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but they also looked convincing doing it.

Went from Super Bowl favorites to playoff 'hopefuls' in only three games. Amazing how fast things can change in the NFL. Bye week comes at a good time, cuz the team needs to do some serious soul searching. First on the agenda should be firing the Defensive Coordinator. Even I could do better than this clown has been doing.

Looking just now at the standings I was surprised to see Seattle at 5-2 and in first place. I would have thought they were maybe one game above .500 or even .500 (not really paying attention to their schedule or how many games they have played). The schedule after the bye for SF is pretty rough (outside of Tampa): @ Jax, Buccs, @ Seattle, @ Philly and Seattle. They have to at least split with Seattle and maybe win a couple more. This stretch will go a long way toward defining their season.

I'd say they've already lost home field advantage throughout the playoffs. At this point, if they don't get their act together, it'll be a stretch just to make the playoffs.
We've had a worse record than this before and still made it to the NFC championship game, but all bets are off the way they've played their last three games.

The issue over the last 3 games is more on the offensive side of the ball. I think the game vs Cleveland showed the rest of the league how to defense Brock Purdy. Since Cleveland, the 49ers faced two teams with very competent defensive coordinators able to look at what the Browns did vs 49ers and apply those tactics in their games vs San Francisco. Over the last 3 outings, Purdy has thrown 3 TDs against 5 INTs with a QB rating of 76.

It also didn't help the 49ers yesterday that Joe Burrow finally got back to his usual form as a top 3 QB. The 49ers were simply not able to slow him down, and their offense was not able to counter Burrow's production.

Both the Browns and Bengals played their linebackers closer to the line of scrimmage to help contain the S.F running game. This puts the onus on Purdy to pass. With the LBs closer, along the occasional coverage player, the opposing defenses showed a lot of looks on defense, including blitz potential. I saw the Bengals rushing five guys a lot. I think Purdy is rattled.

Also think the S.F. defense could try playing the same way. Their LBs play a few yards farther out and most the time the defense rushes just the four lineman. Burrow and Cousins shredded them. And all -- Bengals, Browns and Vikings -- operated uptempo offenses which negated Bosa and Hargrave.

I wonder if the S.F. will pull the plug on Kinlaw and look for another DL before the trading deadline. The dude's been pretty quiet.

Not having watched many 49ers games early this season, its difficult for me to make an assessment on Kinlaw's role or his impact on the 49ers defense. If Kinlaw's role is to absorb blockers to free up the LBs and potentially isolate one OL on Bosa, then his impact may not necessarily be reflected in statistics like tackles and sacks.

Word on the street is the Commanders are shopping their two DEs (Young and Sweat), and the Dolphins have Ogbah, who no longer fits into their defensive scheme. None of them are true DTs. I could see the Colts, Broncos, Patriots, Bucs, and Bears all being sellers before the trade deadline.