The 49ers do not need to conduct some deep and torturous soul-searching at 6-1, still well ahead in the NFC West, and sauntering into a much, much, much needed bye week.
Their bodies are bruised, but their soul is undamaged and their Super Bowl chances remain quite strong, even after a very sloppy trap-game 29-20 loss to the Falcons in Atlanta on Sunday.
News alert: They weren’t going to go 17-0 this season. Nobody is going 17-0.
So the question becomes … after an almost-perfect start to this season, how can the 49ers make the most of this time off and come back stronger for the stretch run? Well, the 49ers know how. They definitely know.
“I would’ve much rather won — losing’s never great,” George Kittle said afterward. “But when you do lose, especially in this organization, it makes everybody really just look at yourself in the mirror.
“And all I think it’s gonna do is just light or spark a bigger fire underneath us. … I think it’s gonna sour our entire bye week and I think that’s good.”
The 49ers cannily played the long-game this weekend by not pushing Mike Evans and Nick Bosa out there when they weren’t 100% healthy; and they had Upton Stout in uniform only on an emergency basis — then suffered for it when Jack Jones got torched again and again.
But can you imagine if the 49ers played any of those guys, perhaps aggravated their nagging injuries, and still lost?
This game was on a short week on artificial turf after a long flight on a 10 a.m. body-clock start. They’ll never say this, but the 49ers knew they could afford a loss on Sunday. And if the 49ers (who outgained the Falcons 400-295) didn’t commit four turnovers, they still easily could’ve won this game, anyway.
They aren’t happy about it. But there is so much more that’s just sitting there for them this season and they can see it.
“Unfortunately, we’re not going undefeated this year,” Fred Warner said. “That’s how I look at it. I said all along, it’s not just about winning. We have to continue to get better as a team. I feel like today we didn’t get better. We took a step back.”
So what now? They’ll likely get Evans and Bosa back on Nov. 8 when the Raiders come to Levi’s Stadium; eventually, the 49ers will get Deebo Samuel and Demarcus Robinson back, too, and they’ll have a far more representative group of receivers than what they sent out there against the Falcons.
They also will suffer new injuries along the way, of course. No team is ever fully healthy once the season starts; the 49ers were actually quite dinged up going into Week 1 and it’s only gotten worse. The margins are always thin.
But the bye week is the time for a deep breath and some reevaluation. The 49ers certainly don’t need to reset everything, but they need to tighten up some things and evaluate some of their shakiest players.
Let’s take a look at their most pressing issues …
How long can they stay with Eddy Piñeiro?
One of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch’s least-favorite things: Dumping a kicker they know well at midseason, taking a cap hit, and maybe setting themselves up for a merry-go-round of tryouts, one-game failures, and more tryouts.
But here’s an even less-favored thing: Continuing to watch Piñeiro miss kicks — he missed his fourth extra-point try and overall his seventh kick of the season on Sunday, and he also miss-hit at least one kickoff that helped lead to a big Atlanta return.
None of the Piñeiro misses have directly cost the 49ers a game. But they sure could’ve. Do Shanahan and Lynch have confidence he’ll be just fine if he’s lining up for a game-deciding kick in the next few weeks. Or, dare I mention, at the end of the NFC Championship Game?
Piñeiro has a decent amount of money still owed to him from the nice deal he signed after his great production in 2025; but it’s probably not enough to keep him on this roster for very much longer if the 49ers lose faith in him.
I think there’s a good chance that the 49ers at least take a look at a few journeymen (which is what Piñeiro was before he hooked on with the 49ers last year and just nailed every FG try); if they see somebody they really like, it might be time for a change. If not, Piñeiro will get a few more tries. Or one more try.
Eddy Piñeiro has missed four extra-point attempts and three field goals this season. | Source: Kevin C. Cox/Getty ImagesThey could use one or two trades to add experience to a young defense
It looks great for the 49ers when Jaden Dugger, Romello Height, Mykel Williams, Gracen Halton, and the rest of their 25-and-under crew are flying around the field and making plays like they did last Monday night.
It didn’t look as great Sunday when the Falcons used a ton of misdirection to get the young guys running in the wrong direction; it looked very beatable when the 49ers’ pass rush wasn’t doing much at all.
1 day ago
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They’re all talented players. This is all great for the 49ers’ future. But counting on so many young defensive players can get a little sketchy for the present, especially as the stakes rise this season.
Getting Bosa back, of course, will address much of this. But it’s been clear for a while that the 49ers could really benefit from a trade or two to add experience and heft to their defensive line — and everything that happened on Sunday puts an exclamation point on it.
