"But, after rolling the Cleveland Browns 26-8 on Sunday afternoon, the Niners have finally made it to some much-needed time off. And despite losing superstar players such as linebacker Fred Warner (right ankle), defensive end Nick Bosa (right ACL), tight end George Kittle (hamstring) and quarterback Brock Purdy (right big toe), among others, for the rest of the season or long chunks of it, the Niners have become unlikely contenders in the NFC playoff picture."
""Looking from the outside in, if people would've said, 'Hey, you guys are gonna be 9-4 going into the bye and you're not going to have Fred Warner and Nick Bosa and Kittle is going to miss the first five weeks and Brock's going to miss six, seven games, I think a lot of people would have laughed," Kittle said. "Kudos to our coaching staff, coach [Kyle] Shanahan and [general manager John] Lynch for bringing in the right guys to fill in those spots and developing players to take advantage of those situations.""
The San Francisco 49ers earned a 26-8 victory over the Cleveland Browns and enter the bye week at 9-4. The team has lost key players — Fred Warner (right ankle), Nick Bosa (right ACL), George Kittle (hamstring) and Brock Purdy (right big toe) — for long stretches or the season. Effective roster additions and player development have allowed the 49ers to remain competitive and emerge as unlikely NFC playoff contenders. The organization credits coaching and front-office moves for filling gaps. San Francisco holds a one-and-a-half-game lead over the Detroit Lions for the final NFC wild-card spot.
Read at ESPN.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]