The San Francisco 49ers beat the Cleveland Browns 31-3 Monday night, bringing the team to...
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49ers’ undefeated start: Can they keep this up?
The last time the 49ers started a season 4-0, a guy named Joe was at quarterback, a dude named Jerry lined up at wide receiver and a dynasty was in full swing.
“It’s awesome but like coach Shanahan said, ‘All we’re guaranteed is to go 4-12,’” George Kittle said.
That seems unlikely. This 49ers team is not that 1990 49ers team. But this 49ers team is looking like something special of its own.
The 49ers continued their undefeated season on Monday night, jumping on the much-hyped Cleveland Browns early in the game and never letting up, winning 31-3. The game evoked history (the 49ers dynasty) and revenge (Nick Bosa sacking Baker Mayfield and then planting his imaginary flag over his collegiate foe), and had to open eyes around the league to the 49ers. They join the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots as the only undefeated teams.
“We have to handle it the same way we handle 0-5: don’t pay attention and just go to work,” Kyle Shanahan said.
The win allows the 49ers to retain sole possession of first place in the NFC West, ahead of Seattle (4-1) and the reigning NFC champions, the Rams (3-2). It sets up an epic early-season contest against Sean McVay’s team in Los Angeles on Sunday.
“It’s a good start,” said Jimmy Garoppolo.
With the victory, the 49ers matched their entire win total from last season. The last time the 49ers ripped off four straight wins was in 1990, when they were coming off consecutive Super Bowl championships and aiming toward a three-peat dream that only ended with a fumble in the NFC title game. The win streak that season stretched to 10 before there was a loss.
“It’s a pretty cool stat, and you have to appreciate the history of this franchise,” Richard Sherman said.
So far, these are the “Yeah, but” 49ers. Yeah, they’re undefeated, but look who they’ve played. Yeah, they look good now, but that second-half schedule is a lot more difficult.
But with each win, the “yeah, buts” are fading. It is hard to win in the NFL. Hard to win on the road. Hard to win on Monday night when you’re not used to the eyes of the league on you. Hard to turn around the freighter of a losing NFL franchise.
Just ask the Cleveland Browns.
“They beat us in every phase of the game,” Odell Beckham Jr. said. “They just did everything.”
So the 49ers need offer no apologies.
“We don’t worry about it,” Sherman said. “I want the idiots to sound like idiots the whole year.”
And if their fans aren’t on board yet, they may want to hop up.
With an undefeated home team playing in a national game against the 2019 preseason sweetheart pick, this was perhaps the most anticipated 49ers game ever at Levi’s Stadium. While the crowd was loud and excited, many seats in the upper decks and the 50-yard line club seats remained empty. It was a nice crowd, but the Clemson-Alabama college championship game remains undefeated in Levi’s game rankings, not only for the fans’ enthusiasm but their ability to stay out of the swanky club areas.
This 49ers team has a lot going for it and adding an intimidating atmosphere to the mix would be even more special.
The 49ers have a fast and powerful defense that came into the game ranked third in the league. They are getting turnovers and getting to the quarterback. Monday was a nightmare for Mayfield, who was on the bench at the end of the game.
On offense, the 49ers are punishing teams with the rushing game, which is about as ideal a scenario as Shanahan could ask for, with quarterback Garoppolo coming off a torn ACL.
And they have one of the best young coaches in the game. Shanahan has the running game clicking, dialing up the right plays at the right time, keeping the opponents off balance. His calm, focused demeanor rubs off on the team.
This season could still go off the rails, though it’s getting harder and harder to envision that. But the second half of the schedule is, indeed, much more difficult.
Still, the 49ers have a running start, and October dates with both 0-5 Washington, which replaced head coach Jay Gruden on Monday with the well-worn Bill Callahan, and Arizona, which has only won one game.
And what they really have, which they lacked for most of the past five seasons, is confidence.
The offense believes in the defense. The defense believes in the offense. All the players believe in Shanahan.
“This isn’t a fluke,” Sherman said.
There’s a forward momentum that this franchise has lacked — save for three seasons under Jim Harbaugh — since the dynasty years. And they have the start to prove it.