I’ve been guessing for a while that Shanahan and Lynch are motivated to try to add some finishing pieces for a Super Bowl run. At the bye week, with the Nov. 10 trade deadline coming up quickly, I think it’s almost guaranteed that they’ll make two or three trades.
Even when the Raiders were 3-0, I’ve mentioned Maxx Crosby as an option. Now with the Raiders at 3-3 … I think he’s a very real option, if Mark Davis can even consider trading him to the 49ers.
DeForest Buckner? Sure, he’s perfect to add to the defensive-tackle rotation if the Colts will trade him for a middle-round pick. And there will be more options, I’m sure.
On a side note, Jones won’t be as important once Stout is back full-time. But the last few weeks have shown that he’s probably not the best option for a fourth cornerback.
Could the 49ers also look to trade for a wide receiver or guard? Maybe, but the priority probably will be on defense
The 49ers are alternately encouraged by left guard Connor Colby’s long-term upward trajectory and frustrated when he occasionally gets roasted. And conveniently, the swooning Colts may make eight-time Pro Bowler Quenton Nelson available on the trade market.
It seems like a perfect fit — Nelson is still only 30 and the idea of him lining him next to Trent Williams on the left side of the 49ers’ line would not be pleasing for any 49ers opponent.
But it’d take a lot of trade capital and even more long-term money to make this workable, and the 49ers have never valued guards like that. They love developing their own non-premium draft picks in those spots and they really love not paying anywhere near the top of the guard pay scale; when their guards play well enough to earn top money, they move on to the next low draft choice.
How about a WR? I don’t see that one as a high priority either, even with Ricky Pearsall out for the season and De’Zhaun Stribling out for at least a few more weeks.
The 49ers will have Evans, Deebo, and Demarcus Robinson all back fairly soon. And any WR they acquire — if it’s not somebody who has already played in their system — would take time to pick up the 49ers’ system and earn Brock Purdy’s confidence.
Could the 49ers make a call for the Jets’ star Garrett Wilson? Maybe. He’d be a great long-term WR1. But they’ve got Evans in that role now and maybe for another year. And acquiring Wilson would take a first-round pick that the 49ers might already be earmarking for a defensive lineman.
Jordan Watkins had three catches for 56 yards Sunday, but he had a touchdown reception overturned after a replay review. | Source: Michael Owens/Getty ImagesA difficult but clear path to the No. 1 seed
Historical note: The two times the 49ers have made it to the Super Bowl in the Shanahan era have come when they earned the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed.
I don’t think it’s impossible for them to make a Super Bowl run this season without the top seed — and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs and the first-week bye. But it really helps.
Right now, 6-0 Minnesota is the top seed in the NFC. But the Vikings’ limited offense will keep them from 17-0 or maybe even 14-3. If the 49ers can get to 13 wins — as long as one of them is a victory over the Vikings in Mexico City on Nov. 22, I think the 49ers will have a great shot at the No. 1 seed.
That means going 7-3 after the bye. Which I believe is very doable.
After the bye comes a key four-game stretch: Home against the Raiders, at Dallas, that huge Mexico City game against Minnesota with major No. 1-seed implications, and a home game against Seattle possibly to put away the NFC West.
Then the final five, starting with the first week of December: At the New York Giants, home against the Rams, at the Chargers on a Thursday night, at the Chiefs two days after Christmas, home against the Eagles, then finally at the Cardinals.
The 49ers also have a history of playing quite well after their byes when they’re reasonably healthy and can build momentum. Even last year, when Bosa and Warner had been lost for the year, they won three of their final four games after a very late bye to close the regular season at 12-5 and earn the No. 3 seed.
Several weeks ago, Christian McCaffrey brought up a cautionary start-fast-and-stumble tale. In 2023, the 49ers started 5-0 then lost three games in a row, looking visibly worn down as they crashed into their bye week.
But also, from there the 49ers blasted out of the bye week with six consecutive victories, clinched the No. 1 seed, then made it to the Super Bowl.
They’re in better shape now than they were back then. They can win one more game in February than they did back then. And they know it. They can feel it.
“I’m excited about the challenge,” Warner said. “I love that group in there. This is the most fun I’ve had playing football … playing with this group. We have so much talent, we have so many guys that play the right way. If we can clean things up, which I know we will, then we have a great chance every time we step out there.”
Their stars are older, but most of the roster is younger. Tossing aside his two errant throws that turned into interceptions on Sunday, they’ve got Purdy as the model of winning QB play. They could afford this loss. They can make a few tweaks that could solidify everything.
All they’ve ever wanted is right there in front of them. They don’t have to do any soul-searching to see that.