SANTA CLARA, Calif. — If you were searching for metaphors, the scene and soundtrack couldn’t have been cued up any better.
There, in the middle of the San Francisco 49ers’ practice field, stood rookie Ricky Pearsall, mixing in a few dance steps between fielding punts. Fewer than two months removed from taking a bullet to the chest, Pearsall — at least on this Wednesday — was Brock Purdy’s most potent receiving option.
Blaring over the sound system was the raspy voice of Jon Bon Jovi, belting out an ’80s classic that spoke to the 49ers’ current predicament, in all its cheesy splendor.
Whoa, we’re halfway there. Whoa oh, livin’ on a prayer.
With a 3-4 record and only Sunday night’s clash with the Dallas Cowboys at Levi’s Stadium remaining before the bye week that splits their season, the defending NFC champions are experiencing a bit of a rough patch. Their collective headspace, however, remains resolute and upbeat.
They’ve been here before. And they’ve overcome worse.
“You know it,” All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner joked — well, half-joked — when I brought up the topic he knew was inevitable.
“Typical,” All-Pro fullback Kyle Juszczyk said.
As coach Kyle Shanahan, general manager John Lynch and the franchise’s other top decision-makers ponder whether to buy, sell or go for some combination of both before the Nov. 5 trade deadline, they — along with the locker room’s large contingent of decorated veterans — can’t help but be informed by recent history.
For all the talk about Shanahan’s perceived flaws — failure to close out Super Bowls, casual attitude toward special teams, poor record in games in which the 49ers trail late and things aren’t proceeding on his terms — it’s tough to question his status as the decade’s most accomplished midseason turnaround artist.
When it comes to adjusting on the fly and making spirited second-half runs, Shanahan is indisputably elite.
In 2021, the 49ers looked lifeless during a home defeat to the Arizona Cardinals that dropped them to 3-5, and there were reasonable musings that starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo would be benched for No. 3 pick Trey Lance.
Shanahan instantly transformed the team’s identity, crafting a hard-nosed running attack, in part, by using his top receiving target — Deebo Samuel Sr. — as a part-time “wideback”. He also shifted defensive tackle Arik Armstead inside on running downs, invigorating the defense. The 49ers rallied to reach the postseason, won road playoff games against the Cowboys and Green Bay Packers and likely came within a dropped interception of closing out the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game.
The next season, an October home defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs dropped the Niners to 3-4 (sound familiar?). Shanahan juiced up his offensive attack with midseason trade acquisition Christian McCaffrey, and San Francisco proceeded to win 12 consecutive games. The streak continued despite the 49ers losing Garoppolo to a season-ending injury in early December; rookie Brock Purdy, the 262nd and last pick in the 2022 draft, took over and helped the Niners reach another conference title game before it all fell apart (with Purdy suffering a torn UCL) in Philadelphia.
Last season, the 49ers destroyed the Cowboys on “Sunday Night Football” to improve to 5-0 before their early autumn swoon arrived, with consecutive defeats to the Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals creating a mini-crisis. At least, it seemed like one. They calmly recharged during a bye week, went on a five-game winning streak and ultimately reached the Super Bowl.
So yeah, Shanahan’s 49ers presumably can do something similar in 2024. Whether they will is an entirely different question.
Things haven’t felt right since their overtime defeat to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII last February. A Bad Vibes Summer marred by prolonged contract disputes with wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and left tackle Trent Williams carried over into the regular season. The Niners have blown two games to seemingly overmatched division opponents (the Rams and Cardinals) and have only one victory against a team with a winning record: The 4-3 Seattle Seahawks, who lead the NFC West.
Injuries have played a part in their malaise. McCaffrey, the NFL’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year, has been sidelined all season by Achilles tendinitis, depriving the 49ers not only of his prodigious productivity but also of a multi-positional versatility that allows Shanahan greater schematic opportunity to confound opponents. McCaffrey, who last month sought cutting-edge treatment in Germany, may try to return as soon as the Nov. 10 road game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that follows the Niners’ bye.
