The 49ers cornerback is unfazed, despite the slow start to the season.
The San Francisco 49ers have seen a sub-optimal start to their 2024 season, which only was further stressed on Sunday afternoon when they lost 20-17 to the Seattle Seahawks, dropping them to 5-5 on the season.
It was a crucial game for both sides, as the 49ers were looking to extend their recent winning streak and start the second half of the year hot, while the Seahawks were attempting to snap an ugly stretch where they had lost five of their last six games.
The latter ultimately proved to be the victor, as quarterback Geno Smith led an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, capped by a 13-yard scramble to get the go-ahead score with just 12 seconds left.
With that, the 49ers have a much more dire look to the rest of their season, as they stand at 5-5 in a competitive NFC West, with oddsmakers projecting them to miss the playoffs.
Thus far, one of the biggest issues for the team has been the inability to finish. Has that changed the perception of the team from a player’s perspective?
“Not really,” cornerback Isaac Yiadom confidently said after the game. “I still feel like we are a great team. I’ve been on 5-5 teams and sometimes it’s like you’re confidence isn’t there, but I still feel like we are a great team. We know what we have to get fixed. We know the point of emphasis this week and that’s exactly what we are going to do.”
Linebacker Fred Warner was clearly frustrated after the game, especially with the team’s issues with finishing and losing close games, which has been a part of the 49ers’ identity now in 2024.
“It’s just infuriating honestly, but I’m always going to have all of the confidence in the world in everybody that we have in our building,” Warner said postgame. “All the answers are in here. It’s just about doing it.”
“It’s not like us [to struggle to finish and lose close games], but that’s just what we’ve shown this year. So I guess until we stop doing that, then that’s who we are.”
Offensive tackle Trent Williams pointed to the offensive performance, as the team scored just 17 points in the loss, missing out on a number of scoring opportunities due to penalties.
“We have to be better. We have to execute better. We have to put more than 17 points on the board if we want to win a divisional game.”
Set aside from the walk-off victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 10, the 49ers haven’t won a game when they’ve scored under 25 points this year. That continued again on Sunday, as issues compounded on each other, resulting in a disappointing loss.
At this stage, the 49ers aren’t looking like a great team right now. They don’t play good football for four quarters and seemingly have collapsed at times as games go on. Statistically, though, the team still ranks highly across the board, which is why there’s optimism that they could still turn things around here in 2024.
But, standing at 5-5, that turnaround will need to come quickly, as it’s looking more and more like a 9-8 record will not get you into the playoffs this year in the NFC.
Next up for San Francisco is a tough matchup against the Green Bay Packers on the road, where the 49ers enter as underdogs for the first time all season. If the Niners are to turn things around, winning at least one of the next two games between the Packers and the Buffalo Bills would be a big boost to jumpstarting that needed second-half run.