It’s not just about the quarterback.
It’s not just about the coach.
It’s not just about the defense, the skill position players, or the special teams, either.
If you want to be successful in the NFL, it’s about all of the above. Yes, some roles might be a bit more important than others, but football is still the ultimate team game.
And the 2022 49ers are one hell of a team. I think they’re the best team in the league.
On Thursday, the Niners clinched the NFC West division title and claimed their spot in the postseason with three games to spare following a convincing 21-13 win over the Seahawks in Seattle.
In the process, they showed everyone in the league why they’re the last team you’d want to play in the postseason.
They showed their Super Bowl bonafides, and they are impressive.
There is simply no more complete team in the NFL today than the Niners. San Francisco might not have the best record — though 10-4 with an NFC West crown is impressive — but they are the league’s one squad that lacks a clear weakness.
Seriously, where is it?
You’d think it’d be the rookie quarterback, the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the guy who started training camp as the team’s third choice at the position. (He would have been the fourth if Jimmy Garoppolo wasn’t banished to throw on a side field as he waited for a trade that never came.)
Yet for the last three games, all wins — expanding the Niners’ winning streak to seven games — Brock Purdy has expertly and confidently executed head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense at a shockingly high level.
And Shanahan’s offense, when executed well, is as good as any in the NFL.
The Niners’ run game has been an asset since Purdy took over the offense — it had been slipping in the weeks prior. The passing game isn’t prolific, but it’s efficient and explosive.
“He’s definitely the most poised rookie I’ve ever had,” Shanahan said. “It’s really fun to call plays for him.”
It looks that way. Purdy is playing like the best version of Jimmy Garoppolo: confident but concise, and in full control of the game.
Purdy’s feel for the position — the sort of thing you can’t quite capture on game film and you certainly can’t measure at a combine — is exceptional. The rest of the world is convinced he’ll fail at any moment, that his magic run will end on the next snap. He’s convinced he’s the greatest quarterback who ever lived. I might be a relentless curmudgeon, but I’m closer to Purdy’s camp than the general consensus after the last three games.
You have to believe in the kid. Seeing is believing. And for the last three weeks, you, me, and everyone with a TV has seen that the kid can flat-out play. He’s been tossed into an impossible situation and he’s thriving. Just go out and win the Super Bowl kid.
Easy enough, right?
Well, Thursday, he made easy work of one of the toughest environments in the NFL and won the division with three weeks to spare. He’s yet to lose a game. He’s yet to even be threatened to lose a game.
How many more weeks do we need to see him do it before we simply expect it?
For me, it’s none.
Of course, it’s easier to be a rookie quarterback tasked with the impossible when you have this kind of defense backing you up.
My, my, my, what a defense the 49ers’ have.
If not for a questionable roughing the passer penalty on NFL MVP candidate Nick Bosa, the Niners would have opened up a 28-3 lead Thursday on a Deommodore Lenoir third-quarter pick-six.
The final scoreline of Thursday’s game does not properly recount how dominant the Niners’ defense was. The Seahawks had to resort to Big 12 tactics in the first half. The Niners turned Geno Smith — who has been one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks this season — into a passer who was worth negative points every time he dropped back.
Seattle struggled to get yards Thursday, much less points. Their only touchdown came because of a lack of Niners’ focus late in the game. It wound up not mattering at all.
That defense is good enough to get the Niners to the doorstep of the Super Bowl. The offense can make a similar claim if Purdy keeps playing like this.
Even the 49ers’ special teams unit, which was a legitimate weakness last season, is a plus in 2022.
There are five major areas of play in football: run offense, run defense, passing offense, running offense, and special teams. The Niners are amongst the NFL’s best in all of them.
In an era of one-trick ponies, this team continues to prove it can win with several different kinds of smoke.
No other team has that kind of versatility in victory.
So why would the Niners not be considered the NFL’s best team?
Let’s keep it simple and just look at the NFC: The Cowboys and Vikings? Don’t joke. They keep telling the league that they’re paper tigers — it’s about time you believe them.
And we just saw what the Niners did to the Buccaneers.
Seattle entered Thursday’s game as a playoff team. The Seahawks were spanked at home. They’re now 0-2 against the Niners this season.
Then we have the Eagles.
Don’t get me wrong, Philadelphia is an outstanding team and quarterback Jalen Hurts might win MVP. That said, Hurts is going to have to play like the league’s best player every week with that team’s defense. The Eagles don’t tackle and they don’t stop the run. Kind of important things come playoff time.
The Niners, it should be noted, are the best tackling team in the NFL. You see it on every snap the defense plays, but Pro Football Focus also gave them that grade.
Of course, the AFC-frontrunning Chiefs did come to Santa Clara and put a whooping on the Niners a few weeks ago. I didn’t forget. But I’d also love to see a rematch of that game now that the Niners have found their swagger again. Kansas City, it should be noted, is overly reliant on Patrick Mahomes to win them games. It has no run game and one of the worst defenses in the NFL.
Maybe that will work. Maybe it all comes down to the quarterback and the most prolific one — no matter how he gets the job done — wins. Sorry, Brock.
Perhaps the era of well-rounded teams is over: It’s all about the passing game and little else matters.
But if it’s not. If this crazy game of professional football still values fundamentals, rhythm, and balance — if it still values whole teams — then the Niners are the last team anyone would want to play in the tournament.
And the Niners are already in. Seven straight wins will do that for you.
The only question now is how long can that streak go?
All the way to Arizona and Super Bowl LVII?
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