of the season even when it is nonetheless comparatively early.
“It is a number of strain,” defensive finish Nick Bosa mentioned Tuesday. “It is not a must-win as a result of technically your season’s over if it is a must-win, nevertheless it positively feels prefer it. We’re treating it that approach.”
With good purpose. The Niners have already blown double-digit fourth-quarter leads in opposition to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3 and the Cardinals on Sunday. As an alternative of sitting at 4-1 with a leg up on a possible third straight NFC West crown, the Niners could be watching a steep climb to get again into the division race with a loss to 3-2 Seattle.
Factoring in tiebreakers, a loss to the Seahawks would ostensibly drop the Niners to a few video games again in a division they’ve managed for the higher a part of the previous few years. What’s extra, San Francisco has two powerful residence video games after the journey to Seattle, internet hosting the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs coming off their bye and the Dallas Cowboys coming off theirs.
After all, there is a far brighter different.
“I have been advised that if we win this one, we’re main our division,” tight finish George Kittle mentioned. “Nonetheless that works, it is nice for the Niners. Simply attempting to get to Thursday, make certain everybody’s feeling good and stand up there, play, win and are available residence. … I do not actually need to be 2-4 and being 3-3 is considerably higher than that.”
Certainly, a win in opposition to the Seahawks would enhance the Niners to 3-3 and tied with Seattle atop the division however with the head-to-head tiebreaker of their favor. As many Thursday night time contests typically do, this one might be a battle of attrition.
Each the Niners and Seahawks are coping with loads of accidents with much less time to get better on the brief week. 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan introduced Tuesday that security Talanoa Hufanga tore ligaments in his wrist in opposition to Arizona.
That harm comes solely a few weeks after Hufanga had returned from the torn ACL in his proper knee he suffered in November of final 12 months.
“It is going to be no less than a month,” Shanahan mentioned. “He might be [placed on injured reserve]. We’ve not determined whether or not to do it or not.”
Rookie Malik Mustapha figures to get the primary alternative to switch Hufanga within the beginning lineup. He will not be the one new face enjoying a outstanding position in opposition to the Seahawks.
The Niners signed kicker Matthew Wright on Tuesday to step in for the injured Jake Moody. Moody has a excessive proper ankle sprain, can also be anticipated to overlook a couple of month and will land on injured reserve, too.
And whereas the 49ers will not have any precise practices this week due to the short turnaround, they’d 9 gamers they deliberate to checklist as nonparticipants or restricted of their Tuesday walkthroughs. That features cornerback Charvarius Ward, who’s battling a bruised knee and will not take part, with Kittle (ribs) and linebacker Fred Warner (ankle) restricted, as they have been final week.
Though the 49ers are feeling the squeeze, they’re discovering some solace in the truth that they’ve had their backs in opposition to the wall earlier than and managed to bounce again.
In 2021, they began 3-5 earlier than ending 7-2 and reaching the NFC Championship Sport. The next 12 months, they started 3-4 after which rattled off 10 straight wins to once more attain the NFC title spherical.
A lot of the roster has modified since however the core of these groups stays, which is why a workforce captain akin to Warner does not really feel the necessity to press the panic button on his teammates this week.
“I am form of on the level the place it is like, I imply the circumstances is what it’s,” Warner mentioned. “We’re 2-3 going right into a Thursday night time recreation in opposition to a divisional rival, prime time, with the stakes of being No. 1 within the division. It is like if I’ve to present some kind of grandiose speech to get you going for this second, we in all probability haven’t got the best guys.”