Aiyuk suffered a season-ending knee injury last Sunday. Samuel missed most of that defeat to Kansas City with pneumonia and was later hospitalized; he’ll try to come back for Sunday’s game. Star tight end George Kittle also sat out Wednesday’s practice with a foot injury. Pearsall, a first-round pick who made his NFL debut against the Chiefs, will be thrust into a potentially pivotal role.
The 49ers don’t expect defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (torn triceps) to play again this season and linebacker Dre Greenlaw — a tone-setter who is one of Shanahan’s favorite players — is still weeks away from returning from the torn Achilles he suffered while running onto the field during the Super Bowl. Safety Talanoa Hufanga (torn wrist ligaments), thought to be out for at least a month, is now also expected to miss the rest of the season, according to a source briefed on the matter. (Update: Hufanga’s agent Chris Cabott has since refuted this report, saying that Hufanga plans to return this season and play with a cast.)
Football can be brutal that way; nonetheless, the 49ers still believe they have what it takes to power through. A defeat to the Cowboys, whose most recent game was a 47-9 home defeat to the Detroit Lions that compelled owner Jerry Jones to boil over on his weekly radio show, might change Shanahan and Lynch’s thinking a little. They might be tempted to entertain trade offers for, say, starting cornerback Charvarius Ward, a second-team All-Pro in 2023 who hasn’t looked nearly as good this season, and whose contract expires next spring.
That said, the notion of them giving up on the season — and equating it to 2020, when they followed up a Super Bowl defeat to the Chiefs with a 6-10 season amid a barrage of significant injuries — is pretty far-fetched.
There are two big reasons for that. The first is the presence of Purdy who, despite a bad game against the Chiefs is an ascending star capable of elevating the offense. And the second is that the NFC West is — how to put this politely? — kind of a trash division.
Given that neither the Seahawks nor the Cardinals nor the Rams appear to be particularly formidable, the 49ers are far more likely to be buyers at the trade deadline, as they were last season in a targeted manner (acquiring edge rushers Randy Gregory and Chase Young).
This time, the most glaring needs are defensive tackle and wide receiver, in that order. With Hargrave out and Armstead now in Jacksonville, the 49ers feel a need for some added punch on the interior of their line, especially given the susceptibility to inside runs that come with their Wide 9 front.
Internally, there have been discussions about going after marquee players and more affordable, less glamorous options alike. Could three-time Pro Bowl selection DeForest Buckner, the team’s 2016 first-round pick who was dealt to the Indianapolis Colts after the 2019 season, be reacquired via trade? That seems unlikely, but another key player from that 2019 team, D.J. Jones (now with the Denver Broncos), might be a realistic target.
The 49ers are undoubtedly eyeballing the New England Patriots’ roster, too. The 1-6 Patriots, according to numerous sources inside and outside the building, are in fire-sale mode and would be receptive to potential swaps involving … well, just about anyone. The two teams had trade discussions over the summer when Aiyuk wanted out; one player San Francisco targeted was wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, a former Shanahan project who spent his first four seasons in scarlet-and-gold.
An even more enticing potential acquisition for Shanahan and Lynch: ninth-year defensive tackle Davon Godchaux, an accomplished run-stuffer who signed a two-year, $18-million extension with the Patriots this summer.
Whatever wheeling and dealing occurs, the 49ers’ turnaround — if it is to happen — will have to be spurred by the proud veterans who’ve helped extricate them from previous jams: Kittle, Samuel, Williams, Juszczyk, Warner, star edge rusher Nick Bosa and others. Because of past experiences, neither they nor Shanahan is overly daunted by the current circumstances.
The 49ers believe in their culture, one characterized by collective commitment, accountability and adherence to the unvarnished truth. Their plan is to get right by beating the Cowboys, see what the trade market holds and mount a second-half charge, as per usual.
“That’s how you start the turnaround — you win the next game,” backup quarterback Brandon Allen said. “I don’t think anyone in here is freaking out.”
Like Bon Jovi, they’ll give it a shot.
(Top photo of Kyle Shanahan: Cary Edmondson / Imagn Images)
