A resilient 49ers team is welcoming the rest of the upcoming bye week after positioning themselves well for a postseason run with three straight wins.
CLEVELAND — With the latest possible bye week on the NFL schedule, the San Francisco 49ers have done their best not to look too far ahead, lest they drop a game they believe they otherwise should have won.
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 going to 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.»
Going into the Sunday night game, the 49ers have a game and a half lead on the Detroit Lions for the seventh and final spot in the NFC playoffs.
