What's wrong with the 49ers? Injuries are only part of equation

Just like last year, the San Francisco 49ers are spinning with some October funk. A year ago, Kyle Shanahan’s team took a three-game losing streak into a Week 9 bye, then came back to rip off a six-game winning streak that propelled them to the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs and berth in Super Bowl 58.

That offers some hope for the Faithful. It’s a long season. The 49ers (3-4) have another Week 9 bye looming. And after last weekend’s reality check in the Super Bowl rematch against the Kansas City Chiefs, what better opponent to face on Sunday night than the Dallas Cowboys?

And not just because the Cowboys (3-3) are reeling, too, while packing one of the NFL’s worst run defenses. The 49ers have spanked Dallas for three consecutive victories – including two playoff matchups – over the past three seasons.

In each of those contests, the 49ers held Dallas under 100 yards rushing while averaging 150 yards per game on the ground. Throw in the six Dak Prescott interceptions in those games, and the matchup is seemingly too perfect for the 49ers.

Then again, these are not last year’s 49ers as they suffer through a monumental Super Bowl hangover that reminds us how one season is different from the next. In the 49ers’ case, consider three things essential to the struggle:

• Injuries: A fresh layer of doom came last weekend with star wideout Brandon Aiyuk suffering the torn ACL and MCL that ended his season. He’s the 10th 49ers player to wind up on injured reserve, with the list including defensive standouts Javon Hargrave and Talanoa Hufanga. Sure, every team has to deal with injuries. It’s a war of attrition. Yet some teams get hit harder. Christian McCaffrey led the NFL in rushing, yards from scrimmage and touchdowns in 2023, yet due to an Achilles heel injury is still at least a couple weeks away from making his 2024 debut. Jordan Mason has been a super sub and ranks second in the NFL in rushing. But with his impact as a receiver, McCaffrey is the quintessential multiple-dimension threat. The 49ers defense will get a boost, too, when linebacker Dre Greenlaw ultimately returns after suffering a ruptured Achilles during the Super Bowl.

And not even kickers are safe. Jake Moody is still considered weeks away from coming back from a high ankle sprain. His setback started a trend that saw the 49ers use three kickers in three weeks, after Matthew Wright’s dislocated shoulder led to Anders Carlson's signing.

The injuries are reminiscent of the rash that struck the 49ers the last time they came off a season that ended with a Super Bowl loss. In 2020, the 49ers wound up with an NFL-high 18 players on IR.

• Brock Purdy: A year ago, the 49ers led the NFL with a 113.0 passer rating and had a sparkling TD-to-INT ratio of 31-to-11. He led the league with 9.64 yards per attempt and TD rate of 7%. Now Purdy, who had three picks in the loss to the Chiefs on Sunday, ranks 16th with a 91.2 efficiency rating. Undoubtedly, having a unit without CMC and with other key players in and out of the lineup (Jajuan Jennings, Deebo Samuel were out last weekend), the rhythm that Purdy rolled with last season has been replaced by constant adjustments to get backup players primed for key roles. So, no, the dropoff for the 49ers' offense isn’t all on the quarterback.

• Beleaguered D. Defense wins championships, right? The declining numbers for the injury-stung unit illuminates the big picture as the 49ers defense has not been the dominant one to carry the team while offensive woes and special teams drama persist. After ranking third in the league for scoring defense in 2023 (17.5 points per game), the 49ers rank in the middle of pack in that category (16th, 22.6 points per game). The holes in the run defense have been glaring, reflected by the 112.9 yards per game average, compared to the 89.7-yard clip from 2023.

Where from here? The Cowboys are coming. But the 49ers surely need more than a temporary fix to keep hope alive for making another Super Bowl run.

Tua talk: Lessons learned?

The last time Tua Tagovailoa returned to game action after a concussion layoff, during the 2022 season, he lowered his shoulder and initiated contact early in the game. Reportedly, the Miami quarterback came to the sideline and told Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, “Sorry, coach, I needed that one.”

McDaniel was asked this week to reflect on that moment from 2022, and what message he’d have for Tagovailoa now, with his quarterback cleared to start against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday in his return from at least his third concussion since 2022.

“‘You don’t need that one, this time around,’ “ McDaniel said, sensing that Tagovailoa has a better understanding of his responsibility to the entire organization.

Tagovailoa, as he expressed this week, has considered his penchant for running with abandon – and too often recklessly – as part of his competitive edge since his early days in football. Yet coaches and teammates are hardly shy in suggesting that Tagovailoa slide to better protect himself when escaping the pocket.

Tyreek Hill, the All-Pro receiver, suggests that fans can also get involved with the messaging.

“When we were playing the Colts, you could see the fans start clapping for Anthony Richardson when he slid,” Hill told reporters. “I said our fans need to clap for Tua, make him slide.”

Flashback for RW3

Russell Wilson’s debut with the Pittsburgh Steelers came with quite the twist as he picks up new coordinator Arthur Smith’s offense. According to Next Gen Stats, Wilson took 41 of his 66 snaps from under center (62.1%) during the 37-15 victory against the Jets, which marked his highest rate in a game since 2016.

Wilson, a 13th-year pro, has largely operated out of the shotgun in recent years.

“I go back to my Wisconsin days, I guess,” said Wilson, preparing for a Monday night matchup against the New York Giants.  “In high school and college (at N.C. State, before transferring), it was mostly gun. At Wisconsin, we were under center a good amount.

“It doesn’t bother me being under center or in the gun. I love just having the ball, being ready to play to facilitate the ball.”

Wilson, who missed the first six games while nursing a calf injury, passed for 264 yards and 2 TDs, without a pick against the Jets. He also found a fit with Smith’s bread-and-butter use of the play-action passing game.

On a night when Najee Harris posted his second consecutive 100-yard game (21 rushes, 102 yards), Wilson completed 8 of 9 passes for 150 yards off play-action dropbacks – most by a Steelers quarterback since 2016.

King Henry’s torrid pace

With 873 yards through seven games, Ravens running back Derrick Henry is on pace to become the first player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in two different seasons. Henry, who ran for 2,027 yards in 2020, is currently averaging 124.7 yards per game, which at the current rate projects to 2,210 yards – which would break Eric Dickerson’s single-season record of 2,105 yards, set in 1984.

Henry, facing the Browns on Sunday, is one of eight players to top 2,000 yards. Asked about the possibility that he could do it again, Dickerson recently told USA TODAY Sports: “If he does, that would be great. I wanted to try to do it again. It’s hard, man. It’s really tough. Everything has to go right. You can’t fall behind. That’s the thing about having a 2,000-yard season.”

Of course, Dickerson set his single-season record during a 16-game campaign, when he averaged 131.6 yards per game. Over a 17-game season, that would equate to 2,237 yards.

Quick slants

— The Eagles head to Cincinnati with a defense that has collected more sacks (13) than it has allowed points (12) the past two games. The sack total (with nine players notching at least a half-sack) is tied for the most in franchise history over a two-game stretch, which is pretty remarkable when considering the great Philly defenses led by the great Reggie White a generation ago.

— In their first test in trying to absorb the loss of Pro Bowl defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (out for the season with a broken leg), the Lions got a sack from just one pure edge rusher, Josh Paschal, in Sunday’s win at Minnesota. The other three sacks came from blitzing linebackers, while defensive tackle D.J. Reeder notched a quarterback hit. But Paschal, who also posted a QB hit on Sam Darnold, won’t be in the lineup on Sunday against the Titans, due to an illness.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What's wrong with 49ers? Injuries are only part of equation