SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Are this year’s San Francisco 49ers like their 2020 selves or do they have the mettle of the 2021 squad?
That question hung in the balance before Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys. Would the 49ers get pulled under by the weight of all the injuries they suffered in the first half of the season — their fate in 2020, the last time they were coming off a Super Bowl loss? Or would they keep their heads above water long enough to make a late-season run like they did the following season? The 49ers were merely a middling team at the halfway point that year before getting on a roll and going all the way to the NFC Championship Game.
They certainly seemed to regain their footing Sunday against the Cowboys, especially during an explosive third quarter in which they outgained Dallas 167 yards to 16 and outscored them 21-0.
It was the most dominant they’ve been this season, the closest they’ve come to their best-in-the-NFC 2023 selves. And despite stumbling in the fourth quarter and having to hang on for a 30-24 win, the victory leaves them at 4-4 and in a three-way tie in the NFC West heading into their bye.
Back in 2021, the 49ers started giving Deebo Samuel snaps in the backfield, dubbed him a “wideback” and used his hard-charging style to fuel their second-half surge.
Samuel was back in that position Sunday.
He had been in the hospital with pneumonia when the work week began. Kyle Shanahan said he initially was skeptical that Samuel, who wasn’t discharged until Tuesday, would be in uniform against the Cowboys. But he did some running Wednesday, took a few snaps in Thursday’s up-tempo practice, did a little bit more Friday, and Saturday told his head coach he felt great.
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When Sunday’s game began, it looked like it was 2021 again. Samuel was back in the backfield, including on third-and-6 on the opening drive when he rolled out on a pass pattern and found himself being covered by a linebacker, Mychal Kendricks. Brock Purdy saw the mismatch and hit Samuel for a 47-yard gain, setting up the first of three Anders Carlson field goals.
Dialed one up for Deebo 🎯
📺 #DALvsSF on NBC
NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4oaLh pic.twitter.com/CqR5KVGsvI— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) October 28, 2024
Samuel finished with 86 total yards, but also a new injury — to his ribs — that knocked him out of the contest in the fourth quarter. Still, teammates said having him on the field was a massive confidence boost, especially because the team was playing without Brandon Aiyuk and Jauan Jennings.
“We’re a different team when he’s on the field,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “I was so happy to see him out there today.”
In 2021, Samuel was one of the team’s few playmakers. Sunday he had help.
One was a familiar face. George Kittle was among the many 49ers who entered the game with an injury, a foot sprain that kept him out of Wednesday’s practice. It was Kittle who helped propel the 49ers in the decisive third quarter, especially on a catch-and-run play in which he broke two tackles and gained 43 yards. The play set up Isaac Guerendo’s 4-yard touchdown run, the first of the season for the rookie.
That was another theme Sunday — big contributions by the team’s offensive newcomers. Guerendo finished with 85 yards, including another slide just shy of the end zone to drain the clock at game’s end, while wideout Ricky Pearsall, filling in for Jennings, had 38 receiving yards and another 39 on an end around in the fourth quarter.
Ricky was MOVIN!@S1ickSzn
📺 #DALvsSF on NBC
NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4oaLh pic.twitter.com/EHkktKnyhe— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) October 28, 2024
Guerendo has allowed the 49ers to stay afloat at the position while they wait for Christian McCaffrey, whom the team expects to be back after the bye. The rookie seems to gain confidence — and speed — each week. During one series in the second quarter he had a 19-yard gain followed by a gain of 12, and then another 19-yarder that was called back because of a holding penalty. The 49ers played most of the game without tailback Jordan Mason, who aggravated his shoulder injury late in the first quarter, but still gained 223 yards on the ground Sunday.
Shanahan said the team kept faith in Guerendo early on because he was so coachable. The team’s running backs coach, Bobby Turner, is very much old school in his approach and hasn’t been delicate with his criticism of the rookie. Instead of recoiling or shrinking from the hard coaching, Guerendo’s embraced it and has gotten better.
“I think one big thing for me has been understanding the speed of the game and being able to play faster,” Guerendo said. “I kind of took that one and applied it. That was the biggest thing of all.”
The 2020 season aside, the 49ers have been strong following their midseason byes. They were in the midst of a three-game losing streak last year, for example, before emerging with a decisive win over the Jacksonville Jaguars and then cruising to the No. 1 seed in the NFC. That will be a lot harder to accomplish this season, and winning a crowded division is the most likely path to the postseason.
Still, Sunday’s game gives them momentum, optimism and a chance to heal.
Warner said his Week 4 ankle sprain has never fully gone away. He said he seems to find a way to bang it up all over again each week. Samuel, Kittle and Jennings will also enjoy having a week off from football.
“The bye will help me tremendously,” Warner said. “That’s just how the NFL is, man. It’s rare that you can be healthy all the way through. I’m looking at guys out there giving it their all who are banged up. I’m talking about George Kittle. It’s like he’s banged up every week it seems like and he still goes out there and balls out.”
The team also expects to gain reinforcements in all three phases at some point next month: McCaffrey at running back, Dre Greenlaw and Yetur Gross-Matos on defense and Jake Moody on special teams.
All of which ought to provide fuel for another second-half run if the 49ers can eliminate the mistakes that tripped them up in the first half.
Said Warner: “After the bye, it’s 0-0. We’re at .500 right now. We have everything ahead of us. We can be whatever we want. We have everyone we need.”
(Top photo of Deebo Samuel: Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)
