Bold predictions for the remainder of the 49ers' 2023 season
Week 9 is over and done with. Now it's time for us to look back at the first half of the San Francisco 49ers’ season. All this week we're going to be doing a series of midseason articles. We'll be talking about both the good and the bad of this year so far. Here's what […]
Week 9 is over and done with. Now it's time for us to look back at the first half of the San Francisco 49ers’ season. All this week we're going to be doing a series of midseason articles. We'll be talking about both the good and the bad of this year so far. Here's what we've done to this point:
- 49ers' rookie report card
- 49ers' midseason grades
- 49ers' best and worst free agent signings at midseason
- 49ers' biggest surprise at midseason
- 49ers' biggest disappointment at midseason
- 49ers' biggest need at midseason
- Picking the 49ers' midseason MVPs for offense, defense and special teams
Now we're rounding things off with some bold predictions for the second half of the 2023 campaign.
Bold predictions for the remainder of the 49ers' 2023 season
The 49ers’ 2023 season has been partially a story of things nobody saw coming.
The Niners went into the campaign viewed as one of the best teams in football, but a 5-0 start was still something of a surprise, and the manner of their 42-10 rout of the Dallas Cowboys was a stunner.
Absolutely nobody had the Niners losing the next three after that blowout, and you’ll have been hard pressed to find many, save for in this column, talking about the 49ers getting Chase Young at the trade deadline.
So as the 49ers head into the second half of the year following their bye, it’s best to expected the unexpected. They’re a tough team to predict, but I’ve done my best with some bold predictions for the final nine games of the regular season.
Christian McCaffrey finishes with 2,000 yards from scrimmage
The 49ers’ star do-it-all running back is certainly not in the MVP conversation anymore and his pace has slowed significantly in recent weeks.
Still, McCaffrey remains on pace, just, for over 2,000 yards from scrimmage and looked to be getting back to his best in the defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals.
McCaffrey had 100 yards from scrimmage for the first time since Week 4 in that Week 8 loss and, though the Niners do face some severe tests from opposing defenses down the stretch, the space Kyle Shanahan and, perhaps more importantly, the gravity of Deebo Samuel can help create for him can ensure the focal point of the San Francisco attack surpasses the 2,000-yard mark for the second time in his career.
He would become the 17th running back with at least two seasons with 2,000 scrimmage yards, joining 49ers legend Roger Craig on that list.
Beyond that, a series of records await McCaffrey. On Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he can take outright possession of the record for the most consecutive games with a touchdown across the regular and postseason by scoring for the 18th successive game.
He will achieve that feat and go on to surpass Lenny Moore and La’Danian Tomlinson (18) for the record for the most consecutive regular-season games with a touchdown. McCaffrey (14) is five more games with a touchdown away from doing so.
Nick Bosa and Chase Young combine for 15 sacks
It seem a gaudy number, but that’s how good this partnership can be for a defensive line that has endured unexpected issues getting home on pressures.
The two former Ohio State teammates can each win in lightning quick fashion and that ability, combined with the disruption Javon Hargrave and Arik Armstead can create from the inside, should set the 49ers up to drastically improve a mediocre sack total of 18.
Bosa has 44 pressures this season, per Pro Football Focus, but has found scant reward for his consistency, recording only three sacks.
He will take advantage of a stretch run that sees the Niners face some extremely vulnerable offensive lines, mainly in their own division, to add another eight to his tally and register another double-digit sack campaign.
Young, meanwhile, will hit the ground running in his Niners career and add seven to his midseason tally of six, his acquisition serving as the driving force behind a second-half defensive resurgence that is a significant factor in the next prediction.
The 49ers match their 2022 win total
For all the doubt created by the Niners’ three-game losing streak, the reality is that, at 5-3, they are in a better position than they were at this point in the campaign in each of the last two seasons.
They were 4-4 after eight games last year and 3-5 at the same juncture in 2021. In both instances, the 49ers went on a huge run down the stretch.
San Francisco won its final 10 games after dropping to 3-4 last season. Can this vintage of the Niners win their final nine? Despite issues with execution and doubts over the coaching on one side of the ball, they have the talent. The problem is a schedule with plenty of hurdles.
| Remaining Games |
|---|
at Jaguars |
vs Buccaneers |
at Seahawks |
at Eagles |
vs Seahawks |
at Cardinals |
vs Ravens |
at Commanders |
vs Rams |
But with Trent Williams set to, eventually, return, the 49ers will have a full complement of stars on the most efficient offense in football with Shanahan drawing up the plays. That should go a long way to inspiring a second-half surge, but the biggest question-mark is on Steve Wilks’ surprisingly struggling defense.
However, the addition of Young at the deadline means the 49ers now have two edge rushers who are the in the top 15 in the NFL in pass rush win rate (min. 50 snaps) to go with the imposing interior duo of Hargrave and Armstead. Refreshed off the bye, the defense will find its feet thanks in large part to a fearsome front that will see its frustratingly poor production drastically improve.
Potency from the offense and the pass rush will set the 49ers up for a run, one in which they successfully navigate a defining three-game stretch by stunning the Philadelphia Eagles either side of double-digit wins over the Seattle Seahawks that end any prospect of a serious Seattle division challenge.
The 49ers have been humbled by their recent slump, and a Christmas Day loss to the Baltimore Ravens will keep their feet on the ground, but it will be the only defeat of another 13-4 season for a true Super Bowl contender.
Kyle Shanahan excited to get something the 49ers’ offense has never really had
They’ll have their two most versatile players in Week 10.
